Esther Has Me Thinking...

The study of Esther has been quite rewarding to me and I hope encouraging to you as a follower of Jesus. As we prepare to close that book and move into a new direction, I thought I might put in writing what I shared on Sunday that he close of the message, the major themes I see emerging from the book and some applications related to them.

The people of God ought not feel threatened by the power of empire. But we often do. Empire is so ‘in your face’ all the time. What I mean by empire is the world’s way of doing things. In American culture, it is increasingly obvious that the world is not only uninterested in Christianity but now, often directly opposed to its teachings. I probably don’t have to review any one particular case in point to convince you. It is on display all the time and in almost every arena (politics, health care, history, sexuality…). This often leaves us feeling like we have to take one of two paths. We either feel that we must isolate or assimilate. That we should declare the empire evil and off limits to all ‘true’ God followers and find a nice cozy corner of the world to live our lives untainted is tempting to me. The other option that feels plausible is to assimilate.  We should simply go along to get along. A comprise here, a neat explanation to support that change of ‘view’ there and finally, Christianity is a ‘nice’ religion that can coexist with the others. Even better, Christians can be mostly like everyone else and not feel a bit of remorse. We might even become popular again or at least ‘acceptable’ in respectable circles. However, both of these is an untenable position. Mike Cosper, in his book Faith Among the Faithless, observes this of our interaction with empire: “Assimilation is a failure of nerve, and isolation is a failure of heart. Assimilation fails to resist; isolation fails to love.” Esther and Mordecai had a choice to assimilate or isolate (and in some ways fell into the trap of both paths). Both ultimately chose a different path: love. Love doesn’t assimilate because it refuses to compromise the truth. Love also doesn’t isolate because to do so is to abandon the lost to their lostness.

Application: Love people but don’t compromise. Hope giving stories are emerging of people who found Jesus because, there were people who loved them and also held to their faith in Jesus. I would encourage you to check out the story of Rosaria Butterfield, as just one such example. Let us be the people of God, who refuse isolation or assimilation and instead choose the often-hard space of loving without compromise.

God’s hiddenness shouldn’t shake our faith: even when we cannot see Him, He is still firmly in control. God is never mentioned in this book but, we can see- in hindsight, God’s hand at work. He is doing exactly what He wants in human history. And that is still true today. More than one commentator on Esther brought forward the reality that there is no ‘neat’ ending to the book. We want a final paragraph that reminds us of the Sovereign God who is explicitly involved and concerned. And maybe that is because we want that for us too. We want to be able to quickly discern God’s work and declare His good purpose and plan as being accomplished in our lives. Only here’s the reality: most of us are going to have a far more ‘Esther-like’ life. Sure here and there we can be pretty certain, God did that and here are the outcomes. But, for the very most part it isn’t going to be that clear cut. There is a lot of messiness in life that we do well to refuse trite explanations for. If we really believe that God’s thoughts are higher than ours and He is infinitely wiser than us, it follows that there are going to be plenty of moments when we are left to stand by faith alone (what we can’t see) in His good purposes and plan (what we know for certain). Hard and dark times seem to be ahead for Christians in America. God is still in control and it’s only a fool’s errand to go about stamping this event or that happening as God’s intervention. All of it is His Sovereign will unfolding.

Application: Who is president next matters but not finally. God has yet to move to ‘plan B’. He has no party affiliation. He is not going to have to scramble if one party wins the presidential election. He is still in control. God is neither a Democrat or Republican and His control on things will not be less or more if one party or the other succeeds. Jesus is still King. We do well to remind ourselves of this (and all the more so as November 3rd draws closer) in an election of “unprecedented” importance. Take a deep breath. God’s hiddenness does not mean God’s lack of concern or Sovereignty.

God has ordained our times, our positions, our relationships for His ends. Our what’s and when’s and where’s are no more out of His care and command than were Esther or Mordecai or King headache. (see Acts 17:24-28)This should give us a holy confidence as we go about our lives. It should also cheer us on in the most mundane of seasons. God is still working and He is asking for our faithfulness.

Application: Do everything you do as unto the Lord. (see Col. 3:17) Whatever job you have, do it for Jesus. Are you a teacher, a butcher, a bus driver? Do that with excellence for the sake of Jesus’ glory.  Whatever circumstance you find yourself in, obey Jesus. Have lots of money? Use it for Jesus. Are you broke? Live for Jesus. This is His story after all. Let us be faithful in our part!

I hope and pray that the faith lessons of Esther won’t soon be forgotten. I know that I need every one to sink deep into my soul so that I might walk faithfully.

PS- you might find it interesting to see Esther as presented by Sight and Sound Theatre. You can learn more by following this link: https://www.sight-sound.tv/browse