THE BEAUTIFUL, THE BOLD AND THE COURAGEOUS
Esther, 1:10-12; 4:16
Subject: The Beautiful, The Bold and the Courageous
Turn to you neighbor and say neighbor: I’m Beautiful, I’m Bold, and I’m Courageous -- and so are you!
The Beautiful, The Bold and the Courageous
When you go back to your cells, I will encourage you to read the entire book of Esther. When you read it for yourself -- you will discover that the book of Esther, teaches us about the Providence of God.
I took the liberty to look up providence in the dictionary and found that the word means: care or preparation before hand, foresight and divine direction.
But I would like to define providence as before I see -- God has already seen. What do you mean preacher, well, in other words God saw beforehand what we would do and even though we are sometimes out of the will of God, we are not beyond His care -- especially, for such a time as this.
God is El Shaddai. The healing for every wound, comfort for every sorrow, and the assurance for your every despair. God is the provision for everything you lack, and the solution for your every problem.
I think that we can sum up Providence as -- God’s way of providing, directing, and leading his people, even thought we sometimes do not want to be led.
Now, having said all of that -- let me begin this Mother’s Day morning by giving you brief introduction into what is taking place in here in the book of Esther.
In chapter one -- we see King Ahasuerus throwing a big party for 127 of his closet friends. I believe King Ahasuerus is suffering from a disease called “a man’s pride and ego”. This sickly disease has caused him to call all of his boys over to his house for a 187-day party. An party which lasted more than six months and for no special reason but to simply show off all of his stuff, the thingdoms of his kingdom.
This story of King Ahasuerus reminds me of a famous ex-basketball player and ex-sports casters -- who is in trouble this very day with the law because of his desire to show off his stuff, his thingdoms -- his toys to his friends, to appease his pride.
You see this former basketball player -- he had a party one night over his house and invited all of his celebrity friends. You know, the party had to have been off the hook, or should I say off the chain, it had to have been bumping if the likes of the world renowned Harlem Globetrotters had their face in the place. And this party mixed a man’s pride with alcohol and resulted in his limousine drive being killed.
Well sisters -- I don’t know what you know, but speaking from personal experience, a man’s pride alone is enough to get him in all sorts of trouble. Now mix that pride with a bottle of alcohol, and top that off with a little E&J, no I do not mean irk and jerk, nor do I mean Ernest and Julio. No, I’m talking about envy and jealousy -- mix these ingredients with a bottle of alcohol and you will end up with a world of danger.
Well -- we see in the book of Esther -- that a man’s pride mixed with a bottle of wine caused him to do some crazy things. Yeah, pride with alcohol, resulted in King Ahasuerus asking his wife [Queen Vashti] to come paraded around in front of 127 of his partners.
I don’t know -- but maybe one of you here today, may have been asked by your boyfriend -- or that earthly man that you called king -- to do the same sort of thing. If you have that’s okay, because God’s forgives you and if you haven’t then that is great also. But there is a message in the book of Esther that we can all learn this morning.
Many people ignore the role that Queen Vashti, the Gentile played in this story. But, if we take our time and read carefully, we will discover that the character of Vashti was as zealous as that of Esther, the Jew. We can learn a lot from both of these beautiful, bold and courageous woman.
So let us consider out text again: Chapter 1
[Verse 10]
On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha Zethar, and Carcus, the seven chamberlains that served in the presence of Ahasuerus the king. [A Drunk king mond you]
[Verse 11]
To bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to show the people and the princes her beauty: for she was fair to look on. Which translate to me that she was fine, all that, had it going on [A beauty queen]
[Verse 12]
But the queen Vashti refused to come to the king’s commandment by his chamberlains: therefore was the king very wroth and his anger burned in him. (Repeat)
In other words Vashti was not have that. Sounds to me like Vashti knew who she was and whom she belonged to -- and she was not about to share her body with anyone else.
I can imagine old Vashti saying to King Ahasuerus -- Yeah mister king, you may have all the money in the world, your friends may look up to you and think that you are all that, yeah mister king, you may call yourself the big boss, pimp daddy, and all sorts of self-imposed pride titles that men like to give themselves, but this one thing I know, is that you are not going to call me and treat me anything less than that deserving of a queen.
You see -- mister king, I remember when you told me when we first met that I was the pretties girl you ever laid your eyes on. Yeah -- you told me that you didn’t want anybody but me. And you told me how you were going to provide and take care of me. Then just when I though that things were going great -- you went and got yourself another women. And then when the both of us was not enough for you -- you went out and got yourself a whole concubine of wives and now I have to wait in line to talk you.
I remember when we use to talk long walks in the park, but now I have to ask permission to see you. Yeah, mister king, you thought that you could pacify me and call me your queen and tell me that I am your main squeeze.
But I got news for you -- mister king, I may have turned a blind eye to your extra marital affairs. Yeah, I may have ignored your po-lyg-amist lifestyle, but I cannot, and will not allow you to disrespect my body anymore. You see -- my body is the Lord Temple; I am God’s property.
You see -- mister king, you have got me mixed up with one of your other honeys. You see -- I’m not like Tasha and Tamika, I’m not only beautiful, but I’m also bold enough to tell you that I refused to lay down my virtue for the sport of your drunken, oversexed, pride driven friends.
You see, I may have slipped up before, but I will never do that to myself again. Because in case you forgot, I’m Beautiful, I’m Bold and I’m Courageous.
You see -- mister king, I’m not only beautiful, but I’m also bold enough to tell you to go fly a kite. Bold enough to tell you that I can do bad all by myself.
I’m bold enough to tell you that, if you kick me out, that I know that my God is able to see me through. I’m not only beautiful, but I’m bold enough to tell you that my God is Jehovah Jirah the “Lord who provides”. Just as he offered a ram to be sacrificed in Isaac’s place on Mount Moriah -- I know, I said, I know that he will do the same thing for me.
So go ahead listen to your cronies, listen to your astrologers, and kick me out. In fact -- wait I’m better than that too, I’ll just pack my bags and leave. Besides, I don’t want to be your queen anymore, anyway. Any man that will disrespect me in the way that you have -- does not deserve to be with me.
Turn to your neighbor and say neighbor -- just in case you forgot -- I’m beautiful, but I’m also bold and Courageous -- and so are you.
Go with me now to Esther 4:16
Go gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish. You see, Esther is not only Beautiful, and bold, but we she her now as courageous [The Courageous Queen]
You see -- King Ahasuerus has issued a decree to kill all of the Jews in Persia because of Mordeci’s refusal to bow to Haman, the Prime Minister. This decree puts Esther in a bind because Esther was a Jew. So Esther’s cousin Mordeci, who had raised her from her youth sent a message to the Queen and told her that see needed to do something.
Esther sent word back to Mordeci that there was nothing that she could do because it was not her turn in the rotation to see the King and that the only way that she would be able to go to him out of turn is that he called for her. Then cousin Mordeci send word back to Esther as recorded in 4:14 “...and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
In other words -- how do you know whether or not all that you have gone through in the past -- all that you are going through right now -- all the places that you have been, all of the things that you have learned -- was all done for such a time as this.
I came to tell you this morning -- that knowing the sovereign hand of God; you can have confidence that wherever you are in life, that you have been raised up “for such a time as this.”
There my be one or two of you who thought about not coming this morning -- but I tell you that you are here this morning for “such a time as this.”
Just like the humble beginning of Esther -- Esther was a beautiful Jewish girl who had been raised by her cousin Mordecai, after her parents died. Her Jewish name was Ha-das-sah. They lived in the Susa, the capital city of Persia during this time frame among the other exiles who had been taken from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar.
Read your Bible for yourself and you will discover that King Ahasuerus had a Miss Persia Pageant and chose Esther [a unbeknownst to him, but a Jew] from among the most beautiful virgins in the land to be his new queen, replacing Queen Vashti who had refused to come to him when summoned.
One thing that separated Vashti and Esther is that Esther was a queen without power and privilege. She could not even approach the king, without risking death, unless she had been called to him. More importantly, she too shared the king’s attention with over one hundred other women.
But thanks -- be to God for his providential care and for raising what the world deemed as worthless and a good for nothing slave girl into a beautiful, bold and courageous queen.
I stopped by to tell you that He would do the same thing for you. If you let Him (repeat)
Our scripture says Esther 4:16
Go gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.
Let us recap -- We had a drunken king, a beauty Queen, a Bold Queen and now we got ourselves a courageous Queen.
Because of Esther’s courageous act, a whole nation was saved. Seeing her God given opportunity, she seized the moment!
She did put it off for another day -- she ceased the moment. She did pray that things get better -- she ceased the moment.
Although her life had humble beginning -- she made a difference in this world. Just like Esther, maybe God has prepared you to act in “such a time as this.”
God told me to tell you that you are beautiful, bold, and that you are courageous. And He wants you to act for ... for such a time as this.
I stopped by to tell you that you are bold enough to tell your boyfriend that you are not going to sell your body anymore.
I stop by to tell you that you are bold enough to tell your boyfriend that he is going to stop hitting on you.
You are bold enough to tell your boyfriend that you not going to do anymore of those strip parties and that you are not going to lay down your virtue and work in any more of those strip joints.
You bold enough to tell your husband -- that his extra martial affairs has to cease or he runs the risk of losing you.
You’re beautiful enough to realize that you do not have to get high on drugs to have a good time.
You’re beautiful enough to realize that you have to set a good example for your daughters and your sons.
You’re beautiful enough to know that God will supply all of your needs according to his riches in glory -- and that you do not have to go around town shoplifting.
I stopped by to tell you that God wants to be your Jehovah -Rohi “the Lord our Shepherd.” He wants to lead you, he wants to feed you and protect you from hurt harm and danger.
The same God that called the sun, moon and stars to orbit the earth want you to know that He loves you.
The same God the molded the dust of the earth and blew His breathe into the temple called man is the same God that is higher than the heavens, deeper than the oceans, lovelier than any sunset, stronger than any wind and fresher than the morning dew.
YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL, BOLD AND COURAGEOUS
God wants you to stop trusting in man -- He wants you to put your hand in his unchanging hand. And just like Esther He want to turn you into a queen.
Even in your present circumstance you are still BEAUTIFUL, BOLD and COURAGEOUS.
CLOSE -- Sum up the Gospel Story About Jesus
- Birth (Borrow manger)
- Death (Borrowed Tomb)
- Resurrection (All Power in His Hand)
