Forgotten?

The world was is not what it is “supposed” to be. The sense of moral direction is lacking from the leaders of the world down to most of the commoners in the street. People are being used for another persons gain. Fear seems to be common and thus anxiety and tensions are high. It is definitely not the world they were raised for, yet here they are. On top of that, they are finding themselves between a rock and a hard place time and time again. How will they respond? What will others think of them?

Portions of their family have returned “home” and thus back to “normal”. Or at least that is the thought.

We all want normal.

Normal means we know what to expect. Normal means “status quo”. The hardest part of these days in the midst of the pandemic is we have lost all sense of normalcy. Unfortunately, I believe that our world has been fundamentally changed this year. It is going to be a year like September 11, the assassination of JFK, the tearing down of the Berlin Wall in Germany, D-day and the like.

We do not like the world we live in right now. At least for most of us that is probably true. Yes many of us are adapting and starting to be “okay” with what we are dealing with. But, I know no one that is “happy” about this pandemic, nor anyone who was excited it started. Yet, we cannot go back but instead must plod forward. There is no turning back to the way the world used to be in this case. How can we navigate this world faithfully as Christ’s followers? How can we know what we are to do next?

We must become exiles in this world.

The past couple years as I have watched the culture around us I have wondered what the next steps for the church should be. I have, and continue, to think through what portions of Scripture will be the most helpful to us in these days. Where can we turn to for hope, healing, and guidance among our messed up world? For me, I have come back time and time again to the books of the Exile, like Esther and Daniel.

For the exiles of the OT and the early Christians this was their “place”. In fact, except for about 400-500 years the nation of Israel were nomads and exiles in this world. They lived in a world where they were not the majority culture, the ones in leadership, and longing for something “better”.

As we open up the book of Esther this morning we must remember this fact.

The exiles had returned 60 years prior.

Esther, Mordecai and many others had stayed back. Why? We have not a clue. Yet, here they are still in this land which has become home. Maybe they remember hearing their grandparents tell stories of the distant land. Maybe they remember hearing others share of the days of old when they were their own people. Yet, they chose to stay.

Even for the exiles life is not “good”. The temple may have been rebuilt but the wall is in shambles and with each passing leader the threat of removal is still present.

I wonder if they felt the pull of not being “good Jews” and “faithful” because they aren’t doing what others Jews did. For Esther, she didn’t have a choice. Her family had decided to stay put. Mordecai may have been just a boy when the exiles returned. These are the ones who where “left”.

Did God forget the Jews of Persia?

This is one of the underlying questions of Esther. Would God only work in Jerusalem now that the exiles were back and the temple restored/rebuilt? We may wonder if this is true today, “has God forgotten us?” Does God notice the struggles we are having in this world? Surely, the end is near!

God is active.

This is the truth of Scripture even and sometimes especially when we cannot see him. God does not need an audience to see what He is up to. The book of Esther is a testimony to God being active especially when the world is not noticing. I wonder if this is where we are in our country. We hear, or at least I do, of great things, of revival happening in other parts but yet I do not see it among our nation. Have I missed it? Have I missed what God is doing?

Be present/aware.

This is what happens to Mordecai and Esther. We typically highlight the phrase Mordecai says in chapter 4 when we read:

Esther 4:14 NIV

For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”

Yet, this is exactly true in our present passage. Who knows but that Mordecai was in the right place at the right time to hear and know what was going to happen. The key was for him, and us to be present.

We cannot long so much for the world to be what it isn’t that we forget to present in the world before. We cannot look so much for the future and the world God is going to create we stop seeing the world as it is.

Act honorably.

Interesting enough Mordecai does not just take what he knows and stays silent but instead speaks up to someone who can something about it. He was acting honorably even though the King was not a friend of the Jews. He acted on behalf of the king not because the King necessarily deserved it. He did so because it was the right thing do.

Be honest.

Esther gives credit to whom credit is due. No one would have asked her how she knew. She never would have been forced to share her confident and source. Sometimes our struggle is not in telling lies but not being completely honest. It is easy when someone likes what we are saying to take credit for it. After all we want to be encouraged and honored and respected.

Was Mordecai forgotten?

This is the question we are left with. How could the king forget the one who stopped an assassination attempt? How could this not be celebrated? What a sense of injustice? Think for a moment at what you have done in moments like this. Maybe you did a great thing and it seems like no one knows about it. Maybe you are active in our community and yet no honor has been given.

Be patient.

We are left with the story concluding and all the sudden nothing is down for the one who foiled the plot. Mordecai is put down in the history books but yet nothing done in the present. Things go back to the way before as if nothing had ever happened. What a tragedy?

God is at work.

Mordecai and Esther have not a clue what is going to happen. The Jews in Jerusalem have their own struggles. But God is not dead, nor does He sleep! Even when it seems like no one notices the struggles and you feel forgotten God is watching. Jesus said this when he talked about storing up treasures in heaven and be careful of what we do in public.

Do the next “right” thing.

Right is in quotations because as we learn from the book of Esther sometimes we don’t know exactly what is “right”. There are more times in life when our next step is not as clear as we would like.

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 94 Train Stops Just in Time

94 Train Stops Just In Time

The British express train raced through the night, its powerful headlamp spearing the black darkness ahead. The train was carrying Queen Victoria.

Suddenly the engineer saw a startling sight. Revealed in the beam of the engine’s headlights was a weird figure in a black cloak standing in the middle of the tracks and waving its arms. The engineer grabbed for the brakes and brought the train to a grinding halt.

He and his fellow trainmen climbed out to see what had stopped them. But they could find no trace of the strange figure. On a hunch, he walked a few yards further up the tracks. Suddenly he stopped and stared into the fog in horror. The bridge had been washed out in the middle and had toppled into a swollen stream. If he had not heeded the ghostly figure, the train would have plunged into the stream.

While the bridge and the tracks were being repaired, the crew made a more intensive search for the strange flagman. But not until they got to London, did they solve the mystery.

At the base of the engine’s head lamp, the engineer discovered a huge dead moth. He looked at it a moment, then on impulse wet its wings and pasted it to the glass of the lamp.

Climbing back into his cab, he switched on the lamp and saw the “flagman” in the beam. He knew the answer now: the moth had flown into the beam, seconds before the train was due to reach the washed-out bridge. In the fog, it appeared to be a phantom figure, waving its arms.

When Queen Victoria was told of the strange happening she said, “I’m sure it was no accident. It was God’s way of protecting us.”

—Selected

1000 Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching The Right Thing at the Right Time

The Right Thing at the Right Time

In his book, Putting Faith to Work, Robert McCracken shared a story concerning Leo Durocher. Everyone who follows baseball knows Durocher, how once he was brash, arrogant, loud, impetuous, impatient, and a merciless slave driver. His philosophy was wrapped up in his description of Mel Ott: “Nice guys finish last.”

He never dreamed that one day he would be a “nice guy” and finish first, and when that day arrived he had matured enough to give the team credit. He explained that all he did was to wave them home from third base.

But the crux of the story concerned the fabulous center fielder, Willie Mays, of the Giants. After joining the club, there was a period when he made only one hit in twenty-six times at bat. The old Durocher would have banished him, benched him, or sent him back to the minors, but he did none of these. One day, the twenty-year-old player came to his manager, weeping, and begged to be benched. The new Durocher draped a fatherly arm about the strong young man’s shoulders: “Don’t worry, Son, you are my center fielder, even if you don’t get another hit all season.”

Willie strode from Leo’s office with buoyant step and promptly began hitting the ball. He became one of baseball’s immortals, because at a strategic moment in Willie’s life, Durocher was keen enough and understanding enough to do the right thing at the right time.