LIVING FOR GOD IN A GODLESS CULTURE
THE VIEW FROM ROCK BOTTOM: ESTHER 4(1-17)
INTRODUCTION
-Recently, I heard a man talk about his path to sobriety.
-And he talked about hitting rock bottom (his lowest point)
-passed out on the couch one night and his 7 year old daughter came to wake him up…fell broke ribs
-Laying on the ground looking up into his daughter’s eyes.
-Broken, humiliated…and knew something had to change.
-We’re going to see something similar today w/Mordecai…
-Review:
• Xerxes had became King in Persia.
• He banished Queen Vashti.
• Esther was promoted to be new Queen.
• Mordecai crossed Haman.
-Mordecai’s character has been a little sketchy so far in Esther
-He’s a Jewish man continuing to live in Persia instead of Israel
-He didn’t speak up or fight when they came for his daughter
-He’s hidden his nationality and religion for years.
-When he finally stood up for something…he chose rather poorly.
-He publically disrespected a very dangerous man who became an enemy of Mordecai…and all of God’s people.
• Haman issued a death sentence for all Jews in Persia.
-With the King’s support a decree was made saying that all the Jews in the Kingdom could be wiped out…and it was all legal.
-The Persians had the original pony express system; they sent these dispatches out far and wide…
-But they couldn’t kill them until the proper time… a year later.
-You hate getting surprise bills in the mail? 15 million people got a notice in the mail that they’d be killed in one year’s time.
-And all this was because Mordecai wouldn’t tip his hat to Haman
-He was cocky. He was arrogant. He was pretty proud of himself.
-He wasn’t going to be pushed around.
-He wasn’t going to go to be told what to do.
-He probably felt pretty smug about doing this and getting away with it…until..this edict was given.
-How do you think Mordecai felt when realized that he had single-handedly sealed the fate of the all the Jews in Persia?
ESTHER 4:1-3 We don’t have to wonder…the text tells us.
VS 1 When Mordecai learned about all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on burlap and ashes, and went out into the city, crying with a loud and bitter wail.
-He was crushed. Devastated. This news wiped him out.
-He put on his official mourning clothes.
-It was common in the ancient world for people who were in mourning to put their feelings on display.
-When there was tragedy, or pending doom, or a great injustice, or great sin…they would look disheveled and often wail loudly.
-Think about how hard modern people try not to show their emotions…try to put on a strong face or good appearance.
-They hole up privately not wanting 2B seen in a vulnerable state.
-We put on a bathrobe, cable TV and a carton of Rocky Road.
-These people put on a gunny sack, threw ashes on themselves, messed up their hair, and went downtown to cry.
-Sounds weird to us…but when they were suffering they let the people around them know, and even see it up close.
-That’s what Mordecai has done here. But not just Mordecai.
VS 2 He went as far as the gate of the palace, for no one was allowed to enter the palace gate while wearing clothes of mourning.
-The king only liked to be around the nice looking people…happy.
VS 3 And as news of the king’s decree reached all the provinces, there was great mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, and wailed, and many people lay in burlap and ashes.
-He heads toward the gate of the palace…where he works.
-And you know the office gossips were talking about old Morty.
-We tried to warn him. We tried to tell him.
-We didn’t want to tell Haman what Mordecai was doing…but we had no choice. He brought this upon himself. Sad really.
-If they said such things…they were right.
-Mordecai’s own sin brought pain/trouble into his life.
-What did Mordecai think would happen? He didn’t think.
-People never do think much about consequences of sin.
-You don’t think about a DUI when you’re partying with friends
-You don’t think about getting your girlfriend pregnant…love
-You don’t think about your husband leaving you because you’ve beaten him down with criticism and nagging for 20 years.
-You don’t think about losing your job when your firing back at your boss in the heat of the moment.
-You don’t think about losing a friend when you’re gossiping.
-You don’t think about heart attacks and strokes when you’re overeating.
-You don’t think about the consequences of sin while sinning.
-Because sin always bring some sort of immediate satisfaction.
-Sin bring pleasure, or feelings of control, or temporary escape...if sin wasn’t somehow appealing we wouldn’t do it.
-But the dark secret about all sin…not just the really “bad” sins…is that they ultimately bring trouble and pain.
Numbers 32:23 “But if you fail to keep your word, then you will have sinned against the Lord, and you may sure that your sin will find you out.”
-Some of us here are just like Mordecai.
-We’re fooling around with sin, telling ourselves stories about how we won’t get caught, it doesn’t matter, not really a problem.
-And I’m here to tell you from personal experience and from the word of God, “you sins will find you out.”
-And Mordecai found this out the hard way. The punishment he was facing for his disrespect was way overblown.
-Disrespect and death sentence don’t seem very equitable to me.
-But Satan isn’t just trying to annoy us, he’s out to destroy us.
-And he will use the smallest sin to inflict maximum damage, to heap on maximum shame, and make you pay maximum price.
-And you can be sure that Satan was cheering Mordecai on throughout this entire ordeal.
ESTHER 4:4-6
VS 4 When Queen Esther’s maids and eunuchs came and told her about Mordecai, she was deeply distressed.
-Esther has been the Queen for 5 years at this point.
-She no longer has close daily contact with Mordecai.
-But something really interesting happens.
-When Esther saw Mordecai suffering outside the gates…it says that she became deeply distressed. Why?
-Mordecai’s sin brought pain/trouble into his family’s life.
-Mordecai is suffering for his sins. And now Esther is suffering in because of Mordecai’s sins.
-We see sin’s effect on family life all the time.
-Fighting between couples…affects the kids.
-Teenagers making bad choices….affects the parents.
-Guy goes to jail, wife doesn’t have husband, kids don’t have dad.
-You cuss, your little kids walk around cussing.
-When Curtis was little he asked Laura “what’s a moron?”
-Dad always sees morons when he’s driving around. Not funny
-One dysfunctional family can create generations of dysfunction
But this goes beyond just family-Our sins never affect only us.
-In society…you commit a crime…someone else suffers.
-There are no victimless crimes!
-You cheat on taxes everyone else pays your way.
-When you steal…someone else loses money.
-When you destroy property…someone else has to fix it, pay for it.
-You drive carelessly someone else gets hurt.
-Think about church…you gossip, you fight, you talk too much, criticize, you create drama…it affects the whole church.
-Sin always affects ourselves and the people around us.
-Your sin could be anger, prejudice, drinking, nagging, pride, lying, gossiping, laziness, pornography, gluttony, selfishness, a critical attitude, texting and driving…did I get everyone in the room yet?
-It doesn’t matter what your sin is, it always affects other people.
-So Mordecai is in deep distress. Esther is in deep distress.
-All the Jews in Persia are in deep distress!
-Not only did Mordecai fail to anticipate how his sin would jam him up…he grossly underestimated how his sin would affect the people around him.
-We never read the fine print when it comes to sin:
-Satan says, “Tell that guy off he’s a fool and he has it coming.”
-The fine print reads: Warning. Telling that fool off may cause loss of respect, community discord, broken friendship and a mild rash. Consult the Holy Spirit before proceeding.
-Our sins never affect only us! And we never think it through.
-So from the inside the palace, Esther sees Mordecai suffering, he’s in mourning and she sends out some fresh clothes.
-But Mordecai is inconsolable, he refuses the clothes.
-So she sends her personal attendant to find out what’s wrong.
ESTHER 4:7-12
VS 7 Mordecai told him the whole story, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. 8 Mordecai gave Hathach a copy of the decree issued in Susa that called for the death of all Jews.
-He finally comes clean and admits his sins.
-Queen Esther would like to know what’s wrong.
-Mordecai just happens to have the dispatch and hands it Hathach
-He says…read it…it’s all there.
VS 8b He asked Hathach to show it to Esther and explain the situation to her. He also asked Hathach to direct her to go to the king to beg for mercy and plead for her people. 9 So Hathach returned to Esther with Mordecai’s message.
-This is a real turning point in the Mordecai’s life.
-His bad attitude, his sin, his stubbornness has all come back on him and his life is in ruins.
-And when he hit rock bottom, when he got as low as he’d ever been, what did he ask for?
-He didn’t play the blame game…didn’t point a finger at Haman.
-He didn’t try to spin it in any way to lessen his own responsibility.
-He didn’t try to persuade the people to rise up and fight back.
-He didn’t go all Rambo and wage a war for vengeance.
-He certainly didn’t try to act strong and put on a good face.
-He recognized that he needed something very specific.
The text says Mordecai recognized his need for mercy.
-He said I need the person with the power to punish me…not to punish me.
-I need the one who is going to give me what I deserve…not to give me what I deserve.
-At the bottom of the pit he had dug with his own sinful pride and arrogance he said, “I need mercy”.
-And that is the same conclusion that all of us Christians have reached. You can’t be a Christian until you recognize this need.
-We’ve all sinned against ourselves, others, and our Heavenly Father.
-And when we finally were out of options we said, “I need mercy.”
-To the one with the power to punish us, we said “mercy”.
-And our mercy comes to us not from some earthly ruler, but from King Jesus.
-He has the power to fix what’s wrong in our lives.
-He has the power to condemn us or spare us.
-He is the one that could rightfully give us what we deserve, but instead he gave us what we did not deserve.
-Jesus gave us mercy. And that’s what Mordecai asked for.
-“Esther, you’ve got to ask the king for his mercy.”
-Hathach the eunuch is the messenger…they didn’t have texting
VS 10 Then Esther told Hathach to go back and relay this message to Mordecai: 11 “All the king’s officials and even the people in the provinces know that anyone who appears before the king in his inner court without being invited is doomed to die unless the king holds out his gold scepter. And the king has not called for me to come to him for thirty days.”
-Mordecai created a mess for himself. Now who’s caught up in it?
-Esther says, “if I just show up at the king’s court I could die.”
ESTHER 4:13-17
VS 13 Mordecai sent this reply to Esther: “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed.
-You need to help me in order to help yourself…“right?”
-If they kill all the Jews don’t think you’ll get out of it.
VS 14 If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, 14 If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die.
-The man who has been relatively quiet about his beliefs suddenly speaks up. Shows a little faith.
-One way or the other God will do something to save his people.
-And then he utters the most famous words in this book.
VS 14b Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”
-In the pit of despair, at the end of his rope, a thought occurs to Mordecai. Something he’s never considered.
-Something Esther has never considered.
-Maybe God put them in the situation they were in for a reason.
-It’s interesting how we gain perspective in the midst of turmoil, suffering, crisis and pain.
-When you really hit rock bottom the only place to look is up.
-There is a lot of upside from rock bottom.
-First he was an arrogant, disrespectful guy.
-Then he’s a broken, crying, and an emotional wreck.
-But now he sees the faintest glimmer of hope, his last resort, a light at the end of the tunnel…
-….maybe God is doing something here.
-Your rock bottom could be a hurt, habit or hang-up.
-But it could be something that is garden variety:
-It could be a job loss. It could be a death in the family.
-It could be a narrow miss…you could have died but didn’t.
-It could be big change, a medical issue, some kind of moral failure
-Your pit of despair could be of your own digging, or something your spouse did, or your kids did.
-The thing that has you at wits end could involve any number of factors, any number of variables, and complications.
-Have you ever considered that God has you where UR at, going through what you’re going through…as part of his master plan?
-If you could see past your pain for just a moment…if you could zoom out and get a heavenly perspective you might have the same realization that Mordecai had.
-Maybe God put me here for a reason.
-Maybe he’s allowed me to go through this in order to teach me something.
-Maybe it’s a tragedy from which I will emerge stronger.
-Maybe God will use my struggle to help me help others one day.
-Maybe God put me with these people, in these circumstances, for such a time as this.
-How is God using ___________________ for such a time as this?
-I want to challenge U to fill this in with whatever is going on in…
-And prayerfully consider what God may be doing.
-Maybe roll this around with people in your life2life groups.
-With Mordecai consider…what God may be doing at such a time
-Chapter 4 is where we see some real breakthroughs for Mort & E
-Esther, who hasn’t breathed a word about her heritage or her beliefs…suddenly and decisively forms a plan of action.
VS 15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.” 17 So Mordecai went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.
-We’ll look at how the story unfolds next week…please come back
-Mordecai’s story followed a predictable pattern.
-The sin in his life was out of control.
-He was hurting himself and the people around him.
-He finally hit rock bottom and realized that he was powerless to change…he joined a men’s step study, Tues night 6:30pm at ACC.
-He realized that what was wrong with him couldn’t be fixed by him, that he needed mercy. And he asked for it.
Ephesians 2:4-5 “But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)”
-And there are some in the room today who need mercy.
-You don’t have to wait until you hit rock bottom.
