START MAKING ROOM – CAN YOU LEAD IN COMPASSION?
Series: “Heart of a Champion”
Pastor Billy Conover
New Day Christian Church, Port Charlotte, FL
October 5 & 6, 2024
INTRODUCTION
Nobody likes feeling like an outcast, but we ALL have experienced them.
What if God has something more in mind for us than simply showing kind gestures to the outcast? What if he calls us to show them compassion?
God foretells coming compassion
Read 2 Samuel 7:1-17
David wants to build a temple for the ark of the covenant, but God has bigger plans in mind.
God is thinking bigger. Where David wants to build a house, God wants to build a dynasty that will last forever. – A foreshadowing of the coming of Jesus from the line of David
David seeks to show “hesed”
Read 2 Samuel 9:1-4
David finds himself in a time of peace and prosperity and remembers his covenant with Jonathan to show kindness to him and his family.
This isn’t just any kindness, it is “hesed”. A Hebrew word used to describe the loving kindness of God to His people.
Bill Arnold says this about this hesed type kindness in his commentary on the book of 2 Samuel:
“This term has theological significance throughout the Old Testament, denoting the life-sustaining grace of God bestowed on humans and making it possible to have a loving relationship with him. More generally ‘kindness’ characterizes covenant relationships, whether between God and humans or simply among humans; therefore, it can be translated in many ways: Hesed: grace, loyalty, faithfulness, love, mercy, goodness. What makes hesed an act of kindness is often the fact that one member in the relationship is in a position to render help or aid to the other, who is for one reason or another in need and unable to help or aid the other. Such help is performed simply because of the deep enduring relationship between the two covenant partners”
David could have gotten away with not showing this type of Hesed but shows integrity by seeking out the family of Jonathan. He calls the servant of Saul’s house to seek any remaining family members and is told of one existing son of Jonathan’s named Mephibosheth who is disabled.
Mephibosheth became disabled while escaping after his family had passed. In this time, it would have been common for a new king to eliminate all threats to the throne. So, he escaped to the desert town of Lo Debar and along the way fell and became disabled. He was an outcast in a desert town. Mephibosheth went from royalty to outcast.
Imagine for a moment Mephibosheth’s emotions toward David. The royal guard was likely the last people he wanted to have knocking at his door. David taking power was the reason he was an outcast and became disabled. And now here he is being called before the king himself.
David shows hesed
Read 2 Samuel 9:5-13
Not only did David not seek to kill Mephibosheth, he showed hesed to him. He gave him all of King Saul’s land, servants to maintain it, and a permanent seat at the royal table.
Today we are infatuated by random acts of kindness, but hesed goes a step further. Hesed goes above and beyond. It doesn’t just show kindness to the outcast, it gives them a place to belong. A seat at the table.
Who are the outcasts in our lives today?
- The widow – Husband recently passed and now she has to learn a new way of life on her own. She doesn’t know where to start. How she’s going to manage. She is alone
- The teenager from a broken home. Yeah, they look like they have it all together on the outside. But inside they are broken. They hop from couch to couch each night to have a place to stay, but they don’t have a place to call home
- Maybe it’s the new neighbor in town like I was in Bristol. Don’t know anyone yet. Having a hard time settling in.
- Maybe it is the friend who doesn’t know Jesus – They are a great friend, but a little rough around the edges. You don’t bring them around your Christian friends because they cuss too much and you can smell the alcohol on their breath. They are an outcast because they don’t know Jesus and you are too nervous to let them in.
Hesed not only met the needs of Mephibosheth, but gives him a seat at the table.
- A seat at the table meant he was now a PART of something
- A seat at the table meant he BELONGED at the table
- A seat at the table gave him PURPOSE
- A seat at the table meant he was FAMILY
Is there room for a Mephibosheth at your table?
Are you creating a place for the outcasts, the oppressed, the widow, and the orphan in your life to belong? Or are you keeping them at a distance?
If the extent of our love for the outcast is a kind gesture they will NEVER know the deep love that Jesus has for them. The reality is that Jesus has a hesed love for them that knows no bounds. And he wants us to be the instrument of that love for the outcast. He wants us to be instruments of his grace to the world.
Start Making Room
Many of us never shown hesed to the outcast or love to our neighbor because we have never made room for them before.
- We have never made room at the table
- There is no room for another person in our social circle
- We have no margin in our lives for those in need.
But this call to hesed is one that goes above and beyond random acts of kindness:
- Instead of being nice to the widow, hesed invites her over to share a meal once a week with her because you know she needs company and people to care for her
- Rather than give the couch surfing teenager a one night stay, hesed causes us to ask the question “do I have a more permanent place for them in my home”
Mephibosheth’s story if OUR story
We are all outcasts. We are broken spiritually.
David’s story of hesed is a foreshadowing of the ultimate showing of hesed: Jesus’ death on the cross. At this moment, Jesus made room in the Kingdom of Heaven for us.
Read 1 John 3:16-17
When Jesus died and rose again, he gave us room at the table in the kingdom of heaven for eternity. We had no business at the table. But he covered us with the tablecloth of grace.
Our call is to accept the seat at the table of grace and then begin showing hesed to the outcast among us.
–
Be sure to check your spam folder for your emailed notes!