Esther: Purpose and obedience without fear

Pastor Cameron delivers todays message titled "Esther: Purpose and obedience without fear"

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SPEAKER_00 0:01

Alright, so this morning we are looking at the book of Esther. Something that I found, and maybe it's been different for you, but over the course of my Christian life, there hasn't been a whole lot of, at least sermons, out of the Old Testament. So that's something that personally I like to highlight because there's so much within the Old Testament that's important for us. And it relates life to us in narrative form. And I think we respond best to stories. We can see that in the way that our culture responds to things like movies. I mean, movies are starting to come back and it is starting to boom once again. And even we've created new markets for movies through our streaming services. And yet God gave us the Bible with not just narrative, but they are true stories, meant to not just give us a history of where we come from, but teach us good and bad examples of ways that we can live our life in service in obedience to Him. This year, Katrina and I have had the pleasure and sometimes the exasperation of putting Oliver in T ball. A few of our other kids were able to play this year too. And it was fun. He loved it. He was cute on the field with his oversized jersey, a glove that was slightly too big, and a bat that was slightly too heavy for him. If you you know my son, you know how how little he is, and we tried to get the smallest of everything that we could, and uh it was still just a tad much for him. But he loved it. Um but as parents who want their kid to succeed and to do well, it drove us a little bit crazy because he finds drawing in the dirt, dancing, play fighting, and using his bat as a walking stick way more exciting than the game of baseball. And so we would go out there and we'd see him, you know, digging at the dirt with his his cleats, and you know, he'd be throwing his bat around in the air like it was some kind of cane. And he had a blast. Um but for us, you know, trying to get him focused in on T-ball. Um, the very first game, the very first time that he ran, instead of running two first base, he ran around the foul line. Um he loved it. He loved it. Drove us a little crazy, but he loved it. He doesn't really understand what it means to play baseball. He doesn't get it. He gets it more now than he did. He did grow, but he doesn't really understand. He didn't understand what his role on that team was, he didn't understand his importance to the team. There was one night where uh, for whatever reason, as toddlers do, he refused to eat his dinner. And by the time we get to the game, and he's it's his turn to bat, he's crying because he's hungry. And it's like at that point, you know, you know, what do you do? Well, eventually we had to say, all right, well, I guess this isn't our game, and we had to go home and we had to feed him and put him to bed. And it was it was a rough night. But he just didn't understand the importance of being on a team. But it's okay. Because he's four, and he's still understanding, and he's still growing, and he did improve slightly over the course of six weeks, and he's gonna continue to grow from these kinds of experiences. But however, sometimes we are kind of like Oliver as Christians. You know, we we sign up for the team, and then we are where God places us to be, and he has this specific and perfect purpose for us, and we kind of draw in the sand. We wander around, we daydream, we get distracted by the other team. We complain that our glove is too big and our bat is too heavy. When we read the Bible, as we get into the book of Esther, because this is gonna highlight uh what I mean, there are two ways to read your Bible. This is important for us as we go into the text this morning. There's raking the Bible and there's digging the Bible. When we read it, you know, sometimes we have a tendency to just open it up and pick a verse and then get really confused about why we're reading about go around Zion and circle it and count its towers. What is that supposed to mean for me today? Well, that's not really the way we're supposed to do it, right? So we rake it, so that means we we read the text in its entirety, so we read a pretty good chunk of it, and then we can go back and we can dig into the parts that are really important so that we can really understand what it's trying to say. But if you pick one thing over the other, you're gonna take the scripture out of context. And you're gonna make it mean what you want it to mean, or you're gonna get really confused, and you're just not gonna want to do it anymore. And sometimes we get into a rut of doing that. Well, the book of Esther is not meant to be taken little bit by little bit by little bit. It's meant to be read all at once. And then you can go back, and if you want to revisit some of the finer details to make sure you understand it, then do that. But it's 10 chapters, it's a pretty easy sit, you know, 10, 20 minutes, and you can get through it. And you can see what happens in the life of this lady named Esther. So just to set up the story, the Israelites had been disobedient to God for a long time. They had King Saul, who was a terrible king, and they had King David, who was great, until Bathsheba, and then his life kind of fell apart, and King Solomon took over after David, and Solomon decided to have thousands of wives and worship other gods, and it split the kingdom. And both of the kingdoms, the northern kingdom, the southern kingdom, they did not follow God. There were a couple kings in there that kind of changed the story and they turned it back to Yahweh, but it didn't take long for the nation to start sacrificing their children to other gods again. And God gave them over to the consequences of their actions. And other countries took over Israel. They enslaved them. The Babylonians took them, then the Persians took over the Babylonians. And at this point in history, the Israelites have not been in their own land for more than six years. And Esther has not ever known what Israel was ever like. She grew up in this environment, this exile. Well, King Xerxes is the king, and he holds this banquet in honor of all of his servants, so all of his officials, and his wife, Queen Vashti, has a little party for her maidservants. And one day, King Xerxes, feeling really good after he's had a lot of wine, decides he wants to show his wife off to the world. So he sends for her and she doesn't want to come. She tells him, no. So he says, Well, okay, I guess you can't be queen anymore. So he decides he's going to hold the bachelor event, and he takes about 1,400 females from the entire province that he controls, and he says, Alright, one of you is going to be my wife. So he puts them through beauty treatments and he competes them against each other, and he has to decide which one he likes best. Well, there's Esther. And Esther goes through this. She had no choice. It wasn't like she had she could sign up for it. This was just her lot in life. She was orphaned as a little girl. She was taken in by her uncle Mordecai, who cared for her, who taught her how to serve the Lord. And she was selected. Not only was she selected to be within this 1400 group of girls, but the king selected her specifically to be his wife. But Mordecai, her uncle, told her, never ever tell them that you are a Jew, because that would be dangerous. And so while she would be at the palace, Mordecai would sit at the gate and he would watch her from afar, and he'd send messages to her just to make sure that she was safe. He cared for her deeply. And as he was sitting at the gate, he hears of this plot to kill the king, and he sends word to Esther. And she foils the plot because of what Mordecai did. And in this way they lived for a while. Well, enter a man named Haman. Haman was a guy that Xerxes really liked. Think of him as Xerxes' best friend, okay? Second most powerful person in the empire. Haman hated Mordecai. Because whenever Haman would walk around, everyone would bow down to Haman. Except for Mordecai. You see, Mordecai was a Jew. And to bow down to a person would be to defy the Lord.

unknown 8:43

Haman hated that.

SPEAKER_00 8:45

It made him so mad. So he wanted to kill Mordecai. And he didn't want to just murder Mordecai. He wanted to exterminate the entire Jewish people because of Mordecai. And because they believed that bowing down to any person was idol worship. So he hatched this plot to exterminate the entire Jewish people. Mordecai sees the notice that the king has written that all the Jewish people are to be killed by the end of the year, and he sends word to Esther. And so that's what we're going to pick up at Scripture this morning. In Esther chapter 4, if you'll stand with me this morning. When Mordecai learned all that had occurred, he tore his clothes, he put on sackcloth and ashes, and went into the middle of the city and cried loudly and bitterly. He went only as far as the king's gate, since the law prohibited anyone wearing sackcloth from entering the king's gate. There was a great mourning among the Jewish people in every province where the king's command and edict came. They fasted, wept, and lamented, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes. Esther's female servants and her eunuchs came and reported the news to her. And the queen was overcome with fear. She sent clothes for Mordecai to wear, so that he would take off his sackcloth, but he did not accept them. Esther summoned Hathach, one of the king's eunuchs who attended her, and dispatched him to Mordecai to learn what he was doing and why. So Hathak went to Mordecai in the city square in front of the king's gate. Mordecai told him everything that had happened, as well as the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay the royal treasury for the slaughter of the Jews. Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa ordering their destruction, so that Hathak might show it to Esther, explain it to her, and command her to approach the king, implore his favor, and plead with him personally for her people. Hathak came and repeated Mordecai's response to Esther. Esther spoke to Hathak and commanded him to tell Mordecai All the royal officials and the people of the royal provinces know that one law applies to every man or woman who approaches the king in the inner courtyard and who has not been summoned, the death penalty. Unless the king extends the gold scepter, allowing that person to live, I have not been summoned to appear before the king for the last thirty days. Esther's response was reported to Mordecai. Mordecai told the messenger to reply to Esther, Don't think that you will escape the fate of all the Jews, because you are in the king's palace. If you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will come to the Jewish people from another place, but you and your father's family will be destroyed. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to your royal position for such a time as this. Esther sent this reply to Mordecai. And after that I will go to the king, even if it is against the law. If I perish, I perish. Alright, you may be seated. So they send word back and forth. And imagine what it must have been like for that messenger to go back and forth and back and forth, right? But Mordegues suggests that Esther needs to approach the king and tell him everything that's going on. And yet to do so is to risk her life. She would have to die. To do so means that she would have to reveal the fact that she's Jewish. Very dangerous for her. And Esther 4, 13 and 14. Look at that one more time, just so that it's clear. Mordecai told the messenger to reply to Esther, Don't think that you will escape the fate of all the Jews because you are in the king's palace. If you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will come to the Jewish people from another place, but you and your father's family will be destroyed. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to your royal position for such a time as this. Let's leave that there for a second, guys. In all of the Bible, there is one book that never mentions God one time. It's this one. God is never mentioned in the entire book of Esther. In other books of the Bible, we see Jesus moving and preaching and doing things, and we recognize that he's God. We have Paul's epistles where we see that he's giving us directions and explanations for what God wants. In the Old Testament, we see God having dialogue with men and with women. But in the book of Esther, not at all. It's just a story. And God's not a character. Why isn't the Bible then? Because God is still moving in this story. And in the book of Esther, we can see probably a bit more clearly how our relationship with God functions in the day-to-day of life. God did not give Esther a black and white, Esther, I'm from heaven. You must do this, this, and this. She just had to be obedient in the moment with the position that she was given. And Mordecai says, God's got this. If you choose to be disobedient, God will make it happen another way. You're just going to have to deal with the consequences personally. It's the same for us. God has been sovereign over all of human history, and it did not depend upon human individuals for God's will to be done. He just used the people who chose to stay on God's team, the people who chose to be obedient, despite the consequences, despite being afraid of what might happen. But think about the situation that they're in. Mordecai has been singled out and used as an excuse for the extermination of all the Jewish people. Esther has been given a position and she might die for doing what's right. Should Mordecai have been a coward? Should he have treated Haman as an idol? No. He was obedient. God was working in the details, and he was using Mordecai's obedience to bring about a greater purpose here. Mordecai realizes that his niece is there for a reason, and that the solution, it doesn't depend on her, only on God. Mordecai's faith was not in Esther. It was on the living God who promised to never forsake the Jewish people, and that the Savior would come through their nation. And because of that, he knew they weren't going to be exterminated. He already knew the final word. He knew what was going to happen. He didn't know how God was going to work it out, but he knew that God would. And he pointed it out to Esther and said, God has put you there for a reason. Be obedient. Stay the course. He was actively working. So what does Esther do? She chooses to risk her life. She says, If I die, I die. Well, what happens next? Well, the king hears her request to have dinner with her and Haman. And that night, Esther not having revealed anything, the king could not sleep. It says that he consulted the city records, as me and you might do if we can't sleep. We read something boring, right? So that we can put our minds to ease and at rest. About a month ago, um, Katrina couldn't sleep, and I was like, all right, let me pull out the U.S. Constitution. We got through the preamble. She was out. So he chose to read an account of the royal city's recent history, and he learned about how Mordecai had saved his life. So he wakes up the next morning. The king's excited. He's like, I gotta do something for this guy. He saved my life. How did I not know about this? Well, as the king is excited about wanting to do something to celebrate Mordecai, Haman is busy building a gallows for Mordecai. He builds it 75 feet tall just to make sure it's gonna do the job. He really hates this guy. And so Haman makes his way to the palace and he is just about to tell the king, hey, I built this for Mordecai. Can you make sure that we can do this today? And the king says, I need you to put Mordecai in my clothes, give Mordecai my ring, put Mordecai on my horse, and Haman, I need you personally to parade him around the city, shouting praises for Mordecai. Obviously, Haman was furious, but he did it. He didn't say anything. And then Esther has the king and Haman over for dinner again. And this time she decides to reveal what's going on. She reveals that she's Jewish. She reveals that Haman has a plan to exterminate the Jewish people and that it includes her and Mordecai. The king is furious. He finds out about Haman's gallows, meant for Mordecai, and he hangs Haman on his own gallows. And then the Jews were given the ability, when this purge day was supposed to happen, to be able to fight back. They were given weapons and the ability. And it says, at that time, many people in Persia became Jews. Because they saw how God was working, and some of them were afraid of what might happen if they weren't Jewish. And they turned to God because of that. And in the midst of it, Mordecai became the second most powerful person in the empire where Haman used to sit. And this event is still celebrated by the Jewish people today. It's called the festival of Purim. But what does this mean for us, right? Okay, so we we read the story. This happened three, four thousand years ago. What does this have to do with us, right? Well, number one, understand. You guys can go to the next slide. Understand. God is still there. Even when we can't see him, right? God's plan is perfect, even when we can't understand it. And God places us in specific situations around specific people for a specific purpose. Next slide, guys.

unknown 19:35

Thanks.

SPEAKER_00 19:38

Even when you cannot see God, he's still there. I hear this from my teenagers a lot, and it's no different for adults. We go through life and life gets complicated, and we are always asking, where's God? Why? Why is this happening to me? He's still there. He hadn't forgotten. And he had stopped working, he's not taking a break. And when you don't understand God's plan, his plan is still perfect. The Jews here were about to be exterminated. Or so they thought. But God had a bigger thing in store. A bigger thing going on. And it meant being being afraid for a little while. It meant being obedient, even when it might mean that you die. It's not easy following the Lord. If it was, everybody would do it. If it was, people would readily be available, say, oh, well, that Jesus thing's pretty easy. Some people will try to change the gospel and point it, say, oh, if you follow Jesus, you're gonna be healthy and wealthy and wise, and everything in life is just gonna work out all the time. And really it's kind of the opposite. Because following Jesus oftentimes puts us in awkward positions because you are contrary to the rest of the world. But he puts each of you in a specific situation around a specific people for a specific purpose. And that doesn't mean that you're gonna go to the Congo and be a missionary. Right? He has set some people aside to do that. But where you work, you are appointed there by God. The family members that you have, you were appointed to be in that family by God. The church that you were in this morning, God made sure that you could get here. You have to choose to be obedient with the circumstances that you are in. And you may not ever be a king or queen of a nation facing the death penalty, but you are a unique person with a divine assignment, and you have to choose whether or not you are going to do it. And I can't stand here today and tell you specifically what that is for you, each and every one of you. But you should know what it is, and if you don't, you prayerfully consider it. Talk to the spiritual people in your life who are following the Lord and ask genuine questions. And don't play dumb, but actually pursue what God wants you to do because He has put you in a specific situation for a purpose. Don't spend your life punting the purpose that God has given you to wield. Over my years in youth ministry, I've had adults and teens both come and say things to me like, if I could only get so-and-so here, they could just talk to you and get saved. At first, you know, this was kind of flattering to me, especially when I was a newer youth pastor, because it meant that they trusted me with people that they cared about. But over time I realized that it was more about that they didn't have the boldness, the confidence, or the motivation to do it themselves. They could not see the purpose and the influence that God had given them as a family member or as a friend. And so they just punt it to the pastor. Now I have no problem bringing people to Jesus. Obviously, I wouldn't be in this profession if I didn't. But I want to see y'all bring people to Jesus too. I want to see y'all living for Jesus too as an example to the world around us. As Christians, God has given each of us this mission and this purpose that He's intended us to fulfill. Queen Esther is a positive example of what happens when we choose to see our purpose and choose obedience despite our fears, despite being afraid. All right, as our worship team comes up, if you'll pray with me this morning, dear God, thank you. Thank you for Queen Esther and for her obedience in the face of frightening, frightening things. And God, some of these things we have a hard time relating to. But we know that your word is never failing. So in this way, help us to be obedient like Queen Esther. If there's something that needs to be said this morning, some kind of repentance or reconciliation, Lord. If there's a mission, a purpose that we've been neglecting, God, please convict us and bring us back to it. We love you, Lord. And we appreciate this time that we've had in Jesus' name. Amen.