ESTHER: LIVING FOR GOD IN A GODLESS CULTURE
Taking a Stand: Esther 2:19-3:15
Preached tag team style with Layperson Todd
INTRODUCTION ERIK
-Sunday morning Superman…
-What did he stand for?
-“Truth, justice and the American way.”
-What do we stand for?
Review:
• Xerxes has taken power in Persia
• He banished Queen Vashti
• 4 years laters he puts on a competition for a new Queen.
• A young Jewish woman named Esther is promoted to be new Queen
• Not only was she promoted, her adopted father Mordecai promoted
VS 19 Even after all the young women had been transferred to the second harem and Mordecai had become a palace official, 20 Esther continued to keep her family background and nationality a secret. She was still following Mordecai’s directions, just as she did when she lived in his home.
-Esther reads like a good novel.
-Protagonists, antagonists, twists in the plot and some significant character development.
-Deficiencies in the character of both E and M.
-They didn’t seem to stand for anything but rather… -Did whatever they had to blend in & not make wave
-They were worldly in some ways, passive in their beliefs, but all that changes when life throws Mordecai a curveball.
-Just like many of us have experienced...Mordecai finds himself in a situation where he has to decide what he’s going to stand for.
-And his situation was anything but normal…it seems that Mordecai has stumbled across a plot involving...murder.
ESTHER 2:21-23 TODD
VS 21 One day as Mordecai was on duty at the king’s gate, two of the king’s eunuchs, Bigthana and Teresh—who were guards at the door of the king’s private quarters—became angry at King Xerxes and plotted to assassinate him.
-So we see...summary
-This death threat is a serious issue, these eunuchs have inside access to the king, and could have the opportunity to kill the king. This is like one of the president’s cabinet members or aides plotting to assassinate him. Plus many kings at the time were killed by those closest to them, like Julius Ceasar.
-In fact, 15 years for this time Xerxes would be assassinated by Atrabanus, commander of his bodygaurd, with the help of a eunuch.
-Why did the eunuchs want to kill the king?... We aren’t sure, but I think all the men in the room would agree that being made a eunuch in itself is enough reason for some serious ill feelings towards the king.
-One thing we know for sure though-Mordecai is the only one who can stop the murder plot.
So let’s recap Mordecai’s situation:
-since he is at the king’s gate he is some sort of public official
-The king has taken his one and only adoptive daughter as one of many young women into his harem
Now he hears of a plot to assassinate the king, what should he do?
-King Xerxes is clearly evil, he has killed many people? Mordecai probably thinks Xerxes deserves to die.
-Is he really the kind of person Mordecai should stand up for?...
Let’s see what Mordecai does.
VS 22 But Mordecai heard about the plot and gave the information to Queen Esther. She then told the king about it and gave Mordecai credit for the report. 23 When an investigation was made and Mordecai’s story was found to be true, the two men were impaled on a sharpened pole.
...
So Mordecai decided to tell the king about the plot, saving his life, and the two plotting eunuchs are killed by being impaled on an upright log.
-We are left with the question:
Why did Mordecai want to save King Xerxes?...
-Maybe it was selfish reasons, to get in good with the king, but there was probably more to gain if the king was assassinated, plus there is the risk off accusing the king’s guards, I don’t think he did if for selfish reasons.
-Why did he do it? Why did he save a man that had conquered many lands, killed thousands, and thrown ridiculous and sinful parties.
-He stopped the assassination plot because it was the right thing to do.
A modern day application: Christians should stand up for all people, even the wicked, because it’s the right thing to do.
What would you do in Mordecai’s situation?
You may not work for the president, but we all have the opportunity to stand up for those who experience injustice.
Luke 6:36-37 “36 You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate. 37 “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven”.
We must show grace, compassion and forgiveness to all, including:
-The co-worker who makes crude jokes all the time
-Your neighbor who plays his music too loud
-The family member who knows just what to say to make you hurt
-It can be really hard to do, wicked people often time do deserve a punishment for their wickedness, but is it our place to give them that punishment? … No it isn’t.
-We should take a stand for anybody being treated wrong because it is the right thing to do, imagine where we would be if Jesus only helped those who “deserved” it.
-History offers examples of Godly people taking a stand of those who may seem like they don’t deserve it:
-In Genesis Joseph is sold into slavery in Egypt by his brothers where he works as a slave and is eventually sent to prison. Years later, during a famine, his brothers come to Egypt in dire need of food.
-How did Joseph respond?...
-With grace, compassion, and forgiveness, weeping with joy and providing his family with all they need.(Gen 37:23-24,28 and Gen 45:4-5,15)
-There are times we must stand up for people or things that we disagree with or that we believe don’t “deserve it”, but we must rise above our personal judgments and show the love and justice God has given to us.
ESTHER 3:1-6 ERIK
VS 3 Some time later King Xerxes promoted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite over all the other nobles, making him the most powerful official in the empire.
-It’s been about 5 years since Esther was made Queen.
-And our antagonist is introduced...the big bad guy in the story: Haman.
-Haman is a descendant of Agag, the king of the Amalekites.
-These were Israel's sworn enemy for generations.
-Haman became the right hand man for King Xerxes. This was not uncommon in the ancient world…
-Joseph was Pharaoh's right hand man, Daniel was Nebuchadnezzar's right hand man, and here Haman wields great power under king Xerxes.
-But unlike Joseph and Daniel, Haman was power-hungry.
-He was a bit egotistical, like his boss King Xerxes.
VS 2 All the king’s officials would bow down before Haman to show him respect whenever he passed by, for so the king had commanded. But Mordecai refused to bow down or show him respect.
-There is much debate about why Mordecai didn’t bow.
-Some say that bowing to Haman was worship and Mordecai wouldn’t worship him because he was honoring the First Commandment.
-Others say this was just a sign of respect like solutting a superior officer, and he didn’t respect him so he wouldn’t bow.
-We can’t know for sure, but that’s not the question I have.
-My question is “Why does Mordecai take a stand now?”
-He didn’t stand for God when he chose to live in Persia instead of moving back to Israel like he was supposed to..
-He didn’t take a stand when they were taking his daughter away.
-He didn’t take a stand for his people/heritage, choosing to hide his ethnicity and telling Esther to do the same.
-But now, suddenly he’s taking a very dangerous stand against Haman.
-You don’t just blow off the king’s right hand man and expect to escape unpunished. He had to know his life was in danger here.
-We would understand if he risked his life to save Esther, but he didn’t.
-Instead, he’s risking his life because he wouldn’t show respect to a superior government official.
-And it didn’t go unnoticed.
VS 3 Then the palace officials at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why are you disobeying the king’s command?” 4 They spoke to him day after day, but still he refused to comply with the order.
-His co-workers are bugging him about his obvious lack of respect.
-They speak to him about day after day. Mordecai won’t budge.
-So like any good office gossips...they spread dissention.
So they spoke to Haman about this to see if he would tolerate Mordecai’s conduct, since Mordecai had told them he was a Jew.
-Haman, we just thought you should know what Mordecai guy has been saying about you. I don’t what his problem is.
-Talk about sucking up to the boss...right?
-And now, suddenly his religious and ethnic identity comes into play.
-He finally told these office gossips, I won’t bow because I’m a Jew.
-So it’s either, “I’m Jewish and I won’t bow in worship to a mere man.”
-Or, “I’m Jewish and I won’t bow because the Amalekites are our enemies.”
-So what did the office gossips say to Haman. ”And by the way, did you know he was a Jew.” Either way...he wasn’t bowing.
-Why did Mordecai play the religion card now?
-After all this time of hiding his race and religion it finally comes out.
-For all the years that he has hidden his faith, he finally speaks up.
-In his mind, this was the situation that demanded that he take a stand.
-Sometimes Christians stand against wicked people/actions because it’s the right thing to do.
-It’s interesting how we treat this in our own Christian lives.
-Someone is telling a filthy joke, we don’t so a word...and just try not to laugh too hard...Jesus wouldn’t find that funny so I’ll just laugh a little.
-Someone is talking about their beliefs, their religion, we just listen along without sharing about Christ. I don’t want to offend anyone.
-Often times we say nothing about our God, our Savior, our beliefs.
-We don’t weigh in on discussions of right and wrong.
-But then a situation or a circumstance arises and we just can’t take it...so we finally speak up. Just like Mordecai.
-And often times we finally speak up on an interesting occasion.
-We say nothing about Jesus to our co-workers for years, but we decide to take a stand on gay marriage. And the office gossips say “oh, he’s a Xian.”
-We say nothing about grace and forgiveness through Jesus Christ to our friend and family, but then blow up cousin Joe because he’s living in sin.
-Of all the battles that Mordecai could have fought, he decided that this was the hill we was going to die on.
-We can debate on whether he was right or wrong, wise or foolish to do so
-But you know what? He stood up for something.
-He refused to compromise or go with the flow.
-There was a wicked man, doing wicked things, and he was being pressured to join in and he simply said “no”.
-He didn’t lecture. He didn’t protest. He didn’t blow Haman up on Facebook. He just refused to do the things that everyone else was doing.
-That’s part of what it means to live for God in a godless culture.
-There are some things that are just off limits for us. We’re not slaves to religious rules. We’re not party-poopers or wet blankets.
-We’ve been set free from our sins, and we will not sacrifice that freedom to go right back into the chains.
-And so we take a stand.
-Some Christians fight all the wrong battles...and speak up too often.
-Some Christians don’t fight any battles...and are quiet too often.
-But we will all have those moments when we are faced with a decision to make. When there is no gray area to just blend into.
-There are times when our options are black and white, choice A or B.
-No middle ground, no compromise, no way out and we are left with the choice to either sit down and take it. Or to stand up for what is right.
-And Mordecai finally showed some courage and took his stand.
-And Haman didn’t stand for it. Vs 5 says he was filled with rage.
-Vs 6 says he decided not just to take revenge on Mordecai but on all the Jews in the Persian empire.
ESTHER 3:7-15 TODD (7 minutes)
VS 7 So in the month of April, during the twelfth year of King Xerxes’ reign, lots were cast in Haman’s presence (the lots were called purim) to determine the best day and month to take action. And the day selected was March 7, nearly a year later.
...
-Haman hasn’t even consulted the King, but is so confident that he starts to plan the extermination before even discussing it with the king.
-They rolled dice, cast lots to see when the massacre will occur
VS 8 Then Haman approached King Xerxes and said, “There is a certain race of people scattered through all the provinces of your empire who keep themselves separate from everyone else. Their laws are different from those of any other people, and they refuse to obey the laws of the king. So it is not in the king’s interest to let them live.
...
-He kind of misleads the king
-Yes they have different laws, but there isn’t evidence that they are refusing to obey the king’s laws, many of them were likely following the command to
Jer 29:7 “7 work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I send you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.”
-Plus it was only Mordecai who wasn’t bowing down.
VS 9 If it please the king, issue a decree that they be destroyed, and I will give 10,000 large sacks of silver to the government administrators to be deposited in the royal treasury.”
...
-A huge sum, on the order of $5 million dollars.
He would pay from the money taken from the murdered Jews.
VS 10 The king agreed, confirming his decision by removing his signet ring from his finger and giving it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. 11 The king said, “The money and the people are both yours to do with as you see fit.”
...
-After being saved by a Jewish man Xerxes doesn’t hesitate in allowing their annihilation
-Wow, some ruler, imagine if the president was to allow something like this to happen? How would you react if one day a law came from the government, all left handed people will be killed in 1 year?
-We see that the Persians were upset by this too
-Paraphrasing, the passage continues to tell us:
On April 17 a decree was written, sealed with the king’s signet ring, and was swiftly sent out to all the provinces of Persia. The decree stated that on March 7th of the following year all Jews—young and old, including women and children—must be killed, slaughtered, and annihilated on a single day. The property of the Jews would be given to those who killed them.
And it ends by telling us:
Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa fell into confusion.
...
-Imagine: Every single Jewish person in the whole empire were to be murdered, 2 year old children, 80 year old grandmas, pregnant mothers, everyone, upwards of 15 million people murdered on one single day.
-This is a shock to the people of Susa, the capital, just as it would us.
-And how do the king and Haman react, they relax with a couple of beers
CONCLUSION - TODD
-Taking a stand can be costly.
-Cassie Bernall was a 17 year old at Columbine High School in April 1999 when two senior pulled out guns and began shooting. While the details are debated it is believed that one gunman aimed his gun at Cassie and asked “do you still believe in God”. Cassie took a stand and said “Yes” regardless of the consequences. Faced with death, she refused to denounce God, knowing God was her eternal salvation.
-Mordecai took a stand and it was very costly.
-He was taking a stand and making a statement against an evil man knowing there would be a cost.
Taking a stand can come in many forms
-opposing evil
-refusing to participate in idolatry, idolatry of money, or our careers, or our image
-professing our faith
-or simply being nice to someone, saying hello to someone looking down or inviting the new guy over for dinner
-At times taking a stand can be costly, we can be embarassed, lose our job, or even be harmed
-God will always be at work when we take a stand in His name.
From this passage we also learn that:
-Not taking a stand when we should can also be costly.
-Imagine if Esther hadn’t kept her identity a secret...do you think Haman would have sold this plan to Xerxes?
-And here’s another example: Saul was commanded to destroy all the Amalekites when he attacked them, not leaving any alive.
Saul did not follow God’s command, didn’t stand up and do what God said.
-So here we are….100’s of year later and Saul’s descendant are paying the price for his inaction.
If Saul had done what God told him Haman, a descendant of the Amalekites would have never been born.
-There can also be costs to not taking a stand for God.
The ultimate example of someone taking a stand is Jesus
-Jesus took a stand for all of us, taking the punishment of all our sins and paying the cost of crucifixion. He did this so we can have the free gift of salvation, the forgiveness of sin, and admission into his heavenly kingdom.
Because of what Jesus did for us on the cross we now have the opportunity to take the most important stand of our lives by accept him as our Lord and Savior and receiving his free gift of salvation and forgiveness.
Many of us have already taken that stand, and we can take a stand in our day to day lives, standing against injustice, evil, idolatry, or hate, and standing for forgiveness, kindness, charity, and compassion. And as we take a stand others will see it and my come to know Christ themselves.
ERIK CLOSING
-There are some Christians that take stands on everything. They are ready to die on every hill, they makes waves everywhere they go and they are proud of it.
-That’s not what we see in Scripture and not what we are advocating
-More often the case some of us have gotten too comfortable in our silence. We never stand up, never speak up.
-If there is a problem with Christians in America it’s that we don’t speak up enough.
-Mordecai and Esther were ashamed of their identity, scared of what people would say what people would do if they knew.
-Christians we must never be ashamed of who we are.
-We are those who have stood up, and been counted as followers of Christ
I am part of the "Fellowship of the Unashamed."
The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line.
The decision has been made. I am a disciple of Christ Jesus.
I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.
My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future secure.
I am finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, chintzy giving, and dwarfed goals.
I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by presence, learn by faith, love by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power.
My pace is set, my gait is fast, my goal is Heaven, my road is narrow, my
way is rough, my companions few, my Guide is reliable, my mission is clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, deterred, lured away, turned back, dilluted, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the
presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the
pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.
I won't give up, back up, let up, or shut up until I've preached up, prayed
up, paid up, stored up, and stayed up for the cause of Christ. I am a
disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go until He returns, give until I drop,
preach until all know, and work until He comes. And when He comes to get His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My colors will be clear for "I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.." (Romans 1:16)
By Dr. Bob Moorehead
