Someday is Today
Esther 4:1-14
May 11, 2008
Do you remember that old Dr. John song . . .
I was in the right place, but it must have been the wrong time
I was sayin’ the right things, but I must have used the wrong line
Have you ever been there? Like Dr. John, have you ever felt you were
in the RIGHT place at the WRONG time?
Or maybe it was the WRONG place at the RIGHT time.
And we are thrilled when we realize we are in the RIGHT place at the RIGHT time.
But lots of times, we end up thinking we are in the WRONG at the WRONG time.
Maybe like that cat, YIKES!!
or how about that football official, ouch!
And, I’ve heard of seaplanes, but didn’t think they park underwater.
You’ve been there before, haven’t you? For whatever reason, you end up being in the wrong spot at the wrong time and then you have to deal with the consequences.
My guess is, Esther’s life was a series of those moments. In fact, the book of Esther is a series of wrong places, wrong times and right places and right times.
On this Mother’s Day, we are going to focus on Esther. I can imagine her feeling she was in the wrong place at the wrong time . . . and then again, sometimes it was the right time, but have you ever noticed that the right time can shift into the wrong time; and the wrong time can shift into the right time.
Esther is a wonderful story and we’re going to quickly go through those first few chapters. Esther is like a soap opera; and I encourage you to read the book of Esther sometime this week. It’s a great story with lots of interesting characters.
In the first chapter, King Xerxes who is the king over Babylon is holding this huge, massive display of his wealth. For 180 days he’s inviting everybody to come and see how much splendor he has. Talk about a long party . . . 6 months of partying, and he was not done. Then when that party was over, he throws another banquet. This one lasts for 7 days. He tells the steward of the banquet, “Let people drink whatever they want to drink, as much or as little. Feed them whatever they want to eat; from the least to the greatest, everyone is invited.”
Now what we know from history is that Xerxes was getting ready to invade another neighboring country, and if he could get these guys drunk he could get them signed up or at least, show them his power. Eventually, “King Xerxes was in high spirits from wine,” (that’s a nice way of saying he had just a bit too much partying), and he asked for Queen Vashti to come in and show off her beauty and his power. She said, “No.”
Well, you didn’t say no to the king, and Xerxes was furious, so he gathered his top advisors and asked, “What do we do about this?” They agreed, “this isn’t good because if your wife doesn’t have to listen to you, our wives don’t have to listen to us.” In fact in verse 18 it says: “There will be no end of disrespect and discord.” So Vashti is banished and that’s just chapter one. For Vashti, she was in the right place, but it was the wrong time.
In chapter two we find the search for a new queen is going on. It’s kind of like American Idol. Esther, who is being raised by her cousin, Mordecai, is the one who gets chosen to be queen. So chapter two has all these wonderful things going on for Esther. She wins the king’s favor, she gets the crown, there are robes and white horses, more parties and applause. It’s a great thing for Esther. Now Mordecai, tells her, “don’t tell them you’re Jewish. That won’t go very well.” Esther agrees. For Esther, she is in the right place at the right time.
Now in chapter three we get introduced to another person, his name is Haman. Haman is the second in command to the king. When he would walk down the street, people would bow down, they would give their respect to him. One guy didn’t do that, it happened to be Mordecai. He felt it was wrong to bow down to another person. He would only pay that kind of respect to God. And so someone told someone who told someone who told someone, who told Haman.
Haman was angry and found out Mordecai was a Jew, so he works it out with the king, telling him, “We’ve got all these foreigners living in our land and we ought to destroy them and take back their property.” It sounded good to the king, so they pick a certain day of a certain month and the law is set that all the Jews in Babylon are to be annihilated. As you might imagine, this distresses Mordecai.
Now we come to the key part for us. . . In chapter 4, Mordecai goes to Esther and says, “Esther you need to go to the king.” And Esther says, “I can’t go to the king, you know the law. The king hasn’t asked for me for 30 days. If anyone walks into his throne room they’ll be immediately put to death unless he summons them.” Then Mordecai said: “Do not think that because you’re in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 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. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” –– Esther 4:13
There’s a wonderful challenge to Esther and I believe it’s a challenge we should hear as well. Here’s what Mordecai was saying to Esther. “Esther, now is the TIME, this is the PLACE and you’re the PERSON. Only you can do it Esther. You are the one . . . you are in the RIGHT PLACE at the RIGHT TIME.
Esther must have been thinking, “This isn’t really the right time, not right now.” This was it, carpe diem -- seize the day. This was, “Do something with the moment you have, Esther. Now is the time.”
Esther’s thinking, “I really wish I wasn’t here right now.”
And Mordecai is saying to Esther, “What are you waiting for?”
I would encourage you to read the rest of the book of Esther and you’ll get the whole end of the story of what happens to Haman, Mordecai and Esther.
Esther has to make a choice. What are you waiting for? That’s a good question, isn’t it?
I’m pretty confident many of us are waiting. Maybe you’re not a Christian. You’ve been kind of checking this “God-thing” out or maybe you’re trying to figure out where your faith really fits in and you say to yourself, “You know, I’m going to figure that out one of these days.
“Someday, when I have time, I’ll sort that out.” Or maybe you’ve been a Christian for a long time but you’ve been sitting on the sidelines. You look around and say, “there are other people here, they can do it, I don’t need to get involved. I don’t need to be plugged in. Someday I will . . . but not now, I’m kind of busy.”
Or maybe there’s some issue from your past that you know needs to be resolved, it needs to be addressed and you know it, “I’m going to get to that one of these days.” Maybe there’s a broken relationship that needs to be reconciled or at least needs to try to be reconciled and you’re saying, “I’ll get there. I’ve got time.”
But we wait. And why do we wait? Sometimes we’re afraid, fearful of dealing with whatever it may be. Sometimes we’re waiting for a better opportunity when circumstances look easier for us, and sometimes we’re just procrastinating.
The reality is sometimes we wait too long. We don’t take advantage of the moment we have right now. And what is life? It’s a piling up of our moments and how we use them. Now you may not have ear to the king or a president or even a fast food clerk but you have influence with somebody. You have something I believe you ought to be doing and I don’t think there’s a better time for you than right now.
What do you gain by waiting? Maybe you miss the moments. I know what we say. “Well, someday I’ll get to that. Someday I’ll do what I need to do.” But the truth is, for every person in here, someday your somedays will be over and will you have done what you ought to have done along the way? Maybe it’s to be using your gifts and talents for God. Maybe it’s with your family, or friends.
I believe God gives us enough time in the day to do the things we ought to be doing. Our problem is we add on a lot of other stuff. And Mordecai says to Esther, “Now is the time. Seize THIS moment. This is the place, Esther. Esther, this is your time, God created you for this very moment, don’t miss it!!”
Esther was thinking, “Surely, any other place but this place.”
Now go back to chapter two. That was a great place to be, wasn’t it? Gifts and applause, robes, and crowns. But now, now this wasn’t such a good place after all. I get that, don’t you? I watch people marry and in the beginning it’s a wonderful place to be. But then something happens. I suppose for hundreds of reasons, all of a sudden that’s no longer the place. Maybe it’s a job we take. We’re so excited about it and then we get there and they want us to work! And maybe after all that isn’t the place. Or maybe it’s the neighborhood we live in or the circle of friends we have.
Here’s what many of us say, “You know if I were in a different place, I’d be a better person. If my situation was different, I would be different. If I were just in a different place, a better place, you’d see a lot more from me.”
The truth is, if we aren’t going to serve, we aren’t going to serve anywhere. The place we’re in right now, is the place we can use what we have to make a difference in somebody else’s life, to make a difference on behalf of what God would have us do.
I didn’t think I’d be doing what I’m doing. I didn’t plan on being in Alexandria. I remember Debbie and I looking up Alexandria on a map. And now we’ve been here 10 months.
This place is our home; this is where our kids are being raised.
This place is where we have made incredible friendships.
This is the place we’ve made an investment in the kingdom of God.
This is the place I believe God is making a difference both in our lives and I
hope in somebody else’s life. All, in this place!
This is the place God is going to be victorious!! Can I get an AMEN!!
But for this to happen, we had to ask the question, “is this the time? Is this the place?” The answer was a resounding YES!
I believe God has each of us in the right place, right now. You ought to do everything you can in that place. Esther’s thinking, “Why me? Who’s idea was it to enter that beauty contest. I’m not the person.” But at that time, in that place, she was.
You may think “I’m not very capable, I’m not very qualified.” I’ve learned --
God doesn’t CALL QUALIFIED people; He QUALIFIES CALLED people.
Look at the group Jesus had with him -- not the best group. We look from the side of history and we see all the significant things they did but we miss out on the early part of it. There was Peter -- Peter is this kind of bumbling, stumbling fisherman. When he opened his mouth he usually stuck his foot in it. Peter told Jesus, “I’m your guy, I’ll never mess up.” And 3 hours later he denied knowing Jesus.
But God got a hold of Peter’s heart and we know Peter became one of the significant leaders of the church.
There was Thomas -- every group has a Thomas. One time Jesus said, “Let’s go to Bethany, Lazarus is sick.” And Thomas said, “We’ll go with you. In fact, Jesus, we’ll die with you and for you.”
Then after Jesus died, the disciples came back and said, “We’ve seen Jesus!” And Thomas proclaims, “I won’t believe it until I touch the wounds.” But it was Thomas whom we know from history, when others wavered, because he allowed God to change his heart, it was Thomas who held his faith.
James and John -- we call John the apostle of love. You know what the Bible calls those two brothers? Boanerges -- Sons of Thunder. In fact one time they went through a village and the place wasn’t very kind to Jesus or his followers. So what did James and John do? They get everybody together and say, “You know we should just pray for these people, find a way to serve them.” No! They said to Jesus, “Let’s call down fire from heaven and wipe out these people!”
Apostle of love? It was when they allowed God to get hold of their hearts. In fact, the only person we would have picked to be in our group, the guy who had the three-piece toga, patent leather sandals, drove a nice camel -- it was Judas. They put him in charge of the money. He was trusted but he never let God get hold of his heart.
Now is the time, this is the place, and we’re the people. If not now, when? Oh I know, someday. Someday you will. NOT!! If not here, where? “When I’m in another place, when I’m in a different group, when I feel like I’m more needed.” But if it’s not here it won’t be anywhere. And if not you, then who?
So . . . what does Esther do? She tells Mordecai, “16Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for 3 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.”
What great words from Esther. She took the God challenge. It was her day, it was her time and she did it. Notice she didn’t just run to see the king. She asked for some of the most significant prayer ever recorded in the Bible. She asked for a fast, not just for a day, but 3 days of no eating or drinking, her included. Only then does she enter in to see the king, and he is thrilled to see her. But you need to read the rest of the story to see what happens.
Esther grabbed hold of the offer from God. We never know when we might be able to make that difference we are called to make.
Most of the time the difference isn’t to go to the king, but it’s to serve another person in the name of Jesus.
It’s to find those who have needs, and meet those needs.
Who is hungry around you . . . feed them.
Who is thirsty . . . give them drink.
Who needs clothing . . . give them clothes.
Who needs shelter . . . shelter them.
Who needs a visit . . . visit them.
Who needs a friend . . . be their friend.
Who needs a hug . . . hug them.
Who needs grace . . . give them grace.
God’s call isn’t so difficult, our response is what makes it difficult. And when we follow His call, when we agree we are in the right place at the right time . . . we realize in new and fresh ways, God’s blessings . . . and those are our rewards for being the living representative of Christ on earth.
I don’t want to look back on my life and regret that I took the easy way, the safe way out. I want to look back and consider, “Did I enjoy the moment? Did I take advantage of God’s opportunity? Did I seize the day?” I don’t want to accept any regrets, I don’t want you to either. Only we get to make that decision.
Esther chose to take the risk, may you and I do the same, all for the glory of God. So, make SOMEDAY . . . TODAY!
SHOW VIDEO of Western Oregon vs. Central Washington softball game. (Summary - a W.O. player hit a homerun but tore her ACL, and 2 players from CW carry her to give her the only home run of her life.
VIDEO LINK:
http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?videoId=3380875
This is the right time
this is the right place; and
and you are the right person.
