Believe - Compassion (2)

Introduction

Believing in Christ means showing incarnational compassion. Pastor Joseph Stowell shares about the Chicago-based newspaper StreetWise is sold by homeless people who collect a portion of the proceeds. One day as he walked to work, he passed a StreetWise vendor. This was a bitterly cold January morning. Pastor Stowell had already stopped by Starbucks and paid much more than a dollar for his morning cup of coffee. Feeling noble, he struggled to find his wallet. He reached in and took out a dollar. The homeless woman asked, “Do you really want the paper, or can I keep it to sell to someone else?” “Keep the paper,” he replied. Then he added, “How are you today?” “I’m so cold,” the woman said. “I hope the sun comes out, it warms up, and you have a good day,” he told her as he turned to go. He continued on with the cup of Starbucks coffee warming his hand. About half a block later, the conversation finally registered. He wrestled for a moment with what he should do, but he was late, so he kept walking to the appointment that was so much “more important” than that cold, homeless woman selling newspapers. In reflecting on it, he writes, “ever since, I’ve regretted not giving her a cup of hot coffee in Christ’s name.” Do you have any regrets like that? Are we as Christians simply, good people? How does compassion fit into our faith in Christ?

As we continue in our combined Sunday School and sermon series today, the next step is what we believe about compassion. In this series we have been taking a step back from looking at what God teaches within one specific passage from scripture. Instead we are looking at the whole of scripture. So today we look at what the whole of scripture teaches us about humanity. Specially, we look at three different people from the Bible and how they teach us about compassion. One of the main people we are talking about has a long and complicated name, so if we’re going to talk about him, let’s practice saying his name. His name is Mephibosheth. Can you say it with me, Mephibosheth? One more Mephibosheth.

Mephibosheth received kindness solely due to the king’s good pleasure.

2 Samuel 9:7–8 ESV

7 And David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and you shall eat at my table always.” 8 And he paid homage and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?”

In 2 Samuel chapter 9, David is reigning on the throne as king. The former king, Saul, has died in battle. Saul’s son, Jonathan, who is a close friend of David died in that same battle. Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth has been crippled as his nurse rushed him away from danger. Reigning on the throne is King David. Back in these days, it was typical for kings to remove the old guard, the people who had supported the previous king. Sometimes, this went so far as to execute them if they attempted to continue supporting the old regime. After David had reigned for a little while, a servant from David summons Mephibosheth to the king. As Mephibosheth approaches the throne room, he is undoubtedly in fear. He’s in fear of what might happen to him. He’s in fear of what David’s response will be when he sees him. He;s in fear that his connection to Saul will be his undoing. In his thoughts, he is likely trembling, afraid, certain that he is walking to his death. Mephibosheth approaches David in fear and trembling. As Mephibosheth approaches the throne, he is shocked to hear King David say to him, “Do not fear, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathon, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and you shall eat at my table always.” Mephibosheth was invited into the throne room of David in the worst of circumstances. He had the wrong lineage, and as a cripple had very little to offer the king. But despite the likely sentence of death he was facing, David promised him restoration and a place at the king’s table.

According to the Associated Press, Chuck Wall, a human relations instructor at Bakersfield College was watching the news when a common phrase from a broadcaster stuck out to him. The broadcaster had said, “Another random act of senseless violence.” This gave Wall an idea. He gave an unusual assignment to his students. They were to do something out of the ordinary to help someone. Then, they had to write an essay about it. Then Wall dreamed up a bumper sticker that said, “Today, I will commit one random act of senseless kindness…will you?” The students sold the bumper stickers, which a bank and union paid to have printed, for one dollar each, and the profits went to a county Braille center. For his random act of kindness one student paid his mother’s utility bills. Another student bought thirty blankets from the Salvation Army and took them to homeless people gathered under a bridge. The idea took hold. The bumper sticker was put on all 113 county patrol cars. It was trumpeted from pulpits, in schools, and in professional associations. After seeing the success of the idea, Chuck Wall commented, “I had no idea it would erupt like it has. I had no idea our community was in such need of something positive.”

A fallen world creates a need for positivity. The generosity that Mephibosheth received from David is a model for us for how we should live. David did this without expecting anything in return. Mephibosheth had little to nothing that he could give in return. The question for us is, when was the last time you gave without expecting something in return? Including recognition. The first person we look at today is Mephibosheth. The one who received from King David far more than he could ever hope to receive back. Mephibosheth received graciously, and he received generosity and kindness when he was expecting to receive a death sentence.

David showed compassion incarnationally.

2 Samuel 9:9–10 ESV

9 Then the king called Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, “All that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master’s grandson. 10 And you and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him and shall bring in the produce, that your master’s grandson may have bread to eat. But Mephibosheth your master’s grandson shall always eat at my table.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.

In this section, David shows kindness in a way that we can forgot. His kindness begins with generosity. “All that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master’s grandson.” But David doesn’t stop at generosity. David showed compassion incarnationally. Even in his position as the king of all of Israel, he doesn’t simply throw money at a problem and then forget about Mephibosheth. Instead, he invited him to eat with him every day. This isn’t just simply giving Mephibosheth three hot meals a day. This is inviting Mephibosheth into relationship with him. This is seeing, interacting, and getting the know the person who has the need firsthand.

Survivor Eva Hart remembers the night, April 15, 1912. The night that the Titanic plunged 12,000 feet to the Atlantic floor, some two hours and forty minutes after an iceberg tore a 300-foot gash in the starboard side. Look back, she said, “I saw all the horror of its sinking, and I heard, even more dreadful, the cries of drowning people.” Although every lifeboat was launched, they were too few. Many were only partly filled. Most of the passengers ended up struggling in the icy seas while those in the boats waited a safe distance away. Lifeboat No. 14 went back to the scene after the unsinkable ship slipped from sight at 2:20 A.M. Alone, it chased cries in the darkness, seeking and saving a few. No other boat joined its search effort. Some were already overloaded. In the other boats, those already saved rowed their half-filled boats into the night. They listened to the cries of the lost. Each feared an overload of waterlogged swimmers who would cling to their craft and eventually swamp it. Many of us regularly find ourselves in similar, but much less life threatening situations. We are surrounded by people in need. Those needs might mean basic necessity such as food, shelter, or transportation. Going into winter, many may be uncertain how they will keep warm during the bitter cold months. Then there’s the fundamental spiritual need of all people. The need to confess of their sins and profess of their faith in Jesus Christ. For the people in the partially filled Titanic lifeboats, they were afraid that taking on more people would swamp their boats. What about for us? What prevents us from showing compassion and meeting the needs of people around us? Knowing that there’s need requires connection. Connection requires more than simply throwing money at a problem.

When Jesus came to earth, it is called the incarnation. Incarnation is God coming to earth. Not standing at a distance, but personally, physically being on earth. Christ incarnated to earth. We are called to be incarnational everywhere we are. We are to bring Christ into our homes, our jobs, anywhere we are. Like David, we need to connect with people in need. David showed incarnational compassion. More than throwing money at the need, David physically met with Mephibosheth. The second person we are looking at today is David, who showed incarnational compassion to Mephibosheth.

King Jesus summoned us to his throne room.

Paul says in,

Romans 5:6 ESV

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

Meanwhile, Jesus says in,

John 15:16 ESV

16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

Mephibosheth was weak. But David showed him compassion and invited him into his throne room and to his dinner table. Just as Mephibosheth was weak and unable to lift himself up physically, spiritually we are all also weak and fallen. We are all in need of Christ. Spiritually, we are Mephibosheth. When we were without strength, when we were weak, when we were crippled by sin, King Jesus died for us at the Cross, and he summoned us to him. “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit.” When we were as spiritually dead, God chose us. When we had no hope, Christ went to the Cross to give us a hope and a future. Today, we stand or can stand righteous before God because of what Christ did for us.

In his book In the Grip of Grace, Max Lucado writes, In my first church, we had more than our share of southern ladies who loved to cook. I fit in well because I was a single guy who loved to eat. Our potlucks were major events. I counted on those potluck dinners for my survival. While others were planning what to cook, I was studying my kitchen shelves to see what I could offer. The result was pitiful: one of my better offerings was an unopened sack of chips, another time I took a half-empty jar of peanuts. (He sounds like a typical bachelor, right?) It wasn’t much, but no one ever complained. Those ladies would take my jar of peanuts and set it on the long table with the rest of the food and hand me a plate. “Go ahead. Don’t be bashful. Fill up your plate.” And I would! Mashed potatoes and gravy. Roast beef. Fried chicken. I came like a pauper and ate like a king! The apostle Paul would have loved the symbolism of those potlucks. He would say that Christ does for us precisely what those women did for me.

Spiritually, we are Mephibosheth. We were saved by the shed blood of Jesus Christ and by God’s good pleasure.

Conclusion

Mephibosheth received compassion solely due to the king’s good pleasure. David was incarnational in his compassion. King Jesus has summoned us to him.

Greg Asimakoupoulos shares a story about sportswriter Mitch Albom and his favorite college professor. When Mitch heard that his favorite college professor, whom he hadn’t seen in twenty years, was dying of Lou Gehrig’s disease he began visiting him weekly. In his bestselling book Tuesdays with Morrie, Mitch describes their visits. He focuses on his old professor’s wit and insights. One time, Mitch asked Morrie why he bothered following the news since he wouldn’t be around to see how things turned out. Morrie responded, “It’s hard to explain, Mitch. Now that I’m suffering, I feel closer to people who suffer than I ever did before. The other night on TV, I saw people in Bosnia running across the street, getting fired on. I just started to cry. I feel their anguish as if it were my own. I don’t know any of these people. But—how can I put this? I’m almost drawn to them.” Suffering produces compassion. But in our faith, the suffering of Christ also produces hope and life. Therefore, having received these from Christ, let us act in kindness and compassion to others. Believing in Christ means showing incarnational compassion.