I’m at a New Table

Worship Night & Ordination Greeting

We have been in this month long series called, Home Improvement.

Every year we go into a series that is focused on families and parenting with the hopes that it gives us a fresh Biblical perspective on how we can lead our homes.

And, as we close this series today, I was drawn to this passage of scripture over and over again. I really felt like I was going to have a hard time making it fit within our series, but I believe that God is drawing our attention here in the text because there is something here that we have to learn. There is something here that God wants for us, in this story.

So go with me to 2 Samuel 9:1-3

2 Samuel 9:1–3 (NIV)

David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” Now there was a servant of Saul’s household named Ziba. They summoned him to appear before David, and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” “At your service,” he replied. The king asked, “Is there no one still alive from the house of Saul to whom I can show God’s kindness?” Ziba answered the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is lame in both feet.”

We’ll stop our reading here, but I’ll unpack the story together with you in this thought that I have entitled I’m at a New Table.

Introduction

There is something special about the family table, isn’t there?

There is a lot of research and recent discovery made that when a dinner table is preset, meaning, when we make family dinners at the dinner table a priority for our family there’s something that happens within our children. There is something significant that happens. The mental health of our children is positively impacted. Their sense of self worth goes up. There I a greater sense of unity within the family.

It is noticeable enough that we need to make this one of the fights worth having with your children. Fight for that dinner table together as often as you can, every week.

Transition

And with that in mind, I want to talk about a man who had a seat at the table, lost that seat, and how he found his way back to the table.

Let’s dive into his story here this morning.

Text

In our text we read a story about five men:

King Saul, who is the first King of Israel.

Jonathan, who is one of his son’s.

David, who was not only Anointed to succeed Saul, but he was best friends with Jonathan.

Mephibosheth, who is the son of Jonathan that has been identified as being lame in both feet, meaning he was paralyzed.

And finally, Ziba, who once was a servant to King Saul and his family.

Now, this beautiful story picks up after the death of King Saul, and the death of his son Jonathan, in battle, and David has now ascended into the throne of Israel.

There are a few things that David did as the new King of Israel in order to set a tone for his leadership, and this story is one of the things that David made a priority.

He asks those in position if there was anyone left alive from King Saul’s family. Most of the family had died in battle, and it was the custom in this time that any remaining family, and potential heirs to the throne by killed off so that they would have no claim to the throne. So David is asking this question, and one would immediately assume that David is ready to issue judgment. He is wanting to make sure that there is no one left alive from Saul’s family.

But his question takes a turn when he says these words, “to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”

That question not only changes everything - but it begins to give us a beautiful illustration of the gospel.

As a matter of fact, in this story, David displays the traits of the Lord.

You see, the scriptures teach us that the lives that we live earn us judgment from the father. We have done nothing deserving of the grace of God.

Paul said it this way, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” And that thought is complimented with this thought, “The wages of sin is death…”

The scriptures teach us that even on our best days, because of our nature and proclivity to sin, we bring upon ourselves the judgment of God.

But David reminds us that there is a covenant at work.

You see, David and Jonathan were best friends. They had reason to be enemies, but that’s not what they were. They had a covenant relationship with one another and Jonathan was well aware of God’s plan over David’s life, and he promised to protect him as long as he lived, and vice verse.

So now that Jonathan has passed away, and David has mourned the loss of his great friend, he is compelled to show kindness to someone from his household. That is becuase there is a covenant that existed.

In the same way, there is a covenant that exists between God and Jesus. You see, Jesus steps into time, from eternity, and he takes on our judgment. Jesus is the perfect man, that is a reflection of the perfect lamb that is slain for our sins.

The word of God teaches us, “Without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness of sins.” In order for judgment to pass over us, someone had to die in our place. That someone is Jesus. He went to the cross for you and for me. When Jesus went to the cross he did that so that our sins would be forgiven. And now, instead of receiving judgment, we receive the grace of God.

Let’s just take a moment and stop here to thank God that forgiveness is available here today.

Let’s just take a moment to thank God that Jesus took our affliction and he bore our shame.

Let’s thank God that the covenant has been fulfilled and we get to live in the newness of life.

[Transition]

You see all of this is available to us today, and yet many of us don’t experience the fulness of this life that we now have because somebody dropped us.

Dropped, but Not Forgotten

Ziba tells David here in the text that there is a son of Jonathan, but he is paralyzed in his feet.

How did this happen?

We have to go back to 2 Samuel 4:4

2 Samuel 4:4 (NIV)

(Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in both feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she hurried to leave, he fell and became disabled. His name was Mephibosheth.)

Mephibosheth was just a child when his father and his grandfather died in battle. When the news reached his home, the nurse knew that she needed to hide this boy so that he wouldn’t be killed, but in the haste she dropped him.

I want to use that event as an analogy of what it is liked when to no fault of our own, someone drops us. Someone disappoints us. Someone does something, either directly or indirectly, and now we are suffering the consequences of someone else’s actions.

You could say that it was the actions of the nurse, since she was the one who physically dropped him, but if we are to step back and evaluate the circumstances, she was trying to save his life. She was trying to do right by him. She wasn’t trying to drop him intentionally. She did her best, but even her best left him paralyzed.

But if you dig a little more into the story surrounding the death of his father and grand father you’ll realize it was judgment that Saul brought on himself. You see Saul toward the end of his reign went sideways. And, the custom before battle was to offer sacrifices to the Lord and to confirm that the Lord wanted Israel to go into battle against their enemy. But on this occasion, Saul went to see a medium instead. And instead of offering sacrifices to the Lord, he performed witchcraft. And when he did that, the Lord through the ghost of the Old Prophet told him that Israel was about to lose this battle. Not only would they lose the battle, but this would be the death of Saul and his sons.

So, the fault of Mephibosheth’s condition belongs to King Saul. It was his grand dad that not on one occasion, but on multiple occasions frustrated the Lord by offering strange sacrifices and not submitting his life, and kingdom to God.

Here’s the big take away - Mephibosheth was the way he was because someone dropped him.

And I think there are people here who can relate to that. While I have been preaching all month long about a Biblical home, and a Biblical approach to parenting, you are thinking, “Pastor you have no idea what my home was like. You have no idea the things that I went through. You have no idea what I have had to endure.”

I want to first off tell you that I’m sorry - but I also want to tell you that once again, God’s word offers you hope and a future.

So let me start with this… you may feel like you’ve been dropped. Someone let you down. A parent who was supposed to be there for you wasn’t. You think that because your parents here on earth let you down that you are at a disadvantage to everyone else. Then you can identify with Mephibosheth.

[Pause]

Look at what Ziba says to the King -

“There is still a son of Jonathan; he is lame in both feet.”

Ziba thought that at the mention of his condition, the King would want nothing to do with him.

But listen to what we read next in the text…

2 Samuel 9:5 (NIV)

So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir son of Ammiel.

Did you catch what David did when he heard about Mephibosheth? It’s the same thing that he does for you…

There is a King, and he doesn’t care about what your condition is.

There is a King, and he isn’t going to disqualify you because of something that someone else did to you.

There is a king, and he’s wanting to show grace to someone who has been abandoned.

There is a King and he wants a relationship with you.

You may have been dropped, but you are not forgotten.

[Stay here]

A Seat at the Table

When Mephibosheth arrives I believe that he thought that this would be the day that he would die. This would be the day that the King was going to judge him for everything that his family had done in the past.

But when he arrives, here is what is spoken over him:

2 Samuel 9:7 (NIV)

“Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.”

The very first thing that he is told is don’t be afraid!

I need for someone who is sitting in this church to get that word inside of their spirit right now.

Don’t be afraid.

The God who loves you is here and he wants to give you his grace.

I don’t know what image of God you had, or perhaps, you grew up in a church that taught you that God only wanted to correct, you but let me tell you that He loves you, he’s chasing after you, and he wants to give you a hope and a future.

[Transition]

He then tells him that everything that belonged to his family will be restored to him, and that he would always have a seat at his table.

Here’s the application - you thought you were disqualified from the grace of God because someone let you down, but God is saying that his love is greater than the sins of the people who hurt you.

God will deal with them and there will be accountability required on their part, but to you, you who have been dropped, let me tell you that not only are you not forgotten, but God is going to restore to you everything that you thought you loss.

The things that you thought you wouldn’t experience, God wants to restore it to you.

The things that you thought you were not worthy of, God wants to restore it to you.

Come here Mephibosheth… I know you’ve been out there in Lodebar, sitting at a table all by yourself, but you belong right here, seated at the King’s table for the rest of your life.

And I want to tell you Lighthouse, that you have a seat at the King’s table. No matter where you’ve been, and no matter how far you’ve gone, there is a covenant between God and Jesus, and because Jesus took your place you get a seat at the table!

Maybe you didn’t have that dinner table growing up, and you wish you did, but there is a new table here today. And Jesus is inviting you to his table. Jesus has brought out an extra chair. He’s set the table for you.

[Transition]

The only thing you need to do is come…

Conclusion

There are so many beautiful applications in this story that I hope helps the person who feels like they’ve been hurt by their family.

Let me just speak this over someone…

Many times people do not come to Jesus becuase of their condition. Like Mephibosheth who was paralyzed, they feel like their condition or their struggle prevents them from coming to him. I need to hit you with some truth from the word of God - when you come to the realization that you have been forgiven, and that salvation is here for you today, you can start to renounce your struggle.

Your identity is not your struggle.

Your identity is not your condition.

Too often when someone has been dropped by their family they began to take on the identity of their condition:

I’m not worthy of being loved

I’m not worthy of experiencing joy and good things

There’s something wrong with me because of what happened to me at the hands of my family

But when you accept the invitation to come to the table, the old you is gone, and you become a new person.

Who is that person?

You are now a son of God! You are now a daughter of God!

Now, you might need to work through that struggle, but that struggle is not your identity.

You are a son of God who is working through their struggle.

You are a daughter of God who is working through some pain of the past.

You see how that makes all the difference?

Don’t embrace what has happened to you as who you are.

You are is loved, you are chosen, you are forgiven, you are accepted. You belong here.

And from that place, with God’s help, we’re going to work through this struggle and we’re going to heal from this pain. God willing we are going to reconcile this family. God willing all the things that have happened to me will no longer be my struggle, but a testimony about where God brought me from.

Everything is different now, because I’m sitting at a new table.

Call

Today, I want to make a special call to anyone who has not yet come to the table of Jesus. If you have not yet surrendered your life to Jesus, I would like to pray for you today and then we will open these altars for prayer.