Esther's Response in such a time as this
Esther • Sermon • Submitted
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· 38 viewsIn this sermon, the choices of Esther are considered and taken as an enxample for how we ought to respond to crisis in our lives.
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1 When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry.
2 He went up to the entrance of the king’s gate, for no one was allowed to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth.
3 And in every province, wherever the king’s command and his decree reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and many of them lay in sackcloth and ashes.
4 When Esther’s young women and her eunuchs came and told her, the queen was deeply distressed. She sent garments to clothe Mordecai, so that he might take off his sackcloth, but he would not accept them.
Persistently love and care for others
Observed Mordecai’s need
Was moved to action by her love and concern for Mordecai
Offered Help to Mordecai by offering clothes
5 Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs, who had been appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this was and why it was.
She would not give up easily. She sent a messenger to gain more information and understanding about Mordecai’s need/concern.
Maintain open communication
10 Then Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to go to Mordecai and say, 11 “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law—to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.” 12 And they told Mordecai what Esther had said.
Esther not only listened to Mordecai, she also explained how the situation was effecting her, and what she felt was a wise or a foolish solution to the problem the jews were facing.
She reminded Mordecai about the capital punishment that would take place if someone went uninvited to the King, unless he held up His scepter to her.
Sometimes we neglect to carefully offer important facts, or we fail to collect accurate information, when we are dealing with an urgent situation.
13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
Upon hearing Mordecai’s warning/ ultimatum she was forced to make a decision, that was a potentially life ending scenario for her. She is placed in very difficult circumstance. Observing what Esther does next is one of the greatest lessons we learn from this book.
16 “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”
Commit to do what is right
She agrees to go but will not go in unprepared
She is not going before the King with a foolish or presumptuous attitude.
Ask for help from God and others
16 “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”
Esther, a humble orphan, as a child has now become the Queen of the Persian Empire, and rather than becoming proud and isolated from her people, she came to realize that though she desired to help, she was unable to so, in her own strength.
She asked that every Jew in Susa fast for three days, neither eating or drinking. (The fast that she was prescribing was not a simple task. She wasn’t merely asking them to not eat chocolate for a month or go without Dunkin Donuts for a week)
The New American Commentary: Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (5) Esther Risks Her Life (4:15–17)
Many Christians are more concerned about their own security than about the desperate physical and spiritual needs of the world. If they understood that their decision could make a difference, many would make the commitment God is asking of them.
Fast and Pray
A Fast that pleases the Lord
What do we learn from Scripture, when it comes to fasting?
It is a means of denying one’s self interest in order to focus on their relationship with God and their community
1 “Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God.
3 ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’ Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers.
4 Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
10 if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.
11 And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
What is your response in times like these?
In times like Esther was facing.
In times like we are facing.
Persistently love and care for others
Maintain open communication
Commit to do what is right
Ask for help from God and others
Fast and Pray
I have seen a lot of folks suggesting that we need to get on our knees, and cry out to God during this pandemic. I would not disagree with that, but I would also take it a step further. I would encourage you to do some fasting as you are praying. There is a lot said about fasting in Scripture, and I won’t take the time to go into a lot of detail, but I’d like to offer a few general principles about it and encourage you to do some of your own investigation and consideration about it. It is a lost art. It is not something that is necessarily mandated in Scripture, but it is exemplified by many people throughout God’s Word. Christ fasted. The Ninevites fasted and prayed. Even now, Jewish people celebrate a remembrance of what took place in the book of Esther. The Feast of Purim, which begins by a day of fasting, followed by a feast of celebration. (Pur= Casting lots, as Haman did, to determine the best time to approach the king about killing all the jews in his kingdom).
Fasting is not done to draw attention to yourself thereby earning God’s favor. In other words, fasting is not a means of penance to cause God to give you what you want.
Fasting is not something we do to earn a Merit badge within the church, or in the sight of God.
Fasting is done to focus our attention to God, and to the needs of others. Look again to Isaiah’s words in Is. 58:6-8.
6 “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
We are called to be salt & light. When we go without so that others can have their basic needs met, we become the light, that we are called to be. The glory of the Lord will be our defense and our strength.
Christ also gave instructions about fasting. He said in Matt 6
16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Not out of pride or compulsion, but prayerfully consider what God might be asking you to do, or not do. We have a wonderful example in Esther. We have an even better example in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Persistently love and care for others
Maintain open communication
Commit to do what is right
Ask for help from God and others
Fast and Pray
