Mephibosheth: Adopted by the King

This year I made a very unusual but amazing phone call. It went like this:

[Ring Ring Ring]

Her: Hello?
Me: Hi, is this Carolyn?
Her: Yes, who is this?
Me: It's Brian.

[Long, long pause...]

Her: Brian? Really???
Me: Yes.

[Lots of crying....]

You see, I was adopted and this was a phone call to my birth mom, the first time I ever talked to her in 41 years. Since it was a closed adoption, she didn't even know if I was alive, I didn't know about her either. But through some digging we connected with each other.

I have been doubly blessed by God. First, my birth mom was courageous and loving enough to make a huge sacrifice on my behalf, she didn't take the easy option, but instead chose a difficult road to give me life and put me up for adoption. Second, my adoptive parents, my mom and dad, are amazing. They took me into their family, loved me as their own son and have been a huge blessing in my life.

Are any of you adopted? If so, you've might have had this dream that you find out your birth parents were crazy rich, maybe the King and Queen of some realm, and they would take you on great trips on their yacht or limo or spaceship. And you'd visit them in their palace, and they'd spoil you, and have a huge plate of Rocket Donut bacon maple bars, and you'd eat so many bacon maple bars, and you'd be so happy and a little sick but so happy!

There is a truth in the Bible that each of us can be adopted by the King. God wants to bring us into his family. He wants to be our father. This is really life changing and more incredible than any earthly dream. This is way more awesome than a plate of bacon maple bars!

For some people, when we talk about family and fathers it is a good thing. Your family is together, your dad is a good guy basically (even if you think he's a dork because he doesn't exactly fist bump right, and you don't like it when he makes you clean your room). If that is you and you basically have a good family and a good dad, the good news is that God wants you to know him as a great Father.

But for other people as you read this, right now there is a pit in your stomach because home is not a safe place for you, it's a place of suffering, or abuse because your dad has done great harm, or abandoned the family, or is in jail, or has made work more important. Some people cringe even if they just think about their father. But God wants to be the perfect, loving Father they've never had. He wants to bring all of us into his family, give us blessing we can't imagine, be a source of peace not pain. God wants to be present in our life, not absent. He wants to be our rock, not our trap.

Ephesians 1:4-8 talks about our adoption:

For [God] chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will– to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us.

Doesn't this sound like a miracle, Hollywood adoption story? Like the best dream you've ever had? It is. Look at the language again: in love, by his pleasure, glorious grace, freely given, redemption, forgiveness, riches lavished on us!

The truth is God wants to bring you into his family. To really bring this alive we will look at possibly my favorite story in the Old Testament about three people:

1) The most famous King of the Bible: David
2) David's servant Ziba who he sends to adopt another person. The one Ziba seeks out is:
3) Mephibosheth: a wretched, crippled guy living in the desert and a natural enemy of the King who was adopted by King David.

This is my story. It is the story of a wretched guy who was made part of the family of the King. And it can be your story.

Quick summary of 2 Samuel 9

Background:
In the olden days, they didn't have peaceful elections to bring new leaders to power. They didn't vote for leaders. Changes in kingdoms were usually bloody, savage. And when a new King came to power by force, he usually wiped out everybody from the old leader's group, including family and friends. 1 Kings 15:29 is an example go the brutality. This would be like Obama rounding up all of Bush's allies, wife, mom, brothers, kids and killing them. It was brutal.

But when new King David took over from the old King Saul he had an amazing display of grace that he wants to show a descendent of Saul. He wanted to make an enemy a part of his family.

So King David sent a servant, Ziba , to search the land. Ziba found Mephibosheth, grandson of David's enemy Saul. A man crippled in both feet, living far away in a town called Lo Debar (in Hebrew "Lo Debar" means "no pasture" a barren place). This is a nasty place. Nobody books a vacation to LoDebar. You don't find LoDebar t-shirts or key chains. In 4,000 years not one person has hit "like" on the LoDebar Facebook page.

Mephibosheth was brought before the King and he must have been terrified. When Mephibosheth met David, it went like this in vs 8: Mephibosheth bowed down and said, "What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?"

Have you ever felt like not just a dog, but a dead dog? When I was a kid I was walking with my sister. She was throwing a ball in the air and catching it, and I had a hedge trimmer (think BIG scissors). Just then I had the brilliant idea to snip the ball with the trimmers before she could catch it. And I chopped her finger, not off, but it was bloody. And I felt like a dead dog!

Mephibosheth knew that he was lower than dirt before the King. In fact, his name means "From the Mouth of a Shameful Thing". Wow. In today's language that name is like "Trash-Jaw Tim" or "Puke-Lips Paul." This guy does not have anything going for him. Picture this: a guy crippled in both feet, probably dressed in really shabby clothes, stinky, dirty, filthy feet, matted knotted hair. Coming before the king dressed in royal gowns, a jeweled crown, golden throne.

Mephibosheth was not expecting at all to be chosen to be brought into the family by the King. In fact, you could say that he should have been the very last to be picked.

Have you ever been the last to be picked? The very least desired, the least wanted?

I have. Last year I went to Cornwall Park with my son for some boffering (beating the tar out of each other with a variety of mideival foam weapons). Out of about 100 people I was picked almost dead last for the capture the flag game. Kai was picked way ahead of me, 10 year olds were picked ahead of me, if Granny Gertrude was there she'd be picked ahead of me. You might feel like this is your life: passed over, undesired, last in line or maybe not in line at all, left out. That was Mephibosheth. Not expecting to be chosen for anything.

But Mephibosheth was brought to David, and granted to feast at the King's table all the days of his life. He was chosen by the king to be brought into his family. Mephibosheth was given riches, land, servants, food galore, cleaned up, redeemed from a horrible life living in a barren place. And the cloth of the King's table covered the crippled feet of Mephibosheth.

More importantly than all of the stuff Mephibosheth got to enjoy, more than the sweet LED tv screen, the pool, the Beemer, the bling, Mephibosheth got to enjoy the presence of the King. When you sit at the King's table and are made a part of his family you get to know the king, you laugh with him, share life with him, learn from him. The presence of the king is a bigger blessing than the stuff of the king. Sitting at the King's table is a big deal.

Did you ever get frustrated with sitting at the kids' table at thanksgiving or Christmas dinner? Yup, me too. Adult's table has china, Kid's table has plastic plates. Adult's table has goblets and champagne flutes, Kid's table has sippy cups. Adult's table has steak knives, kid's table maybe a Thomas the Tank Engine spork. It's not that the food is better at the adult's table, but you are a part of their world and are close to them. You feel like you are a more important part of the family.

Memphibosheth, the dead dog, was made a part of the Family and got to sit daily at the table of arguably the most famous and important King of the entire Bible.

Put yourself in the position of the principal characters in the story and you'll see why this matters to your life.


Mephibosheth: Dead Dog Adopted by the King
Here is some tough truth: All of us are by nature Mephibosheth, by our sin and rebellion we are born enemies of God. You included. And by birth we're living in a far desolate land, Lo Debar. Crippled, helpless in and of ourselves. There is no way we deserve to be with God. And yet the loving heart of God searches out to the dry places, yearning to show kindness to those utterly unworthy of even a table scrap. And we're adopted, brought into God's family, brought into the Kingdom, shown grace and favor we don't deserve.

The Bible says that Mephibosheth became like a Son to David. We too can be adopted by God, into his family to be sons and daughters of the King.

How is this possible? Just like Mephibosheth we don't deserve to be brought into the family, we don't deserve to sit at the table. It is only by the kindness of the King.

The whole reason Jesus died was to bring enemies into his family. When Jesus died on the cross, he paid the penalty for our sin so we wouldn't have to. When we accept Jesus as our King, we are forgiven, cleansed, made whole and brought into the family.

There is no way that Mephibosheth could have one day decided all by himself, "I'm going to go sit at the King's table today." Then hobbled up and knocked on the castle door and said, "I'm here, what's for dinner?". No matter how much he bathed, or made himself look pretty he was an enemy of the King. Same with us, getting into the kingdom of God has NOTHING to do with what we can do for God. There is no work we can do, no amount of going to church, not "being nice", not doing good deeds, not even helping a thousand old ladies across the street. NOTHING we do will get us into the family of the King. It is ONLY what the King has done for us, ONLY by his kindness, only by his grace, only by the work of Jesus are we brought into the family of the King. We only have to accept the invitation to sit at the table of the king. Like Mephibosheth we have to put our faith in the King, trust in him, kneel before him in humility and receive the blessing.

Ask yourself this: Am I living in Lo Debar? Far from the king? Do I know the King is looking for me? Do I know the King wants to bring me into his family?

There's only one catch, our adoption is not involuntary, God won't force us to eat at his table and enjoy the blessings of His Kingdom. Mephibosheth could have given David the bird and still lived in the wretched barren land of LoDebar. He could have rejected the offer of the King and continued to live in the desert. And there might be people reading this who haven't decided to accept this amazing invitation from the King. Maybe you're not exactly flipping God off, but what does it mean if you're not accepting his invitation and offer of adoption? By not accepting His offer to bring you into his family, you are rejecting it. And if you choose to reject God on earth in your life time, He will honor that choice you made for eternity.

But the good news is this in John 1:12:

Yet to all those who received [Jesus], who believed in his name, he gave the right to become the children of God.

That's how you are brought into God's family, you believe in the name of Jesus.

Ziba: Servant that Helps Save
We can also be Ziba, the servant enlisted by the King to help others, sent to go find one whom the King might show his favor. If you are a Christian, then your Father wants to use you to bring others into his family. You could be like Ziba, sent by God to bless somebody.

But what if Ziba instead decided to take a detour and go live at the beach for a while? Watch a whole lot of football? Hang out with his friends playing Call of Duty Black Ops and too busy to look for Mephibosheth? Mephibosheth could still be living in Lo Debar. The Christian life isn't just feasting, it is also service. And sometimes at the will of King Jesus we must leave our place of comfort to bring good news to people that are lost.

For some people, the King might send you far away, but for most people you're sent to your neighborhood, your school, your own home. Will you respond to Jesus call to help save the lost? Is your Mephibosheth waiting for good news from you about his adoption into the King's family?

Serving the king and doing the work of Ziba can be very hard work. Remember that Mephibosheth was crippled and lived far away from the king. It probably was not easy getting him to David. There were probably times that Ziba had to lift him, carry him, feed him, give him water on the long journey. For some people you know, it might be a long journey to bring them to God. Perhaps years of prayer, years of caring, years of love, years of service, maybe years of being rejected. But won't it be worth it?

There's a clear challenge and application.

Challenge: Serve the King
If you are already in the family, adopted by the King, feasting at his table, don't you want to bring others to the table? Which one of your friends, family, classmates, co-workers is living in the barren land apart from God? If you know Jesus, you know something that can change a person's eternal destiny. I want to challenge you to take a huge risk and talk to one person this week about Jesus. Let them know that Jesus wants to save them, forgive their sins, give them a new life, make them part of his family. One person. If you do that, you're going to be blown away that God could use "dead dogs" like us for an eternal impact for the kingdom and bring somebody else into the family of God.

Application: Accept the Invitation to Sit at the King's Table
God, the King of Kings wants to adopt you, to bring you into his family. God wants to be your father, He wants you to sit at his table. Some of you right now are snacking on this nasty moldy crust of bread in the desert, you are lost in your sin, and you're being invited to feast at the table. When you receive Jesus as your Lord, put your faith and trust in Him, you are made clean, you are brought into a new family, and join an eternal kingdom. At this moment, you can leave the barren land, which is any place apart from God, and can be adopted by the King. I want you to accept that invitation to be brought into God's family.


Here is Ephesians 1:4-8 again. This is the very Word of God. If you've ever wondered if God could speak to you, this is it:

For [God] chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will– to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us.

Other Notes on Mephibosheth:
1) trinity in the Father (David), Son (Meph), and Holy Spirit (Ziba)
2) Meph had to humble himself before the King and acknowledge his position ("dead dog like me").
3) Christians sometimes push away from the table, leave the feast and return to LoDebar when living in the flesh, the "old man". We need to repent.

Care of the Most Holy Things

In Numbers 4:4 God commands the "most holy things" of the tabernacle to be cared for and carried by the Kohathite branch of the tribe of Levi (also Num 3:29-31). This must have been a huge honor, but was also a huge responsibility they had to carry. Literally. In Num 7:6-9 we see they had to carry the most holy things on their shoulders while the other Levite families (Gershonites and Merarites) got oxen and carts to carry their portion of the tabernacle. When you carry something on your shoulders, you feel the weight sometimes with every step, you think about it often, you mind is drawn to it. You're intimately familiar with it. On the road you have a constant reminder of the object in your charge on your back. The Kohathites were not allowed to use ox carts to carry the most holy things.

Eleazar: leader of leaders
The chief leader of the Levites was Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest (Num 3:32). He was appointed over those who were responsible for the care of the sanctuary. Eleazar, son of Aaron, brother to Nadab and Abihu, who were killed by God in priestly duties when the offered "unauthorized fire" (Lev 10), was appointed to be in leadership over those responsible for the care of the most holy things. In Num 4:16 Eleazar is set in charge of "the entire tabernacle and everything in it" for care and moving. He must have felt the tremendous burden of this stewardship. In fact in Num 4, the warning is issued multiple times to act properly with the most holy things or they would die (Num 4:15, 20; Num 3:10). Even Stephen Spielberg got this right in Raiders of the Lost Ark when the Nazis got torched by the Holy God for ordinance violations. Probably because they didn't have the hides of sea cows to cover it (Num 4:10). When Eleazar wrapped up the ark for the first time for transport, was he still grieving the death of his brothers? Did he delegate that task to others? Maybe not. As a leader he might have "taken one for the team" and had first position as ark carrier.

We too must lead by example. The "things" we carry as youth group leaders, parents, teachers, aunts/uncles, grandparents are most holy!! In fact, even more holy than the acacia wood and gold box that was the ark. How valuable are the people entrusted to our care? Look at the price paid by God the Father to redeem them. But despite the value of the most holy things (both then and now), God puts sinful, weak, clumsy , forgetful, lazy, stubborn people in charge (See post on God's Carny). In the OT He appointed Moses (murderer, coward), Aaron (idolater, liar), Nadab and Abihu (killed for unauthorized fire), Eleazar and Ithmar (?) to care for the tabernacle and said, "Now be careful, and obey, or you'll be killed".

In a very real sense it is both comical, and also sad. God knew they would fail. This is like putting Deputy Barney Fife in charge of secret service security detail for the President or Mr Bean in charge of the National Security Administration. Just look at the mess that Adam made. God told him to "take care of the garden". Basically, just go mow the lawn. And ends up with all of creation poisoned, corrupted, utterly ruined by war, sickness and sin. As if he went to trim the shrubs in the yard but ended up with the whole house a smoldering pile of ruin (which is not far from the truth).

And yet, God still entrusts us with the most holy things of His creation (people) and creation itself. Knowing that in our nature we are no better than Adam, God still gives us this huge stewardship. Why? Pure love and grace (which I always figure is a safe answer and probably not far from the truth with most unanswerable questions).


Leadership Lessons:
1) Eleazar was the third born of Aaron. A low man on totem pole of familia rights. Likely taking little leadership for most of his life. But with the death of his older brothers Nadab and Abihu, he was thrust into a leadership position. Sometimes our leadership roles suddenly come upon us. Learn what lessons you can wherever you're at, so that if you are called you can be as ready as possible.

2) People are not often fully ready for leadership but need to grow into the position. Moses was clearly not fully ready for leadership. Nor Aaron. At least learn from others' past mistakes so you can make fresh new ones! Are we surprised that Eleazar didn't offer "unauthorized incense"?

3) Num 3:49-51 Money was collected from the Israelites by Moses who then entrusted the money to Aaron and his sons. Our handling of $$ as leaders needs to be above reproach.

4) The most holy things we carry, our students or own children, are to be carried on our shoulders, not in ox carts. We're to be close, feel the weight of their lives, struggle along side them, be present with them. We hurt when we carry these most holy things in our stewardship. At times it is a grind. A discipling relationship with a student can be tiring, but it becomes less so when we remember the value of the most holy things we carry.

5) Our heavy lifting is sometimes done in the desert. Not only do we labor under the strain, there is a scorching sun, in a parched landscape, and sometimes feel like we're just wandering.

Other observations;
1) In Num 3:3 the sons of Aaron were anointed to be priests. The Hebrew word for anointed is "mashiah" which is where the word Messiah comes from. The priests were a foreshadowing of our Great High Priest, Jesus, the Messiah, the anointed one of God. We too are called holy priests (Peter 2:5), we are anointed and set apart for service. Our anointing is by the Holy Spirit (1 Jn 2:20-27).