Esther Sermon - 3

Behind the Seen: A (Seedy) Cinderella Story

Esther 2:1-18

1. Introduction – I want to start off with a few questions this morning.

a. Who has ever failed at something? Easy one to be honest about. Who has ever had the opportunity to stand up for God and failed?

i. When push came to shove, have you ever compromised your beliefs? Have you ever failed to live out of your core identity as a Christian?

b. In our story today, we are finally introduced to the title character and her cousin Mordecai.

i. But we also come face to face with a difficult ethical dilemma.

1. However, in dealing with this dilemma, we also encounter a God whose grace is big enough to overcome even the most egregious sin. Let’s read Esther 2.

2. Retelling the Story – This chapter reads almost like a rags-to-riches fairy tale. It’s like Cinderella – who won the affection of the prince, only after many attempted before her.

a. Only this Cinderella story is a lot seedier, because for Esther to win this contest, she had to do a lot more than dance.

b. Vv.1-4 set the background of the scene for us – and it starts where the last one left off. Chapter 2 once again shows Xerxes as inept at decision making – instead relying on the plans of others.

c. Verse 1 tells us that after some time had passed – Xerxes started to miss Vashti.

i. The words “began to think about…’ literally mean ‘remembered fondly.’

1. Perhaps the king regretted listening to his advisors. Perhaps he regretted acting so harshly and he regretted banishing Vashti.

a. Either way – he did what he did and the decree he made could not be reversed.

d. So once again, Xerxes turns to others for advice. And the plan that is put in place shows the lavishness of Xerxes and the scope of his power.

i. The plan is to round up all the beautiful young virgins from across the empire – and force them to join Xerxes’ harem.

1. Each girl that was brought in was given lavish beauty treatments and then they were given a one-night audition with the king.

e. This was like a beauty contest – only seedier; there was no character assessment in the process – no opportunity to answer questions, the winner of this contest was the young women who best satisfied the king sexually.

i. Shockingly, Xerxes thought this was a good idea; he would have a different girl in his bed each night – and through this process of sexual exploitation, he would choose a new queen.

f. Once again, this contest shows just how powerful Xerxes was. He had the power to collect the girls of his empire to serve him sexually.

i. But before we get up in arms about the injustice to girls in this story – we are told in other ancient history books that each year hundreds of young boys were brought to the king’s court and castrated so they could serve as eunuchs.

1. In the Persian Empire, everyone and everything existed to serve the emperor – including one’s own body.

3. The Process – So here’s how it all went down. Officers collected the beautiful girls and brought them to Susa. What we aren’t told is how the girls felt about this.

a. No doubt there were mixed feelings. Some were taken against their will. They left family and friends behind. Being taken into the harem meant they didn’t have the opportunity to marry or have a family of their own – because once taken into the harem, they could never leave.

i. However, life in the ancient world was hard – and so some girls probably that this was like winning the lottery.

1. They lived in Xerxes’ palace, received food and clothing and money – but they lived a life of pointless luxury. Chance are these girls only would ever spend 1 night with Xerxes, unless he called them back specifically by name.

a. Being in Xerxes’ harem meant living a life of perpetual widowhood.

4. Between Two Worlds – And it is into this situation that we are introduced to the two main character to his story – Mordecai and his cousin Esther – or Hadassah.

a. Evidently Esther is a beautiful young woman – and she is chosen to be a participant in this contest.

i. But the author shows us that our title character is caught between two worlds. She is the only character that is introduced with 2 different names. Hadassah, her Jewish name, and Esther, he Persian name.

1. She is a Jewish girl, living in a Persian world and I think the author intents for us to see her struggle by using her two names.

a. The names raise the question, “Will she be faithful to her Jewish heritage or will she go with the flow and live like the rest of the world around her?”

b. And we aren’t told how Esther felt about the whole situation, but her actions show that she was going to make the most of her situation.

i. Hegai, the eunuch in charge of this harem, was impressed with Esther. In fact, the Hebrew text says that Esther won his favour.

1. She didn’t passively earn it, the text implies that Esther actively tried to impress him, and it worked.

5. Esther Wins! – She gained Hegai’s favour, and by listening to his advice, she made the most of her one night with Xerxes.

a. We are told in v.16 that Esther was taken to Xerxes’ room in the 7th year of his reign.

i. And remember that the events that led to Vashti’s banishment took place in the 3rd year of his reign.

1. Assuming that Xerxes didn’t waste a lot of time before starting this search for a new queen, rough estimates say that if Xerxes had a different girl every night for 4 years, more than 1400 girls passed through his bedroom before Esther.

b. Now, get it out of your head – this is not a fairy tale. It’s not Cinderella story. Xerxes is not prince charming; he is ruthless, reckless and thinks nothing of exploiting his people for his own personal pleasure.

i. The girls weren’t paraded in front of him in their evening gowns – the queen was the girl who best satisfied him – in the bedroom.

1. And Esther won the contest. In fact, the text seems to pile up superlatives to show just how satisfied Xerxes was with Esther.

a. He loved her more than the others, put a crown on her head, declared her queen, threw a banquet, declared a holiday, canceled taxes, and even gave out gifts.

i. Once again, all this show just how lavish and reckless Xerxes was.

6. What Happened Here? – Maybe this is disappointed to you, maybe you’re surprised at this interpretation – maybe this wasn’t the way your Sunday School teacher told the story.

a. But we must ask ourselves the question, “What happened here?” And it would do us well to remember that the author introduced Esther by using 2 names – Esther and Hadassah.

i. What the author wanted us to notice is the tension our young heroine is living in.

1. And what we read about in Esther 2 is a situation and dilemma that we eventually all find ourselves in.

a. Esther was thrown into a situation where she had to choose how she was going to live.

i. Was she going to live out of her true identity as a Jew and uphold the ways of God – or was she going to live like the rest of the world around her?

b. And at some point, we all face this choice. We all face this dilemma. Maybe, more than any other group – teenagers face this choice.

i. How are they going to live their lives at school and with their friends? Teens, Christian teens, must decide who they are and how they are going to act.

1. Will they live out of their core identity as a child of God? Or will they succumb to peer pressure and conform to the pattern of this world?

a. That’s a question and dilemma that our young people face every day – we need to be praying for them to stand strong in the face of a relentless onslaught for our world.

ii. But not just our young people face this dilemma – those in the business world must choose between running their business or pursuing their careers for God-honouring reasons...

1. Or going with the flow and operating a business or pursuing a career like everyone else in the world.

iii. How are you going to live in this world? Are you going to conform to its pattern? Are you going to blend in and go with the flow? Or are you going to be bold and brave and live out of your core identity as someone who has been redeemed by God’s grace?

c. And the sad truth of it is that when Esther was faced with this choice – she compromised.

i. When push came to shove she compromised – she hid her nationality, she ate non-kosher food, and she had premarital sex with a pagan king.

7. How God Works – Now, there have been many attempts to lessen the sting of this story – water it down or try to explain away Esther’s actions.

a. We could say that Esther was in over her head, that she was being moved along by circumstances beyond her control. Some have tried to say that Esther refused was essentially raped. But that’s not in the text and ultimately these ideas and interpretations fall apart.

i. Esther’s actions can’t be reinterpreted – she compromised, she disobeyed God. “Yeah, but she didn’t really have a choice,” one might say.

1. But if you are willing to suffer the earthly consequences, fully obedience to God is always an option.

a. Esther – brave, beautiful…fornicator. That’s not in the Sunday School version.

b. Maybe the problem isn’t with this interpretation, the problem is with our expectations.

i. We expect Esther to know better and to act better. Sometimes we put the people of the Bible up on pedestals. Esther especially is placed on a pedestal for her actions…

1. But she is a human being just like you and me just like you and just like me, Esther compromised; Esther sinned.

c. We expect Bible character to know and act better – but really – except for Jesus, Joseph and Daniel – throughout the Scripture God’s people morally compromise, they ethically fail and they persistently sin.

i. Abraham lied and doubted God’s promises to him.

1. Moses became impatient with God and with God’s people.

a. David committed adultery with Bathsheba and then had her husband murdered.

d. Esther’s sin can’t be downplayed, excused or explained away.

i. She was a Jewish girl who probably didn’t follow the dietary laws or observe the Sabbath, and she definitely fornicated with a pagan king.

1. Like so many before and after her, when she found herself in a hard place – she compromised.

e. But this is where we need to remind ourselves that the Bible is not a chronicle of morally perfect people doing morally perfect things.

i. The Bible is the unfolding story of humanity’s brokenness and God’s redemptive grace in the midst of it.

1. And the Bible shows us a God who can gather up moral failures and still use them for something redemptive and glorious.

f. Maybe the best example of a moral compromiser is the apostle Peter who denied 3 times that he knew Jesus.

i. And even while Peter was busy compromising, Jesus was going to the cross to die for the very sin that Peter was committing.

1. Jesus went to the cross to die for moral compromisers like Peter and like us.

g. But Peter’s story doesn’t end with his denials – because despite his denials, remarkably God still used Peter.

i. Jesus reinstates Peter to ministry and 3 times charges him to feed his sheep.

1. And Peter became a strong voice in the early church and was a key in the rapid spread of the gospel.

a. Repeatedly the Bible teaches that even our worst compromises can be forgiven. God’s grace is bigger than any compromise we’ve made.

i. There’s nothing that is unredeemable – the cross itself says so.

h. The cross shows us that God can take our failures and compromises and incorporate them into his redemptive purposes.

i. God took Esther’s sexual immorality and still used it to save his people from destruction.

1. Maybe like Esther, you hide who you really are in Christ. Maybe like Peter, you have flat out denied that you’re even a Christian.

a. Maybe like Abraham, you doubt that God can and will deliver on his promises.

i. Maybe, like Esther, you’ve compromised sexually….

i. Whatever it is, the glorious truth of the gospel is that, because of the forgiveness available through Jesus – God can take those failures and use them and still use us for his redemptive purposes.

i. Just because you’ve failed doesn’t mean God can’t use you. God’s doesn’t simply take those times in your life when you are brave and bold and courageous for God him. The truth is, God takes all of life – the good, the bad and the ugly – and God uses it all to bring us more into the likeness of Jesus.

j. It’s true in the Esther story. Think about it…the author chose to include this seedy Cinderella in the text. It couldn’t have easily been left out – but the author shows our heroine to also be a moral compromiser.

i. And this scene is included in the narrative to show that God not only used Esther’s bravery – he also used Esther’s sexual immorality to ultimately save his people from annihilation.

k. Now this doesn’t mean that we should keep on sinning so God has more to work with and he can show more grace in our lives.

i. We must make sure that we are continually putting sin to death in our lives and fleeing from temptation when it comes our way.

1. But we must remember that even when we do fail – we must repent of our sins, ask God for his forgiveness – and we must know that God’s grace is bigger than our failures and his providence is stronger than our compromises.

a. He used Peter the denier, Paul the murder and Esther and the adulterer to accomplish his purposes here on earth. And God’s behind the scenes providence can still move and work in your life.

8. Conclusion – Along the banks of the Speed River in Guelph, there’s this strange statue that I think is called the ‘trashasaurus’ or something like that.

a. A while ago, the dam that feeds the Speed river was closed and the river allowed to drain, and people cleaned up the garbage from the riverbed.

i. And that garbage was given to some artists who turned the trash into a sculpture – garbage into art.

1. And I think that’s a great picture of what God can do in our lives. God takes the garbage of our lives and, if we repent of our wrongdoing and if we allow him, God is more than willing to transform the garbage of our lives into something beautiful.

b. He is not a harsh and unforgiving God. Yes, there are consequences for disobeying him, but he is also a God who takes the blemishes and blotches of our lives – and he uses them, redeems them and transforms them into beautiful pieces of art.

i. This is the God who is at work in your life – and this is the God who was working behind the scenes and behind the things that were seen in Esther 2 – using a young girl’s moral compromises to bring upon his purposes. What a gracious, creative and powerful God he is.

c. For next week, read Esther 2:19 to the end of chapter 3. The tension of our story is about to increase so familiarize yourself with what’s going on, and we’ll study it in detail when we gather together next week.