For Such A Time As This - Esther 4:12-16 - May 13, 2012
Series: Mother’s Day
Video Clip: Show Skit Guys Mother’s Day Video Clip - Key Point: “You continue to change the world with your special song and dance.”
Max Lucado, in his book, In the Eye of the Storm, tells the story of Chippie the Parakeet. Some of you will have heard this story before but I want to share it with you again this morning, knowing that it will be new to some. Lucado begins with these words:
"Chippie the Parakeet never saw it coming. One second he was peacefully perched in his cage. The next he was sucked in, washed up, blown over.
The problems began when Chippie’s owner decided to clean his cage with a vacuum cleaner. She removed the attachment from the end of the hose and stuck it in the cage. At that same moment, the phone rang, and without thinking, she turned to pick it up. She’d barely said ‘hello’ when ‘sssopp!’ Chippie got sucked in.
The bird owner gasped, put down the phone, turned off the vacuum, and opened the bag. There was Chippie—still alive, but stunned. Since the bird was covered with dust and soot, she grabbed him and raced to the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and held Chippie under the running water. Then, realizing that Chippie was now soaked and shivering, she did what any compassionate bird owner would do . . . she reached for the hair dryer and blasted Chippie with a burst of hot air. Poor Chippie never knew what hit him.
A few days after the trauma, the reporter who’d initially written about the event contacted Chippie’s owner to see how the bird was recovering. “Well,” she replied after some thought, “Chippie doesn’t sing much anymore—he just sits and stares.” It’s not hard to see why - sucked in, washed up, and blown over . . . that’s enough to steal the song from the stoutest heart."
I suspect that all of us here this morning have felt like Chippie at one time or another. Our dreams have been dashed, our spirits have been shattered, and our world has been turned upside down in an instant. And just like Chippie, maybe we never saw it coming. One minute we were just singing away, and the next we had been blown over by one of life’s many storms. (Adapted from Joe la Rue, quoting Max Lucado, “In the Eye of the Storm,” www.sermoncentral.com)
This Mother’s Day morning we are going to look at the story of a young woman who, though she was sucked in, washed up, and blown over by the storms of life, continued to change the world with her own special song and dance. Would you open your Bibles with me please to the book of Esther. Esther, chapter 4, and we’ll begin reading in verse 12.
Now, if you’re not familiar with Esther’s story, let me set the stage for you: Esther was a young Jewish woman who lived during a very difficult time in the life of her people. She, along with countless thousands of others, was a descendant of the Jews who had been taken captive when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had destroyed Jerusalem. So she and her people lived in exile, far from their ancestral home, under the dominion of a foreign government. As a young child she had been orphaned and it was an older cousin named, Mordecai, who took her into his home, cared for her needs, and raised her as though she was his own daughter. So while Esther was blessed in many ways, it’s also true that she was no stranger to hurt and heartache.
The Bible goes on to tell us that Esther was a very beautiful woman – we’re told she had a ‘lovely figure,’ but what we’re going to see is that, even more importantly, her beauty went beyond the surface to the heart that lay beneath. That’s the type of beauty, ladies, that God treasures in His daughters, for Scripture says that ultimately your beauty should not come merely from “outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” (1 Peter 3:3-4, NIV)
Now, the culture in which we live emphasizes physical beauty so much, doesn’t it? From an early age our daughters are inundated with images of what they are supposed to look like to be seen as beautiful in the world’s eyes. What a terrible burden we place on them! And literally billions of dollars a year are spent in North America on cosmetics, and such, to try to attain to, or to maintain, this outer beauty.
Yet how much more beautiful is a heart that is right with God, a life that is lived in step with His Spirit, a soul that hungers after His kingdom, that expresses itself in passionate worship and compassionate service to the King of Kings? Would that we put such effort, and time and resources, into developing that lasting beauty in our daughters, and in our own lives! And friends, if we were to do so, our world would be a much different place! Such was the beauty of Esther.
Now the king who reigned at the time was not a godly man by any stretch of the imagination. When he grew displeased with his queen, he divorced her and his advisors began to look for a replacement for the queen. Young women were removed from their homes and taken to the palace to be put on display for the king’s approval, and one of these was Esther. Not her choice to be there; not how she envisioned life unfolding before her, not what she would have chosen for herself. Like Chippie she must have felt sucked in, washed up, and blown over as she was taken from her home and thrust into an unfamiliar life.
And maybe, in some small way, you find yourself relating to what Esther must have experienced. Perhaps life has dealt you some surprises, or the dream you reached for turned out to be a nightmare. It could be that you are feeling overwhelmed by what you’re facing in life, the demands on your time, the issues in your marriage, the struggle to raise your children, problems at work, or sometimes even the effort it just takes to get through the day.
And while there is laughter, joy, and happiness in life, there is also pain and sorrow and trials. And it could be that this is a time of trial in your life, and if not today, then a day that is yet to come, and you’re asking the same questions that Esther must have asked: Where is God in the midst of all this? How am I supposed to live for the Lord in this situation? Why is this happening to me? Or maybe you’ve been hanging onto that verse of Scripture that says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28, NIV) And you’re wondering, “What good can possibly come of this?” You’re looking towards the future but you just can’t see what God could be doing.
Esther must have struggled with some of those same questions. They are ones that naturally come to our minds when trials and disappointments, heartache and brokenness come our way. It was at the palace that her beauty caught the king’s eye and where she was eventually forced to marry this ungodly man. The truth is that though she now lived in luxury, she must have felt more like a prisoner than a queen, for the law said that she could not even go to see the king, her husband, without prior approval. For anyone to show up in his presence uninvited was literally a sentence of death. It could not have been an easy life for her. Yet because she didn’t let her own special song and dance be destroyed by the way her life was turning out, God was able to use her to save an entire people.
This is how it came about. Sometime after Esther had become queen, one of the corrupt government officials issued a decree, written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s signet ring, stating that all of the Jews – men, women and children – were to be put to death on a certain date. That edict went out to all the kingdom and the people were told to be ready to rise up and destroy the Jews in their midst when that day came. When news of this reached Mordecai he was utterly devastated and fearful for his people. He sent word to Esther of what was to come and begged her to intercede with the king on behalf of her own people.
But Esther was terrified and she sent word back to Mordecai reminding him of what a precarious position he was putting her in. For her to enter into the king’s presence uninvited as she would be doing, was to choose death for the law would not permit it. And that’s where we pick up the story in verse 12. We’re told that …
“When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, 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. 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 your royal position for such a time as this?”
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 attendants 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 4:12–16, NIV)
Folks, we make countless decisions every day, don’t we? From the time we open our eyes in the morning, till the time we shut them at night, we are constantly making choices – what to wear, what to eat, where to go, what to do. Most of those choices are fairly innocuous. But every now and then we are confronted with a decision that will potentially change the course of our entire lives – what job offer to accept, who to marry, whether to have children – and so many more. There is no going back to the way things were, from some of these decisions. They are life altering. That’s the type of decision that Esther was faced with, one that could very well cost her, her life. And it was a choice that no one else could make for her, it was a job that no-one else could do but her. For such a time as this, God had raised her up, and placed her where she was – not a place she had necessarily chosen to be – but the place that God knew she needed to be, if she was to play her role in saving her people.
And I want you to understand today, that just as Esther was, where she was, not by accident but by divine providence, so too are you! For such a time as this God has brought you to this place - this time, this family, this job, this community, this church, this life you are building – for such a time as this God has chosen you.
In the book of 2 Timothy we read these words … “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power.” (2 Timothy 3:1–5, NIV)
Those words speak of this day that we live in. All you have to do is to look at the news reports and we can see that every one of these characteristics is a characteristic of the time in which we live. But friends, know this, that for such a time as this, God has raised you up in Jesus.
During World War II millions of buildings were destroyed by exploding bombs and artillery shells. Homes, office buildings, factories, schools, hospitals, and of course, a number of churches suffered the devastation. Of one such church, nothing was left standing except a statue of Jesus with His arms stretched out. But the bombing had damaged the statue and the hands had been blown off.
After the war was over, when it came time to rebuild, some of the townsfolk wanted to have the statue repaired but the congregation of the church would not let them. They looked at the statue of Jesus standing there, arms reaching out, ready to embrace a hurting world and offer new hope, and they said, “This statue of Jesus, with hands missing, will reminds us that we are to be His hands in this world. If the hungry are going to be fed, we are the ones that will need to feed them. If the naked are to be clothed, we are the ones who must clothe them. If the needs of the poor are to be taken care of, it will be us who must care for them.”
It was a constant reminder that though God is at work in the world, that it is often through His people, that He chooses to accomplish that work. The Bible calls us God’s “fellow workers.” (1 Corinthians 3:9, NIV) God raises up people, puts them at a turning point in history, as He did with Esther, and invites them to step forward in faith that His will might be accomplished that people might see His goodness, love, power, majesty, and holiness. We are, you are, the ones to whom God has entrusted the good news of Jesus. You are the ones who are to let your light shine as you share that good news. We are His hands and feet to the world as you stand at a pivot point in His story.
And maybe you’re thinking to yourself, “I don’t stand on a pivot point in anyone’s story, Pastor. God’s not going to use me to save a people.” Are you sure of that? I read once that we develop something like 10,000 relationships with different people during the course of our lives. If that’s the case, then is your life not potentially full of a people needing to be saved? We live in a time when people call that which is evil, good, and that which is good, evil. Often times we don’t even recognize sin when we see it, do we? We have become so comfortable with it that we don’t see it for what it really is. If you were to go out on the street today, stop somebody and ask them what will happen when they die, many are going to tell you that they’ll go to heaven. Many of them will be wrong.
Jesus sets us straight when He proclaims, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”(Matthew 7:21–23, NIV)
Folks, God placed Esther in the palace because the king needed to hear the truth of what was going to take place. Friends, for a time such as this, God has raised you up because the world needs to hear the truth of what is taking place today. And the truth is this: you and I, and all that draw breath, are sinners. We sin in word, thought and deed. What is sin? Sin is transgression against God, it is doing those things that He has declared to be wrong for us and it is failing to do the things we ought to be doing – both are sin. The Bible teaches us that that sin not only separates us from a Holy God, but that God’s justice demands that that sin be punished. People say, “But pastor, God is a loving God, surely He will overlook my sin.” And they are partly right - God is a loving God - but He is also a just God.
You could not stand before a judge in a civil court, guilty of whatever it is that you are accused of, and say to the judge, “Judge, you’re right. I am guilty of this crime but because you are a loving judge, a good man, I know you’ll let me off.” That wouldn’t get you very far. The judge would be neither good, nor loving, if he let you off the hook like that. And so it is with God. And so it is that many will call out in that day, “Lord, Lord,” but they will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. “Only those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven,” Jesus says, “will enter in.”
And what is God’s will? Jesus declares it right at the start of His ministry. The message He preached was this: “Repent and believe the good news, for the Kingdom of God has come near.” (Mark 1:15) So confess your sin to God, agree with Him about the reality of your sin, acknowledge your powerlessness to declare your innocence as you stand before Him in that day of judgment, humble yourself and repent. To repent means to turn away from something and to turn to something else. Turn away from that which you know is wrong in God’s sight and embrace that which is right in His eyes. Believe, the truth of what Scripture says, that Jesus died for your sins – He bore the punishment your sins demanded so that you could have peace with God, not needing to fear His judgment on that Day. As you do that you receive forgiveness for your sins and new life in Jesus Christ. You who were once an enemy of God in the way you lived, become sons and daughters of God through faith in Jesus. The Spirit of God comes to dwell in you and begins to do a work of transformation and purifying in your life. He begins work to develop in you the very character of Christ. You become, in the words of the Bible, “a new creation.” The old has gone and the new has come. And what you’ll discover is that you begin to see the world with new eyes. It doesn’t mean all your problems are going to go away but you will experience a new hope, new priorities, and new joy in the midst of each day.
A lot of people believe in the idea of God but it’s not a belief that leads to salvation. There is no sorrow for sin, there is no desire to change, there is no experience of forgiveness, and life goes on as it pretty much always did for them. Yet we’re instructed in God’s word to believe in such a way that we “clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 13:14)
Let’s just be really blunt this morning: As a people we tend to live for happiness, comfort and entertainment. So much of our lives is spent in the pursuit of happiness and contentment in one form or another. But God isn’t nearly as interested in your happiness as He is in your holiness. Why is that? Well Hebrews 9:27 tells us that “man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” When we stand before God in judgment that day, and we are confronted with the reality of our sins, our happiness in life will not make one iota of difference - but our holiness will - and that holiness comes through faith in Jesus. So clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ. Get into God’s word, let it speak into your life, be transformed from the inside out as you allow the Spirit of God to speak truth into your heart, and step forward in faith to the holy calling that God has placed on you for it is for such a time as this that God has raised you up and the only question that remains is the same that Esther faced, will I step forward in faith that God might use my life?
You might be married but your spouse doesn’t live for the Lord. And it’s hard, and it hurts, but step forward in faith and live for Jesus anyway. It might be that your children aren’t walking for the Lord, the world is tearing them away from all you have taught them and all that God would desire for them, walk with Jesus anyway. It might be that you stand for God in your workplace or in your school and you are mocked and ridiculed for it, stand for Jesus anyway because it may be that it is for just such a time as this that God has raised you up.
That’s the challenge that confronted Esther and that’s what we are reminded of in the story of her life. To step forward in faith could cost us everything we hold dear but the truth is that the cost of not doing anything will be far higher.
And who will God use? Those like Esther who are humble in heart, who have teachable hearts, who live with prayerful hearts, and are willing to love sacrificially as they step forward in faith. Those whose love is so deep that they are willing to perish if need be that others might be saved. They aren’t super saints, they are simply real people living for God and loving Him with all their heart, soul, mind and strength.
Today is, of course, Mother’s Day so let me speak to the mom’s here this morning for a moment in a particular way and yet know too that these words are not just for them but for each of us. Raising a child has got to be the world’s most difficult job. There is laughter and heartbreak and fear and joy. We make mistakes, we fall short of what we desire to be, and there are times when we feel overwhelmed and we wonder what God was thinking when He entrusted these children to our care. Remember that when all seems lost, it is not; when no-one seems to notice all you do and the love you give, God does. When life threatens to be too much, God is there to stand with you for it is He who has called you, like Esther, to such a time as this. And it is you He can use to be the hands and feet of Jesus to those in your life. Esther stepped forward and faith and God used her to change her world. Now it’s your turn. So don’t let the world silence your special song and dance – let them shine for God’s glory!
Let’s pray …
