Newscaster Paul Harvey, some years ago, told his radio listeners
this remarkable story from World War II. From the Island of
Guam one of our mighty B-29 bombers took off for
Kokura, Japan. It was carrying deadly cargo as it circled high
above the city. A cloud covered the city, so the plane kept circling
for half an hour, and then for three quarters of an hour, and finally
after 55 minutes the gas supply was reaching the danger zone. The
plane had to leave its primary target, and go to a secondary target
where the sky was clear. Then the command could be given,
"Bombs away!"
Only weeks later did the military receive information that chilled
many a heart. Thousands of allied prisoners of war, the largest
concentration of Americans in enemy hands, had been moved to
Kokura a week before the bombing mission. Had it not been for
that cloud, thousands of Americans now alive would have been
killed, for that B-29 was carrying the world's second atomic bomb.
It was taken instead to the secondary target-Nagasaki.
The direction history takes, so often is determined by such minor
things. Small things play a big role in life. The illustrations of this
are numerous, yet it is a truth that demands balance, or it leads to
folly. God's providence is constantly working through little things,
but not every little thing is of significance. To think so can lead to
becoming neurotic, for you will search for meaning in every trivial
event of life. The danger of this is illustrated by the little girl who
came running into her house sobbing. She threw herself into her
mothers arms, and cried out, "God doesn't love me anymore!" The
mother was shocked and puzzled at what could produce such a
crisis. "Why do you say that?" she asked, assuring her that God
does love her. "No mother!" she wailed. "I know He doesn't love
me. I tried Him with a daisy." In case you have never tried that less
than fool proof method of predicting love, by pulling off petals to,
"He loves me, he loves me not," let me recommend that you never
start, if you are going to take it seriously.
The fact is, there are little things that are just little things. They
are minor and insignificant. They are not subtle and hidden
methods by which great things are accomplished. I don't think it is
a healthy exercise to go through life trying to figure out if God is
trying to say something through every minor event. When God does
work through such events, it is only known as we look back and see
the minor event as a link in the chain that leads to the fulfillment of
His purpose.
This is what we see in the life of Mordecai. As a cloud saved
many Americans, so a conversation saved many Jews. Mordecai
over heard a couple of the kings servants plotting to assassinate him.
This was very common in the ancient world, because the only way to
get rid of an absolute monarch was by assassination. They never
quit, and could not be voted out, and so violence was the only
method open for change. Many of kings of Persians were
assassinated, including Xerxes. He was saved by Mordecai, but
fourteen years later one of his servants succeeded in his plot to kill
him.
Assassination was common even in Israel. In I Kings 15 we read
of how Baasha conspired to kill Nadab, the king of Israel, after he
had reigned only two years. Baasha became king then, and reigned
24 years, but he was also a evil king, so nothing was gained by the
people in this politics of violence. His son Elah became king, and 2
years later his servant Zimri assassinated him, and became king.
Once you killed the king, you had to kill the whole family, and many
of his friends, so the violence of the ancient world was terrible.
There are other gruesome assassinations in the Old Testament. I
point this out so that we can see clearly the nature of Mordecai's
political decision, when he chose to become an informer, and
revealed the conspiracy against Xerxes.
We see in Mordecai's experience good reason for why political
decisions are so paradoxical, and why it is that politicians are often
so variable. We see it in Mordecai's patriotism. In the last
paragraph of chapter 2 we see Mordecai as a defender of the state,
and then in the first paragraph of chapter 3 we him as a defier of the
state. He first saved Xerxes life, and then he turns around and
refuses to obey his orders of bowing to Haman, his highest
representative. In the one place Mordecai is a conservative, and in
the next he is a liberal. In the one he is a loyal citizen, and in the
next he is a rebel.
We need to study both sides of the patriotism of Mordecai, for the
Bible and history make it clear that the Christian who cannot be
paradoxical in his politics and patriotism will not be able to live a
life of wisdom in relation to the state. The paradox is, inconsistency
in relationship to man is the only way you can be consistent in your
relationship to God. Let's focus first on the positive side.
I. MORDECAI AS DEFENDER OF THE STATE.
By defender, I mean Mordecai risked his life in order to a loyal
citizen, and to maintain the order of the state by reporting the
conspiracy to kill the king. Mordecai was a foreigner, and he could
have had the attitude that this is not my country, so what do I care?
The believer is one who knows God is the God of order, and unless
the leaders of a state are so corrupt that a revolution is demanded,
those leaders should be honored. Many Christians have, and do
now, live under tyrants, and forms of government that we could not
tolerate as Americans. They live with far less freedom than us, but
they still love their country, and are patriotic.
One of the reasons the Jews have been able to become leaders in
nations all over the world is because they have practiced the
principle of honoring and defending the state they are in. Paul in
Rom. 13 lays this down as a principle for Christians in any state.
"Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there
is no authority except from God..." They are to receive our respect
and honor. By practicing this Christianity has been able to thrive
under all sorts of governments.
Mordecai was a great example of this principle, and thus a great
asset to the Persian Empire. By becoming an informer he took a
great risk for the sake of Xerxes, for informers tend to get their
names added to the hit list. Vincent Teresa was the number 3 man
in the New England Mafia. He had stolen 10 million for himself in
crime, and 150 million for his bosses and confederates. When he
turned informer, back in the early 70's, dozens of big times mobsters
ended up in prison. It took the FBI's most brilliant minds
working constantly just to keep him alive. Assassination squads
were everywhere. Doctors, lawyers, and even policeman were paid
by Mafia to get him. It may have not have been this hot for
Mordecai, but had the assassins found out he was the informer,
he would have been their first target. He took risks to be a defender
of the state.
He was a hero of the state, and he was later greatly rewarded for
his loyalty. Patriotism played a major role in God's providence in
his life, and all of Israel. Patriotism is a virtue, but we must see that
it also has its limitations. When the state is exalted to the level of
God, then defense of the state is idolatry. Patriotism can have many
motives, and this is why it is only a relative, and not an absolute,
virtue. Even the Mafia are patriotic towards America, for its
freedoms make it the greatest place on earth for crime. Vincent
Teresa closes his book, My Life In The Mafia, with this paragraph.
Let me tell you something: I'm the proudest guy in the
world to be an American. Before I went to jail I had
plenty of chances to take off and go live in a villa on
the Italian coast, but I wouldn't leave this country. I'd
rather spend 20 years in the can in America than 20
years free in Italy. The reason is, I love this country,
and that's the way it is with most mob guys. The mob
will not stand for anything against this country. They'll
rob from government arsenals and rob government
stock and sell it; but if they could discover that anyone's
trying to overthrow the country or anything like that,
they'll fight him. Most mob guys that I know of vote.
We vote whatever is the best way to make money. If
its going to be one of these guys who is going to be on
the reform kick all the time, we'll all band together and
vote against him.
There is a higher percentage of the Mafia who vote, then of born
again Christians. So what I am saying is that patriotism is good, but
not an absolute good. If not modified by a higher loyalty to God, it
can become an evil. Thus, we turn to the other side of Mordecai and
see
