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Sermon Notes - July 25, 2021
The Greatest Stories Rarely Told - Brian Becker
Sacrificial Generosity
Radical Hospitality
Uncommon Humility
2 Samuel 3:4 (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.
Radical Hospitality:
People you don’t know but need to love.
People you do know but don’t want to love.
This past year we have been conditioned by society who “our people” are and who “our people” are not. But we are being invited to be reconditioned by Jesus to see people and love them the same way he would.
People would rather draw lines than extend a hand; draw lines than seek to understand.
2 Samuel 3:4 (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.
1 Samuel 18:10b-11 (NIV)
Saul had a spear in his hand and he hurled it, saying to himself, “I’ll pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice.
1 Samuel 18:28-29 (MSG)
As Saul more and more realized that God was with David, and how much his own daughter, Michal, loved him, his fear of David increased and settled into hate. Saul hated David.
2 Samuel 9:3 (NIV)
David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show…
2 Samuel 9:3 (NIV)
David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness…
Kindness: חֶסֶד/ ḥeseḏ / (kheh’-sed)
Khesed combines the ideas of love, generosity, and enduring commitment all into one. Khesed describes an act of promise-keeping loyalty that is motivated by deep personal care.
Kindness: חֶסֶד/ ḥeseḏ / (kheh’-sed)
“Extraordinary acts of kindness; meeting an extreme need, outside the normal run of perceived duty, and arising from personal affection or pure goodness.”
2 Samuel 9:3-13 (NIV)
Ziba answered the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is lame in both feet.” “Where is he?” the king asked. Ziba answered, “He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.” So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir son of Ammiel.
2 Samuel 9:3-13 (NIV)
When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor. David said, “Mephibosheth!” “At your service,” he replied.
2 Samuel 9:3-13 (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.
2 Samuel 9:3-13 (NIV)
Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?”
2 Samuel 9:3-13 (NIV)
Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul’s steward, and said to him, “I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family.
2 Samuel 9:3-13 (NIV)
You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master’s grandson may be provided for. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table.” (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)
2 Samuel 9:3-13 (NIV)
Then Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do whatever my lord the king commands his servant to do.” So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table like one of the king’s sons.
2 Samuel 9:3-13 (NIV)
Mephibosheth had a young son named Mika, and all the members of Ziba’s household were servants of Mephibosheth. And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table; he was lame in both feet.
2 Samuel 9:8 (NIV)
Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?”
Exodus 34:6
Compassionate, and gracious, slow to anger, overflowing with loyal love and faithfulness.
Exodus 34:6
Compassionate, and gracious, slow to anger, overflowing with khessed and faithfulness.
Psalm 136
Give thanks to the Lord for he is good…
Psalm 136
Give thanks to the Lord for he is good…his khesed endures forever.
God’s kingdom is a kingdom of kindness, even to those who were once enemies.
EVIL for Good=Maniacal
EVIL for Evil=Predictable
GOOD for Evil=Remarkable
Matthew 5:43-45a (NIV)
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be children of your Father in heaven.
Compassionate, and gracious, slow to anger, overflowing with Khessed and faithfulness.
1.Have I experienced (or re-experienced) the Khessed of God in my life?
2.Who am I living in hostility towards, and how can I move towards hospitality in that area?
3.How can I create environments of restoration when I welcome people into my life?