If You Remain Silent
Notes
Transcript
Open your Bible’s this morning to Esther 4. This is a chapter and story that if you have been in church very long you are probably familiar with. But I would like to take a moment on this last Sunday of 2023 to challenge us in the coming year. I’m becoming more and more burned for our world. As we seen the events of today unfolding we are heading into time that may prove to be very difficult of us as believers. This mornings message isn’t meant to scare but to encourages us to stand strong in the face of adversity.
We have been blessed as Americans in our day and time. But for much of world history and I believe the day is coming again where it was tough to stand.
In April of 2007 Seung-Hui Cho, a senior at Virginia Tech University, went on a rampage. By the time his murderous spree ended by suicide, Cho had killed 32 people and wounded 17 more. Most of those killed were shot as they sat in classes in the engineering school. Cho chained the doors shut to ensure it would be hard for his intended victims to escape. Panic broke out as students began to realize what was happening. When Cho came to one classroom, he found the door barred by the professor, 76 year old Liviu Librescu.
Librescu, a Romanian Jew who survived the Nazi Holocaust and later moved to Israel before coming to America to teach, told the students to open the windows and escape outside. He saved the lives of a number of his students before falling victim to the gunman’s bullets. His son later told of the emails he received from young people who had been in the classroom when their professor saved their lives by literally placing himself into the line of fire. In the moment of adversity, his courage rose to the occasion and he proved himself a hero.
Most of us don’t face tests that are quite that severe, but each of us faces moments when our faith and courage is put to the test. The opportunity to share the gospel with a friend or co-worker or stay silent, the temptation to take something that doesn’t belong to us or leave it—these are moments of adversity. These moments do not determine whether or not we have strength of character. Instead they reveal it. The crucible of adversity is the moment when what is in our hearts is shown to the world. Our responsibility to God is to live every day in His strength so that we do not fail the test.
God says over and over again in His Word for us to be brave or to be of a good courage. Here are just a few verses you are familiar with.
And the Lord shall give them up before your face, that ye may do unto them according unto all the commandments which I have commanded you.
Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
Wait on the Lord: Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: Wait, I say, on the Lord.
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
We could go all morning just reading verse after verse of God telling us to be brave, be not afraid, or to have a good courage. Many throughout God’s Word and history have stood in the face of strong adversity and didn’t waiver. People like the 3 Hebrew teenagers in the book of Daniel whom when standing for the fiery furnace says this to the King:
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
Then we come to Esther and even she says a form of these words in her time and day.
Esther 4:16 (KJV 1900)
“... and if I perish, I perish.”
How is it that these can stand and spit in the face of the danger they are facing. They stand and can say with Ian Danger is my middle name! But more than that wouldn’t it have been easier for all of these mentioned and more to just remain silent? The professor could have just saved his life and went out the window. The 3 Hebrew boys could still be a believer in God and bow there knees to an empty statue.
There is a man by the name of Felix Manz who is accredited as the first Baptist. Was drown Limmat River in Switzerland simply because he believed and preached believers Baptism. He was given many chances to just stop. He wasn’t killed because he preached salvation by faith alone. But that you should be baptized after salvation not as a baby. Felix refused because he believed the Bible. But what if He remained silent?
Now, think of your friends, family, your one day children, spouses, or even co-workers. Most of us can agree that the times are getting darker and darker. But what if you remain silent? does things change much for you? probably not. But what if God forbid, in your life-time it becomes illegal to go to Church or to have a Bible, or to tell others about Jesus? What if there was no one else?
In this morning’s story we see Mordecai who takes a stand for the Jewish people but he leads Esther to do the same. He helps here see the need, makes sure she understands the importances, and remains her why she is here.
Before we dive into these points. We need to quickly catch up in this story.
The Hebrew people were carried into captivity by Babylon, by this time the Babylonian Empire was no more and the Persians rulered in it’s place. But Nehemiah and Ezra have already taken place and many of the Jews have already returned home. But there were many that for whatever reason have not returned to Israel. Some say it’s because they were comfortable to return.
So the king has a party and calls his queen to come before him and his friends but she refuses. Because of his embarrassment and rage he puts her to death. Then he realizes he needs a queen so he has on the young ladies come to the palace to show themselves before him so he can pick a new queen. Esther out of all the pretty young ladies in the land is chosen.
Mordecai is her uncle and he has raised her as his own because of her fathers death. But He tells Esther keep her family and her people a secret. Then there is the evil Hamon who does not like Mordecai because Hamon saw himself as high and important and Mordecai would not bow before him.
And all the king’s servants, that were in the king’s gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman: for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence.
Verse three they pretty just say why? I can imagine them saying, “are you crazy? don’t you know who that is?”
Now it came to pass, when they spake daily unto him, and he hearkened not unto them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s matters would stand: for he had told them that he was a Jew.
They spake daily unto him… I can imagine some of the others began to really put pressure on Mordecai to bow but he would not.
Why would he not bow, because he was a Jew! Because he believed that He should only bow before God and not men! Wouldn’t it be easier if Mordecai just bowed quickly?
Because Mordecai would not simply bow. He would not go against God and His Word. Because he was a man of integrity we read verses 5 and 6.
And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath.
And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had shewed him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai.
Because of Mordecai Haman tricks the King into signing into law to kill the Jews in all the land.
Do You See?
Do You See?
So we come to chapter 4. No chapter holds greater significance to Esther than these moments unfolding in this chapter. This is the moment that they deciding, “What am I going to do.” This is where the defining moment begins.
When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry;
And came even before the king’s gate: for none might enter into the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth.
And in every province, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
Mordecai probably woke that morning thinking of passover and family. Only to discover that he and all his Jewish family members have been sentenced to death.
As we see Mordecai so far in Esther, he is a very proud and capable man. We can see this in his unwillingness to bow to Haman. But suddenly we see him wailing loudly on the public streets and tearing his clothing.
Have you ever witnessed someone wailing loud and bitterly? How did it make you react inside?
I was a witness to a funeral of a young mama not that long ago and towards the end of the funeral they played a song and the whole place could hear her babies crying out to her over the song. There was not a dry eye in that place by the time that song ended.
Even if you don’t know the person or share in the grief, we feel an urgency to stop it or to get away. Not for the suffer, but for ourselves. Such unbridled grief reminds us of our own fragility.
We see someone who has lost all control and fear of anyone seeing him. If Haman wanted a reaction from Mordecai, he certainly got one. The man’s heart was wrecked with emotion until his skin scratched with sack clothe he was wearing.
When was the last time you had such grief and burden for the lost around us? When was or has there ever been a time where we lost all control, to poor all of us into the burden of our family or friends that don’t know the Lord?
Mordecai did more than just stand in the streets and wail. He marched his grief straight to the kings gate so that he could be heard by the political powers. The gates, however, had an added level of significance to Mordecai personally. For Mordecai worth at the palace gates.
In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king’s gate, two of the king’s chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh, of those which kept the door, were wroth, and sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.
Don’t miss the fact that Mordecai took his demonstration of grief all the way to the place where he drew his paycheck. The man with whom he worked with, saw him at his worst and most vulnerable. Some cries are far too important for saving face or looking bad in front of someone. When was the last time you were just looking bad in front of someone to save something more precious than pride?
When was the last time there was something that important to you?
More than looking bad Mordecai wanted one of the politicians and more importantly Esther to see him! I was like he was screaming out. Can you see the problem!?!
Do you see the need for Christ in your world today? Do you see the need for Christ in your school? With your friends? With your family?!? Our world needs Jesus, but what if you were main silence?
At this point check the time: you may need to draw it to a close with repentance from our sin of being lazy or unwillingness of speaking up. or simply disobedience.
If there is some time: draw the comparant in Joel 2:12 and Esther 4:3. Mordecai and the rest of the Jews were not just mourning. They were drawing there hearts back to the Lord.
Although Joel comes after Esther, it took place before. In the Hebrew text, their mini mentions, weeping and wailing. these are the only two places where the exact same wording is used. There are no accidents.
this response shows us the Jews of Persia, understood the peril to be associated with their wandering from God. They had become so worldly, and so thoroughly assimilated into Persian culture. They lost their perspective their shield. Ghan had told his people from the time of Moses, that heat protect them, And fight for them as long as they worshiped him only. They had forgotten him, but he would still love them and try to sway them back. They understood this wasn’t Justin evil man, but God’s punishment to bring them back.
God doesn’t deal with us in the same way he did the children of Israel. But he does desire for us to follow him him fully.
When the word of this edict hit the streets of the coming demise of the Jews, he suddenly realized they had sent against God and took action of repentance people wishing to return to Israel. Can you Grasp the great significance?
We as Americans were once a great lighthouse to the world for Christ now, in many ways, we are made in a laughingstock of the world. Many of the blessings this nation once had I’ve gone by the way. Is it because God’s people have turned their back on him? Maybe in the same way we need to repent and come back to him.
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
of all the great rights bestowed on the children of God, perhaps nothing exceeds the right and ability to repent, and turn back to the Lord. I love the promise of 1 John 1:9.
Reality as many of us are remaining silent. Or that we should repent fall in our faces. This last day of the year, and seek God’s forgiveness. Then as we head into the new year, everything in our power to do greater things for the Lord. Because time is coming to an end, what if we remained silent?
Do You Understand?
Do You Understand?
Do You know Why You Are Here?
Do You know Why You Are Here?