Michael Youssef - The Self Worth We Need
Back in the days of the Communist rule in East Germany, some of us have lived that history. The younger generation probably read about it in history book, but we lived it. During the terrible years when the Communists were in control of East Germany and capital East Berlin, the Ministry of Education in East Berlin, for eight consecutive times, have turned down, refused the application of Mr. Holmer's eight children from being enrolled into the university. The Ministry of Education at that time usually did not give a reason as to why they refused an application or an applicant into the university, why they rejected that enrollment.
But in Mr. Holmer's case, the reason for rejection of his eight children application into the university was not hard to know. Mr. Holmer was the Lutheran pastor in Lobetal, which is a suburb of East Berlin. For 26 years, the Ministry of Education in East Berlin, or in East Germany, was headed by no other than the wife of the premier, the Communist premier of East Germany, Margot Honecker. She was not only the wife of the premier, but she was total dictatorship over education system.
Now fast-forward to '89, '90 when the Berlin Wall fell. Again, some of us would remember those days. We saw with our own eyes both on east side and on the west side, trying to knock that wall down, and finally, the wall collapsed. When that happened, Premier Honecker and his wife were thrown out of office and were indicted as criminals, but that's not all. They were actually got thrown out of their luxurious palace in which they lived in, and they were homeless. They were on the streets. Premier Honecker and his wife found themselves not only homeless in the street and friendless, no one would want to be associated with them.
None of their former Communist comrades who prouded themselves on camaraderie, none of them would even take a look at him or his wife. No one would identify with them or allow them to come into their home when they became homeless from the power to the streets, with only one exception, one exception: Pastor Holmer and his family of eight children. They were the ones, the very people that Mrs. Honecker deprived them of education, because of their Christian faith, they are the only family of Pastor Holmer's family to welcome the deposed dictator and come to live in their house with their family.
Reverend Holmer said, "For the sake of Jesus, I exercise grace to the very people who persecuted them, discriminated against them". The Christian faith is the only faith that does not require the believer to do anything for his or her salvation. It's the only faith. The Christian faith is the only faith that reveals the love of God reaching down to humanity. Adherents of all the other religions desperately trying to reach out to a God whom they know nothing about except just by name. I want you to turn with me if you haven't already to 2 Samuel chapter 9, verse 1: "Is there anyone still left in the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness, or favor, or grace for Jonathan's sake"?
Think with me here. David suffered for 15 years under Saul. David was persecuted and hunted down for 15 years by Saul. David was chased from mountain to mountain. He was chased from wilderness to wilderness. He was chased from town to town. David barely escaped the javelin and the spear of Saul, and yet, as soon as David becomes king, as soon as David emerges victorious by the power of God alone, as soon as David comes into the seat of power, he exercises grace. As I said, in this chapter, it's the foreshadowing of God's grace who came to earth searching for lost sinners like me. Just like God who initiated his work of grace in an undeserved sinner's life, David initiates the act of grace to the family of his archenemy.
So David asked, "Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan's sake"? Verse 3, they said to him, "Yes, there is still a son of Jonathan, Mephibosheth, and he is crippled both feet". You notice the Bible repeated that more than once? It's very important. Don't miss it. He is crippled in both feet. Now, if you flip back to chapter 4, verse 4, you're gonna find how he became crippled. He became crippled as a result of a fall. When his father and grandfather were killed in battle, out of a panic, his nurse, his nanny was taking the little boy, Mephibosheth, and was running out of fear, not knowing what's going to happen, and in her running, she dropped him, and when he fell, he broke both of his feet.
Here, in 2 Samuel 9, Mephibosheth is no longer a little boy. He's a grown man. He's a grown man now. I want to contrast Mephibosheth's condition to yours and mine before Christ came into our life. First of all, it's his name. His name, Mephibosheth, in Hebrew, that means "a shameful thing". That's his name, a shameful thing. Beloved, listen to me. Our condition before Christ came into our lives was shameful thing. We were born in sin. We were born with our backs to God. We were born with minds and hearts that at enmity with God. We were born with a darkened mind. We were born with a will that is opposed to the will of God.
The second thing I want to show you in this contrast is that Mephibosheth was on the run from David. Think about this. Think about this. Just like our culture and our media, our education are lying to our kids about God, somebody lied to Mephibosheth about David, did not tell him the truth about David. And therefore, Mephibosheth erroneously all these years, he thought that David wanted revenge, that David was gonna get him, that David is his enemy. The third contrast that you're gonna notice here between Mephibosheth and us before Christ is that he was crippled in both feet. That portrays our spiritual condition before Christ. Now, the Bible actually said that we were not just crippled, we were dead, spiritually dead, in our trespasses and sin.
By nature, we were unable to run to God. By nature, none of us could walk in the path of righteousness because we're spiritually crippled. By nature, none of us were able to trot into the way that leads to life. We were spiritually dead and crippled. When he says "no one" means "no one comes to the Father but by me". Only Jesus can carry us across the chasm of sin. Only Jesus can lead us to the Father's forgiveness. Only Jesus can strengthen us by his grace. Only Jesus can save us from condemnation. But the fourth thing I want to show you, the fourth contrast here, is Mephibosheth became crippled as a result of a fall, as a result of a fall. The nurse, or the nanny, dropped him when he was a little boy, and he became crippled in both legs.
We too became sinners by birth and by practice as a result of Adam's fall in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were not created to sin but became spiritually crippled when they fell into sin and disobedience to the living God. And the fifth thing I want to show you here, verse 4, Mephibosheth lived in Lo Debar. Lo Debar means "no pasture," no hope, no life. In fact, in the Hebrew language, the word "lo," L, O, means "no". Every time you see it, when the book of Hosea says, "I'll call the child Lo-ruhamah," means "no mercy". Ruhamah means mercy. Here, it comes from the land of Lo Debar, the land of no pasture. It was a barren land, a place of dissatisfaction. It was a place of emptiness, and so it was for us.
This young man, Mephibosheth, had everything gone against him. Oh, for the grace of God. He came from a family that rebelled against God's anointed. He could not walk because of a fall. He was dwelling in the land of no hope, of utter barrenness, and yet, the king himself, and yet. Can you say "yet"? The king himself was seeking him. The king himself was reaching out to him. The king wanted to shower him with blessing. He wanted shower him with grace. In John chapter 10, verse 3, the Lord Jesus said, "The Good Shepherd," he's referring to himself of course, "The Good Shepherd, he knows his sheep by name".
Did you get that? He calls you by name. At the burning bush, he called Moses by name. When he was walking down in Jericho Street, he looked up at the sycamore tree, and he called Zacchaeus by name. At the empty tomb, Jesus calls Mary by name. On the road to Damascus, he calls Saul of Tarsus by name. Beloved, he calls you by name. Just listen long enough, you'll hear it. You'll hear it. Let me ask you this: Do you know that your name is being mentioned in high places? Do you know that? Your name is mentioned in far higher places than anything in this earth or this world. Your name is known in the courts of heaven. Did you know that your name is spoken of by the Lord Jesus Christ to his Father by name? David called Mephibosheth by name.
The second contrast between David and our Lord is in verse 7. He said to him, "Fear not," fear not. Do you know this is the very first thing that the Lord says to us when we come to him in repentance and faith? The first thing he says to us, and he calls you by name and says, "Fear not". John, fear not. Bob, fear not. Michael, fear not. Fear not, Jane. Fear not. Sue, fear not. That's the first thing he says to us: Fear not! Don't miss this. It's very, very important. Because you notice there is no rebuke. There is no condemnation. There is no chiding. There is no anger regarding the past. There is no reproach because of what the family did or did not do. No, he said to him what? Fear not Satan, why? Because he has no authority over you. Fear not sin, why? Because sin has no dominion over a child of God.
Fear not the consequences of sin. Why? Because they are covered, and they're washed by the blood of Jesus Christ. Fear not hell, why? Because you have been rescued from the horrors of hell, amen, amen. Not only did David call Mephibosheth by name, not only did David say to Mephibosheth, "Fear not," the third thing, verse 7, David said to him, "I will restore to you all the land that belongs to your grandfather Saul". Beloved, I'm getting ready to shout because I know what I'm going to say. This grace without bounds, this grace is without borders. This grace is without category. This grace is without bargaining. This grace is without conditions. This grace is without stipulations.
The fourth thing that you notice here, verse 8, David's grace overwhelmed dear old Mephibosheth. I mean he just overwhelms him. Let me tell you something. If the grace of God does not overwhelm you, something wrong with your salvation. Listen to what Mephibosheth said: "What is your servant"? You should take notice of this like, "I'm like a dead dog to you". Even though I came to the Lord relatively earlier in my life, I still to this day regret, not that I live in regret, but regret the times I run away from God. Young people, please listen. I know everybody today talks about self-worth, self-worth, self-worth, and I want to tell you the only self-worth that is worth having, it is that God, the God of the universe, knows you by name!
That God, the God of the universe, loves you dearly! That the God of the universe has a plan for your life! That the God of the universe has named you in his will to be an inheritor of his eternal life! That the God of the universe has given you the greatest inheritance that anyone can even imagine. That's the self-worth I need. That's all the self-worth that I need. We need to teach that to our children. David did not only call Mephibosheth by name, David did not only tell Mephibosheth, "Fear not," David did not only restore to him the inheritance of his forefathers, David did not only overwhelm Mephibosheth with grace, but fifthly, David invited Mephibosheth to eat at his table. What a contrast.
What a contrast. He's going from the land of Lo Debar, the land of barrenness, to the king's table! Did you get that? From depravity to abundance, that is the grace of God. This is how God saves. He saves from the gutter-most to the uttermost, from the depth of depravity to the height of purity. He saves from the lowest of the low to the highest of the high. He saves from the prison to the palace. He saves from slavery to sonship. He saves from being lost to being the center of his attention. Isn't that amazing?
Through Jesus, we have received far, far, far, far, far, far more than was lost in Adam, in the garden, because sitting at the king's table for a crippled man, Mephibosheth, legs are hidden from view under the table. The one who was named a shameful thing is now honored. The shameful become honorable. The crippling of sin is hidden completely from God's view. For God's eternally covered it all up by the blood of Jesus, and the blood of Jesus covers all of our crippling sin, so much so that when the Father looks at you, when he looks at you, he sees the wounds of Jesus. He sees the blood of Jesus.