Just When Do We Need To Give Up Our Crutches?
Good Morning Friends,
Despite the growing economic boom, suicide rates are on the rise in Florida as summertime sadness carries over into the winter flu season. And I think one of the problems is isolation of people from the people who might care for them best. But then who wants to be around a person with a cough and runny nose. You see our mental health is more fragile than we would like to think. Today’s text may not help you with your flu symptoms but is instructive on the topic of mental health. Here we see how godly friends have a role in helping keep us sane. We get this guidance clearly in the life of Jesus and an echo of this reality in the lives of Saul, Jonathan and David in today’s lectionary text as well as in the life of Mephibosheth. We see the rock star qualities of the Bible’s heroes and the transition and the drama of leadership change and marvel at how God works spiritually in all the emotions of life. So, this morning we ponder the ways we prop up our spirit. And consider that God might even use our need for support to carry out a divine purpose to the glory of God, even as we contemplate today’s question. Just When Do We Need To Give Up Our Crutches?
Scripture: As they were coming home, when David returned from killing the Philistine, the women came out of all the towns of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments. And the women sang to one another as they made merry, “Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” Saul was very angry, for this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands; what more can he have but the kingdom?” So Saul eyed David from that day on.
Saul spoke with his son Jonathan and with all his servants about killing David. But Saul’s son Jonathan took great delight in David. Jonathan told David, “My father Saul is trying to kill you; therefore be on guard tomorrow morning; stay in a secret place and hide yourself. I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak to my father about you; if I learn anything I will tell you.” Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul, saying to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have been of good service to you; for he took his life in his hand when he attacked the Philistine, and the Lord brought about a great victory for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced; why then will you sin against an innocent person by killing David without cause?” Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan; Saul swore, “As the Lord lives, he shall not be put to death.” So Jonathan called David and related all these things to him. Jonathan then brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as before.
1 Samuel 18:6-9; 19:1-7 (NRSV)
Jesus departed with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him; hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him; for he had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him. Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, “You are the Son of God!” But he sternly ordered them not to make him known.
Mark 3:7-12 (NRSV)
Saul’s son Jonathan had a son who was crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled; and, in her haste to flee, it happened that he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.
2 Samuel 4:4 (NRSV)
Message: We may seek a hero’s power, position and personal characteristics and even possessions, but the smart thing is to find our security ultimately in God. But the pathway there is not always in our control. So, we see in today’s text the reality that Jesus had grown in strength and became a threat to the religious leaders, so too we see in today’s text that David and his followers had grown in strength, and that David had become a very real threat to Saul. Where we find our security against real threats is the challenge of fight and flight. We do not fully see it in today’s text but, Saul’s forces will ultimately be decisively defeated by the Philistines and his three sons, Michal’s brothers, David’s brothers-in-law would be killed as a way of paving the way for David to become King. But before this happens God prepares David. God had separated David from his position in the army, and the crutch of power and possessions, and his wife Michal, and the crutch of position, his counselor Samuel, and the crutch of prophecy and ultimately his best friend Jonathan and the crutch of a promoter. And yet David survives while Saul commits suicide. So, in the end, each of us must come to grips with how we feel about power, position, and people. We must come to grips with the crutches we have and when they are useful and when they are not. And here we are to discover that there is no relationship more powerful and more important than Jesus. Given the pressures on us from family, jobs, endeavors, and pressures to worship the things of the world, we all might do well to reevaluate our emotions on this topic. And so, as we close today’s devotional reflection, let us focus for a time on what happened to Mephibosheth, who might well have been saved because of his need for a crutch. And the reality is that Mephibosheth could have lived a life of obscurity, loneliness and rejection, for he experienced tragedy. Instead of growing up in luxury, health and prestige he could have faced a life of why me. We do not know if he was ever healed physically but then we need to remember that King David brought Mephibosheth into his presence so he might dine at the King’s table the rest of his life, and that this was a type of healing. Here David honors his friend Jonathan who had saved his life. Here we get a hint of how Jesus can save ours. Friends, we are to spread the hope. Someone’s life depends on it.
Pray when the time is right we lay down our crutches so we might follow Jesus. Pray we recognize the value of good friends. Pray we realize that Jesus can overcome evil. Pray we be tools restoring relationships and honoring friendships that glorify God. Pray we accept the invitation to dine at Christ’s table. Pray we choose to live. Pray we count Jesus as our friend. Pray we offer real hope to those in need in a way the glorifies God.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 