Haman & the Devastation of Degredation

First real girlfriend Amanda...

After years of scaring all the girls away with my braces and Veggie Tales ties, I was happy that I finally found a girl who liked me!

But my college roommates started making fun of me because our conversations always went something like this...

“Hey Amanda, how are you?. . . Oh. . . I’m sorry. . . aw man that’s awful. . . I’m really sorry. . .”

Day after day I would talk to her and she would have another horrible problem

Most people would have said that Amanda suffered from low self-esteem

But what if I told you that her problem may have been pride?

Two types of pride:

Strong pride — self-conceit, self-love, arrogance

Weak pride — self-contempt, self-loathing, insecurity

This is what is sometimes called degradation.

John Piper — "Boasting is the response of pride to success. Self-pity is the response of pride to suffering. Boasting says, 'I deserve admiration because I have achieved so much.' Self-pity says, 'I deserve admiration because I have sacrificed so much.' Boasting is the voice of pride in the heart of the strong. Self-pity is the voice of pride in the heart of the weak. Boasting sounds self-sufficient. Self-pity sounds self-sacrificing. The reason self-pity does not look like pride is that it appears to be needy. But the need arises from a wounded ego and the desire of the self-pitying is not really for others to see them as helpless, but heroes. The need self-pity feels does not come from a sense of unworthiness, but from a sense of unrecognized worthiness. It is the response of unapplauded pride."

Pride comes before a fall. And that is true whether it’s strong pride or weak pride. Whether it’s arrogance or degradation...

In the Bible there may be no better example of this than a man named Haman.

Turn to Esther 5:7

Around 483 B.C., some of God’s people had begun returning to Jerusalem, but many of them were still living in exile in Babylon

Many of the Jewish people had assimilated into Babylonian culture, but some people still hated them.

Especially Haman who is planning to exterminate them!

In God’s providence a Jewish girl named Esther was made queen.

Even now she is preparing to approach the emperor Artaxerxes on behalf of her people.

But the salvation of God’s people is going to happen, in part, through the pride of one man...

Esther 5:7–14—Then Esther answered, “My wish and my request is: If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my wish and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come to the feast that I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said.” And Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, that he neither rose nor trembled before him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai. Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home, and he sent and brought his friends and his wife Zeresh. And Haman recounted to them the splendor of his riches, the number of his sons, all the promotions with which the king had honored him, and how he had advanced him above the officials and the servants of the king. Then Haman said, “Even Queen Esther let no one but me come with the king to the feast she prepared. And tomorrow also I am invited by her together with the king. Yet all this is worth nothing to me, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.” Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Let a gallows fifty cubits high be made, and in the morning tell the king to have Mordecai hanged upon it. Then go joyfully with the king to the feast.” This idea pleased Haman, and he had the gallows made.

Three truths about pride (focusing particularly on weak pride)...

What pride is

What pride does

How pride is defeated

1) What Pride Is

Pride is often wrongly defined as thinking too highly about oneself

Does this fit Haman?

On the one hand, yes...

He insists on being shown the respect of bowing

He's boasting about his riches, etc.

Esther 5:11-12—And Haman recounted to them the splendor of his riches, the number of his sons, all the promotions with which the king had honored him, and how he had advanced him above the officials and the servants of the king. Then Haman said, “Even Queen Esther let no one but me come with the king to the feast she prepared. And tomorrow also I am invited by her together with the king.”

Do you see how arrogant he is?!?

On the other hand, no...

The king has to command people to bow before Haman (3:2)

He is absolutely devastated when Mordecai doesn't bow

Esther 5:13—“Yet all this is worth nothing to me, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”

Do you see how insecure he is?!?

Imagine when Mrs. Rawls invited me to speak I agreed, only if the entire student body agreed to show me respect by shaking my hand and complimenting my sermon when chapel is over. And imagine that I was absolutely devastated to find out that one of you sneaked by without doing so. How insecure!!!

Thinking too highly about oneself is only one form of pride. Thinking too lowly about oneself is another.

Correct definition -- thinking too often about oneself

C.S. Lewis — “Ruthless, sleepless, unsmiling concentration on the self.”

And that definition works whether you’re arrogantly thinking about how awesome you are, or moping about how miserable you are. Either way you’re thinking about you!!!

What is pride? It’s an unhealthy focus on self.

2) What Pride Does

Scripture is clear — pride leads to destruction

Proverbs 16:18 — "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."

Haman's pride will be his downfall. He dies and so do thousands of others.

"But Haman's an extreme example. Certainly my pride won't do that to me."

Are you sure about that?

Pride Makes You Unhappy

The most unhappy person in the entire book of Esther is Haman!

C.S. Lewis — "Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. We say that people are proud of being rich, or clever, or good-looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer, or cleverer, or better-looking than others. If everyone else became equally rich, or clever, or good-looking there would be nothing to be proud about. It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest."

Weak pride gets no pleasure out of not having something, but of having less of it than the next man. Weak pride focuses on being sadder, uglier, dumber, poorer, weaker, or less fortunate than others.

Pride Makes You Lonely

Haman isn’t happy despite being surrounded by friends and family

If you suffer from strong pride, you won’t let people into your inner circle because they’ll see your flaws

If you suffer from weak pride, people won’t want to come into your inner circle because your flaws are all you talk about.

Pride Makes You Foolish

There is no bigger fool in the entire book of Esther than Haman!

Not coincidental! He is a fool because he's proud!

How does pride make you foolish? Because pride keeps you from learning anything!

Keller: Proud people don't learn from their mistakes. Something bad happens and you're always blaming someone or something else! Proud people don’t learn from criticism. People with strong pride dismiss their critics or attack them. People with weak pride are so devastated by criticism that they stop receiving it because people don't want to deal with your meltdowns.

Proud people don't listen! Strong proud are trying to impress you. Weak proud are lamenting the fact that they haven't impressed you. Neither are truly listening. So both are foolish!

Pride Makes You Enemies

Haman isn't just a bad guy, he's the enemy of the people of God!

Pride always creates enemies!!!

C. S. Lewis — "The Christians are right: it is Pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began. Other vices may sometimes bring people together: you may find good fellowship and jokes and friendliness among drunken people or unchaste people. But pride always means enmity—it is enmity. And not only enmity between man and man, but enmity to God."

Pride is the root of all sin:

Satan fell because of pride

Pride is like a spiritual petri dish that grows all sorts of filth in your life.

Bitterness/anger/hatred — you can't stay bitter at someone unless you focus on you! Whether it’s weak pride focusing on your pain or strong pride focusing on how you deserved better.

Fear/worry — why are we afraid? We know how things are supposed to turn out and we worry and stress because "what if this or that doesn't happen the way it's supposed to?" — How do you know that's the way things are supposed to turn out? Arrogance.

Entitlement — we feel entitled to certain things because we deserve it

Social strife — Strong pride makes us harsh and abrasive and overly opinionated. Weak pride makes us distant and two-faced and indecisive.

Lying — we lie because we're afraid the truth will make us look bad in someone else's eyes.

Laziness — strong pride leads you to laziness because you deserve it. Weak pride leads you to laziness because you can't do anything anyway.

Greed — people who have everything still want more because they want to be seen having more than everyone else

Hypocrisy — we wear masks because want to appear to be better than we really are.

Slander/Gossip — why do we speak negatively of others? Because we want to appear better in comparison.

Ingratitude — we're not grateful because (a) we think we deserved what we got so why be thankful or (b) we think we deserve more

Sexual sin — why do we sin with our bodies? Because we believe we deserve it. Because we believe we need it. Because we believe our body belongs to us to do with as we will. And so we turn other human beings into objects we consume to benefit our own selfish desires.

Lack of prayer — strong pride leads us to avoid prayer because we can do it on our own. Weak pride leads us to avoid prayer because we're not good enough to ask.

Any Disobedience to God — I know better than you, God!

Pride Makes You Blind

Haman is blind to everything but himself!

In chapter 6, the king asks Haman how he should show honor to someone. The king, of course, is thinking of honoring Mordecai but Haman can't imagine the king thinking of anyone but himself!

Tim Keller: "Pride is the carbon monoxide of sin, killing you without you having any ability to tell its happening. It's odorless."

You know when you're committing adultery, . . . embezzling, lusting, gossiping ... but you don't know when you're proud

If you don’t think that pride makes you blind, I’ll prove it to you. Up until now, haven't you mainly been thinking about a couple of other people during this sermon?

What does pride do? Whether it’s strong pride or weak pride it will destroy you in the end.

3) How Pride is Defeated

How it's not defeated: Human Effort

"God helps those who helps themselves" — FALSE!!! — God helps those who humble themselves!

Most dangerous type of pride — religious pride!!!

Me in London

If you try to defeat pride by human effort and religion you'll end up a Pharisee!!

How can pride be defeated?

Ironically Haman shows us how

Esther 6:7-8—And Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor, let royal robes be brought, which the king has worn, and the horse that the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal crown is set.”

Keller — "For the king to put his robes on somebody . . . was a way of not simply saying 'I honor this person,' but 'I delight in this person. I love this person.'"

Haman: "If the people see that I'm loved like that by someone as great as that then I'll know my worth."

WHAT WE WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING IS SOMEONE WE THINK THE WORLD OF TO THINK THE WORLD OF US.

When this happens pride dies!!!

Haman wasn't asking for the wrong thing, He was asking the wrong King!!!

Even if you could find someone to love you like that, there's always the risk that we might do something to jeopardize that love

We're always on trial, hoping we'll get the verdict we want in the end

ONLY IN CHRISTIANITY ARE YOU GIVEN THE VERDICT BEFORE THE PERFORMANCE

GOSPEL!!!