Surprising Endings Series

LIVING FOR GOD IN A GODLESS CULTURE

Surprise Endings: Esther 2:1-18

INTRODUCTION

-A few weeks ago Shelly Szekely texted me to ask what to say when someone else uses the Lord’s name in vain.

-It struck me that it kind of depends on who the person is.

-What if they are a non-Christian? What if they are an atheist?

-What if it’s a stranger on the street? What if they are a Christian?

-What if they are someone who calls themselves a Christian?

-How we respond to such situations…sometimes depends on who the person is, and where they are at in their spiritual journey.

-When you live in a godless culture, it’s tricky to deal with the different people around you….

-Especially when you’re someone who is trying to follow God.

-Evangelical Christians in, people with beliefs like ours, make up about 13% of the American population.

-If you’ve ever felt like you held the minority view on issues of morality and faith there is a reason why…you do.

-No one hear considers themselves a radical fundamentalist but compared to many people in our culture…you are.

-And that sometimes has an unfortunate side effect.

-Sometimes we start seeing ourselves as the opponents of the people in our godless culture.

-In our mind we are pitted against people who are our family, neighbors, co-workers because they don’t share our beliefs.

-But the godless people in our godless culture are not our adversaries. They are simply people who don’t yet know God.

-And our privilege, our joy, our job is tell them the good news about our God and his Son Jesus Christ.

-And to recognize where people are at in their knowledge of God, their obedience to God, and their love of God.

-This morning we finally get to meet Esther and Mordecai.

-But let me give you a filter to read this book with.

-Esther and Mordecai were both sinners and saints.

-History remembers them as heroes, and they were. But they were also people who struggled…especially early in our story.

XERXES: A NON-BELIEVER

-A lot has happened between chapter 1 and chapter 2.

-Last week Jae and Allan told the story of King Xerxes and Vashti

-In chapter 1 Xerxes got drunk and demanded that his wife strut her stuff in front of all of the people at his party.

-He was wrong, she was right. To save face in front of all his men, he banished Queen Vashti.

-Between the end of chapter 1 and the beginning of chapter 2, four years has passed.

-During that time Xerxes has launched two unsuccessful military campaigns against the Greeks.

-He spend 6 months wining and dining the nobles to get them on board with his plan, and once they were committed they were defeated by the Greeks.

-So the selfish, egotistical, and arrogant king has been humbled.

-And that is where we pick up in chapter 2:

VS 2 But after Xerxes’ anger had subsided, he began thinking about Vashti and what she had done and the decree he had made.

-It’s not clearly stated but it’s clearly implied. Xerxes realized that he’d made a mistake.

-He was drunk. He was angry. He was being selfish.

-He divorced his wife for all the wrong reasons and years later when things have died down, he regrets it.

-He was offended by her, and in the heat of the moment he made a very permanent decision over a very temporary problem.

-He got divorced. And in his case, he made a decree which could not be revoked…Vashti was gone for good.

-This happens all the time. People have a fight, have a bad season. -Words are spoken. Names are called. Threats are made.

-And many people today do what the king did back then.

-The king turned to his advisors, who were all single guys, for advice and they said, “you don’t need her. Cut your losses.

-Why do we seek advice from people who are not happily married, when we want to be happily married?

-Why do Christian people often seek marriage advice from non-Christians when they are having marriage struggles?

-Why don’t we seek counsel from God and God’s people?

-Years after their divorces…many people do exactly what Xerxes did. He rolled back the tape and regretted his actions.

-But not because of any religious conviction.

-Xerxes wasn’t interested in following God.

-There are countless people like this in our culture.

-They don’t know God and they don’t care what he says.

-They’ll get advice from anywhere, from anyone.

-And when we start feeling religious we get cantankerous toward these people…what is there problem?

-Why are they so foolish? Why can’t they get their act together?

-Like who…like me. Why can’t they be more like…me?

-I don’t act like that, do that, say that. I would never be like them.