The story of Esther has fascinated people for centuries. It’s the story of a beautiful Jewish girl named Esther, and of the King of Persia named Xerxes (Ahasuerus) who fell in love with her and made her his queen.
But from that point on… the story gets complicated. King Xerxes has a trusted advisor named Haman who hates the Jews and plots to have them destroyed. Haman even goes so far… as to LIE to the King saying: “Certain people (the Jews)… keep themselves separate from everyone else. Their practices are different from the practices of all other people. THEY DON’T OBEY YOUR LAWS. It really isn’t good for you to put up with them. If it pleases you, give the order to destroy them...” Esther 3:8-9
(Now, bear with me for a few moments, because this next part of the sermon intrigues me. If it’s not interesting to you… put your mind on snooze, and I’ll wake you up in a bit).
But this is important to me… because I’ve often encountered people who attack the Bible. There are people who try to undermine our faith in scripture. So whenever I come across information that verifies the history in the Bible… I'm a dog with a bone.
Now, Haman was a godless man who hated the Jews… and he hated their God (Pause) And things haven’t changed in over 2000 years. There are still godless people who hate our God… and they tend to hate us. And they’ve attacked our faith in the Bible. And (of course) they’ve attacked the Book of Esther.
For centuries, critics have said Esther was “made-up” story… a work of fiction. Many have said Esther was written a couple hundred years after the events by some Greek story-teller… in spite of the fact that there were no Greek words in the story. (You’d expect Greek words from a Greek story-teller, but they’re just not there).
The objective of these godless folks is to attack and undermine your faith in God and in His Word. But there are few problems with their criticism. First – it’s in the Bible. And the Bible presents Esther as truth… and I take God at His word.
2ndly – practically everything in this book lines up with history. There was a King Xerxes (the Bible also calls him Ahasuerus), and Xerxes/ Ahasuerus’ kingdom was exactly as described in Esther. Esther 1:1 “In the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces” and that’s exactly how large Persia was at the time. It was a big kingdom.
In addition, the story is peppered with Persian & Aramaic words that were common to that age. If the story were made up in a later time, those type of words wouldn’t have been there.
And history tells us that King Xerxes was a one-woman man (monogamous) Now… by contrast, Xerxes’ father and son BOTH who had several wives. And what was the name of Xerxes wife? Well… Greek historians called her Queen Amestris, and that Amestris was a powerful queen of Persia. She held power all the way through to the end of Xerxes reign, and on into the reign of their son Artaxerxes. There are a number of scholars have concluded that Amestris was Esther. Why? Because if you take the Greek ending (TRIS) off of Ames-tris you end up with the name could be rendered “Am-ester” … which is very close to the Jewish name Esther. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b04yWnkeDKE)
And so, the Book Of Esther is trustworthy. And the story is true - which brings us to the question… why is it in the Bible? Why is Esther there? Well, it’s there because the book of Esther has a purpose. The story of Esther is in the Bible, so we can answer that same question about ourselves: Why Are We Here?
I don’t know if you’d knew this but the book of Esther is the only book of the Bible that never mentions God. God’s name never shows up in Esther. The closest we get to God even being “referred to” is the warning that Mordecai makes: "Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" Esther 4:13-14
You see, Esther was afraid to approach her husband… and with good reason. Xerxes could be a cruel and dangerous man. After all, he was the one who signed the order to exterminate the Jews, and (of course) Esther was a Jew. But Mordecai confronts her and rebukes her and warns her of the judgment of God: You will not escape… you will perish.
And then he basically says – but this is why you’re here! “Who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther - this is why you are here. You need to step up and do something.
ILLUS: I recently listened to a preacher who said this: “If you ask most people: ‘What does it mean to be a Christian?’ and they’ll often respond: ‘It means to believe in God.’ But by that definition you’d have to say that the devil is a Christian. Because he believes! But there’s more to this. It’s not just about coming to church on Sundays and punching a timeclock. No – you’ve been called into a lifestyle. The Bible is not just to be believed, it is to be lived. You didn’t get saved because YOU gave your life to Christ. You got saved because God gave HIS life to you! So live a life worthy of the LIFE He’s given you (From “Chris Buell’s Reels”)
Now here is Esther… she’s a queen. She’s rich, she’s powerful, she has influence. But did she become a queen just because she was pretty? Mordecai says: NO! In fact, he tells her – you didn’t DESERVE what you’ve got. You were born to be here… you were born with a mission. And even though Mordecai doesn’t mention the name of God he essentially tells her… God has put you here in this place in this time - to do something FOR HIM. Live a life worthy of the life He’s given you.
Mordecai gives her the answer to the question: WHY AM I HERE?
Now here’s the question for you today: WHY ARE YOU HERE? Do you go to church just to punch a timecard? Do you exist (as a Christian) just to show up on Sundays and sing a few songs, pray a few prayers, take communion, hear a sermon… and then go home?
There are Christians like that! And I don’t necessarily have a problem with that.
ILLUS: Do you remember the story of Mary and Martha? Jesus and his disciples have come to their home and Martha is upset because Mary isn’t helping prepare the meal. Mary’s just sitting at the feet of Jesus. And that’s OK with Jesus because there IS a time to sit & worship.
But… several months later … Lazarus and Mary and Martha give a dinner for Jesus
“Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. Mary took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair.” John 12:2-3
Mary did SOMETHING for Jesus. She did this ONE thing for Jesus, and she did it well. She didn’t do the same kind of thing for Jesus MARTHA did, but there are preachers who STILL preach about that ONE THING MARY did… and she did it well. MARY did something for Jesus.
Now, here’s the deal… when people REALLY follow God…. they do stuff for Him. Sometimes they’re moved to do GREAT things - Like Noah building an ark; Or Moses leading the people of Israel out of Egypt; Or David taking out a giant; Or… like Esther putting her life on the line to save her people.
Other times, when people come to Jesus – they do SMALL things that make a BIG difference. There was the little boy who shared his meager lunch with Jesus (5 loaves/2 fishes) and as a result, over 5000 people were fed; Then there’s the woman who met Jesus at the well and then went back to her village and told them who she’d met - and the whole community came out to see Him and their lives are changed. That’s all we know that she did… but she changed people’s lives.
Even little is much in the hands of God. Again and again, throughout Scripture, we see people rise up and do BIG things, or SMALL things. But they all made a difference… because they did it for God.
So… why are you here? If you’re here to worship… that’s good because God wants us to worship Him. But is that all you’re going to do?
One of my favorite verses is Ephesians 2:10 “We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for GOOD WORKS, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” God has created things just for YOU to do. These “good works” are gifts God has given you… and only you. These gifts are God’s confidence in you, and His expectation that you become His servant… AND YOU DO STUFF FOR HIM! Who knows whether you have come to this church for such a time as this?"
AND there are a lot of people here who know why they’re here. They seriously pray for people… and they call people… encourage people; They serve meals; They give out clothes and food; They take care of babies (nursery); They drive bus; And they teach classes on Sundays/Mondays/Wednesdays/Thursdays; They run the sound system; They bring people to church; They reach out to shut-ins and the homebound.
And I’ve probably missed a few things (forgive me)
But are you one of those people? Do you do good works for your God? Do you seek a way to figure out if there’s something you can do that declares that you were
One last thought: Esther had a plan. She determined that if she was going to do something for God she was going to do it right. So she started with a fast! Fasting was what God’s people did when they wanted to put teeth in their prayers.
And then she approached the King.
Now, if I’d have been Esther, I’d have walked up to the King and right away, I’d have told him exactly what I needed. But she didn’t do that. Instead - when Xerxes asked what she wanted - she said “Bring Haman over for dinner” and THEN I’ll tell you what I really want.
So they have dinner together, and Xerxes is so pleased that he asks again what she really wants. And so she tells him to bring Haman over again for another meal and then she’ll tell the King what she needs. AND SO THEY DO THAT.
Why did Esther invite Xerxes and Haman to a meal… not once, but twice? Well, the Bible doesn’t say and there’s about 10 different theories on this. But THIS is what I think happened (this is my opinion). I think she invited them the first time because she wanted to confront Haman in front of her husband. But I think that something about that gathering didn’t seem right, it didn’t feel right. Something was off and so she invited them back for a 2nd meal… and the end result was Xerxes became angry at Haman; Haman got hanged; and the people of God were saved.
But my point here is this: Esther had a plan. She had decided that she was going to do something for God. She just wanted to make sure that when she did it… it was done right. So, she fasted and then … (well) she ate.
Now, this is how it applies to you and me. If you decide you want to do something for God - take it seriously. Fast and pray about it before you get into it. And then get your feet wet. Volunteer to do something for God. Try one ministry - you don’t have to do it forever… just try it out, and if that doesn’t work… try another one. The objective is to do SOMETHING for God and not to be satisfied with just “sitting” in church. Because, who knows – you may have come to THIS CHURCH for such a time as this.
CLOSE: Albert Schweitzer - a famous missionary once said: “I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.”
