Sermon Central
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Cosy In The Culture Series
Contributed by Duane Wente on May 2, 2023 (message contributor)
Summary: The story of Esther is an amazing story of how God can use His people to accomplish His will. But Mordecai and Esther were not always the heroes. Much like our world today, Esther and Mordecai were cosy in their culture. As Christians, we need to be different from the world.
God has called us to be different — to not conform to the evil around us — but to stand out — to be set apart — to be holy.
Be holy because the God we follow is holy.
Do not conform, but rather be transformed, Paul writes in Romans 12:2.
Be changed.
When we give our lives to God, when we surrender to His will, we will be changed.
Be holy — because He is holy.
John takes that a step further and says to be pure because Jesus is pure.
And it is all possible because God has loved us and has made us His children.
John writes in 1 John 3:
1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. (1 John 3, NIV)
Be different, folks.
It’s time to stand out.
It’s time to be different.
It’s time to stand up for what is right.
It’s time to make our presence known.
The world is not going to recognize us, and understand, just as it did not recognize, and understand Jesus.
So it’s time to show the world how God’s love is different — is better — is full of hope.
(Lucado, Max. You Were Made for This Moment Bible Study Guide plus Streaming Video (p. 5). HarperChristian Resources. Kindle Edition.)
“To believe in Jesus as the only redeemer is to incur the disdain of Persia. This is why we must remember our true identity. Our eternal citizenship is not the one printed on our passport. We are subjects of a different King.”
This isn’t our home. We are just passing through. Let’s not get so hung up on fitting in that we lose our citizenship and our position in the family of God.
Conclusion
Esther and Mordecai decided to blend in in Persia.
Often we make that decision too in our lives — blend in in our culture.
And we get comfortable there. We’re content to live the life of a chameleon, making sure that we do not ruffle anyone’s feathers, that we do not stir up any trouble, and we do not appear to be any different from anyone else, that we just all get along.
By doing so, we will never be what God wants us to be.
Unless we make a decision to change — to be more — to make a difference.
Even though their story started with them being cosy in their culture, a lot would change with Esther and Mordecai as their story unfolds. We will see this in the weeks to come.
It’s a message of hope that God can still use us if we decide to follow Him and quit trying to fit in in this evil, messed up world.
Becoming a Christian Almost Got Her Killed
Source: Virginia Prodan, “Becoming a Christian Almost Got Me Killed,” CT magazine (October, 2016), pp. 111-112
https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2022/august/becoming-christian-almost-got-her-killed.html
Copied from Preaching Today
Vivian Prodan was born in Communist Romania under the brutal regime of Nicolae Ceauescu (“Chow-sches-coo”), a place where questioning a government directive could lead to imprisonment, physical torture, and death. The best way to avoid trouble was to remain silent and try to blend in. But Vivian became obsessed with finding the truth. After graduation, she went to law school and became an attorney. Vivian writes:
