Scripture: Esther 9:20-22 I Peter 4:7-11
Dean Willimon of Duke University tells of a conversation he had with a student who had recently transferred to the university and joined their Bible study. Willimon relates:
“The student told me how much he was enjoying his Bible study group here at Duke University.” I asked him, “Were you in a Bible study group in high school?”
“Are you kidding?” the student replied. “I told you I was an Episcopalian.”
Willimon persisted, “Well, why do you think that Bible study has become so important to you here?”
Exasperated, the student declared, “Dean Willimon, have you ever tried to be a Christian AND a high school student at the same time?” (illustration from SermonCentral.com)
Often times our attempts to be faithful servants of God make us feel so alienated from those around us, that it seems impossible to both “serve God” and “be in this world” at the same time. To make matters even worse, sometimes God sends us to places and among people that we would never intentionally choose to go on our own. Such is the story of Esther.
Some Christians have avoided teaching this story. One reason has been that the name of God, or even a reference to God, does not appear in the entire book. Admittedly, it is a different kind of story, but then we should be accustomed to unusual stories when dwelling on the Old Testament. God’s ways are often mysterious to us as they unfold. Frequently, they don’t make any sense at all until long after the events have come and gone. Such is the story of Esther.
The story of Esther takes place sometime between 485 and 465 BC during the reign of King Xerxes I of Persia. Esther was an orphan raised by her uncle Mordecai during the time when thousands of Jews were held in captivity in Babylon. Esther was raised in captivity and grew to be a very beautiful young woman. Then one day King Xerxes went looking for a new wife, and he commanded all the young virgins be brought to him for a beauty contest. In this matter Esther and Mordecai had no choice. Mordecai does, however, instruct Esther not to reveal her nationality to the king. She obeys her uncle, and her uncle relocates with her so he can keep an eye out for her best interest. Esther 2:11 says,
“Everyday he walked back and forth near the courtyard of the harem to find out how Esther was and what was happening to her.”
As the story unfolds, Esther is favored by King Xerxes and eventually became the new queen. Meanwhile, Mordecai saves the king’s life and Xerxes learns of Mordecai’s service. It was Esther who reported this to the king. These seemingly unrelated events occur, and still Esther’s heritage is kept secret. Then a crisis arose in which all the Jews in captivity were to be destroyed by an edict of the king. It was then that God pulled together the invisible strands of His divine plan.
Learning of her people’s imminent destruction, Esther risked her life in order to save her people. Mordecai’s deeds were also brought again to King Xerxes’ attention. The mystery of how God could allow a Jewish woman to marry a pagan king suddenly became apparent. God was looking beyond the immediate needs of one person and into the future needs of a nation. Esther’s favored status with King Xerxes gave her the golden opportunity to change the king’s mind, and all the Jews in exile were saved.
The Book of Esther is a witness to the powerful impact an obedient servant can have on the destiny of many. The dominating factor in all our service for the Master, however, is not the need of other people, but the command of the Lord Jesus Christ -- His absolute sovereignty, His right to send His people anywhere; His right to order our steps as well as order our stops. Where God sends us and why are frequently mysteries.
Often, we are asked to serve the needs of the church, Christ’s body in this world. What the outcome of that service might be is frequently a mystery to us. We are, nevertheless, given the opportunity to serve.
John 4:38 says,
“I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
As servants of God, we are given opportunities to labor in His fields, to reap His harvest, and to serve each day. Jesus was the ultimate missionary of God the Father who was sent to share God’s love with a thankless world.
Missionaries of God appear in many guises. A missionary is someone who is sent by the Lord, as Jesus Himself was sent by the Father: Jesus said, “. . . as my Father has sent Me, even so I send you." Consequently, the true source of inspiration for service is always behind us and never in front of us. That source is Jesus Christ. The challenge, on the other hand, will always be in front of us; as will the means for meeting that challenge. To meet that challenge, we rely on God who sends us.
Esther and Mordecai were missionaries of God. I doubt that they ever thought of themselves that way, but that is how God used them. The fact that God did use them is not always in direct relation to their immediate willingness to be used . . . but rather in their final willingness to be used. Some might argue that Mordecai and Esther had no choice. They were servants, captives in a foreign land. But they did have choices. Mordecai choose to interfere and save the king’s life. Esther chose to risk her life in order to save others.
To serve as a missionary, does not require a long journey far from home. The church’s mission begins on the church’s doorstep. The call to mission work is as simple as the call to serve the Body.
The power and the motive of all Christian work is never what we see ahead, but is that indefinable pressure of the Holy Spirit that has put us there. That pressure from the Holy Spirit is what keeps our hands on the plough when the going is hard. It is only such conviction from God that will give us "stickability" at the task. To be in any service for God, and to lack the assurance of being called and sent is tragedy indeed. But when our faith rests in Christ, we are assured that, whatever we are called to do, God will provide us with the skills necessary to see it through.
In I Peter 4:7, we read,
“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others.”
Sometimes, the service we are called to perform seems so menial and mundane that we can scarcely believe that it’s actually service to God. Keeping it in perspective, however, would you say that it’s “menial and mundane” to vacuum and dust God’s sanctuary? If not, then how about cleaning and dusting your own homes - - - for are not your homes your place of worship when not at church? Service to God takes place when we seek God’s direction, answer God’s call, and lift our voices in praise to God no matter how trivial the task may seem at the moment.
Sometimes it needs all the grace of God to go through drudgery and poverty, to live an ignored existence as a saint, unnoticed by anyone. . . . Remember, always we are sent out to be exceptional in ordinary things, among sometimes mean people, in frequently sordid surroundings. Only the person sent by the King of kings could take that, and only the person with a true burden will ever accept it.
One afternoon a man came home from work to find total mayhem in his house. His three children were outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard. The door of his wife’s car was open, as was the front door to the house.
Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall. In the front room, the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing. In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door. He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she may be ill, or that something serious had happened.
He found her lounging in the bedroom, still curled in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked, "What happened here today?"
She smiled again and answered, "You know every day when you come home
from work and you ask me what in the world did I do today?"
"Yes," he replied in bewilderment.
She answered, "Well, today I didn’t do it."
If we expect praise from others for our service to God, then we do it for the wrong reasons. When God lays a burden on your heart to serve or to help a ministry to grow, He’s not asking you to, “find someone else to do it.” He’s already found the person He wants, and God doesn’t make mistakes. That’s why He placed the burden on your heart to begin with. What you really need to do is say, “Yes Lord, I wish to obey. Please show me how.”
Esther’s faith was largely rather “unspectacular”. She wasn’t known much for sticking her neck out or taking chances. For the most part, she simply served obediently and kept her secrets. Even winning favor with the king was attributed to her good sense in following the advice Hegai who was in charge of the king’s harem. And when Mordecai first called on Esther to go to the king on behalf of the condemned Hebrew people, her first response was an excuse as to why she couldn’t.
Chapter 4, verse 11: “All the king’s officials,” she said, “and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned by the king has but one law: that he be put to death. The only exception to this is for the king to extend the gold scepter to him and spare his life. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.” Which meant, of course, that Esther did NOT wish to go there without being summoned. Ultimately, even Esther’s reason for taking the risk was less than noble. Mordecai wrote back to Esther with these words in chapter 4 verse 14,
“Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this.”
The words of I Peter 4:7 and 4:10 seem exceptionally well suited to Esther’s situation. In 4:7, Peter wrote, “The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.”
And in 4:10 we read, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in various forms.”
In 444 B.C., after King Xerxes’ death and during the rule of Cyrus, the prophet Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem leading a group of exiles from Babylon. He brought with him a command from God to rebuild God’s Temple. There were those already in Jerusalem who, for their own personal gain, did not want Nehemiah to succeed. They opposed him at every turn. To this, Nehemiah wrote in chapter 2 verse 20:
“. . . They laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, "What is this thing that you do? Will you rebel against the king? “ Then answered I them, and said unto them, "The God of heaven, He will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build: but you have no portion, no right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem" (Nehemiah 2:20).
In essence, this was Mordecai’s warning to Esther when she hesitated. It is also a word of caution to us all. When God calls us to serve Him, we are given a choice. We can either obey and participate in God’s victory, or we can decline the call and miss it. Either way, God’s purpose WILL be accomplished. Our faith does not need to be spectacular for God to succeed. It only needs to be present in our willingness to serve. For, “God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness.”
Please join with me in prayer:
Heavenly Father,You have called to us out of our darkness to bring us into your divine light. You allowed your only son to suffer and die in our place in order to deliver us from death. Your love, dear Lord, is beyond our comprehension.
As you call out to us, Father, we pray that your summons will be received with thanksgiving in our hearts. Teach us how to serve you, Lord. Fill our hearts with thanksgiving and our deeds with love.
This we pray in Jesus holy name.
