Scripture: Esther 4:10-17
Recently, for those who are following along and keeping up with the readings in the Chronological Bible, we read about the people returning to Israel, beginning the work of rebuilding the temple, and saw that God is able to overcome all obstacles on behalf of his people and that God’s people overcome all obstacles whenever they trust in God and turn to Him for help, relying on His care. And in just the last two days before today we read the story of Esther. It takes another look at the wonderful God who loves us and cares for us and how he shows up in a book that never even mentions his name, even among the people who have not gone back to Israel but have remained in the foreign land.
In one sense we might think of the ones who didn’t go back to Israel as unfaithful and not trusting in God’s promise and not participating in his plan. In fact, we might suppose that if Mordecai had gone back to Israel, he wouldn’t have been in Susa to provoke Haman and none of this would have happened. But there’s a strong possibility that when Haman heard the news about how the Jews were being blessed in Israel, he would have become inflamed against the Jews anyway because of their success in the land that his Agagite ancestors were kicked out of. And if there were no Jews in Susa, who would have stopped Haman’s evil plot to wipe out all the Jews in the whole Persian Empire, that included all the Jews in the land of Israel?
So in the book of Esther we can see that God was watching over all the Jews no matter where they lived and in a very important sense some of them at least, ended up serving as foreign ambassadors who had an influence in the royal court that served to protect the nation of Israel from a hostile enemy bent on manipulating King Xerxes to start a holocaust that was designed to completely wipe the Jews off the face of the whole earth.
In the book of Esther, the Queen becomes the hero. She is like a Savior. She risks her life, offers her life as a sacrifice to save everyone else among her people. She prayed basically, your will be done, and if I perish, I perish. Pretty much the same as Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane.
We all admire that kind of character. I want to read a story about a man who showed that kind of character during the 9-11 terrorist attack. It’s really very fitting that this came across my desk this week, so that we remember the fallen and the heroes on that terrible day. It fits with the heroism of Esther. And it fits with the heroic character that all of us are called to exhibit these days in our circumstances, as you’ll see.
Here’s the story. 17 years ago, one man broke all the rules while the world was paralyzed by fear. On Sept. 11, 2001, Rick Rescorla heard a big explosion while working. He looked out his window on the 44th floor of the South Tower and saw the North Tower in flames. Rescorla was an army veteran who was working as a security director at Morgan Stanley. He was responsible for the safety of 2700 employees.
When a security message was announced, that everyone should stay at their desks, Rescorla ignored the announcement and systematically ordered the employees to evacuate. After successfully evacuating almost all Morgan Stanley employees, he went above and beyond his duty. He went back into the building to save more people. When one of his colleagues told him he too had to evacuate, Rick replied, “As soon as I make sure everyone else is out.” He was last seen on the 10th floor, heading upstairs, shortly before the South Tower collapsed at 9:59 am. Rick Rescorla was one of the 2,996 people who lost their lives that day but not before he saved almost 2,700 lives. He died as he lived, a hero.
He’s just one of several heroes of 9-11 whose stories deserve to be told and remembered. My point in sharing it is to highlight that quality of the human spirit that can show up in individuals who put the safety of others ahead of their own comforts. All of our first responders put their lives on the line regularly and we are grateful for their heroic character, and grateful that most of them do not have to make the ultimate sacrifice while they’re looking out for us. They are always aware that a day may come in which they might not get home to family, and yet they continue to take that risk, sometimes interrupting their own lives and dropping whatever they might be doing with their own families, for the sake of others, for the sake of strangers they do not even know.
Esther is such a hero. And she was just as human as the rest of us. When she learned of the plot to destroy her people, and Mordecai’s request that she speak to the king on their behalf, her first response was not so heroic. She was afraid. She had not spent years in training and mental preparation for such a moment, the way our soldiers and other first responders do. She told Mordecai that she couldn’t do it because the king might have her killed for an unwelcome and uninvited appearance.
She said, “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.”
She didn’t exactly say, “I can’t” or, “I won’t,” but Mordecai got the message. And he pushed back. “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. 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. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”
When he said deliverance will come, Mordecai expressed his confidence in God’s ancient promise. He really trusted that. Surely Mordecai was trying to get his cousin to understand that God was behind all this.
Taking this into consideration, Esther now had to decide, whether she will continue to live as a pagan, or reveal her true identify as a Hebrew. Up to now, she has been passive, taking the path of least resistance, obeying Mordecai and pretending to be a pagan, living like a pagan, for her own good and safety. But in this moment of crisis, though unprepared by years of training as military and first responder people are, she rises to the occasion.
Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: “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.” Esther decided to take three days of prayer and fasting to build her courage. That’s one of the big purposes of prayer, not to change God’s plans, but to get our will and spirit in line with God’s plans.
She became willing to lay down her life for her people. It was worth a try, even though there was a chance that it would not work. If the king did have her killed, it wouldn’t work to save her people. She was like a hero going in to diffuse a bomb, knowing that one wrong move could cost her life, and would fail to save everyone else around. But also knowing that she might be the only one who could save everybody.
That makes her a heroine. Esther lay down her own life for the sake of all the other people in the land of the kingdom of Persia, and that included all the land of Judah and Israel, because Persia was in charge of that too. She didn’t ask to be a hero. She wasn’t looking for it. She was just doing the best she could to get along in life, and God did all the amazing things that led to her being chosen as the queen of the whole realm. Then this crisis came, and there she was, a key player in a critical moment. She was just in the right place at the right time, by providence, and all that counted is whether or not she would do the right thing, the hard thing, the action that required great faith and courage. And guess what, all of us are called to be heroes in our own lives. All of us are, by God’s providence, sometimes in the right, place at the right time to witness to somebody.
Esther shows us, that it is not enough if we just believe in God providence, but we also do well to trust in God’s provision and put that faith into action. So, if we are trusting in Jesus and in his provision, we need to act as if we are, don’t we? You know that actions speak louder than words, right? One thing you can be sure that God will do for his people is anything He specifically said he would do for his people. When Esther believed in God’s providence, trusted in his provision and promises, she acted alone to save the entire Jewish population from annihilation. God uses his children to save the world!
God promised Abraham about 1,523 years before Esther, that the Messiah would come through Abraham’s descendants and that Abraham’s family would be the source of bringing blessing to all the nations. So, Esther knew that God had to do something to preserve the Jewish race. That’s what made her as brave as David standing before Goliath. Today we are the beneficiaries of that amazing promise through his gracious provision for our salvation and blessing because of faith in Jesus the Messiah, Savior of the whole world! God wants to use you to save some.
God continues to invite his people to step out in faith with trust in God to take risks that can make a difference in the future of the world. Esther didn’t know that she was handpicked by God to be an individual who would save the world. We also can’t fathom how significant our choice to love and serve God might be. But just like Esther, each and every one of us has been put in place where we are for such a time as this. You live in the right time and the right place to play a role in the salvation of lost sinners, who will die if you don’t play the role of the hero who cares and lay your life on the line for their sake.
You’re not in any physical danger. It’s a much smaller risk for you to step out and lead people to the Lord. But the spiritual danger is great! The satan has a spiritual holocaust running in which he is determined to drag as many people into hell as he possibly can. This world is like a burning building that needs to be evacuated. There is a difference though, all the Jews in Esther’s day knew about Haman’s edict and were scared, desperate to escape. The public address systems in our world are all saying that’s crazy, you’re fine. Sit still and don’t listen to those alarmists. But Christians know that unsaved people are in real danger.
The people God is calling us to save may not know about the trouble they are in. They might think they don’t need to be saved. Our job may feel a lot more like sounding an alarm and seeing people not hear it or not care about it. Don’t let that discourage you. Pray for them and pray for God to give you opportunities to share the gospel anyway. Sometimes the hero rushes out into the street to push somebody out of the way of an oncoming car that they aren’t aware of. Be on the look out and make the most of every opportunity. But do this with love and respect.
So, here’s some action steps that you can take if you really want to respond to this call to be a hero to someone. Two things that have already been mentioned in the announcements. The first one is, we need a Vision Team to work to discern God’s will for us together. If you attended the seminar last weekend, you are a prime candidate for the Vision Team, but even if you didn’t, God might be tapping you on the shoulder. Now not everyone can do this. It’s going to take a real commitment to shift your schedule around to make this a priority. This is not just busy work. This is missionary training. This is not pursuing happiness. This is finding significance. We’re going to study the culture around us and learn how to be missionaries right here in Lake City.
Find the insert in your bulletin right now and write down on the back of it any person you believe would be great for the Vision Team. We need at least three nominees from the floor. I’m automatically on the Team and one other session member has to be, that’s Mike Klein. You might want to review the characteristics of Vision Team members listed on the front of that insert. You can nominate yourself. And if we are blessed with more than we need, Session will pray through the list and narrow it down to the three that God indicates should be on the Team.
This small group will meet every other week, at a time we can agree on, for about an hour, to pray and seek the answers to specific questions provided by the Go-1 manual. The team will keep in contact with Session and make recommendations. Decisions are for the Session and the congregation when appropriate. So, this team has to be made up of mature, leadership quality people who are ready to make the commitment. Now that’s a high bar, and a significant portion of you are probably already thinking, “Oh, I can’t do that. That’s too much. It’s beyond me.” But don’t let your immediate reaction determine your decision. Be like Esther. Pray about it for three days, even fast as you seek God’s will for your life. You do know that sometimes God picks the least likely candidates to do his best work. Let God lead you. He is your King after all.
The rest can still play a very important role by joining the Prayer Team who will fast and pray for all the work that lies ahead to be done according to God’s will. Vision team members will also be praying of course. We’ll need a lot of prayer to stand against the forces of evil who are going to try to stop us from doing God’s will. But we’re not afraid of that, just aware of that and that’s why we have to cling to God, our shield and defender.
The other action step you can take today is to sign up for that Leadership Essentials Bible study that Ron will be leading, if you haven’t already. Since every one of you, besides me, has the responsibility to lay our lives on the line in order to lead people to Christ in whatever way you can according to the gifts and opportunities that God gives, that makes every one of us a leader. Everybody qualifies for that one. And we can all benefit from that practical training to become better equipped to be a real hero, for such a time as this. Amen.
Recently, for those who are following along and keeping up with the readings in the Chronological Bible, we read about the people returning to Israel, beginning the work of rebuilding the temple, and saw that God is able to overcome all obstacles on behalf of his people and that God’s people overcome all obstacles whenever they trust in God and turn to Him for help, relying on His care. And in just the last two days before today we read the story of Esther. It takes another look at the wonderful God who loves us and cares for us and how he shows up in a book that never even mentions his name, even among the people who have not gone back to Israel but have remained in the foreign land.
In one sense we might think of the ones who didn’t go back to Israel as unfaithful and not trusting in God’s promise and not participating in his plan. In fact, we might suppose that if Mordecai had gone back to Israel, he wouldn’t have been in Susa to provoke Haman and none of this would have happened. But there’s a strong possibility that when Haman heard the news about how the Jews were being blessed in Israel, he would have become inflamed against the Jews anyway because of their success in the land that his Agagite ancestors were kicked out of. And if there were no Jews in Susa, who would have stopped Haman’s evil plot to wipe out all the Jews in the whole Persian Empire, that included all the Jews in the land of Israel?
So in the book of Esther we can see that God was watching over all the Jews no matter where they lived and in a very important sense some of them at least, ended up serving as foreign ambassadors who had an influence in the royal court that served to protect the nation of Israel from a hostile enemy bent on manipulating King Xerxes to start a holocaust that was designed to completely wipe the Jews off the face of the whole earth.
In the book of Esther, the Queen becomes the hero. She is like a Savior. She risks her life, offers her life as a sacrifice to save everyone else among her people. She prayed basically, your will be done, and if I perish, I perish. Pretty much the same as Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane.
We all admire that kind of character. I want to read a story about a man who showed that kind of character during the 9-11 terrorist attack. It’s really very fitting that this came across my desk this week, so that we remember the fallen and the heroes on that terrible day. It fits with the heroism of Esther. And it fits with the heroic character that all of us are called to exhibit these days in our circumstances, as you’ll see.
Here’s the story. 17 years ago, one man broke all the rules while the world was paralyzed by fear. On Sept. 11, 2001, Rick Rescorla heard a big explosion while working. He looked out his window on the 44th floor of the South Tower and saw the North Tower in flames. Rescorla was an army veteran who was working as a security director at Morgan Stanley. He was responsible for the safety of 2700 employees.
When a security message was announced, that everyone should stay at their desks, Rescorla ignored the announcement and systematically ordered the employees to evacuate. After successfully evacuating almost all Morgan Stanley employees, he went above and beyond his duty. He went back into the building to save more people. When one of his colleagues told him he too had to evacuate, Rick replied, “As soon as I make sure everyone else is out.” He was last seen on the 10th floor, heading upstairs, shortly before the South Tower collapsed at 9:59 am. Rick Rescorla was one of the 2,996 people who lost their lives that day but not before he saved almost 2,700 lives. He died as he lived, a hero.
He’s just one of several heroes of 9-11 whose stories deserve to be told and remembered. My point in sharing it is to highlight that quality of the human spirit that can show up in individuals who put the safety of others ahead of their own comforts. All of our first responders put their lives on the line regularly and we are grateful for their heroic character, and grateful that most of them do not have to make the ultimate sacrifice while they’re looking out for us. They are always aware that a day may come in which they might not get home to family, and yet they continue to take that risk, sometimes interrupting their own lives and dropping whatever they might be doing with their own families, for the sake of others, for the sake of strangers they do not even know.
Esther is such a hero. And she was just as human as the rest of us. When she learned of the plot to destroy her people, and Mordecai’s request that she speak to the king on their behalf, her first response was not so heroic. She was afraid. She had not spent years in training and mental preparation for such a moment, the way our soldiers and other first responders do. She told Mordecai that she couldn’t do it because the king might have her killed for an unwelcome and uninvited appearance.
She said, “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.”
She didn’t exactly say, “I can’t” or, “I won’t,” but Mordecai got the message. And he pushed back. “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. 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. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”
When he said deliverance will come, Mordecai expressed his confidence in God’s ancient promise. He really trusted that. Surely Mordecai was trying to get his cousin to understand that God was behind all this.
Taking this into consideration, Esther now had to decide, whether she will continue to live as a pagan, or reveal her true identify as a Hebrew. Up to now, she has been passive, taking the path of least resistance, obeying Mordecai and pretending to be a pagan, living like a pagan, for her own good and safety. But in this moment of crisis, though unprepared by years of training as military and first responder people are, she rises to the occasion.
Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: “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.” Esther decided to take three days of prayer and fasting to build her courage. That’s one of the big purposes of prayer, not to change God’s plans, but to get our will and spirit in line with God’s plans.
She became willing to lay down her life for her people. It was worth a try, even though there was a chance that it would not work. If the king did have her killed, it wouldn’t work to save her people. She was like a hero going in to diffuse a bomb, knowing that one wrong move could cost her life, and would fail to save everyone else around. But also knowing that she might be the only one who could save everybody.
That makes her a heroine. Esther lay down her own life for the sake of all the other people in the land of the kingdom of Persia, and that included all the land of Judah and Israel, because Persia was in charge of that too. She didn’t ask to be a hero. She wasn’t looking for it. She was just doing the best she could to get along in life, and God did all the amazing things that led to her being chosen as the queen of the whole realm. Then this crisis came, and there she was, a key player in a critical moment. She was just in the right place at the right time, by providence, and all that counted is whether or not she would do the right thing, the hard thing, the action that required great faith and courage. And guess what, all of us are called to be heroes in our own lives. All of us are, by God’s providence, sometimes in the right, place at the right time to witness to somebody.
Esther shows us, that it is not enough if we just believe in God providence, but we also do well to trust in God’s provision and put that faith into action. So, if we are trusting in Jesus and in his provision, we need to act as if we are, don’t we? You know that actions speak louder than words, right? One thing you can be sure that God will do for his people is anything He specifically said he would do for his people. When Esther believed in God’s providence, trusted in his provision and promises, she acted alone to save the entire Jewish population from annihilation. God uses his children to save the world!
God promised Abraham about 1,523 years before Esther, that the Messiah would come through Abraham’s descendants and that Abraham’s family would be the source of bringing blessing to all the nations. So, Esther knew that God had to do something to preserve the Jewish race. That’s what made her as brave as David standing before Goliath. Today we are the beneficiaries of that amazing promise through his gracious provision for our salvation and blessing because of faith in Jesus the Messiah, Savior of the whole world! God wants to use you to save some.
God continues to invite his people to step out in faith with trust in God to take risks that can make a difference in the future of the world. Esther didn’t know that she was handpicked by God to be an individual who would save the world. We also can’t fathom how significant our choice to love and serve God might be. But just like Esther, each and every one of us has been put in place where we are for such a time as this. You live in the right time and the right place to play a role in the salvation of lost sinners, who will die if you don’t play the role of the hero who cares and lay your life on the line for their sake.
You’re not in any physical danger. It’s a much smaller risk for you to step out and lead people to the Lord. But the spiritual danger is great! The satan has a spiritual holocaust running in which he is determined to drag as many people into hell as he possibly can. This world is like a burning building that needs to be evacuated. There is a difference though, all the Jews in Esther’s day knew about Haman’s edict and were scared, desperate to escape. The public address systems in our world are all saying that’s crazy, you’re fine. Sit still and don’t listen to those alarmists. But Christians know that unsaved people are in real danger.
The people God is calling us to save may not know about the trouble they are in. They might think they don’t need to be saved. Our job may feel a lot more like sounding an alarm and seeing people not hear it or not care about it. Don’t let that discourage you. Pray for them and pray for God to give you opportunities to share the gospel anyway. Sometimes the hero rushes out into the street to push somebody out of the way of an oncoming car that they aren’t aware of. Be on the look out and make the most of every opportunity. But do this with love and respect.
So, here’s some action steps that you can take if you really want to respond to this call to be a hero to someone. Two things that have already been mentioned in the announcements. The first one is, we need a Vision Team to work to discern God’s will for us together. If you attended the seminar last weekend, you are a prime candidate for the Vision Team, but even if you didn’t, God might be tapping you on the shoulder. Now not everyone can do this. It’s going to take a real commitment to shift your schedule around to make this a priority. This is not just busy work. This is missionary training. This is not pursuing happiness. This is finding significance. We’re going to study the culture around us and learn how to be missionaries right here in Lake City.
Find the insert in your bulletin right now and write down on the back of it any person you believe would be great for the Vision Team. We need at least three nominees from the floor. I’m automatically on the Team and one other session member has to be, that’s Mike Klein. You might want to review the characteristics of Vision Team members listed on the front of that insert. You can nominate yourself. And if we are blessed with more than we need, Session will pray through the list and narrow it down to the three that God indicates should be on the Team.
This small group will meet every other week, at a time we can agree on, for about an hour, to pray and seek the answers to specific questions provided by the Go-1 manual. The team will keep in contact with Session and make recommendations. Decisions are for the Session and the congregation when appropriate. So, this team has to be made up of mature, leadership quality people who are ready to make the commitment. Now that’s a high bar, and a significant portion of you are probably already thinking, “Oh, I can’t do that. That’s too much. It’s beyond me.” But don’t let your immediate reaction determine your decision. Be like Esther. Pray about it for three days, even fast as you seek God’s will for your life. You do know that sometimes God picks the least likely candidates to do his best work. Let God lead you. He is your King after all.
The rest can still play a very important role by joining the Prayer Team who will fast and pray for all the work that lies ahead to be done according to God’s will. Vision team members will also be praying of course. We’ll need a lot of prayer to stand against the forces of evil who are going to try to stop us from doing God’s will. But we’re not afraid of that, just aware of that and that’s why we have to cling to God, our shield and defender.
The other action step you can take today is to sign up for that Leadership Essentials Bible study that Ron will be leading, if you haven’t already. Since every one of you, besides me, has the responsibility to lay our lives on the line in order to lead people to Christ in whatever way you can according to the gifts and opportunities that God gives, that makes every one of us a leader. Everybody qualifies for that one. And we can all benefit from that practical training to become better equipped to be a real hero, for such a time as this. Amen.
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