Lost Books of the Bible: Esther
Every year, around the same time as
Easter, some of you may notice on your calendars the holiday of “Purim.” You
probably know that it is a Jewish holiday, but I doubt that most of us know the
Purim story, and that’s because the story of Purim is found in another of our
lost books of the Bible, the ones that no one ever reads, the book of Esther.
So today, I’m going to tell you the story of Purim, and why it matters to you,
as a Christian.
I remember the first time I ever read
anything from the book of Esther. I was in high school and we were having See
You At The Pole, and I was in charge of it. See You At The Pole is an event
held every year across the globe where students gather to pray before school
around their school’s flagpole. It’s a really neat event, and there is a
website where the organizers of See You At The Pole give information on the
theme for this year’s event. And I believe it was my senior year when I got on
the website and noticed that the theme for that year was a scripture from Esther.
I thought, “Esther? How am I going to get classmates to come do a devotion
surrounding scripture from Esther?” But then I read it, and if I’m honest, this
scripture has affected my life as much as any other passage of scripture in the
Bible.
Let me set up the scenario for you in
the book of Esther, before we read an excerpt. You can find Esther between
Nehemiah and Job in the Old Testament. And this book is set at a time when the
Jews have been captured and taken into exile and they are under the control of
a Persian king named Xerxes. Xerxes was rich and powerful, but he didn’t like
his wife, so he decided to find a new wife, a better wife. And he sent his
advisors out to find all the prettiest girls in his kingdom and bring them in
so he could pick.
Can you imagine? All the girls wanted
to be queen, all of the them wanted to live in the palace. All the girls wanted
to be queen, except Esther. Esther was a Jew. Her parents had passed away when
she was young, and she had been raised by her uncle, Mordecai. She was content
to stay where she was and live a simple life. There was only on problem: Esther
was hot. She was a hottie. She was too pretty to go unnoticed. And the kings
advisors saw her and took her to the king and he said, oh yes, she’s the one. So
Esther went to live in the palace as queen, and Mordecai would come by the
gates of the palace every day to check on her.
One day while Mordecai is sitting by
the gates, he hears two of the kings advisors plotting to assassinate him.
Mordecai quickly reported what he heard to Esther, who told the king. The two
advisors were executed and the king was saved, and a notation was made in the
king’s official record about Mordecai’s good deed.
About this time, another of the king’s
advisors was named Haman. Xerxes made Haman very powerful, and Haman got him to
issue a decree that everyone was to bow to him when he passed by. One day as
Haman was walking out the palace gate and everyone was bowing down to him, he
noticed one man, Mordecai, was not bowing. Mordecai would only bow to his God,
not to Haman.
Haman was furious, and wanted to get
revenge on Mordecai. When Haman found out Mordecai was a Jew, he got the king
to issue a decree against the Jews, that on a certain day, all of the Jews in
the kingdom were to be killed. Wiped out completely. When Mordecai heard the
news that this was going to happen, he went to the palace gate to speak with
Esther. To this point, no one but Mordecai knew that Esther was a Jew. And
Mordecai asked Esther to go to the king to plead for her people.
Now, you can’t just go to the king and
start talking, even if you are the queen. You have to be invited in. If you
aren’t invited in, and you come in anyways, there’s a good chance you will lose
your head.
And here is where I want to read this
next part of scripture with you. It is found in Esther chapter 4:9-17. You may
want to follow along in your Bible with me. Esther 4:9-17.
Hathach went back and reported to
Esther what Mordecai had said. Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, “All
the king’s officials 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
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.”
Esther is scared. She could die if she
just goes in to talk to the king. But listen to Mordecai’s reply.
When Esther’s words were reported to
Mordecai, he sent back this answer: “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 a royal position for such a time as this?”
For such a time as this. That was the
center of the devotional we had for See You At The Pole, and that is the phrase
that has stuck with me over the years. For such a time as this. Back in our
Gospel According to Gump series we talked about destiny and free will and
providence. And how maybe Forrest Gump was right, maybe destiny and free will
are happening both at the same time. And this line from Mordecai, this phrase,
I think captures that idea, and the way in which God works in the world.
I think that there are two main points
of view surrounding this. The first is that God predestines and orders the
entire world and everything that happens, happens because God decided it would
happen. Right? The whole idea of God deciding I would eat 287 Cheerios this
morning. The other camp holds to the idea that God is entirely hands-off and
just sits back and watches stuff happen, and humans have decided the course of
history, not God.
But I gotta believe, like Forrest
Gump, that maybe its both. Romans 8:28
says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love
him, who have been called according to his purpose.” What does that mean? I
think what it means, in the context of Esther, and in the context of our lives,
is that God has ordered things so that if we are faithful, if we love God, and
if we live lives and make decisions that are in line with what he has called us
to, then things are going to be good. Things will go well. Our lives will be
fulfilling.
Do you know what a Rube Golderg
machine is? If you ever played the board game, “Mousetrap,” that was basically
a Rube Goldberg machine. A Rube Goldberg machine is something that is
ridiculously complex full of seemingly unrelated objects that, when placed in
the right pattern in the right order, are able to accomplish a task. Like the
bowling ball rolls down the rail, onto a roller skate, which rolls into the switch,
which turns on the fan, which pushes the sailboat across the pool, which knocks
over the pole, which turns on the toaster and makes your toast for you. Lots of
complicated, seemingly unrelated things, all to accomplish some task.
And sometimes I feel like God has set
up multiple Rube Goldberg machines in our lives. Seemingly unrelated events and
gifts he has given us which, when put in the right order accomplish God’s
tasks. Of course, sometimes we decide to mess up the process. Sometimes we
disobey. Or we ignore the gifts God has given us.
Think about Esther for a moment. Think
of the process that brought her to where she was. Her parents died, so she went
to live with Mordecai. Mordecai was kind and loving enough to take her in. God
blessed her with great beauty. The Jews were in exile, so she ended up living
in the
It had to be one of those times for
you where, as scared as she was, she felt like she was in the right place at
the right time. She was right smack dab in the middle of God’s will. It was one
of those moments where she realized that this was the culmination of her
purpose. Everything in her life had led her to this moment. And she had to make
the choice between realizing that, realizing that God had brought her here for
such a time as this, or saving her skin and turning her back on God and her
people. Would she accept the fact that this time and this place in history was
foreseen by God, and it was the reason she was there. It was the reason he made
her so beautiful. It was the reason she had become so close to Mordecai. She
was God’s solution to Haman’s plot against the Jews. If she would be faithful.
That’s why she was there.
So let me ask you this: Why are you
here? Why are you here in this time and in this place? Why? What series of
events has led you here, and for what reason? What purpose does God hold in
store for you?
Let me help you out a bit here: your
purpose is unique to you. You don’t have the same purpose as Esther. You aren’t
here to free the Jews from Haman’s plot. I can tell you that much. But why are
you here? Why are you in this church? Why are you friends with the people you
are friends with? Why are you here?
I want to tell you a story. I got
permission from Brandi Young to tell this story, and I think it is just a
perfect example of how God orders our lives, so that if we are faithful to him,
everything will work for good.
For those of you who don’t know, last
fall Brandi lost her mom, Deb, to a battle with breast cancer. Brandi was in
her freshman year at Bluffton, and while it was a real struggle for her, she
has persevered and coped better than I could ever imagine. She has clung to God
and to her friends and family. She never lost faith, and continued to seek
after God’s will or her life. This year, Brandi is a hall chaplain on her floor
and in her building, meaning that she holds a Bible study and makes herself
available to girls who need Christian love and support and guidance. In the
first week, a freshman on Brandi’s floor came and told her that she had just
lost her grandmother to cancer, and she needed someone to talk to. Shortly
after that, a girl came and told Brandi that her mom was dying, and she needed
someone who would understand. And so Brandi is there, as their hall chaplain,
to walk with these two girls through this time, and could there be anyone who
would be a better support to those two girls than Brandi for such a time as
this? Could there be any question that God knew these two girls would need the
love and support of someone who could empathize with what they are going
through, and that he placed Brandi in their lives for such a time as this?
I want to tell you the end of the
story of Esther. She decided to be faithful. She decided that perhaps God did
have this purpose in mind for her. So she went in and approached the king,
knowing full well that it was a crime punishable by death. But the king gave
her permission to come in. She was so hot, so beautiful, he was going to give
her whatever she wanted. She invited the king and Haman to come to a banquet
she would prepare the next night. The king accepted.
Haman heard that he was invited to the
banquet, so he went out to the gates to gloat, and there sat Mordecai, still
refusing to bow. The Haman had a gallows built seventy-five feet high on which
he would ask the king to hang Mordecai for his insubordination.
But the king had been reading through
his records. And he realized that he had never properly thanked Mordecai for
foiling the assassination attempt against him. So the next day, when Haman was
coming in to ask the king to hang Mordecai, the king said, “Haman, what should
I do for a man I wish to honor?” Haman was sure the king was talking about him,
so he said, “Dress him up in your finest robes and give him a parade around
town!” The king said, “Good idea! Go do all that for Mordecai.” So Haman had to
lead a parade for Mordecai through town. He was not happy.
When the parade was over, Haman and
the king went to Esther’s banquet. The king asked Esther, “What is it you want?
Ask for even half of the kingdom, and I’ll give it to you!” Esther explained
that she was a Jew, and that Haman had set out to destroy her people. The king
was enraged with Haman. He was so angry that he got up and left the room. He
had to go blow off some steam.
Haman knew he was in big trouble, so
he began to plead with Esther to spare his life. He got down on his knees and
wrapped his arms around Esther’s legs, begging for forgiveness. About that
time, the king walked in and saw Haman groping his wife, and he said, “Hang
him!” One of the guards said, “Hey, I just saw someone built a new gallows
75-feet high!” The king said, “OK, use that one!”
Mordecai replaced Haman as the kings most
trusted advisor and the Jews were saved. It is this event, the faithfulness of
Esther and providence of God that is still celebrated by the Jewish people
today as the holiday of Purim.
So how about you? What’s the end of
your story? Will you be faithful to the God who has brought you to this time
and to this place for such a time as this? He has given you unique gifts and
abilities and experiences. You are the only one who can accomplish the plan
that he has laid out for you. Will you be faithful?
A life with no regrets is a life that
has served God without reservation. Sometimes it means taking a risk. Sometimes
it means having to confront things in your past that you want to pretend
haven’t happened. Sometimes it means leaving your comfort zone. What are you
willing to risk to follow God’s will, his purpose and plan for your life? The
reward is way greater than the risk. What would happen, if we would give it all
to God, and say, “God, if this is where you want me, if this is your purpose
for me, then I’m going to go at it 100%.” What if we surrender all to him?
That’s my prayer for you today. Maybe you’re holding back. Maybe you know where
God wants you, but you aren’t willing to take the risk. Or maybe you just need
to come to that point in your life where you say, “God, I don’t know where you
want me, but wherever it is, whatever you want from me, I want to be fully open
to it. I’ll do it. Here am I, send me.” Are you willing to surrender all?
Pastor
Dan Metzger
Van
Buren United