“Lenten Love: It’s Complicated” I Samuel 18: 1-5; 2 Samuel 9: 1-13; March 3, 2024; SAPC, Denton; Richard B. Culp
9David asked, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul to whom I may show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” 2Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and he was summoned to David. The king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” And he said, “At your service!” 3The king said, “Is there anyone remaining of the house of Saul to whom I may show the kindness of God?” Ziba said to the king, “There remains a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.” 4The king said to him, “Where is he?” Ziba said to the king, “He is in the house of Machir son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar.” 5Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar. 6Mephibosheth son of Jonathan son of Saul came to David, and fell on his face and did obeisance. David said, “Mephibosheth!” He answered, “I am your servant.” 7David said to him, “Do not be afraid, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan; I will restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul, and you yourself shall eat at my table always.” 8He did obeisance and said, “What is your servant, that you should look upon a dead dog such as I?”
9Then the king summoned Saul’s servant Ziba, and said to him, “All that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master’s grandson. 10You and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him, and shall bring in the produce, so that your master’s grandson may have food to eat; but your master’s grandson Mephibosheth shall always eat at my table.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. 11Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king commands his servant, so your servant will do.” Mephibosheth ate at David’s table, like one of the king’s sons. 12Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Mica. And all who lived in Ziba’s house became Mephibosheth’s servants. 13Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he always ate at the king’s table. Now he was lame in both his feet.
Introduction: Love can be complicated.
the two stories we read this morning bookend the relationship between Jonathan and David.
A relationship the biblical text describes as loving - at least we are told that Jonathan loved David.
(in fact, we would be hard-pressed to find anywhere in the Bible a more loving description than the one describing Jonathan and David’s love, how their souls were bound together, and how their lives were to be intertwined, with Jonathan even giving David his armor, his sword, his bow and his belt - in essence, giving the best of himself to David
As we consider the love shared between David and Jonathon, consider how complicated their relationship is:
they were brothers-in-law;
they were best friends;
Jonathan saves David from the wrath of King Saul;
Jonathan is the next in line for the throne of King Saul, but David ends up being anointed by God as the next king.
and Jonathan will be killed in battle against the Philistines, with whom his good friend David was allied with at the time.
Speaking of King Saul, consider how he complicates the relationships.
He is Jonathan’s father, but connected to David as father-in-law;
We assume King Saul loves his son Jonathan, but the biblical text only mentions Saul loving David, but never mentions Saul loving his son Jonathan. An oversight? Perhaps. But also an indicator of how complicated things can be in relationships.(Suzie Park, Love in the Hebrew Bible, 88)
Saul He is a mentor to David, but also repeatedly tries to kill him;
on more than one occasion, David has the opportunity to kill Saul but does not because Saul is God’s anointed king.
Speaking of being anointed, King Saul had been anointed the first king of Israel, but then David is anointed to be the next king, unbeknownst to Saul and while Saul was still in power.
the story of King Saul and David is a also story of the two competing for the love of Israel.
nothing seems to anger Saul more than when the crowds are shouting about their love for David.
As death arrives for Saul and his son Jonathan, they are fighting together against the Philistines, with whom David is allied.
the love as seen between David, Jonathan, and Saul reminds us of the complicated loving relationships we might have in our own lives.
Move1: But the biblical text gives us more than complicated love in this story - it gives us heed.
a. As David and Jonathan live out their love for one another, we are told they show hesed to one another.
1. Hesed is a Hebrew word which speaks of faithfulness,
the love that is expressed by a person in power to a person, not in power.
2. Hesed is not some type of obligation that nobility might have for those inferior servants or people of the lower class.
not some type of condescending love
3. Hesed is not some type of virtue, but something that is done, lived out by one’s actions.
3. Hesed is not primarily something people "feel." It is something people DO for other people" who cannot demand if, but can only receive it. (http://discovertheword.org/2010/10/18/the-hebrew-term-hesed-and-what-it-means-for-our-lives-today/; further study on hesed see http://www.cslewisinstitute.org/webfm_send/430
5. Although it is hard to capture the Hebrew meaning of Hesed, the closest we might come is something like i“steadfast faithfulness,” particularly when shown by a person in power who does not have to act in love, but chooses to do so.
5. In another familiar biblical story, hesed describes Ruth's faithfulness to Naomi.
b in the case of Jonathan and David, hesed grows out of their commitment to love one another and take care of one another.
1. Their souls are bound together and they pledge hesed, steadfast faithfulness to one another.
2. As David and Jonathan live out their changing lives, we see how hesed works.
1. Early on, Jonathan, as the son of King Saul, is the person in power,
Jonathan lives out hesed by protecting David from King Saul in several instances, and continually trying to talk King Saul out of taking destructive action against David.
2. Hesed - Jonathan, the one in a position of power acting out his faithfulness to David by protecting David.
3. The second passage we read this morning describes how David lives out hesed when King Saul and Jonathan are defeated and dead.
4. David asks, “Is there anyone left for whom I can live out my love, my covenant with Jonathan?”
5. When he learns that Mephibosheth, Jonathan's crippled son, is still alive, he sends for him and treats him like one of his own sons.
Gives him land that rightly belongs to David as the conquering king.
King David even brought Mephibosheth the royal court and invited him to sit at the royal table.
7. so powerful was hesed, this steadfast faithfulness, that David lives into it even when Jonathan is dead.
Complicated love.
Move 3: Why does this complicated love story and the showing of these matter to us?
a. Because hesed is one of the Hebrew words that is often used to describe the kind of faithfulness
the kind of covenant
the kind of love God has for us.
1. Into the complicated love relationships we have with God.
complicated by our sinfulness
complicated by our turning away from God
complicated by our not quite believing God really loves us
God shows hesed.
2. God is clearly the person in power.
who has no need to love us
no obligation to love us
no good reason to love us
but God chooses to show faithfulness to us and love us.
3. That is what the God the Israelites discover again and again
from slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land;
from exile to the return to Jerusalem
the God who keeps returning to the Israelites and showing hesed.
4. the God who acts decisively to live out hesed
in the coming of Christ:
the God will send God’s very own son to join with us,
to die for us
to be resurrected
so that we can know the truth of God’s love for us.
Hesed matters in a complicated world of love because it reveals to us the God whose love for us cannot and will not be stopped.
5. in all the brokenness in our world
in all our failures to love,
we have the certainty that God has chosen to love us.
Hesed at work.
Conclusion: As we come to our Lord’s Table today, we remember that David invited Mephibosheth to sit at the king's table.
Not just a little food to keep him from starving,
but a place at the king's table.
the best that King David had to offer.
b. Such is the faithfulness of God who invites us to the banquet table for the Lord's Supper.
Not just a little food to survive, but the gift of Jesus Christ himself.
the hope and the promise of resurrection and new life.
Love is complicated.
God’s love cuts through all the complications and offers all of us a seat at the table - our Lord’s Table.
I Samuel 18: 1-5 When David had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 2Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father’s house. 3Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. 4Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that he was wearing, and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt. 5David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him; as a result, Saul set him over the army. And all the people, even the servants of Saul, approved.
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