Sermon Tone Analysis
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For Your Mercies’ Sake
Israel had been in scattered throughout the kingdom of Persia.
Yet they retained their worship of God.
They followed His ways, observing the Scriptures.
God’s ways were different from the laws of the land and thus His people were different and stood out among the peoples.
And a man named Haman, a member of the king’s government, persuaded the king that they were a problem and a threat.
He offered to pay to have them destroyed.
And the king listened to the words of the enemy of the Jews and had letters sent throughout his kingdom declaring a day of destruction and plunder of the people of God.
We don’t live in a kingdom but in a democratic republic, but there are some striking similarities between this story and the days we live in.
In some places, another way to identify Christians is to call them “People of the Book.”
In other words, they live according to the Scriptures.
The values, commands, and behaviors outlined in the word of God provide the basis for followers of God as they interact in the world.
Christians live differently.
They love differently.
They follow God’s Laws.
And just like in Mordecai’s day, there are enemies of God’s people who would seek to silence, plunder, and otherwise destroy them.
We see this globally in places like India where Hindus kill Christians.
We see it in places in the Middle East where Christians are beheaded by Muslims, or in China where Christians are imprisoned.
We see this attack in America where the current climate is increasingly hostile to Christian values and where pundits and politicians regularly seek to silence and marginalize anyone who believes in the God of the Bible.
The response of Mordecai and those of God’s people who were alert to the cultural moment was to put on sackcloth and mourn.
They cried out with a loud and bitter cry.
They fasted.
They wept.
It is interesting that no one was allowed to mourn or grieve in front of the king.
No one could raise a complaint about the injustice they were experiencing.
No one could acknowledge the pain they were going through, because it is not appropriate to do that before the king.
To a degree, this same mindset is entrenched in the world and even the church today.
If you cry out in sorrow or grief or mourning, it makes people uncomfortable and they want to silence you.
If you draw attention to injustice, or unrighteousness, or wickedness you potentially draw the ire of others.
When Suffering Seems Wrong
To the people who were simply trying to live their lives, this declaration made no sense.
They were, as Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, aspiring to lead a quiet life, minding their won business, working with their own hands, walking properly toward those who were outside of their faith (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12).
And then there was suddenly a national crisis.
Psalm 44 comes from a different season in Israel’s days (consider Psalms Book Two is thematically pre-Exile; context supports as well).
Despite this, the Psalmists speak to suffering that doesn’t make sense.
The psalm begins by recognizing that they knew of their history with God.
How He delivered His people and favored them and gave them the victory over their enemies.
It wasn’t their effort, but God’s favor and the strength of His right hand that delivered them and enabled them to succeed even over their enemies (Psalm 44:1-8).
But then the story shifts.
They begin to say that God has cast them off and because He didn’t go with them they were defeated by their enemy and those that hated them took spoils from them.
They were given up and scattered and sold to the nations.
They are a reproach and a scorn to those around them, a byword.
People shake their head around them.
And it is a constant source of shame (Psalm 44:9-16).
They protest that this has happened to them despite the fact they have not forgotten God.
They have not backslidden nor broke covenant nor stopped walking in God’s ways (Psalm 44:17-19).
Then they begin to turn their complaint to God.
They say, “God you see the truth.
We follow You.
We love you.
And yet we are suffering for Your sake.
And it feels like you don’t care.
It feels like we are destined to die like sheep or worse, we were predestined to die for You.”
“Why are you sleeping?
Why are you letting this happen?
Why aren’t you acknowledging our affliction and oppression?”
Can you feel the pain in their words?
Can you relate to their story?
They are enduring affliction, sorrow, oppression seemingly for no reason.
Not because they sinned.
Not because they were disobedient to God.
Have you ever felt this way?
That if you weren’t a Christian that you wouldn’t be struggling like you do?
You used to sin without guilt and shame.
Maybe you used to cut corners and lie and cheat to get away and get ahead.
But since you stopped, life has gotten harder.
Maybe you look at how the politicians or this group or that group are coming at you for your beliefs when you have done nothing but try to live a quiet and peaceable life.
Maybe you see, and not just see but feel, the weight of the brokenness and injustice and oppression in society.
Maybe you carry the burden for those who are being trafficked.
Maybe you look at the way the world seems to be falling apart due to poor stewardship of its resources and seem like there is no answer nor hope.
Maybe you feel the weight of the unborn child in the womb or the multitudes of fatherless orphans.
Maybe you have experienced the loss of loved ones, even godly ones, to things like the virus or tragedy.
Maybe you are feeling the pressure from employers and government to submit or be fired due to something you believe.
Sometimes, it is just hard to make sense of suffering.
And since there is no sackcloth in the presence of the king, we suffer quietly, alone.
And the pain and the pressure builds.
Making Sense of Suffering
But you were never meant to suffer alone.
You weren’t meant to carry those burdens that seem so great that they feel like they are destined to break you.
Jesus forewarned us that in this world we would face trouble but that through Him we have overcome the world (John 16:33).
As humans we will face trouble in this world.
As Christians, we will enter into another level of suffering.
The following verses in Romans makes it clear that creation itself groans for deliverance from the bondage of corruption (Romans 8:21-22).
And we, as Christ followers, groan within ourselves (Romans 8:23).
And we bring those things before the Lord in prayer, with the help of the Spirit who makes intercession for us with groanings (Romans 8:26).
In other words, we express the suffering of others on their behalf.
We are commanded to weep and mourn and bear the burdens of others, even when things don’t make sense (cf.
Galatians 6:2).
Paul acknowledges this suffering for righteousness sake.
He acknowledges suffering which doesn’t make sense (notice the quote of Psalm 44:22).
He lingers here, but expects his readers to know how that Psalm ends:
And then he says, despite these things, we are more than conquerors.
We will triumph in God’s love.
This grief will pass.
These sorrows will pass.
God will redeem them and nothing will be able to keep us from God’s love no matter how things look nor how they feel.
Conclusion
Jesus was a man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief…despised, rejected, treated unfairly and unjustly (Isaiah 53:3).
He knows extreme grief and loss.
He knows us.
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