Esther 4:1-17
Influence
Woodlawn Baptist Church
August 15, 2004
(Many of the thoughts and the main points from this sermon were taken from John Maxwell’s book, "Becoming a Person of Influence")
Introduction
I want to tell you all how good it is to be back with you this morning after being out for vacation. It seems like a long time since I have stood here. I had not realized before I left how much I needed the time off to rest and be refreshed. I asked you three Sundays ago to pray for me and that God would revive me, and I am confident that you prayed those prayers. I cannot say that I am revived, because I do not believe it is a thing that happens and then that’s it. Personal revival with God is a process, a journey of sorts that God takes us on and never wishes us to look back. I realize somewhere along the journey up the mountain, I chose to sit down for a while, weary of the climb, and now I am ready to climb again. You continue to pray for me, and for one another. Pray that God would awaken each of us and that we would climb to new heights together. “Me? Need Revival?” some of you might say. Before you dismiss the thought, ask God to help you see whether you too have been perched on some comfortable ledge halfway up the mountain for too long, and I will pray that He kicks you off!
Remember that in the first three chapters of Esther, we found that King Ahasuerus was the ruler of the Medo-Persian Empire, and through his own foolishness and drunkenness divorced his wife Vashti. This in turn led to the choosing of a new wife by means of a beauty pageant of sorts. Esther, the young girl who was raised by her uncle Mordecai, was chosen to be the new queen. Mordecai held some kind of position in the king’s gate, giving him access to Esther and the goings on of the court, so he kept himself informed of how she was doing and used her position to pass along important information, such as when he revealed the assassination plot that two of his co-workers were putting together. For some reason unknown to us, after Mordecai saved the king’s life, Haman was elevated to the second highest position in the kingdom, attaining god-like status, and by command of the king, everyone was to bow in an act of worshipful reverence. Mordecai, being the devout and God-fearing Jew he was, could not bring himself to obey the king’s command. When others fell to the ground in Haman’s presence, Mordecai stood. When others were jockeying for recognition, he refused to bow. When Haman learned of Mordecai’s insubordination, he was outraged. He determined that this Jew was going to die, but not just this Jew: all Jews! Haman cunningly got the king’s permission to write a royal edict, sanctioned by the king, that on a day only months away, all the people of the kingdom would be allowed and encouraged to slaughter the Jews. In fact, Haman was so committed to the success of this plan he financed it himself. Chapter 3 ends by telling us that messengers were sent throughout the empire, posting notices and communicating to the people what was about to take place. Now read chapter 4 with me.
“When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry; and came even before the king’s gate: for none might enter into the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth. And in every province, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, there was a great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes. So Esther’s maids and her chamberlains came and told it her. Then was the queen exceedingly grieved; and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take away his sackcloth from him: but he received it not. Then called Esther for Hatach, one of the king’s chamberlains, whom he had appointed to attend upon her, and gave him a commandment to Mordecai, to know what it was, and why it was. So Hatach went forth to Mordecai unto the street of the city, which was before the king’s gate. And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him, and of the sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the Jews, to destroy them. Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them, to shew it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her, and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for her people. And Hatach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai. Again Esther spake unto Hatach, and gave him commandment unto Mordecai; all the king’s servants, and the people of the king’s provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden scepter, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days. And they told to Mordecai Esther’s words. Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer, Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish. So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.”
Did you know that everyone has influence? It doesn’t matter who you are or what your occupation is, you are an influencer. It doesn’t matter what your economic status is, what your race or age or level of education is – if your life in any way connects with other people, you are an influencer. Before we leave today, I want you to recognize what a tremendous impact Mordecai had on the life of Esther; how he influenced her to be the leader God intended for her to be, and more than all that, I want you to recognize that God gives to each one of you that same tremendous ability to influence the lives of those around you. Perhaps you have heard the little poem,
My life shall touch a dozen lives before this day is done,
Leave countless marks for good or ill ere sets the evening sun,
This is the wish I always wish, the prayer I always pray;
Lord may my life help other lives it touches by the way.
Mordecai was an influencer. Here is a man who has initiated one of the most dangerous threats against the Jewish people, and now he is in a position where he is helpless to do anything about it on his own, and I want to tell you that this is one of the greatest positions a child of God can find himself in. There are so many of us who are content to be Lone Ranger Christians. We think we can go in with our guns blazing and save the day, but the Lord never intended it be that way.
When Christ left this earth, He didn’t send out individuals, He commissioned a church – a body of believers who had a relationship with Christ in common, who had a common baptism and a common purpose – and told them to love one another, to edify one another, to forgive one another, to encourage one another, and so forth, because as Solomon wrote, “two are better than one…and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” Left to ourselves, God knew that most of us would settle for less. Left to ourselves, most people will shrink back when challenged, but together, following the Lord, great things can be done and great stands for the truth can be made.
Let me share with you some things that you may not know about the people sitting around you.
Most people don’t have faith in themselves
Esther was unsure of herself. Mordecai carefully explained what was going on and the danger that the Jews were in, and Esther practically refused to do what was being asked of her. Her hesitancy was in no way an evidence of a lack of love for her people. Her answer had to do with the fact that she didn’t have faith in her ability to go before her husband the king without serious repercussions.
That’s the way most people feel today. Many of you have trouble believing in yourselves, or in your ability to do what needs to be done. Some of you say, “Oh, I could never do that.” “I could never get up in front of people.” “I just don’t think I could …” you fill in the blank. So many people have so little faith in themselves. I’m not just talking about church stuff, but about your life in general. Some of you are convinced that you’re going to fail before you even try. When you see light at the end of the tunnel, you just assume that it’s a train.
Most people don’t have someone who has faith in them
I think we underestimate our power of influence. We underestimate the power of our influence in the lives of our children, in the lives of our spouses, with fellow church members or with people in general. So many people are living life isolated from everyone else, never having heard that they have what it takes to be or do what God would require. Most people just don’t have someone who will come alongside and give them the confidence or that word of encouragement they need, and so not only do they not have faith in themselves, they earnestly believe that no one else does either.
Most people will do anything to live up to your faith in them
You watch and see how this works. “People will rise or fall to meet your level of expectations for them. If you express skepticism and doubt in others, they will return your lack of confidence with mediocrity. But if you believe in them and expect them to do well, they will go the extra mile trying to do their best.”
Think about what happened with Esther. Mordecai told her to go to the king and plead for the lives of the Jews. She didn’t think she could do it. Mordecai insisted that she do it, communicating to her a great faith in her ability to come through, and while she still had doubts, she rose to the occasion and did what she didn’t think she could do in the first place. When she finally did go, she walked in on the prayers of people that she knew had great faith in her.
According to the Word of God, each of us has a God-given responsibility to build one another up. One of the chief reasons I get out of bed each morning to do the work God has called me to is because others believe in me when I fail to believe in myself. It may be the encouraging word from my family, or you letting me know that you’re praying for me. We each have a great capacity to spur one another on to greater and higher things in life, to be what God would have us to be. I have never believed myself to be much of a preacher or teacher, but you have told me so much those sorts of things that I work hard to live up to your expectations.
Just think of the people in your life. It may be a husband or a wife – do you like to put them down and tell them what’s wrong with them? Or do you communicate great faith in them? Are you building your children up? Or do you constantly tell them what they don’t do or can’t do or what they won’t amount to? In our church, the same holds true. We must recognize what a powerful tool our influence is to shape and direct the lives of others, and to lead our church on to where God would have us to go. The way is not easy though. The challenges of ministry are difficult, the obstacles are many, and like Esther, we can easily see our circumstances as overwhelming.
Before we go any further, I want you to think of someone you know whom God has placed in your life to influence. Who is someone: family, friend or otherwise, who is facing such tremendous odds that left to themselves there is a strong possibility they will stop and sit on the side of the mountain? In the short time we have left, I want to give you three things you can do to influence that person: three things that Mordecai did with Esther.
Be Real
You will notice in all his weeping and wailing that Mordecai didn’t sugarcoat the situation. This was life and death, not just for him, but also for their entire race of people. Not only did he not sugarcoat that – when Esther spoke of the great difficulty of going before the king, Mordecai never argued the point. Here was a man who was able to walk around in the public eye in sackcloth and ashes, lying in the dirt at times mourning what was happening. It got Esther’s attention. Verse 4 says that Esther exceedingly grieved, but not over the king’s decree; she didn’t even know about it. She grieved over what Mordecai was doing, and she wanted to know more.
The worst thing you can do for a person is to smooth over their problems or to try to minimize them. Be real – be genuine, and don’t be afraid of what others might think about you along the way. Too often we spend so much time being posers, pretending that things are all right in our lives when they are not. Certainly people don’t want to know all about your dirty laundry. I’m not saying you have to tell everything, but you don’t have to live like nothing is ever wrong either. When you will be real with people and let your guard down, others will notice and want to know more. Now you’ve got their attention, they are watching you, and they are in a position for you to influence them.
Challenge Them Not To Be Overwhelmed
I read a story about the great baseball pitcher Walter Johnson, who played from 1907-1927. Back in his day he pitched a 97-99 mph hardball, almost 10 mph faster than anyone else playing at the time. He threw more fastballs more often than anyone and held the strikeout record for 56 years. During one game, a rookie major-league baseball player faced Johnson for the first time when Johnson was in his prime. The batter took two quick strikes and then headed for the dugout. As he walked off, he told the umpire to keep the third strike – he had seen enough. When faced with tough problems, just about anybody is likely to get discouraged. It would have been easy for Mordecai and Esther to just give up when so much was stacked against them, but instead, Mordecai coached her through the situation and helped her to rise to the occasion.
More often than not, you will find yourselves criticizing others than helping them to find solutions. As an influencer, you have to help the other person see through the problem and coach them through the solutions. Don’t allow them to sit and grumble. Don’t allow them to shirk their responsibilities. Don’t allow them to make excuses. You do what Mordecai did. He told Esther, “This is why you are queen. God has placed you in the place at this time for this purpose. Now live up to it!”
Writing to a persecuted group of believers who were being ostracized, arrested and murdered for their faith, the writer of Hebrews said,
“Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”
You see, that writer understood that most people will quit when faced with extreme opposition. Those believers were walking away from the faith, turning their backs on Christianity so they could get along a little easier in the world. He didn’t deny that their situation was dire. He simply said that we had a responsibility to challenge one another, to provoke one another unto love and to good works… In other words, challenge them to keep the faith, to stay the course, and to finish strong. Listen, do you believe that God is in control? Do you believe that He knows what He’s doing? If you do, then you have to also believe that none of you go through what you’re going through by accident – you are here on purpose, now live up to it!
Instill Confidence In Them
After Mordecai challenged Esther, she thought about it and rose to the occasion. She sent word back to him to have him and the others begin a three day fast for her. He instilled great confidence in Esther, and she lived up to his expectations.
“One pitfall of helping others…is that they can doubt themselves. You have to continually encourage the people you help. One man said, “What you think means more than anything else in your life. More than what you earn, more than where you live, more than your social position, and more than what anyone else may think about you.” If you do not demonstrate confidence in others, they may easily loose heart and decide they don’t have what it takes.
As I read the New Testament, I can’t help but think of how thick-headed the disciples were. As Jesus taught and led, they just didn’t get it, but you never hear the Lord say so. Instead, He communicated to them that they had what it took to do His work, and that He believed in their ability to do what He was leaving them to do. They didn’t believe it, but He did, and they rose to heights they never would have ascended to had it not been for the powerful confidence He instilled in them.
Today perhaps the Lord has been leading you in some direction that you have been slow in responding to because you have doubted yourself. He wouldn’t be leading you if He didn’t believe in you. Today I believe that God wants more from some of you than you’ve been willing to give, and while I don’t know the place in particular, He does, and He will reveal it to you if you will only let Him.
· Some of you have been living in two worlds for too long, refusing to make up your mind which god you want to serve. It is time to rethink things and get off the fence.
· Some of you have adopted some questionable morals and have justified it in your own minds. God wants you to live counter-culturally, and it is time for you to make some difficult choices.
· Perhaps today you’ve been following from afar. God is calling you into closer fellowship with Him. Is there something standing in the way? Is there something holding you back? Are you too busy for God? For church? For your families?
Today God is looking for some Mordecais in our church: men and women who will recognize and accept their responsibility as an influencer for the kingdom of God. Will you be one of those men and women? Will you stop trying to go at it alone? Will you stop criticizing others for what they’re not doing? Or for what they are doing and determine to be a Christlike influence in their lives? Whether they ever change or not it not the important issue, but rather that you tried. What will be your decision?
Maxwell, John C. Becoming a Person of Influence (Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville, TN) 1997 The three points are adapted from Chapter 3 under the heading Facts About Faith In People
ibid
http://www.thebaseballpage.com/past/pp/johnsonwalter/
op. cit.
