Title: How to Find Courage When You Need It
Text: Esther 4:11-14, 15-17 and 7:3-6
Thesis: Courage is God’s power working through committed people in challenging circumstances.
The Bible in 90 Days Whole Church Challenge
It feels like we are literally leaping through the bible in our goal of reading through in just 90 days. This week we have leapt from the last chapter of Nehemiah, through the books of Esther and Job and landed on Psalm 89. However, in our teaching today, we revisit the incredible story of God’s continued care and protection of his people. The people in our story are those of Israelite heritage who did not return to Jerusalem with Ezra and Nehemiah… choosing rather to remain in their homes in exile. Essentially, though distinctly Jewish, they were living as immigrants live in an adopted homeland, blending into the Persian culture of the land we now know as Iran.
It is a convoluted story characterized by stunning reversals and ironic twists. It is the story of how God used a young Jewish girl to save her people from annihilation.
Introduction
In 2003 I read an incredible book titled The Bielski Brothers by Petter Duffy. It was the story of three brothers, living in eastern Poland during WWII. In 1939 Hitler and Russia had signed a nonaggression pact in which Germany and Russia divided up Poland. Hitler later broke the pact and invaded the Soviet Union. The Nazis then confined the Jewish population of Poland to “urban ghettos” and in December of 1941, 4,000 Jews were murdered. The Bielski brothers’ parents and families were among those killed.
Their story is the story of resistance and rescue of Jewish people. Over the next three years the Bielski brothers gave shelter to and protected 1,200 Jews from Nazi annihilation. They literally built and sustained a Jewish, bunker-like community in a swampy-forested area of Belarus. (Just last week I watched the film “Defiance” which is the cinematic retelling of their resistance of the Nazis and the rescue of Polish Jews during WWII.)
It is a quite a story and stands as a sharp, historically documented contradiction to the claims of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that “the holocaust is a myth” perpetuated to justify the existence of the nation of Israel. (Lloyd de Vinews, Iran President: Holocaust a Myth, AP (CBS News), December 14, 2005)
Interestingly enough, our story today takes place in what was then, the Persian Empire, presently the Nation of Iran. It is the year 483 B.C.s version of the 1940s plan to annihilate the Jews. In our story a young Jewish woman named Esther is the counterpart to the Bielski brothers. Because of her actions thousands of Jews are spared a well-planned genocide of the Jewish people living in Iran in 483 B.C.
Our story is a story of incredible courage in the face of daunting circumstances.
The question today is, “How do we find that kind of courage when we need it?”
I. Find your calling in your crisis
“And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” Esther 4:11-14
Before I begin, please be aware that there is much more to the story than the parts I will be sharing, so if you are at all intrigued to know all the details… the Book of Esther is only 9 chapters in length and reads like a modern day p[ice of fiction. The story begins with how the young Jewish girl, we know as Esther, happened to be in a position to be able to save the Jewish people.
It began with King Xerses throwing a massive party. As the revelry progressed the King decided he wanted to show off his arm candy, trophy wife, Queen Vashti. So he sent for her to come so he could have her parade about so all the men could gaze on her beauty. Queen Vashti, to her credit, refused to be objectified by her husband and the revelers at the feast, which raised the king’s hackles, so much so that he had her deposed for life.
However, when he sobered up he missed having a queen so his counselors suggested an empire wide beauty pageant in which all the most beautiful young virgins in the realm were brought to the palace. And as the story goes, the one who “pleased” the king most would become the new queen. So, each in her turn spent a night with the king. If she did not sufficiently please the king, she then went to live in his second harem where she would live the rest of her life as a member of the king’s harem.
It seems there was no end to the objectifying women as the king sought his “pick of the litter” from the vast reaches of the Persian Empire.
When it was Esther’s turn, “the king loved her more than any of the other young women. He was so delighted with her that he set the royal crown on her head and declared her queen.” Esther 2:17
No one knew, not even the king knew, that the new queen was Jewish.
Meanwhile a man named Haman, who happens to be the Prime Minister of Persia gets himself all in a knot when a Jewish man named Mordecai refused to bow down to him. So to get even, he decided to concoct a plot to not only kill Mordecai but to also annihilate all of the Jewish people living in Persia.
Mordecai happens to be Queen Esther’s cousin or uncle, depending on your translation. Uncle seems to make the most sense…
So our story picks up where Mordecai has sent word to Queen Esther of Haman’s plot to annihilate all Jewish people. Haman had sent out letters to all the provinces of the empire declaring that “all Jews, young and old, including women and children, must be killed, slaughtered, and annihilated on a single day.” That day was to take place a year later on March 7th. And to “sweeten the pot” he decreed that the property of the Jews was then to be given to those who killed them. Esther 3:13
This was an unthinkable and despicable plot that the king had unwittingly approved having been told that there was a race of people living in his empire who were disobeying his rule. Haman had conveniently neglected to specify who they were.
Learning this, Mordecai sends word to Esther that her family, friends and all of her people… including herself would be eradicated from Persia on March 7th of the next year if she did not intercede on behalf of all Jews with her husband, King Xerxes.
Mordecai, in his efforts to convince Queen Esther that she must go to the king points out, “And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” Esther 4:11-14
Mordecai was essentially telling Esther that God was orchestrating events in such a way as to ensure that “all things worked together for the good of those who loved him and were called according to his purpose.” In other words, Esther found her calling in the midst of a foreboding crisis. God was planning to use her to save the Jewish people living at that time in the Persian Empire.
Application: What is it in your life that stirs you to do something… to rise to the occasion?
Rosa Parks never intended to spark a civil rights revolution. She did not set out to be a hero but one day she drew a line in the sand and said, “My feet are tired and I’m not moving to the back of the bus.”
On Wednesday morning of this week several of us attended the Jefferson County Prayer Breakfast where we heard a young man tell that he felt compelled to enlist in the military and serve his country following 9/11.
Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity when she saw the poor, diseased and orphaned living is squalor on the streets of Calcutta.
Having the courage to rise to the occasion is not always about initiating a movement that rescues 1,200 Jews from the holocaust or sparks a civil rights movement or stymies the trading of human flesh in the white trade industry or the founding a Denver Rescue Mission or a Hope House of Colorado.
Rising to the occasion may be as every day as praying the Prayer of St. Francis of Assissi:
Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, let me sow pardon; where there is doubt, let me sow faith; where there is despair, let me sow hope; where there is darkness, let me sow light; and where there is sadness, let me sow joy.
Every time we “rise to the occasion” we may find our calling in that crisis or need.
We need to have a mentality that recognizes that just perhaps, we are God’s person for that moment.
We may find our calling in any given crisis or need but we find our faith in our fear.
II. Find your faith in your fear
Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: “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.” Esther 4:15-17
Esther was not a particularly heroic young woman. She had learned to blend into Persian culture very well. She did not wear a Star of David pendant on a gold chain around her neck. She did not make sure to mention her Jewishness during her interview for the Miss Persian Empire Beauty Contest. She was not pleased when Mordecai suggested she go see King Xerxes to get the royal edict reversed.
Even though she was the king’s wife and Queen of Persia, proper protocol dictated that anyone who appeared before the king in his inner court without being invited was doomed to die unless, per chance, the king held out his golden scepter.
We may not be kings and queens but we know what it is like to have an uninvited person barge into our lives. One of the things I like about living in our HOA is that there is a sign posted at the entrance that states: NO SOLICITORS. So, when someone pounds on my door at 8:30 in the evening breathlessly announcing that he has to make just one more sale before he can go home… I do not raise my golden scepter.
In our culture it may not be easy and in fact nearly impossible to get an audience with the President of the United States. But if any of us were to show up at the White House unannounced, we may be subjected to a good frisking by the Secret Service but the President does not stand on the balcony of the East Wing giving his “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” for those who come knocking uninvited.
Esther knew that not even the queen was guaranteed a free-pass. Look what it got Queen Vashti who was too principled to be paraded around and be objectified by her husband for the viewing pleasure of his dinner guests. If Esther wanted to hold on to her new queen gig she knew she needed to keep the king happy.
King Xerxes was not known for sentiment. Herodotus, a Greek historian cited an incident during his reign when one of his most loyal supporters ask the king to exempt his oldest son from serving in the military. King Xerxes responded by having the man’s oldest son cut into two pieces, and then ordered his army to march between them in order to discourage any others from trying to duck the draft.
Esther was in a position to be used by God in saving the lives of the Jewish people living in Persia. She had to either “fish or cut bait” or a lot of people would die. But to take action and go to the king uninvited was both courageous and crazy.
Esther found her faith when she faced her fear. She found the courage to do what she needed to do and entrusted the outcome to God. Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: “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.” Esther 4:15-17
Application: What fear is keeping you from doing what you need to do?
Men and women do heroic things in times of crisis. In the face of fear they act courageously. But for most of us it is in the little things that we find ourselves paralyzed by fear. We may be a little like Esther. We may have worked very hard at blending into our culture and to draw a line in the sand and let others know that as followers of Christ we simply cannot agree with something or participate in something that would not please God is out of our comfort zone. It may be we need to confront a co-worker or classmate who is stealing or cheating. It may be that we may need to get involved with someone who needs a little or a lot of help. It may mean we have to dig into our resources to support a cause. It is a courageous expression of faith when we live our lives, so totally sold out to serving God and others that we pretty much abandon our inclinations for self-preservation saying, “If I perish, I perish!”
Esther found her calling in her crisis, she found faith in her fear and she found courage in her caring for the well-being of others.
III. Find your courage in your caring (for others)
Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor with you, O king, and if it pleases your majesty, grant me my life – this is my petition. And spare my people – this is my request.” Esther 7:3-8
Somewhere in the middle of our story we see a shift in Esther’s concerns. She was initially concerned about preserving her good life in the palace. She had struck it rich. She was living the dream.
On Thursday of this past week, The Denver Post ran a story about Michelle Obama’s heritage. Researchers found the will of an elderly master in South Carolina who bequeathed to his heirs a six-year old slave girl named Melvina, valued afterward at $475.
Melvina became the property of Henry W. Shields. As a teenager she was impregnated by an unnamed white man. She and that unknown man are Michelle Obama’s great-great-great grandparents. The little boy born to Melvina when she was just fifteen was a bi-racial child named Dolphus T. Shields. He was her paternal great-great grandfather.
Geneologists were able to trace five-generations of her heritage from her roots in pre-civil war slavery to the White House. (Rachel L. Swarns and Jodi Kantor, From slavery to the White House: The first lady’s complex roots, The Denver Post, 10/8/09)
Just as we can say Michelle Obama is living the dream, Esther was living the dream. And Esther was not all that inclined to give it up.
But there was something more important to her than her dream and even her own life and that was the well-being of the Jewish people in Persia. Similarly, there was something more important to the Bielski brothers than their own self-preservation. They cared more for the lives of 1,200 Polish Jews who would have otherwise joined thousands of their fellow Jews in the mass grave trenches of eastern Poland, than for their own lives. Every mother and every father knows what it means to care more for the lives of others than for their own. And because Esther cared more for her Jewish countrymen than for her own life, she was willing to take a great risk in order to protect them from Haman’s evil plot.
We find courage when we genuinely care for others. Courage is ignited when we see someone in need and lose all thought about ourselves.
Patrick Jenkins tells a story from his years of missionary service: Having lived in South America as missionaries, my family and I realized that moving to another jungle location meant a lot of work. We knew the discomforts of such things as snakes and bugs.
One morning, a few days after beginning to clean our temporary home, the family and I were taking a short break. While we were drinking tea, a large black beetle suddenly flew through the room with a loud buzzing noise. As it darted between us, my wife let out a startled scream. Astonished more by her scream than the beetle, my youngest daughter cried out, "For heaven’s sake, Mom!" My wife resolutely replied, "That’s the only reason I’m here." (Patrick Jenkins, Kissimmee, Fla. "Lite Fare," Christian Reader)
The only reason that missionary mother would take her family deep into a South American jungle, exposing herself and them to the deprivations and rigors entailed in living in one of the most remote and primitive places on earth with all the bugs and snakes was, “For heaven’s sake!” She cared more for the souls of those who were yet to hear the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ than she cared for her own life.
Application: What are you afraid of losing if you do the right thing?
When we think of our own self-preservation, we seldom think in terms of actually dying for someone. Mostly our inclinations toward self-preservation are rooted in avoiding embarrassment or self-consciousness or fear of rejection or what it might cost us.
The easiest thing to do is avoid commitments and involvements. The hard choice is to be a youth leader or teach a children’s Sunday school class or pitch in and get dirty during VBS week or volunteer to help at Pumpkin Patch or part with a few bucks so some homeless folks can have a Thanksgiving meal at the Denver Rescue Mission or give up Thursday night television to lend your voice in the choir or commit to praying for our missionaries every day or inviting a relative, neighbor or friend to come to church with you and to lunch afterward or volunteer a bit of time each week to listen to a little boy or girl read over at Secrest or get involved in the lives of others as a Stephen Minister or take a few minutes to visit an old friend who is in hospice care…. and on and on and on. There are innumerable ways we can demonstrate that we care more for others than we do for our own lives.
I think Esther is an example of what Jesus meant when he said, “Whoever wants to save his own life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” Matthew 16:25
When we genuinely care for others we put our fears on the line and do the right thing.
Conclusion
Though some among us might be called upon to do an heroic thing for God and others, I don’t think most of us will ever be in such a prominent place as was Esther. No I don’t think most of us will ever be called upon to rescue Jewish people from an urban ghetto. No I don’t think most of us will be asked to give our lives as martyrs in a South American jungle…
What I do believe is this: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:8-10
God has not chosen us and saved us and called us and prepared us to be selfish people. He has called us to do those good things he has prepared “in advance” for us to do. Our lives are to be lived out, however great or small, in the places we find ourselves and doing whatever God has planned for us. And whatever the challenge before us, we are in the place we are supposed to be and God will empower us to do whatever it is we need to do, no matter how foreboding or frightening.
Courage withstands fear in facing a challenging cause or crisis because of faith in a big God.
