Esther - Dreaming of Such a Time as This

Such a Time as This

Today, as we continue our series “Like Those who Dream”… I’m going to be talking about a dream that I think a lot of us engage with on some level. Maybe you aren’t even aware of what you’re hoping for when you dream about it, but we all want this in our lives.

Have you ever had something that lined up so perfectly, at just the right time, that you felt like your entire life had directed you to this moment? Maybe a layoff has led you to a job opportunity that surpassed your wildest hopes. Could be that a move that you didn’t want to make, to a new neighborhood, a new school, a new town, a new country, brought you to new people and a new life that felt more like home than anything you’d ever experienced. Maybe you got in trouble, the kind of trouble that feels like it’s swept your knees out from under you and shredded your future before your very eyes, and the process of facing the consequences of your actions has served as a course correction that came just in time, before you were completely consumed by your own sin.

OR maybe you’ve experienced none of those things and I sound completely crazy right now! You’ve never felt like your life has come together for any real purpose or intention and it’s only in the movies and books where our tragedies build us up for our greatest triumphs right in the nick of time! These perfect situations that unfold for others never seem to happen for you....

......but wouldn’t it be cool if they did?

Esther’s Path

Esther was a young Jewish woman living in Susa, the capital of the Persian empire, during the reign of Ahasuerus (Ah-hashj-ver-ushj), who we know as Xerxes. Esther had lost both of her parents and was living with her uncle Mordecai, who had taken her in as his own.

When Esther found herself in a seemingly impossible situations, after years of one seemingly impossible situation after another, her uncle had this to say to her, in our scripture reading today, from Esther 4.

Esther 4:13–16 ESV

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. 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?” Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, “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.”

So what had led Esther to this point? What all had happened to prepare her for such a time as this? Let’s back up a little bit and see.

It came to be during this time that Xerxes was in the market for a new queen, as he had stripped the title of queen from his wife Vashti. But Xerses was too busy battling Spartans at Thermopylae and burning Athens to the ground to spend time swiping on a dating app or trying to take someone out for coffee.

So instead Xerxes sought his wife the way any reasonable person would, he had his court gather every attractive young woman from across his kingdom and gather them in his harem in Susa. One of those young women, is Esther.

Now it’s easy at this point to start having Cinderella thoughts in our minds of getting invited to the ball to meet Prince Charming and maybe just maybe Esther will get this rags to riches story where she marries a king and lives happily ever after and wow isn’t she lucky?!

But scripture tells us the truth, which is far more heartbreaking than our fairy tales. You see the young women being kept in the king’s first harem would be brought in to the king’s bedchamber for one night, and if the king did not choose to make her his wife, she would go then to a second harem, with the concubines, and would remain there until the king delighted in her and summoned her again by name.

Archeological evidence suggests that these were comfortable living quarters, but how cold and lonely a life, to be kept away from your family, not allowed to marry, your only chance at a relationship being that a man who had access to every attractive young woman in an entire empire would call you again by name.

Esther faced a terrible future, if she went to Xerxes and he did not delight in her.

However while she was in the first harem Esther gained a friend in Hegai, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the first harem and he gave her the best living quarters that it had to offer, he provided her 7 other women to care for her and gave her all the best of the food and beauty treatments so that a year later when her time came with Xerxes, he did indeed delight in her, and make her his wife and and his queen.

Mordecai

Now as all of this is going down and Esther is staying in the king’s harem and eventually made queen, her uncle Mordecai spent a lot of time at the king’s gate.

Now remember we know that the gate was often a municipal center in ancient near Eastern cities, so rather than assuming that Mordecai is a loiterer at the gate it’s likely we are meant to find him to be some kind of minor government official.

And during his time at the gate Mordecai learns that 2 of the king’s own eunuchs plan to assassinate Xerxes. He warns Esther, who tells her husband, whose guards foil the plot and execute the would be assassins.

Haman

So all in all some difficult things had worked out pretty well for Esther!

She was queen of Persia, and her uncle had saved her husband’s life, sure, it had been a little scary there in the harem, and Vashti had certainly demonstrated to everyone that the queen’s position was never totally secure with Xerxes, but things were working out ok.

That is… until the arrogant Haman ran across Mordecai at the king’s gate.

Haman was Xerxes’ prime minister, second only to the king, so he was used to a certain amount of groveling in his presence. But Mordecai would not bow, because he is a Jew, and would bow to no one but God.

And Haman took that personally! On that day he decided that not only would he see Mordecai killed, but every single Jew in the Persian empire, and he managed to convince Xerxes to make a decree to make it so.

Esther’s Time

And ALLL that brings us back to our reading for today. At this time, no one at court knows that Esther is a Jew, and Mordecai sends word to her that she needs to reveal herself to the king and convince him to save the Jewish people.

Esther sends her reply that she cannot approach the king! He had not summoned her for a month, and anyone who enters the inner court without being summoned is killed, unless the king extends his golden scepter to them. And Mordecai sends his reply:

Esther 4:13–14 (ESV)

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. 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?”

Mordecai was basically telling Esther I have faith that God will preserve His people! But if anyone’s going to die, it’s going to be us right here in Susa and sure God will certainly rescue His people by some other means but you and I and our whole family line will be killed.

He says WHO KNOWS? Some crazy stuff has conspired to bring us to this point, who would’ve thought five years ago that today you would be queen of Persia? Is it not possible that you were chosen for the harem, favored by the eunuch, preferred by Xerxes, kept in his favor precisely so that you would be exactly where you need to be for such a time as this, to speak up for your people when no one else will?

And God heard the prayers of the fasting Jewish people, and Esther convinced the king to protect her people. In the end, Mordecai was even elevated to Haman’s former position as prime minister, and Haman was executed for his treachery.

Mordecai had been open to the idea that everything that came before had prepared Esther for such a time as this, and Esther was convinced and together they dreamed and they prayed that God would indeed be with them, and He came through.

Prepared for our Time

God has shown time and time again throughout the Bible and throughout the rest of human history that whatever time arises in our life He will be with us, and He will be in control.

Just as with the story of Esther, we can see in the story of Jesus how God has prepared the time for His will to be done. Turn with me to Galatians 4 where Paul talks about what Jesus has accomplished by elevating us to co-heirs with Him:

Galatians 4:1–7 (ESV)

I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

What was the fullness of time? What was special about the time when Jesus came?

For centuries, Israel dreamt of this time, though many misunderstood what was required. Some thought strict adherence to the law was required for the Messiah to come, others thought that all gentiles had to be expelled from Jerusalem. In reality, God was preparing it in His own way, using many great nations and people who had no idea they were preparing the world for the savior’s arrival.

For the Jews, their role in this time was to have been carried off into exile, and to establish synagogues across the diaspora. To cling to the Word of God and the promises of the covenant He made with Abraham tighter than perhaps any other time in their history.

For Romans, their role was to amass incredible military, economic, and political power, to establish order and easy means of travel. To make it so that traveling preachers could eventually go from Jerusalem north into Asia Minor, west into Greece, even sail all the way to Rome with relative ease.

For the Greeks, it was to provide a near universal language. This way the good news of what was about to happen could be recorded easily and reliably and be spread across the mediterranean world and beyond.

A significant part of Christianity is understanding that the dream that we might look out at the world, and see that God has prepared us precisely for such a time is this, has come true.

What time is this?

To understand how God has prepared and shaped us for such a time as this… we have to ask, what time is it? 11:15 AM on Sunday morning? Sure, that’s about right, but what about on the grand timeline of humanity, what time has God prepared us for?

If I asked you where the delineation was between our current time, and the time that came before, what would you say? And be honest here! What event marks the start of our current time?

Perhaps you’d say the Enlightenment, where we first shared ideas like individual liberty, an opposition to a dogmatic manmade religious institution, and the firstfruits of self-governance.

Maybe you’re thinking of an event a little closer to our current time, the splitting of the atom which propelled us into the nuclear age, or maybe the first time humans, by the power of our own ingenuity, broke free from our atmosphere and touched the heavens.

Perhaps it’s the introduction of the internet, a monumental shift that has allowed us instantaneous access to collected knowledge that surpasses our ancestors’ wildest dreams! With its incredible capacity for empowering collaboration and connection, and its equally unthinkable magnetism for the worst of humanity.

However, one thing I am quite confident of, if you are like me, when you are first asked this question, you don’t think of a cross and an empty tomb.

And when I realized that I felt this way I couldn’t figure out why? Why was I so indifferent about Christ crucified and resurrected, that I didn’t even consider Him?

N.T. Wright puts it this way:

“God was pushed upstairs like a dysfunctional and embarrassing elderly relative. People who still felt affection for him were welcome to go and visit him, in private prayer and Sunday worship. People who still believed he mattered would hope to be with him forever after their death. But he had nothing to say about how to run the downstairs world.”

Excerpt From: N. T. Wright. “Simply Good News.” Apple Books. https://books.apple.com/us/book/simply-good-news/id862623205

Wright suggests that sometime around the 18th Century, for many reasons that exceed the scope of this particular sermon, humans split our understanding of the world in two, and that the “upstairs” where God was had very little to do with the “downstairs” where we humans were calling the shots!

As a result, even many of us Christians stopped recognizing that Jesus did anything on Earth that affects us right now. We treat Jesus’ earthly ministry like it was when the box office opened for Heaven. Sure, it’s important to us, we have to get down to the box office before they’re sold out or, even worse, the show starts without us!

But as far as how Jesus has changed the world we live in, we sometimes just don’t see it.

Twofold Mission

We are solid on the idea that we are meant to preach the Gospel and make disciples, even when we don’t always do it, we always know we should, you know?

But what if the great commission is only half of what the church is here for?

Turn to Matthew, Chapter 4.

Matthew 4:12–17 ESV

Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.” From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Note that Jesus does not say “I’m here to let y’all know when the registration session opens for heaven, that’ll be about 43 days after my death (oh, yeah spoilers, don’t worry it don’t stick), we’ll call it Pentecost, I’m gonna go find me about 12 guys to dunk y’all folks to reserve your place, and when the kingdom of heaven opens for business right round abouts the end of time we’ll getcha in”.

No when the Messiah begins His ministry He declares the kingdom of heaven is at hand! Right here, on Earth, right now.

And I think that sometimes, we feel like it’s all about something in the future, and that is reflected so strongly in our actions. I’m as guilty of this as anyone. As long as I’m telling people about Jesus and turning away from sin I feel like I’m doing GREAT!

But Jesus couldn’t have been more clear, the kingdom of God is here now. Paul even says in Colossians as he gives thanks for what Jesus has done:

Colossians 1:13–14 ESV

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The kingdom that Jesus spoke of has been transferred to us. The time that we are living in, the time that God has prepared us for, is the time of the kingdom of God present on Earth. And in this time, we get to look forward to the fullness of the kingdom coming, but also rejoice in the kingdom we have right now.

Such a Time as This

I believe that God has called and prepared Dublin Powell for such a time as this.

I believe that in addition to sharing the good news of a future home with God, we can share the good news of a home right here, in His kingdom.

I believe that we can be just as excited about what Jesus has done right here for us on Earth as we are about what He’s going to do when He comes again.

How do we do this?

Well, when the church in Rome was struggled with living up to being the Kingdom of God, Paul reminded them in Romans 14 that

Romans 14:17–18 ESV

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.

We should seek to exercise righteousness among ourselves.

Kingdom of God in Action

But our world has become so big and even the Christians here in our church get scattered throughout the week like the Jews in the Diaspora.

It’s easier than one would think to go through an entire week and not interact with another Christian outside of our own family until we come back to church next Sunday. It’s easy under those circumstances to not feel like the kingdom of God really is here.

That makes things like our outdoor service and meal coming up, Wednesday night Bible study, youth events which will be starting again soon, summer camp, meeting a brother or sister for lunch throughout the week, checking in with one another as we go through our week so critically important to our mission here, as we work together as a church to live in God’s righteousness, peace, and joy.

Synthesis

And of course, this mission is two-fold. I mentioned before that the Great Commission, to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them what has been taught to us about the kingdom of God, is absolutely essential to our core mission as the church.

But do you see how the way we approach that might change when we are confident in the fact that the kingdom of God is present now, and that we have the great joy to be a part of it?

In one way or another, every person here in this building, every person joining online, has been brought to this small section of the kingdom of God. You have been brought to this place, in this time, for a purpose.

My prayer is, that like Esther, you will recognize God’s hand that has brought you here and make the most of the opportunity to rejoice in the kingdom of God and join the effort to spread it far and wide.

Because even if nothing else in your life has lined up yet, just right, so clearly that you can see God’s hand at work in it, one thing or another brought you here, to the assembly of Christ’s church, of His kingdom, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you can do the Father’s will on Earth, as it’s done in heaven.

Come to the Kingdom

And maybe today, you aren’t yet a citizen of the kingdom of God.

If you haven’t yet taken the opportunity to profess that Jesus is the Son of God, who’s sacrifice on the cross broke us free from our sins, restoring us to a new life in Him.

If you haven’t taken the opportunity to repent of your sins, and been buried with Christ in baptism to be raised to the newness of life that starts right here, right now, in this family, in His kingdom, then we would love to help you do that.

If you’ve been baptized but have been living outside the kingdom, if you need to repent or simply to turn back and be encouraged by the family of believers here, we would love to pray with you as you do that.

Whatever your need is today, however we can help you be present in the kingdom of God that is here today and will be raised in Glory when Jesus Christ returns again, won’t you make it known...

while together, we stand, and sing.