But, it's just one choice...

Introduction:

Bottom Line:

Decisions, good and bad, have a much wider impact than we usually know.

Read Passage: Esther 2:19-3:15

Esther 2:19–3:15 ESV

Now when the virgins were gathered together the second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate. Esther had not made known her kindred or her people, as Mordecai had commanded her, for Esther obeyed Mordecai just as when she was brought up by him. In those days, as Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, became angry and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. And this came to the knowledge of Mordecai, and he told it to Queen Esther, and Esther told the king in the name of Mordecai. When the affair was investigated and found to be so, the men were both hanged on the gallows. And it was recorded in the book of the chronicles in the presence of the king. After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, and advanced him and set his throne above all the officials who were with him. And all the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage. Then the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “Why do you transgress the king’s command?” And when they spoke to him day after day and he would not listen to them, they told Haman, in order to see whether Mordecai’s words would stand, for he had told them that he was a Jew. And when Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage to him, Haman was filled with fury. But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone. So, as they had made known to him the people of Mordecai, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus. In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur (that is, they cast lots) before Haman day after day; and they cast it month after month till the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar. Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king’s laws, so that it is not to the king’s profit to tolerate them. If it please the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay 10,000 talents of silver into the hands of those who have charge of the king’s business, that they may put it into the king’s treasuries.” So the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. And the king said to Haman, “The money is given to you, the people also, to do with them as it seems good to you.” Then the king’s scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and an edict, according to all that Haman commanded, was written to the king’s satraps and to the governors over all the provinces and to the officials of all the peoples, to every province in its own script and every people in its own language. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king’s signet ring. Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with instruction to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. A copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province by proclamation to all the peoples to be ready for that day. The couriers went out hurriedly by order of the king, and the decree was issued in Susa the citadel. And the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was thrown into confusion.

Mordecai discovers a plot to kill the king (2:19-23)

Mordecai hears about the plot by the 2 eunuchs and tells Esther so the king will be saved.

They write this down in the book of history, but Mordecai doesn’t receive a reward for it.

Modecai refuses to bow before Haman (3:1-6)

Haman, however, has been moving up the ranks and the king really likes him. All of this power fuels the pride in Haman. The king ordered people to honor Haman and Haman likes it when people bow down to him.

Everyone else is bowing down at the King’s Gate, except for Mordecai, so those with him want to know why he won’t do it. They decide to pass the info along to Haman because Mordecai had made it know that he was a Jew.

But Mordecai isn’t willing to bow down, to show any honor to Haman. There’s a lot of discussion as to why he won’t, but we simply don’t have the answer from the text.

Haman isn’t satisfied to just punish Mordecai, but he decides the entire Jewish people should be killed.

Haman decides to plot to kill the Jews (3:7-15)

The Jews would have been preparing for Passover, in the 12th year of King Ahasuerus’s reign. After casting lots, the lot fell on Adar, as the month Haman would propose to eliminate the Jews.

Haman tells the king the Jews are up to no good and it’s not good for them to be in the kingdom and he’s willing to pay 375 tons of silver to help eradicate them from the kingdom. The king approves.

The word is written up and sent everywhere. The king and Haman sit down to drink but there’s chaos in the city as an edict has just been written declaring the destruction of an entire people group.

Application:

1. In God’s providence, he’ll put us in places for other people’s good.

Mordecai was likely just concerned with Esther, yet his presence near the King’s Gate allowed him to hear of the plot against the king.

Question: How can we make the most of the opportunities God gives us?

Pray and ask God to help you know he wants you to do each day?

Look for opportunities to serve others.

Act when you have the opportunity.

Resist the excuses that will come (you don’t have time, you don’t know those people, it’s not your business, etc)

2. The decisions we make have ripple effects into other people’s lives.

Mordecai wasn’t willing to bow down and honor Haman. We don’t know why, but we do know he refused. The result of that was an order that declared all the Jews in the kingdom would be killed, young and old, women and children.

Haman, in his anger, decided this seemed like a reasonable course of action. He was willing to eliminate an entire race of people because one man didn’t bow down.

The decisions we make, both good and bad, have an effect on other people’s lives.

The weight of this shouldn’t be paralyzing, but should serve as a check for us to take seriously the decision we make.

The directly impact our family, coworkers, neighbors, and sometimes people we don’t even know, etc

Questions: What filters do you usually use for decision making?

Here are some suggestions that could be helpful:

What decision will bring God to most glory?

Which choice is most loving to those around me (family, coworkers, etc)

Are there any decisions that are outright sinful?

Is there someone else I should consult before I make a decision?

Do I have any ulterior motives for the decision I want to make? (My own pride, selfishness, revenge, etc)

Knowing that, if I’m in Christ, Jesus has lived the perfect life, died the death I deserve and defeated sin and death on my behalf, so that I have right standing before him, no matter what happens in this decision, what’s keeping me from making a decision? (I know I want to sin, I’m afraid of what people will think)

3. What is in our hearts will come out through our actions.

Haman hated Mordecai and Haman hated the Jews. Mordecai’s decision not to bow allowed Haman’s hate for an entire group of people to be on display and he was empowered to act on his hatred.

Jesus is clear that it’s not what goes in a person that defiles them, but what comes out of their mouths. Matthew 15:10-20

Matthew 15:10–20 CSB

Summoning the crowd, he told them, “Listen and understand: It’s not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth—this defiles a person.” Then the disciples came up and told him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father didn’t plant will be uprooted. Leave them alone! They are blind guides. And if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.” Then Peter said, “Explain this parable to us.” “Do you still lack understanding?” he asked. “Don’t you realize that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is eliminated? But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a person. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slander. These are the things that defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile a person.”

3. Haman’s heart was full of evil and if we’re honest ours isn’t as pure as we wish it was.

Question: When was the last time you took inventory of what your mouth reveals about your heart?

None of us is going to be able to look and find nothing out of sorts. None of us is perfect and we’ve all missed the mark somewhere, but we can probably use this as a diagnostic question to see how we’re trending.

If you’d look over the last couple of months and you feel like you’re on the right track and your growing, use this as an occasion to praise God for the transforming work in your life.

If you’d look over the last couple of month and you feel like maybe you’ve taken a step back and use this as an occasion to turn back to the Lord, by confessing where you’ve missed it.

If you’d look over your and acknowledge that your heart indicates that you’ve never trusted Jesus, today is a great day to believe the Gospel.

When we’re willing to take the condition of our hearts seriously, we’ll put ourselves in position to see what God’s doing around us and how he might want to use us and we’ll be more inclined to consider why we’re making the decisions we’re making and how they impact others.

Challenge:

As we prepare to share in the Lord’s Supper, take a quick inventory of your own heart.

Praise where you need to praise, Confess what you need to confess. Remind yourselves of the hope you have in Christ through Jesus life, death and resurrection.