Why People Don’t Like You!
Notes
Transcript
Claim: God’s people will always face persecution because we do not bow to the world’s ways but only Gods.
Focus: Persecution and suffering is the reality of being a Christian, but don’t bow to the world, suffer with your saviour for he will win.
Function: to be challenged to stand afresh for Jesus in word and action - even if it leads to persecution.
Pray
If you’re a Christian, someone who follows Jesus Christ,
then tomorrow morning - when you wake up and get ready to start you day -
there will be people who want you dead.
They’re not very likely to know you personally, or be after you specifically,
but there are haters of Christians in our world and they would love to see the annihilation of us all.
On average, There is a Christian killed because of their faith every 2 hours.
Last year 15000 churches were attacked or closed under persecution,
1 in 7 Christians in our world face severe persecution.
People want us dead - they don’t like us.
While the threat of death seems far off to us in the UK,
In 2022 the ‘International Institute for Religious Freedom’ did a study into the idea
that Christians may have had to stop themselevs speaking and acting as Christians due to cultural pressures.
The study included European countries: such as Germany and France.
They found that despite the lack of overt, physical persecution,
many Christians in those countries were self-censoring their beliefs
to avoid more subtle persecution,
which the study likened to "death by a thousand cuts."
"A few cuts do not kill you and barely hurt, but continuous small strikes eventually have an impact. We posit that the accumulation of seemingly insignificant incidents creates an environment in which Christians do not feel comfortable — to some degree — to live their faith freely."
You will have felt - those, light cuts at school, at work, at the sports club if you follow Jesus.
the pressure to keep quiet about Jesus,
And your views on what is right and wrong.
Perhaps some of us have experienced death by a thousand cuts - and have abandoned our very faith!
What are God’s people a target - violently or subtly.
Well- we are about to find out back in the book of Esther.
1. The problem with God’s People - v1-4
1. The problem with God’s People - v1-4
We covered chapters 1-2 a couple of weeks ago.
We met mighty King Xerxes - unchallenged ruler of the largest empire known to the world at this time.
He’s a generous likable King, throwing huge parites for everyone.
But don’t cross him like his wife, Queen Vashti, did
- she found herself dethroned - and every woman in the Empire punished and shamed.
We met the orphan Esther and her older cousin Moldavia, who cares for her as a daughter,
when a search is made for a new queen,
and every beautiful virgin is taken to the King to spend a night with him
and entre his service as a concubine.
Esther, it seems under force,
is pulled into this very morally complicated situation
and ultimately finds herself being chosen as the new queen.
Esther and Mordacia are Jews - God’s people,
living in exile in this forigne land and have kept their nationality secret so far.
In this chapter - we find out why.
And now chapter 3.
SOme time later - were not sure how long,
but new Noble man , Haman, has risen to the highest honour in the empire - second only to the King.
All the royal officials at the king’s gate knelt down and paid honour to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him. But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honour.
Well here is the problem with Mordecai - he seems to be picking a fight with the highest noble official in the Empire - and the king:
Then the royal officials at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, ‘Why do you disobey the king’s command?’
Day after day they spoke to him but he refused to comply. Therefore they told Haman about it to see whether Mordecai’s behaviour would be tolerated, for he had told them he was a Jew.
Mordecai’s reason for disobeying the kings command?
I’m a Jew!
At face value it may not be obivous why he wont bow down and pay honour to Haman.
This was a normal practice that Mordecai would have had to perform before other important officials, or at the very least when the King passed by.
But the reason would have been very, very clear to a Jew of Haman’s time,
and indeed Jews throughout their entire history.
2 tiny but crucial details have been given to us - 1 about Mordacia and 1 about Haman.
And to understand it we’re going on a bit of a bible to Tour.
Firtsly - Mordacai,
Now there was in the citadel of Susa a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, named Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish,
Kish was the Father of King Saul - the first King of Israel - 500 years earlier, and somewhat of a failure and ungodly King.
Now Haman,
Esther 3:1 (NIV 2011)
After these events, King Xerxes honoured Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite,..
Agag was the King of the Alalekites, also at the time of King Saul.
What’s the point?
The Amelekites and the Israelite Jews are literally age old enamies,
and not only that - but the Benjamites and the Agagtites (both specific generational lines within those races - have a particular score to settle.
This is not just some old feud that should be dropped,
but this is a God ordained judgement that must be settled.
When Israel escaped slavery in Egypt
Moses led them out,
through the Red sea and into the wilderness,
on their way to the promised land of Israel.
But during their time in the wilderness,
who comes and takes advantage of their weakness and threatens the very survival of the people of God?
You guess it - the Amelakites.
You can read about it in Exodus 17,
They had no fear or respect for God or His people we’re told
- so God rightly judges them and later commands His people to wipe them away.
Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt. When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and attacked all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God. When the Lord your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land he is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!
500 years after that, and they are well settled in the promised land
God commands King Saul, the Benjaminite - son of Kish - to destroy the Amalekites.
=
You can read all about it in 1 Sam 15.
And who is the Amelkite King?
King Agag.
But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.
It was Saul’s decision to keep King Agag alive - he thought he knew better than God.
For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.’
500 years later again,
Mordacia can’t bow down to a this man becasue he fears God,
And Haman very clearly doesn’t.
Haman is a symbol of the evil ones’ attempt to anailate God’s people.
Adam verse the Snake,
Cain vs Able,
Moses vs Pharoe,
Saul vs Agag,
Daniel vs Babylon,
Good verse Evil,
Man of God, vs Man of the Devil,
What God’s people need is an ulitmate viktor of God over Satan.
The problem with God’s people -
is that we wont bow down to anyone or anything
who will stop us from bowing down ultimately to God.
Because we trust Him to win in the end - not Satan, and those who reject God.
We can live in and honour our earthly authorities -
as Esther does in incredible humility and example in chapter 2 -
but we cannot bow down to anything that will stop us bowing to God almighty -
As Hannan represents.
We must not make the mistake of the Amalekites = and not fear the Lord.
That is the problem with God’s people then, and should still be the problem with Christians today.
We should act in a way that those who want us to deny Jesus as Lord will persecute us.
violently in North Korea, or northern Nigeria,
or
subtly in the UK, as we feel those continuous gentle cuts to keep quiet about Jesus as Lord And his ways.
Opposition is, and will always be expected.
Until God wins fully and finally the battle between good and evil.
UNtil then, We should at some and many levels be a problem to those around us who deny God.
Perhaps if we never feel even those gentle stabs - we have bowed too much the way of the world and are no longer bowing to Our God?
YOu’ll here is several of the youth testoimonies next week of the pressure to wnat to be like the world at school,
but who do we fear most?
God or Satan?
Who do you trust to win?
And - if you think I’m overplaying the situation here in Esther and the danger God’s enemies pose to the Jews of that time and to us still today:
We see just how dangerous - the world can be in the hands of God’s enemies.
2. The problem with God’s Enemies v5-14
2. The problem with God’s Enemies v5-14
When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honour, he was enraged. Yet having learned who Mordecai’s people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes.
The problem with God’s enemies - is that they hate God’s people - all of them.
Haman is not just annoyed some guy is not bowing,
he’s discovered that Mordacai worships the God he doesn’t fear,
The God who has declared he will be judged, but doesn’t repent and ask for mercy,
but declares war on all God’s people.
It is what the gospel still does today.
As we declare God’s justice and our sin and that the only way to salavtion is through Jesus people respond in 2 ways.
but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
You either think the gospel is foolish or the power of salavtion.
Even someone who seemingly just doesn’t care, or is indifferent to Jesus - is by defult - failing to accept that God will judge them
At the heart of all people - is a failure to acknowledge that they face God’s judgement and need to fear Him,
From the murderers of Christains in Afganistan right down
to your school friend or office colleague,
who is a nice person,
but you’re afraid to tell them you think they have life all wrong,
that they need Jesus,
We’re uneasy to say what we believe about all sorts of things becasue people don’t believe, fear, or know God who will judge,
that there are only 2 genders,
that it’s not ok to live your own way,
They wont kill you like Haman,
but there is that unsaid sense that you, one of God’s people,
need to stay in your place and lane.
A pitying look,
or their humorous dismissal of us,
is a tiny stab.
The problem with God’s enemies is that they don’t fear him - they deny he will judge.
Perhpas that’s you here today.
You have rejected God so far in your life - either becasue you’ve never really heard about him,
or becasue you don’t want to admit you need him to save you from your rejection of him.
Don’t be his enemy - it wont end well - as we’ll see later in the book of Esther - you’ll face his judgemnet,
But come to him in repentance and faith in your saviour Jesus
The one who defeated Evil once and for all on the cross,
and who will return to complete that won battle.
The world may persecute us
- but that will be just light and momentary compared to eternity with God!
Back to our story,
8 Then Haman said to King Xerxes, ‘There is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate. Their customs are different from those of all other people, and they do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them.
God’s enemies love to share half-truths about God’s poeple.
These are their tactics to keep us down.
Haman here - mixes truths with lies to turn the King against the Jews.
They have their own customs, yes,
but judgeing by what we know from Etsher and Mordacia,
they are as far as possible very obedient to the King and very intergrated into the communities they live in.
You’ll have heard all sorts of exmaples of half-truths used to defend peoples rejection and even silencing of God’s people.
The God of the bible is unloving becasue he judges people,
The God of the bible is arrogant becasue he says you have to be saved only through Jesus.
God doesn’t love me if I can’t live they way I want to.
Half-truths.
God will judge - but he’s not unloving - he offers salvation!
Salvation is only though Jesus - but it’s not arrogant if he’s the one and only God of all.
You can’t live and be whoever you want - true -, but it’s becasue God actually does love you and knows far better than us how and who we should be.
And so, Hamman - makes plans to wipe out all the Jews.
‘Lots are cast’ to determin the date of the anhilation.
Just another proof that God’s enemies think they are so clever - but they actually rely on superstitious luck!
For God’s people, ironically - we know that there is no such thing as luck - So Haman unknowingly asks God what date he should kill his own people!
The kIng agrees with the plan and sends out his command across the land.
He’s a King who doesn’t far God either.
He’s not as informed perhaps as Haman about the realities of what he is doing
- but he likes his own glory - so he goes with the crowd.
And how true is that of most of God’s enemies in our lives.
They are not Haman’s - fully aware of God’s coming judgement,
they are deliberatly nieve to it all.
Don’t ask too many questions.
Go with the flow on the world.
Believe the easiest thing culture is believeing.
It’s not considered attack on God and or his poeple,
but it is a deliberate choice to not consider the realities of this life.
IN their laziness to not ask questions and desire to be popular, normal,
- they show their lack of fear for God.
Later in Jesus’ time it will be the Jews themselevs who go with the flow of the world and kill their very own saviour!
Instead - we should fear the Lord - and worship him.
Come in repentnace and faith - and receive life not death,
Even when the world around us wants us silenced on how to live and how to be saved, dead even,
we should remmeber we fear the Lord more than them.
3. The Problem Open’s Door for the Gospel v15
3. The Problem Open’s Door for the Gospel v15
Our final verse shows us something very interesting.
The couriers went out, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was bewildered.
While the enemies of God have all denied a fear of the Lord, and therefore his coming judgement,
there seems to be an open door for us to tell our story even amoungst - perhaps particularily becasue,
of persecution that comes our way?
Might our friends at school, in the office, at the school gate, our neighbours we have coffee with,
might they all be open to hearing our concerns and fears for how the world is rejecting what we believe.
Might they be ‘bewlidered’ by the rejection of Christain values in our country.
Confused by a world that casts lots -
lives by chance,
changing every year to a new phylosphy.
It redefines humanitly,
gender,
relationships,
meaning,
truth -
all while silenceing the God who created them!?
The worst persecution of God’s people was when humanity killed God himself - Jesus on the cross.
But the Bible tells us that was also the day that evil was defeated.
Jesus took our judgeemnet upon himself - if we repent and believe, he defeated death amd rose again so we too can have eternal life,
and he pormised to return in glory to finsh what he has already done.
This is a story some still want to hear in this bewildering world.
FEar GOd - not God’s enemies And tell them
don’t be killed by a 1000 cuts - don’t hide away and bow to Haman!
Only bow to Christ our King.
Stand firm - OUr King is coming.
Pray
