Just Let It Go
5/22/05 Esther 3:1-17 Matthew 5:38-48
There was a fable of a dog who just could not stand for another dog to get the best of him in any way. One day the dog came across a large juicy steak that had somehow fallen off a meat wagon. The dog picked up the steak and started running with it. All was going well until he started across a bridge with water underneath. He noticed, there under the bridge was another dog with a big steak in his mouth.
He began to growl at the dog, and it looked as though the dog was growling back at him. He got so upset that he went to bark at the dog, and when he opened his mouth, the steak fell out into the river and sank to the bottom never to be seen again. Only then did he recognize he was looking at a reflection of himself in the water. When those feelings of anger rose up inside of him, all he had to do was “just let it go” and he would have enjoyed that steak.
A couple of years ago near Akron, a man was driving with his family, and was rudely cut off by a taxi driver. It really made him angry. When the traffic stopped, he jumped out of his car to give the driver a piece of his mind, and maybe even a piece of his fist. When he went after the taxi driver, the driver responded by pulling out a gun and firing. The man fell dead in front of his wife and his kids. He never thought that decision to get even would cost him is life, and his family untold suffering and grief. All he had to do to avoid this tragedy was too “just let it go” when he felt wronged.
Jesus came with a strong message dealing with revenge. He said in Matthew 5:38-39 "You have heard that it was said, ’Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ 39But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” This one verse is enough to keep some people from giving their lives to Jesus Christ. They’re thinking, “I’m not going to be a wimp”, “nobody is going to take advantage of me”, “if they hit me I’m going to hit them back.”
I hear so often when someone is in trouble, “well she should not have called me a name, or he hit me first.” Yet this person is the one in trouble, and not the other one. In sports, the person who usually gets the penalty is the one who responded to an injustice in anger. In school, the person who is usually in the principal’s office is the person who was getting even. In life, the person who usually ends up in prison, is the one who is getting back at somebody.
When Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek, he is telling us to choose to live on a higher level and leave the idea of revenge to God. Think for a moment, who is it that you might have an idea of getting revenge against this day. Is it an ex-spouse who did you wrong. Is it your child’s father or mother who’s acting the fool? Is it someone who has taken the person you loved? Is it a boss whose mean or a co-worker who has stolen credit for your work?
Is it someone who has cheated you out of something that rightfully belonged to you? Is it someone who has hurt you because of something that was said or done? All of these situations lead to the desire to get even, to get revenge. Some people plot and plan for a long time before they finally strike back. In a Star Trek movie, Khan said, “revenge is best when it is served cold.”
But if you took that desire to get even back to Jesus, he would say, “I know that they did you wrong, but, just let it go. Look at what he actually said: Matthew 5:43-45 "You have heard that it was said, ’Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons and daughters of your Father in heaven. There is a lot more to following Christ than showing up at church. To follow Jesus means a willingness to be obedient to God, even when it hurts and you don’t feel like it. You cannot be a wimp and follow Jesus Christ. You truly have to be a person of courage and of faith. You trust God to be able to make wrong right. Anybody can respond with a fight or a gun, but only the few and powerful can give it over to God.
Let’s read Romans 12:17-19 Romans 12:17-19 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. In other words, God is saying, “I saw the wrong that was done, now just let it go.” But God, we’re talking about my money here. God says yes, but “just let it go.”
Let’s go back to the book of Esther and meet a man by the name of Haman. Now Haman did not know God. But as far as this world was concerned, he was top dog, he was the man, and he had it all going on for him. King Xerxes had elevated Haman to the number two position in the kingdom. He had great wealth. He was higher than all the other officials. When Haman walked by, the people were to treat him as some kind of a junior god. They would kneel down and pay honor to him. The king even commanded that they do so. All this praise and attention caused Haman to get a really big head.
Now in the kingdom of Xerses which stretched from India to North Africa, God’s people the Jews, were scattered throughout the kingdom. Some of the Jews had a real problem bowing down to a man. They knew that God and God alone deserved to be worshiped. No doubt some of the Jews bowed, just to stay out of trouble. But one guy, by the name of Mordecai would not bow down when Haman passed by. Now Haman did not know a thing about Mordecai, he had not even noticed that Mordecai wasn’t bowing.
But there are people who just love to get things going especially when they are jealous. Somebody wanted Haman to know, “well you can’t be all that, because there is a fellow by the name of Mordecai, who never bows down when you go past.” Haman probably responded, “where is this guy when I pass by him.” The next time that Haman goes down that route, he cannot enjoy the praise he’s receiving because he is busy looking for Mordecai to be standing up. He’s riding and looking as people on the left and right are kneeling down. Then he spots Mordecai, standing. He looks at Mordecai the whole time he’s passing, and he’s getting hotter inside by the minute. The rest of the trip, all he sees is that Mordecai is standing. How dare Mordecai embarrass him or disrespect him like that.
One of the things that lead to us being hurt, is to have an over estimated opinion of who we are. Haman just knew he was somebody, and everybody was going to worship him and give him the respect he was due. Sometimes we forget, that we are not as important as we think we are. If we remember that we are here to serve Jesus Christ in every situation we find ourselves in, we realize there are plenty of insults that come our way. Yet often all we have to do, is “just let it go.”
If somebody spit in our face, must of us would forget all about Jesus and come down like a nuclear bomb on the person. Yet that may be our moment of truth in our faith. Somebody might turn to Christ depending on how they observe our response. Can we remember they spat in Jesus’s face , and Jesus said, whatever they did to me, they will do to you also. Jesus did not spit back. He kept his mouth closed.
Haman took Mordecai’s action as spit in his face. He was so angry, just killing Mordecai was not going to be enough. He wanted to wipe out every person that had Mordecai’s background. He wanted to kill every Jewish person, man, woman, boy, girl, and the elderly whether they had bowed down to him or not. He was even willing to pay a large sum of his money to help the people carry out this plot.
He convinced the king that a certain group of people were a threat to his kingdom and did not deserve to live because they would not obey the king’s laws. He didn’t mention Mordecai’s name because he probably didn’t want the king to know that this was really about a personal vendetta. He didn’t even mention it was the Jews he was after. He simply called them a certain group of people. The King accepted what Haman said. He let Haman write out the law. Haman had rolled the dice to decide what day and month this massive slaughter of people was going to take place. It was going to be on the twelfth of the month of Adar. Adar would correspond to our month of February.
When somebody is planning for your downfall, just remember that God was planning for you, before they started planning for you. Which means their plans cannot overrule God’s plans. God knew this day was coming. Haman did not know some of the facts involved. Sometimes when we plan on getting even, we do not know all of the facts involved either. He knew Mordecai was a Jew. He did not know that God had arranged for Mordecai’s niece, Mordecai’s adopted daughter, to become the Queen married to King Xerses. Before she became queen, Mordecai had told Esther, do not tell anyone that you are a Jew. Do you think Haman might have acted differently if he had known all of the facts? What facts are you missing in your plans.
Esther decides to risk her life and speak up for her people but she does not do it all at once. She asks the king, if she could please invite him and Haman to a banquet that afternoon that she had prepared, and that she wanted to ask him for one favor. The king says “of course we can have banquet today and whatever you ask for up to ½ the kingdom and it will be yours. Now Haman was on cloud nine. He got to go to a personal banquet with just the king and the queen. He couldn’t wait to go home and brag about it.
When the king asked her, what it was she wanted, Esther replied, “if you’re going to grant my request, please you and Haman come back tomorrow to another banquet, and I will tell you what I want then. The king responded, “no problem I can make it, what about you Haman.” Haman replies, “Oh king, nothing is more important than a banquet with you and the queen. I’ll clear my calendar.” Then it’s done.
Haman went home that day and called all his friends and family together. He started bragging about who he was, and what he had, and how the Queen had invited him and the king to a personal banquet. Then he brags that, tomorrow he’s going to a personal banquet again with just the king and the queen. But then he says, in chapter Esther 5:13 But all this gives me no satisfaction as long as I see that Jew Mordecai sitting at the king’s gate."
Do you see how you rob yourself of enjoying your blessings, by holding on to you desire for revenge. All that this man has, and he is a prisoner to Mordecai. Who still has you in chains? If you’ve got hatred and unforgiveness in your heart, you’re stealing from yourself. All the blessings of God in the world are not going to set you free. Haman still had a chance to let this thing with Mordecai go.
But no he was going to get his revenge. His family could see he was going to have a heart attack if he had to wait 11 months to get even. They said, “why don’t you have a gallows built 75 feet high and ask the king to hang Mordecai on it. Then when you go to the party with the King and Queen you can be happy.”
The gallows probably was an impaling stake, a common method of execution in the ancient world. The stake would go through Morcdecai’s body and he would be lifted up high. The purpose in suggesting such a tall stake was so it would be a lesson to all who saw it. The person on the stake would be visible from all directions, since he would be higher than all the trees. This method of execution would demonstrate that Haman was in control and that no one should try to stand in his way. Haman probably said, “now that’s a plan I can go with. I like that. Yeah, I can have a good time with the king and queen after that.
But do not forget, when others are making plans, God is also making plans. That very night King Xerxes could not sleep. He didn’t have a tv, so he called in couple of guys to read what had been taking place in his kingdom behind the scenes. They came to a real interesting story about two fellows by the name of Bigthana and Teresh.
These two traitors had plotted to assassinate King Xerxes. They would have carried out their plans, but somehow, Mordecai had exposed them. So Mordecai had saved the king’s life. The king says, “wow, what did we do for this fellow Mordecai. He saved my life.” They said, “well king, I don’t know how to say this, but we didn’t do anything for him.” “What a guy saves my life, and nothing was done for him.”
The king hears somebody coming in the court way. It’s Haman and he’s coming to ask the king for permission to go and hang Mordecai. The king says bring Haman in at once. He says to Haman, “Haman what should be done for the man the king wants to honor.”
All of a sudden Haman’s big head takes over and he forgets about Mordecai for a moment. He thinks, “surely there is nobody the king could possibly want to honor more than him. So he thinks of something that would elevate himself in the eyes of the people. Haman responds in chapter 6 vs 7-9 as we read it together, Esther 6:7-9 So he answered the king, "For the man the king delights to honor, 8have them bring a royal robe the king has worn and a horse the king has ridden, one with a royal crest placed on its head. 9Then let the robe and horse be entrusted to one of the king’s most noble princes. Let them robe the man the king delights to honor, and lead him on the horse through the city streets, proclaiming before him, ’This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!’ "
Haman was all ready to put on that robe, and put on the crown, and prepare to get on the king’s horse. Can you imagine how his mouth must have dropped open when the king said, “Go at once and do everything you have said for Mordecai the Jew who sits at the kings gate, and don’t neglect anything you have suggested. Haman probably stood there in complete shock and unbelief. The king probably had to say, “jump to it man, didn’t you hear what I just said.”
This is probably Haman’s last chance to just let it go, this thing he has with Mordecai and admit he was wrong, but he doesn’t take it. Haman is the top prince in the land, so he is the one who has to walk while leading a horse with Mordecai riding on it. This was one of the most embarrassing moments in his life. He couldn’t wait to end that procession through downtown. When he went home and told his family and friends about it, their story changed. All of a sudden they started to tell him, this does not look good. You should have just let it go. Mordecai is going to be your ruin.
The king’s servants arrived to pick up Haman to go to the banquet. They’re eating and drinking. King Xerxes is dying to know what Queen Esther is going to ask for. She says King, “if me and my people were all going to become slaves, I would not have bothered to trouble you, but me and my entire race of people have been sold to be murdered, slaughtered and annihilated.” The king was in a state of shock. “What—Who on Earth would do such a thing. Where is the man, just let me get my hands on him.” Esther says, “Here he is right here. This vile Haman is the one.” The king jumped up in anger. Haman stayed behind to try to beg Esther for his life, because he knew the king had already about made up his mind.
As Haman was going over to Esther, he must have tripped and stumbled on the couch and fell on the queen. The King was coming in and said, “what, are you so bold you’re trying to molest the queen while she is with in the house.” Then one of the king’s servants said, there is 75 foot gallows by Haman’s house, that he built to kill Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king.” That was the last straw. Without thinking, the king said, hang him on it. And they did.
All because Haman waited too late to just let it go. That thing in our lives that we’re holding on to, that’s keeping us from living on the level God wants us to live is going to bring us down. Our fall may or may not be as dramatic as Haman’s but its going to be a fall just the same. You’ve got a choice today, to choose to let yourself be set free or to face to fall that’s headed in your direction..
When Jesus died on the cross, he did not only for us to go to heaven, but so that we could have the power to live victoriously today. The Holy Spirit comes in us to help us rise above our hurts and our insults and our injustices. We don’t have to become vindicative people returning hurt for hurt, insult for insult, hit for hit or abuse for abuse.
Jesus would not have asked us to turn the other cheek, to love our enemies, and to pray for those who misuse us without giving us the ability to do so. We have to make the choice to live for Christ. Those of you who are angry today about something, some argument, some frustration why not take the higher road by choosing Christ in the situation and just letting it go. God is here to help you make it happen
Sermon Outline Pastor Rick 5/22/2005
Just Let It Go
Esther 3:1-17 Matthew 5:38-48
A. When Emotions Take Over
1. The Steak, The Dog, The Bridge
2. The Family, The Taxi, The Tragedy
Matthew 5:38-39 "You have heard that it was said, ’Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ 39But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
3. He/She Should Not Have....
4. The Avenger Gets Caught
5. The Call To Live On A Higher Level
6. What Would Jesus Say
Matthew 5:43-45 "You have heard that it was said, ’Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons and daughters of your Father in heaven.
7. You Can’t Be A Wimp & Follow
Jesus
Romans 12:17-19 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord.
8. But What About My Money
B. Haman & King Xerxes
1. Haman Is “Da Man”
2. Bowing Down When He Comes By
3. Haman Is Introduced To Mordecai
C. Mordecai
1. A Man That Will Not Bow Down
2. Mordecai Takes A Stand For God
3. A Parade That Ends In Anger
C. How We Get Ourselves In Trouble
1. When We Overate Our Importance
2. A Little Spit Goes A Long Ways
3. When Insults Come
4. Remembering Jesus—Quiet
D. Haman Takes The Nuclear Option
1. Wants To Go Beyond Mordecai
2. Massive Slaughter & Genocide
3. A Distorted Report To The King
E. God Has Plans Before Your Enemy
Plans
1. What You Don’t Know Hurts
2. Mordecai –Queen Esther Connection
3. Check All Your Plans
F. Queen Esther Gets Involved
1. King Xerxes—Up To ½ The
Kingdom
2. Haman Walking On The Clouds
3. Could You Come Back Again
G. Haman—The True Big Shot
1. Family & Friends Called
2. Let Me Tell You This
Esther 5:13 But all this gives me no satisfaction as long as I see that Jew Mordecai sitting at the king’s gate."
3. Why Hold Up Your Blessing
4. 11 Months Just Too Long
5. Build A Gallows 75 Feet High
H. God Keeps A King Awake At Night
1. Let’s Hear The News
2. Bigthana – Teresh- Assassins
3. Mordecai Saves The Day
4. What About The Reward
5. The King Wants Something Done
I. Haman Arrives Just In Time
1. A Big Head Clouds Judgment
2. Haman’s Great Idea
Esther 6:7-9
So he answered the king, "For the man the king delights to honor, 8have them bring a royal robe the king has worn and a horse the king has ridden, one with a royal crest placed on its head. 9Then let the robe and horse be entrusted to one of the king’s most noble princes. Let them robe the man the king delights to honor, and lead him on the horse through the city streets, proclaiming before him, ’This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!’ "
3. Haman Can Not Believe The King’s
Request
4. Mordecai Is Exalted Downtown
5. Haman Is Humiliated
6. Haman Is Warned About Mordecai
J. Queen Esther’s 2nd Banquet
1. Haman Escorted In
2. The King In Anticipation
3. Esther Begs For Her Life
4. A King Is Enraged
5. Haman Attacks The Queen
6. Mordecai’s Gallows Is Used
7. A Career Comes To An End
H. The Price Of Not Letting Go
1. Jesus Died For Life In Heaven
2. Jesus Died For Life On Earth
3. The Holy Spirit Comes To Equip
Us
4. Choosing To Live On The Higher
Level.
5. Just Let It Go
John 3:16-20
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
