Be a good neighbour

Dear Friends

In the news today (11th January) was the report of the tragic death of the elderly couple Jean and Derek Randall, who were found dead in their freezing home. Mrs Randall used a wheelchair and her husband was her full-time carer. Our first reaction might be to cast around to see who should be blamed for this awful incident of neglect. But then again, who of us can truly say we have never ‘walked by on the other side?’ Let us, rather, look around and ask ourselves, ‘Who can I be a good neighbour to?’
I am reminded of the story of Mephibosheth and King David (well worth reading in the six chapters 2 Samuel 4 to 9). Mephibosheth is an obscure figure who escapes the notice of most of us. King David sought him out when, after many years of war and internal strife, he remembered a promise he made to his late, best friend, Jonathon, the son of the previous king, King Saul. The promise was that he would always show love and kindness to Jonathon, and also to all his children, no matter what (1 Samuel 20:4).
So David searched to find if there were any descendants of Jonathan still surviving.
Amazingly, he finds one of Jonathon’s sons, Mephibosheth, still alive. David brings him to Jerusalem and makes him a very rich man! In fact, Mephibosheth must have thought he’d won the lottery! David restores all of Saul’s property and land to him and from then on, it says, “Mephibosheth ate at the King’s table as if he was one of the King’s own sons.” (2 Samuel 9:11).
Years before, when David himself was taken as a shepherd boy to live in Saul’s palace (after David had defeated Goliath), it was because he was young, talented, popular and the current ‘celebrity.’ In those days, it was the custom for Eastern kings to have at their table the most talented, the best looking and the most presentable of people – it enhanced their reputation and standing. Perhaps, no different, then, to today’s leaders!
But Mephibosheth doesn’t fall into the celebrity category. Not at all! He wasn’t young; there’s no mention of any talent; in fact he was poor and unknown; and we are told, because of an accident in childhood, he was crippled in both feet; also, it seems, he was ugly. When he is called before David, he says about himself: “Why should you, the King, show kindness to me, a dead dog?” (2 Samuel 9:8). If that’s how he saw himself, then we can probably assume he wasn’t a presentable sight and not exactly the life and soul of the party. He would not normally have been David’s first choice to sit in his court or at his table.
The point, though, is this: every time David looked across at Mephibosheth, he didn’t see any of the ugliness, he saw instead something beautiful. He saw Jonathon’s son, he saw only the likeness of his beloved friend; he remembered only the promise he had made, and it filled him with love for Mephibosheth. The Bible teaches us that when God looks on his people; he doesn’t dwell on our ugliness. He doesn’t dwell on the sin that separates us from him and continually taints our lives; he doesn’t dwell on the fact that we are spiritual cripples. When God looks at those who put their faith in him, he chooses, instead, to catch a glimpse of his Son Jesus Christ, and he loves us for no other reason than that, and with an everlasting love! There is no better, or greater reason, for you to love your neighbour, than the knowledge of God’s love for you.

Your friend and Rector,
Robert