OPPORTUNITY FOUND ME (ESTHER 4)
Peanuts’ Lucy asked Charlie Brown as they were walking together: “Why do you think we’re put here on earth, Charlie Brown?” Charlie Brown gave a simplistic answer: “To make others happy.” Lucy stopped and reflected: “I don’t think I’m making anyone very happy. Of course nobody’s making me very happy either. Somebody’s not doing his job!”
At home she sought the opinion of her brother Linus, who was busy sucking his thumb and holding his blanket: “Charlie Brown says that we’re put here on earth to make others happy.” The surprised Linus said, “Is that why we’re here? I guess I’d better start doing a better job. I’d hate to be shipped back!’
Going nowhere, the exasperated Lucy went back to Charlie Brown to check if things have changed. She said: “I’m intrigued by this view you have on the purpose of life, Charlie Brown. You say we’re put here on earth to make others happy?” Charlie Brown affirmed, “That’s right.” The disgruntled Lucy finally raised the question that still bothered her: “What are others put here for?”
So far, Esther did not have too much to do and could not complain about her storied life. Previously, when her parents passed away, her older cousin Mordecai took care of her, supplied all she needed and kept her from trouble. Presently, she lived in her royal castle as the First Lady and the nation’s, having plenty of maids and servants at her disposal. The first big test of her success came to her when she heard of the Jews’ overnight crisis and her family’s current plight. Up to now the Xerxes took center stage in chapter one, Mordecai in chapter two and Haman in chapter three. Chapter four is where we see Esther be the star and steal the show. How did she shine? Her finest hour was not winning the crown, ascending the throne, living as royalty, enjoying fine things and making herself youthful, beautiful or presentable, but making her life count and presence felt.
What kind of person and character rise to the top and stay at the top? What mental, spiritual and emotional preparation are needed to meet the challenges there?
Remember Where You Were From
4:1 When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the city, wailing loudly and bitterly. 2 But he went only as far as the king’s gate, because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it. 3 In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes. 4 When Esther’s maids and eunuchs came and told her about Mordecai, she was in great distress. (Est 4:1-4)
A famous organist was giving a recital in a church. The organ, not powered by electricity; had to be pumped by hand. A young boy was engaged to do this for the occasion. Everything was going fine until the lad put his head around the side of the organ and whispered, “We are doing pretty good, aren’t we?” “What do you mean by ‘we’?” objected the organist.
A few minutes later, in the midst of a beautiful strain, the organ suddenly stopped giving out any music. Desperately the organist tried all the stops. It was no use. Then again he saw the head of the boy bob around the corner, a broad smile on his face. He said, “Now do you know who I mean by ‘we’?” (Appleseeds.org)
To her credit, Esther stayed close and true to her roots. Success did not go to her head. Even though she could not go out, she managed to keep in touch with her family in a unique and subtle way. Maids and eunuchs tell her about the latest news on her family members. The orphan queen did not forget where she was from; she kept up with what was happening at home. She appreciated the sacrifices others had made – their time, attention and guidance - so that she could blossom and succeed. They even stayed in the background and did not benefit from her success, clamor to see her or ask for a house, a piece of land or a position in the palace. Their reward was her happiness and well-being basically.
The news that had gotten from bad to worse did not escape Esther’s attention. There was chaos, confusion and crying all around. Turmoil, terror and tears were everywhere. She heard about the pain, panic and persecution in the streets, especially on the home front. As in the Chinese culture, putting on sackcloth (v 2) is associated with death and dying.
The NIV word for “wailing” (v 1) is not as dramatic as the original Hebrew phrase “cried a cry.” This is the first and only time this phrase is used; normal dramatic crying in the Bible is “crying with a voice,” specifically a loud voice (2 Sam 19:4, Neh 9:4, Ezek 11:13), but Mordecai had no more voice in him; he was all cries. Mordecai’s cry was unlike any other. It was not one characterized by volume and noise, but of stress and distress. He did not broadcast or bellow his sadness but he sure cried his eyes out.
The more dramatic biblical fashion of crying is “crying with a loud voice” (2 Sam 19:4, Neh 9:4, Ezek 11:13), but now with Mordecai, the crying was heightened to “crying with a loud and bitter voice” (v 1), the first time the word “bitter” is associated with crying. Nobody knew why he was wailing outside the king’s gates; no one but Esther. He was not looking for death but for support and solution.
The Hebrew word for “mourning” (v 3) occurs 24 times in the Bible. There is nothing like the mourning in Babylon. There is “solemn mourning” in Egypt when Jacob died (Gen 50:11), but this is the only biblical instance of “great mourning” among the Jews (v 3), so Esther sensed something was wrong and unusual. In Micah 1:8 “mourning” is likened to the moaning of an owl. Esther was greatly touched and affected by what she saw and heard concerning Mordecai and Israel’s persecution and suffering in the land.
Remember Who Were With You
4 When Esther’s maids and eunuchs came and told her about Mordecai, she was in great distress. She sent clothes for him to put on instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. 5 Then Esther summoned Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs assigned to attend her, and ordered him to find out what was troubling Mordecai and why. 6 So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate. 7 Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. 8 He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict for their annihilation, which had been published in Susa, to show to Esther and explain it to her, and he told him to urge her to go into the king’s presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people. (Est 4:4-8)
NBA player Michael Redd, Milwaukee Bucks’ 43rd pick in the 2000 NBA draft, barely made the draft but was the Bucks’ leading scorer (11th best in the NBA). Redd then signed a six-year deal for $91-million. His dad, however, was not ready for what his son bought him next.
Redd’s father James worked at the Pepsi Cola plant Monday through Friday, and at church on Sunday. The father had studied to become a minister, founded a church in 1991 and preached to 25 congregants on Sundays. The former location was a store in a strip mall, and later the congregation moved to the basement of another area church. One day, James predicted, they’d trade up to something above ground.
The son ambushed his father by buying him a church building seating 500 people in a prime piece of church property worth millions of dollars in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio, complete with steeple and stained glass windows. The teenage Michael had promised his dad, “Dad, if I get to the NBA I’m getting you and mom a new house and a new church.” His father, Pastor James W. Redd, says, “Every now and then you catch yourself drying tears.” Michael teased his father. ““He wasn’t sure (I would do it). I’d tell him, ‘Oh, ye of little faith. The Lord, he gave me life. What I did was to give it right back to Him. That’s the least I could do, is buy a church. The very least I could do.”
Esther responded in the most dramatic fashion when she heard of Mordecai’s sorrow and suffering. She was in “great distress” (v 4), not just “distress.” Further, this is the only time the word has been translated as “distress.” Elsewhere the Hebrew word is translated as “shaking” (Ps 29:8), “twisting” (Ps 29:9), “trembling” (Ps 97:4, 114:7, Jer 5:22) and “writhing” (Ezek 30:16, Hab 3:10, Zech 9:5), but the most excruciating word to describe her suffering is a woman’s labor in giving birth.
At least ten times, the word has been used for a woman’s labor pains and birth pangs (Isa 13:8, 23:4, 26:17-18, 45:10, 51:2, 54:1, 66:7, 66:8, Mic 4:10). Esther’s agony was worse than normal childbirth, for the distress accompanying her was “great.” Keil and Delitzsch call her grief “convulsive grief, to be seized with painful grief.” There was no hiding her respect, concern and affection for her cousin. If not for Mordecai, she was merely another orphan, statistic and casualty. His grief was her grief, if not worse. She shared of his distress, discomfort and dismay.
So Esther sent clothes to Mordecai, who rejected clothes, comfort and company until Esther was more involved, clarified her position and did her part. The truth was that Esther was never ashamed of, embarrassed by or upset with her cousin. Esther never considered Mordecai a nuisance, an inconvenience, a liability, a troublemaker or a burden. It worked. Mordecai prodded, provoked and pressured Esther to act, intervene, surface and investigate, until she asked what and why (v 5).
Remember Why You Are Here
9 Hathach went back and reported to Esther what Mordecai had said. 10 Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, 11 “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.” 12 When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, 13 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. 14 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 royal position for such a time as this?” 15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.” 17 So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther’s instructions. (Est 4:9-17)
Quaker historian, theologian and philosopher Rufus Jones, in his autobiography, relates a childhood incident that was probably the turning point in his life that made him the great man he was. One day his parents told him to stay home and weed the turnip patch while they were gone. He had just begun when some friends came along and persuaded him to go fishing with them, promising to help him weed the garden when they got back. But, as every fisherman knows, it’s practically impossible to keep track of the time when you are fishing – especially if the fish are biting.
When young Rufus finally returned home after dark, his mother was waiting for him. Silently, she led him to his room. He knew what he deserved, so he did not offer a word of excuse. “But then,” he writes, “a miracle happened instead. Mother put me in a chair, kneeled down, put her hands on me, and told God all about me. She interpreted her dream of what my life was to be. She portrayed the boy and the man of her hopes. She told God what she always expected of me, and then how I had disappointed her hope. ‘O God!’ she prayed. ‘Take this boy of mine and make him the boy and man he is divinely designed to be.’ Then she bent over and kissed and went out and left me in the silence with God.” (James A. Carpenter, The Minister’s Manual: 1985, New York, Harper & Row, 1984, 238).
So far, Esther was a trophy wife; she did not need to know much, say much or do much. Up till the close of chapter four she spoke her first dialogue, one verse’s worth (v 16). For a book under her name she sure said little, if not nothing, up to the first half of the book. Mordecai did not rebuke her of wrong, but warned her of danger. Esther’s safety and shelter in the palace was temporary. Enemies would dig into her background and find out about her sooner or later. A lot was at stake for her. Her family was at stake. Everyone associated with her was at risk, including her children, if she had any. Jews are Jews through their Jewish mothers.
Mordecai did not ask Esther to do what she could not. He did not manipulate her to act. At first, it seemed that Esther was a puppet. Verse 17 signifies Esther’s coming of age and applauds her courage in the face of danger. This Hebrew word “instructions” (v 17) makes its first appearance in the book two chapters ago when Mordecai instructed Esther to carry out his word and not to reveal her Jewish identity and family background (Est 2:10, 2:20), and Esther obediently and trustingly followed instructions. Next, we see her instructing people to pass messages to Mordecai (Est 4:5, 10). Now she was telling her older and wiser cousin what to do. She had come of age.
The queen asked others to pray for her. Chivalry without prayer is doomed. Interestingly, Esther did not tell them to cry. There was enough crying to begin with. Now they had better save their strength because they were to eat and drink nothing for the next three days. Crying was good initially, but they had better get over it. By the way, there is no mention of Esther’s crying, weeping or wailing. It was not important to record her crying; it was more important for her to use her brains, to be the calm one.
Esther could have ended up like Vashti, who disappeared without word or dialogue. She purposed not to be a symbolic queen; that was merely her status. Her purpose in life was to glorify God, to be His servant and to make her life count. She was more than a pretty face to adorn places and palaces.
Conclusion: It’s been said, “90% of caring is showing up.” God did not bring us into this world to live a dream, live in luxury or live for yourself. He wants us to testify about Him, care for others and make a difference. Have you done your part, sacrificed for others and taken a stand? Do you have the courage of convictions, the sincerity of belief, the passion for truth, the assurance of faith and the certainty of triumph that can stand the test and win the day?
Victor Yap
Other sermons in the series and other sermon series:
www.epreaching.blogspot.com
