The Courage To Take A Stand Series

• Have you ever faced a moment when doing the right thing came with a cost?

• What do you do when that time comes?

• Obviously you do what is right and take a stand!

• Maybe.

• We live in a world that often demands conformity, a world where it can feel safer to blend in, to stay silent, and to avoid making waves.

• But throughout history, and certainly within the pages of God’s Word, we discover stories of individuals who, when faced with a moment of truth, chose a different path.

• They chose courage.

• They chose to take a stand.

• Courage is not limited to battlefields; it often manifests in quiet, decisive moments when doing the right thing goes against the norm.

• The Book of Esther gives us powerful portraits of moral and spiritual courage.

• Today, we’ll focus on two individuals, Queen Vashti and Mordecai, and examine three moments when they took bold stands that changed history.

• Both of these people were put into positions that made it uncomfortable and possibly costly to take a stand.

• Today we need people who will take a stand, people who will stand up against the flow of society and stand firm for Jesus!

• The world needs us to do so even if they seemingly don’t want it.

• God calls His people to take courageous stands in times of moral, personal, and spiritual crisis.

• We have to stand boldly for what is right, even when it’s risky or unpopular.

• The Book of Esther is a story of divine providence in the face of danger, but it’s also a story of courage in the lives of ordinary people placed in extraordinary circumstances.

• The examples of Vashti and Mordecai should inspire us to live our lives with conviction and spiritual courage in a compromised world.

• Let’s begin in Esther 1.

Esther 1:10–12 NET 2nd ed.

10 On the seventh day, as King Ahasuerus was feeling the effects of the wine, he ordered Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven eunuchs who attended him,

11 to bring Queen Vashti into the king’s presence wearing her royal high turban. He wanted to show the people and the officials her beauty, for she was very attractive.

12 But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s bidding conveyed through the eunuchs. Then the king became extremely angry, and his rage consumed him.

SERMON

MAIN POINT 1 SLIDE

I. Queen Vashti: The Courage to Say No.

• Our first encounter with courage comes in the very first chapter of Esther, with Queen Vashti.

• King Xerxes, in the midst of a lavish banquet filled with wine and revelry, commands his eunuchs to bring Queen Vashti before him, adorned with her royal crown, to display her beauty to his officials and nobles.

THE MYSTERY SLIDE

• The queen’s response to the king’s command is puzzling, stunning, and courageous.

• Queen Vashti’s response is puzzling because we don't know why she refused to come out when the king called her to do so.

• Through the centuries there has been a great deal of conjecture as to why she responded the way she did.

• Many ancient Jewish scholars said that Xerxes called her to parade herself naked before the crowd.

• They point to the fact that the text in verse 11 says the king wanted her brought out in her royal high turban, and no other clothing items were mentioned.

• That seems weak.

• There were other weak explanations offered, but the truth of the matter is we do not know exactly why she refused.

• The queen’s decision was also stunning.

• Most likely, her decision was not made spontaneously, as it could have potentially resulted in her death.

• Eventually it costs her the crown.

• In reaction to Xerxes, Queen Vashti, who also is not a worshiper of God, decides, for whatever reason, to refuse the king’s command.

• She probably does not realize at the moment that her decision will change her life forever and bring another woman to the throne of Persia.

• With his one decision to display Vashti at his war council, Xerxes sets in motion a chain of events that culminates in the deliverance of God’s people, fulfilling the promise of the ancient covenant made ages before in a faraway place. (NIVAC Es)

• Vashti has no clue what was happening in the background or in the future as a result of her courageous choice.

• Her decision was courageous.

• Vashti's refusal is brief, but its impact is seismic.

• In a culture where women, even queens, were largely seen as property, and where a king's word was absolute law, Vashti's "no" was an act of profound defiance.