The Queen of Beauty and Courage. The Story, Chapter 20

Transcription

1 1 Story, Wk /19/12 Avondale Meute Pearl: These are strategic gospel moments. The Queen of Beauty and Courage The Story, Chapter 20 Function: To move worshippers to respond to the urgent gospel call to embark upon the mission of Christ to the community and beyond. You and I live in an EPIC moment! I am saying that not only because of our new contemporary worship launch this coming Saturday called EPIC, but also because EPIC is a great word to describe the times in which we live. Indeed, since the life and times of Jesus Christ and so the implantation of the seed of the reign of God in the world, these are EPIC times! This week s chapter of The Story is about a woman and her service for God and his people. Her name was Esther (Hadassah). 1. Last week we heard about the contingent of God s people who returned to Jerusalem to resettle in their homeland. We will return to that city next week but today we learn about the interactions with God s people in a foreign land the Persian city of Susa. 2. The book of Esther contains this compelling story. a. King Xerxes I was in power. He was known for his great wealth, splendor, and power. Yet when he summoned his beautiful Queen to come to be seen by his guests toward the end of a lengthy feast, she refused. We see that his power and influence did not extend to his own Queen. For her failure to respond to him as he wished she was deposed from her position and a search began for a new queen. b. Beautiful young women were summoned from every corner of the kingdom to be considered for Queenship. c. A Jew named Mordecai was raising a beautiful young woman who was his cousin. Her name was Esther (Hebrew name Hadassah). Mordecai brought young Esther to be among the candidates in this ancient beauty contest. d. Each young lady, beautiful in their own right, became a part of a large group of young women (sort of like the TV show The Bachelor )

2 who were started in a year-long process of beauty treatments. Six months in oil of myrrh followed by six more months of perfumes and other cosmetics for women. e. Young Esther won the contest! This young Jewish girl became the Queen of Persia! Yet her identity as a Jew was hidden. f. Every day her dear care-taker Mordecai kept a close eye on her as he spent time daily at the gate of the palace. One day he heard two eunuchs who worked for King Xerxes planning an attack upon his royal highness so Mordecai informed Esther so that she could warn the King. These two eunuchs were put to death for their crime. Mordecai s good deed was recorded in the King s logbook. g. The next highest man in the kingdom was Haman. He was descended from the Agagites who were the first people that the Israelites encountered in their retaking of their homeland. So there was a natural enmity between Jews and Agagites. All in the kingdom were to bow in homage to Haman when he came around. Mordecai refused to bow to Haman and so Haman hated Mordecai and decided to wage genocide of the Jewish people. h. Once Mordecai learned of Haman s genocidal plans he put on sackcloth and ashes and set about weeping and wailing through the streets of Susa. i. When Esther learned of Mordecai s demonstration, she sought word of what the problem was. He told her of Haman s diabolical plans to destroy God s people which would include her (although Haman did not know of Esther s ethnicity). i. Mordecai told Esther that she had to go to the King to request mercy for her people. This would be dangerous because no one was permitted to go to the King unless summoned at penalty of death. Mordecai told her: Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this. Mordecai believed that God was at work behind the scenes of Esther s rise to this strategic place in order to provide for His people. j. Esther responded to Mordecai s mission by accepting the task but she demanded something in the meantime: Esther said Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and 2

3 neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will also fast as you do. After that I will go to the King, though it is against the law; and if I perish, I perish (Esther 4: 14-16). k. Esther appeared before the King, uninvited ( King Xerxes had a Queen that would not come when he requested and now a new one who appeared when he didn t request), and he gladly accepted her into his presence. (There is something to be said for a year s worth of spa treatments, eh?) l. King Xerxes invited her to make a request of him and that he would give her up to half of his kingdom, he loved her so much. m. She asked that he and Haman come to a feast that she would prepare and then she would make her request. n. In the meantime Haman constructed a tall pole on his own property on which he hoped to have Mordecai impaled. He also planned a date by the roll of the dice to determine the day to kill the Jews March 13 would be the day. o. King Xerxes had a sleepless night and so he had his logbook brought to him so that it could be read. In the reading he came upon the saving act of Mordecai on his behalf and he asked if anything was done to honor Mordecai. Nothing had been done. p. The next day the King asked Haman what he thought should be done to honor a man for distinguished service to the King. Thinking that the King was speaking of him he suggested that royal robes already worn by the King be put on him and that he be put on a horse already ridden on by the King and paraded through the streets shouting constantly, Thus shall be done for those who King Xerxes delights to honor! i. The King liked Haman s idea and he told Haman to go and personally carry out this plan for Mordecai! ii. Haman carried out his orders and then returned home with great anxiety at the horrible turning tide of events. q. As he lamented to his wife and family royal eunuchs came to whisk him away to the banquet that Queen Esther had prepared. r. At the banquet the King asked again for Esther to make her request up to half his kingdom. She then told him of someone s evil plan to kill Mordecai and to exterminate the Jewish people, her people, on a 3

4 4 date already determined. The King demanded who this evil mastermind was and she proclaimed: Haman, the Agagite. s. In what is considered by many biblical scholars as comedic irony, Haman was impaled upon the very pole he had constructed for Mordecai s execution. King Xerxes then put Mordecai in the very office formerly occupied by Haman. Queen Esther then appealed for a new edict to be written to preserve her Jewish people from destruction. And it was done. So goes the tale of Esther and her providential rise to power in order to save God s people from extinction. Perhaps the most memorable part of Esther s mission of mercy for the Israelites was in the words of Mordecai: Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this. 1. In response to this great challenge of Mordecai, Esther gave us an example of which to follow. She called upon Mordecai to call their people to community fasting and prayer. 2. For such a time as this Esther discerned the need for concerted fasting and prayer. This Wednesday, we begin the season of Lent. Lent is always meant to be for God s people a season of taking up spiritual disciplines so that we can all return home to our first love and to our identity as God s people partnering with God in his gospel mission. For Lent we are encouraging everyone to take part in a prayer journey called Revolution on Our Knees. 1. We live in EPIC times! Christ Jesus has come and will come again. So these are EPIC times as we live in expectation of his return. In these times the gospel of Jesus Christ continues to lay claim to the world. 2. We are all being called upon with an Esther call to engage in a season of dedicated prayer and fasting. The Prayer Ministry Team of our church is asking that we not give anything up for Lent but that we take up prayer for one or two neighboring families or individuals. After all these are EPIC times!

5 5 3. In Christ we live in such a time as this, or an EPIC time! These are times when we should engage in the gospel cause. With the contemporary worship EPIC launch this coming Saturday, it is a strategic time for our reaching out to the community with the gospel. For such a time as this we are putting out the call to pray, and if you are led, to fast. Do what it takes in order to persevere in prayer for the success of EPIC s outreach to reach those we are not currently reaching with the worship that we conduct. 1. As the times for Esther were perilous for the existence of her very people, these are perilous times in their own way. a. People live around us who have not experienced the Lord in a significant way. b. People live around us who are not devoted to the Lord who loves us and his mission in the world. c. People live around us who are our friends who are not engaged in the needs of the world as the followers of Christ are. 2. People may go to their graves without ever having seriously engaged the Lord who loves them and who gave them life. 3. We, God s people, can do something about that. We can take up our charge to be God s front line ambassadors sharing the loving, gracious, embrace of God for all people. 4. We can answer the Esther call to get involved in the cause of Christ which is a mission of mercy, welcome, acceptance, and love. Join me in responding to the Esther call for these EPIC times that we live in times for people to embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ. These are strategic times. These are EPIC times for God is doing great and wondrous things through you and through me.