Sharon Community Presbyterian Church

Today we worshiped at Sharon Community Presbyterian Church, 522 Carnot Road, Moon Township, PA 15108, 412.264.7400, www.sharonpc.com, Rev. Dr. Doug Marshall, Interim Pastor.

Scripture – NASB

Luke 14:15-21 –

When one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him, "Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!"

But He said to him, "A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many; and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, 'Come; for everything is ready now.' But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, 'I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused.' Another one said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.' Another one said, 'I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.' And the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, 'Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.'

2 Samuel 9:1-13 –

Then David said, "Is there yet anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?" Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and they called him to David; and the king said to him, "Are you Ziba?" And he said, "I am your servant." The king said, "Is there not yet anyone of the house of Saul to whom I may show the kindness of God?" And Ziba said to the king, "There is still a son of Jonathan who is crippled in both feet." So the king said to him, "Where is he?" And Ziba said to the king, "Behold, he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel in Lo-debar." Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo-debar. Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and prostrated himself. And David said, "Mephibosheth." And he said, "Here is your servant!" David said to him, "Do not fear, for I will surely show kindness to you for the sake of your father Jonathan, and will restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul; and you shall eat at my table regularly." Again he prostrated himself and said, "What is your servant, that you should regard a dead dog like me?"

Then the king called 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. You and your sons and your servants shall cultivate the land for him, and you shall bring in the produce so that your master's grandson may have food; nevertheless Mephibosheth your master's grandson shall eat at my table regularly." Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. Then Ziba said to the king, "According to all that my lord the king commands his servant so your servant will do." So Mephibosheth ate at David's table as one of the king's sons. Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Mica. And all who lived in the house of Ziba were servants to Mephibosheth. So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate at the king's table regularly. Now he was lame in both feet.

Bob’s thoughts:

I enjoyed being able to worship in church again and it was nice to return to Sharon. We were greeted at the door by the pastor and by a number of people, including a brother Marine.

It was enjoyable to not have to wonder if there will be a cross on the wall.

The time for silent confession was way too short for me.

A number of people greeted us during the passing of Christ’s peace.

I found the flute during the offertory delightfully refreshing.

I thought video of the children was being projected on the screen during the children’s time but then realized it was just a photo. I couldn’t see it well from where we sat and couldn’t believe how they were sitting still.

The sermon, “Mephibosheth WHO?” drew a great correlation of God’s grace for us hopeless sinners. The fear Mephibosheth must have felt to be called up to David’s presence, as we come, unworthy, to God. One statement I liked: “We all have fears that cripple us.” There was a thought for meditation that I’m sure Jan will include.

Jan’s thoughts:

We drove past this church the other day and wondered what might have changed since our last visit, which seemed much longer ago than a year and a half.

The signage was helpful and prominent. Several folks greeted us as we entered, before the service began, and afterward. A number of people invited us to attend the annual picnic scheduled for right outside immediately following the service; unfortunately we had other plans and could not attend but we truly appreciated the hospitality.

The membership is gearing up for their bicentennial celebration in 2017; there seem to be many other events in motion as well.

The sanctuary was just as lovely as I recalled. We sat in the last pew, as usual, in order to avoid any potential issues with volume. However this time it backfired, as the organ was immediately behind us in the balcony, and it was quite loud.

I loved the “Thought for Meditation” in the bulletin, adapted from Craig Barnes: “The gospel’s open secret is that strength is found in weakness. Crippled people know that they need a Savior. The goal isn’t to avoid disability. The goal is to find the Savior. And our dis-ability is always the means for discovering the Savior’s ability.” It fit perfectly with the sermon and contains much truth. What it doesn’t say is that we are all crippled somehow…not all disabilities are visible.

The sermon was entitled “Mephibosheth WHO?” It has been a while since I read the story, but this message connected some dots for me.

The pastor pointed out that Mephibosheth was about 5 years old when his father was killed, which would have been traumatic and would have caused Mephibosheth to spend the first part of his life living in fear. He reminded that fear cripples us all.

Mephibosheth would also have expected David to try to kill him, as that was the usual order of events, so when David sought him out asking, “Where is he?”, the pastor reminded that this is the same question God asks when He seeks us out, because we hide too.

Mephibosheth begged for his life, and David simply said his name, just as God calls us by name, because we are not just impersonal identifiers, we are people with names. Mephibosheth was a disabled man living in fear who was invited to enjoy provision, honor, and relationship with the king, just as we are invited to eat at God’s Table and to enjoy His provision, honor, and a relationship with Him.

David’s giving all this to someone with nothing to give in return reflected God’s same gifts to us because it is Who God is and what He does.

I deeply appreciated hearing this message today as it cleared up a mystery for me. It was also a touching reminder of a time when God spoke my name to me at a period of extreme worry in my life. I have always marveled at all He communicated in that single syllable, not the least of which was that He had not forgotten me. In that moment I learned I not only had a name, but that God knew and remembered it. A precious memory indeed.

I savored the opportunity to participate in Communion, as it had been a while, and the piano accompaniment during the sacrament was a perfect complement.

Our prayer for this church:

Lord, we pray this church will find Christ’s strength in their weakness. Amen.