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Sermons
Pastor Don Pieper - audio not available
Esther 2:5-20; 4:1-17
Last winter Christopher and I went up to ski at Hurricane Ridge
for the first time. After he hooked up with a friend and got
signed up for a ski lesson I took off to take a couple of runs
down the slope. I was little out of practice using a tow
rope…to go up but was surprised how quickly and nearly
effortlessly…I found myself back at the bottom...
So back up I went, but wound up some how this time on the wrong
side of the rope. As I neared the top I noticed a couple of
skiers on my side of the rope dismount and head further up the
mountain. “That’s for me”, I thought and made pursuit.
When I reached the top the view absolutely took my breath away,
as did the blast of wind in my face... I got out my cell phone
and pushed the video button. As the camera rolled I looked
around. The two skiers I’d
followed were nowhere to be seen. On my right was a red sign:
“Danger!
Ski at your own risk!” To my left a sheet of ice in the shadow
of the
mountain led to a drop off... Forgetting that I was still
filming
myself I boldly declared: “What am I doing here?”
Ever ask yourself that question? Generally speaking that
question comes to mind in either one of two circumstances: when
we’re completely out of our element…or when we think we’re below
our element.
The summer I worked at Green Wing Bible Camp as a senior
counselor at the ripe old age of 19 I remember asking myself
that same question for the latter reason. I had sought the job
because I knew the camp organized three back-packing trips into
the Colorado Rockies with youth groups from all over the Midwest
and as an experienced backpacker I was sure to go. But when the
third expedition sped away and I was left standing in their dust
back at camp surrounded by a group of wild and ill tempered city
kids I’d been left in charge of I wondered, “What am I doing
here?”
I imagine it’s a question that young Esther asked herself on any
number of occas-ions. I mean here’s the story of an orphan girl
who winds up married to the same king whose armies have
conquered her native home in a war in which both her mother and
father were killed. I imagine as she finds herself orphaned and
living in the home of her cousin, Mordecai, if she wonders, “What
am I doing here?”
After she and her cousin’s family are carted away into exile to
the distant pagan land of Persia she ponders, “What am I doing
here?”
Later still she finds herself as just another pretty face in
King Xerxes harem & the question arises: ‘What am I doing
here?’
She’s not alone. Before she arrives in the palace Xerxes sent
for his beautiful wife, Vashti. He wanted to parade her at a
party but she refused to come. The messenger waits as she
muses: “What am I
doing here…? Tell him, I stayed home to do my hair.”
And his response: “Then the king became furious and burned
with anger.” (1:12) Why is he so upset? He’s the one who
inconvenienced her. But he’s the king, right? He has an image
to keep, people to oppress - impress, subjects to be…subjected.
So being the strong, powerful king that he is, what does he do?
He asks the “experts in matters of law and justice”: “What am I
doing here…without my wife? What am I to do with her? She
washed her hair, and now I can’t do a thing with her!”
They come up with a brilliant idea. Why not hold a “Miss
Persia” beauty contest in which each of the 127 provinces of his
kingdom would send a finalist. And that’s how it is that an
orphan girl by the name of Esther came to the court of the great
Xerxes, to compete with
other “contestants” for the great prize of being Xerxes trophy
queen.
I don’t know. After completing the 12 months of required beauty
treatments, six months of oil and myrrh and six months with
perfumes and cosmetics, I’d think they’d be hard to tell apart.
Fortunately liposuction and silicone hadn’t been invented yet!
That’s a lot of pressure for a first date! Personally, if
someone isn’t attracted to you after twelve months of oil of
olay, hair conditioning & Channel #5 it’s probably not going to
happen! But that’s just me…
In the end, Esther, who was not only a young woman of beauty and
grace, but also a model of modesty and restraint, won the
contest
and was named the new queen.
Esther soon learned that her people’s real enemy was Haman, the
king’s chief of staff. Haman was obsessed with power and had
duped the clueless king into decreeing the genocide of God’s
people, the Israelites. Mordecai knew there was only one person
in a position to intervene with the king: the new pageant winner
and beauty queen, Esther.
Esther had no training for such a moment. She’d been taught
that her value to the king was her face and body, that she was
there to please him... Besides, it was a capital offense to
approach the king without being invited and it was over a month
since he’d asked for her.
The honeymoon was over, the harem was full, and Esther was well
aware of
what had happened to the last queen. Esther knew that she was
out of
her element. It would be suicide to take on Haman. Esther:
“What am I doing here?”
Mordecai’s response is swift and poignant. “Don’t think for a
moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when
all other Jews are killed.” (4:13)
In other words, “Don’t think for a moment that you are there in
the palace simply for your own comfort and well-being. Don’t
settle for being wealthy, pampered beauty queen. That’s not
your true purpose.
The Lord God is in ultimate control not Xerxes!” “Who knows if
perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?!”
(Esther 4:14)
Safety, security, wealth, popularity – these were not her real
mission any more than they are mine or yours. They’re what
you’d call her shadow mission: those patterns of action and
thought that betray our deepest values, that lead to regret and
guilt. As John Ortberg defines it: “that sense of hiddenness,
vagueness and confusion that sin causes. My shadow mission is
what I do with my life if I drift on autopilot, the activities
to which I gravitate if I allow my natural
temptations and selfishness to take over.” (John Ortberg)
Esther’s shadow mission was the lure of safety, security, wealth
and popularity but her real mission was to be part of God’s plan
to redeem the world. It was by no accident that she was where
she was.
So it is that her mentor posed a timeless question: “Who knows
if perhaps you are (in this position) for just such a time as
this?!”
(Esther 4:14)
So often we get stuck in the question, “What am I doing here?”
It is a frame of mind that thrusts us into another kind of party
than the ones described in the book of Esther – it is the
infamous pity party. It is a mindset that fills our heart and
mind with either a disabling discontent or an aimless,
self-centered drift on autopilot.
That summer at Green Wing…, I was adrift. I was eager to invite
anyone who would listen into my little pity party. One night,
sitting at a camp fire, my friend, Big Jim turned to me and
said, “I don’t know, Don. Is this really so bad? Maybe God has
you here, this week, for some wonderful purpose.”
That night as I was leading these hardened city kids from the
Chicago projects back to our cabin something happened. As we
walked thru the woods in the dark they began to hang on to me
and each other as if their lives depended on it. They left
little finger marks in my arm.
With each step their bravado and act tough attitude disappeared
into the dark night. By the time we got to the cabin they were
begging me to stay. “Tell us some more Jesus stories, Mista
Counselor!” That week changed my sense of call…
I don’t know if any of them remembers me but I know I’ll never
forget them nor how thru them God showed me there’s more to life
than getting what I want…, there’s discovering what God wants
which is always far better! Within 24 hours I was being asked
what I’d done to change the behavior of those rough and tough
city kids.
I’d smile, point heavenward & say, ‘It wasn’t me!’ In the
words of my Mordecai: “Is this really so bad? Maybe God has you
here, this week, for some wonderful purpose.” “Who knows, maybe
you’re (in
this position) for just such a time as this?!”
When Mordecai helped Esther to recognize her own shadow mission
her faith comes alive: “Go and gather all the Jews of Susa and
fast for me. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though
it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must
die, I must
die.” (Esther 4:16)
Apparently, there were depths of faith and courage in Esther
that even she did not suspect – as no doubt there are in you as
well.
As the story comes to a climax her faith and courage bring
results and God’s plan to redeem this broken world moves
forward!
Haman, the plotting and treacherous chief of staff, is found out
and is hung on the same gallows that his wife convinced him to
build in order to have Mordecai executed. Xerxes lets Esther
choose his replacement and so naturally she chooses Mordecai.
In the end the Jews are provided the means to defend themselves
and are so favored by God and in the eyes of men that we’re told
that “many people of other
nations and tongues turned to God and became Jews.” (Esther
8:17)
Here’s the thing… Esther did not set out to be pageant queen,
but once she was on the throne, she had to decide between a
shadow mission of safety, wealth and prestige and her God-given
mission of helping to save her people and, with some
encouragement from a
trusted mentor, Esther shined. She discovered her niche in
time.
How about you? What is your position? Maybe it involves your
job, your marriage, your friendships. Maybe your position
involves going to school, or some task you’ve been asked to do
or some level of involvement here at Redeemer. One thing is for
sure, this is your time – not some other situation, not tomorrow
or yesterday – this here is your niche in time!
Calvin: I read that Teddy Roosevelt once said, “Do
what you
can with what you have where you are.”
Hobbes: That’s good advice.
Calvin: Of course, I doubt he was in the bath tub
when he
said that.
We are often tempted to think that we are treading water right
now, waiting for some other time, some other opportunity, some
more important position. But you know what? You don’t get to
choose your time; your time chooses you. You are where and who
you are for a
reason. So do what you can…with what you have…where you are.
In the film, The Fellowship of the Ring, the hobbit, Frodo
Baggins, has been entrusted with the evil ring of power and the
mission to free Middle Earth by destroying the ring in the fires
of doom. But as the story unfolds it becomes clear that the
hardest part of his mission is not defeating the many external
enemies that will strive to thwart him but the renouncing of the
shadow mission of choosing to claim the ring for himself and
seeking his own power and glory.
At one point he stands poised with a decision to make. Give it
to someone else, use it and claim it for his own power and
glory, or press on? As he stands on the river’s edge, mulling
over what to do, he recalls a conversation he had with a dear &
trusted friend… [Fellowship of the Ring film clip: 2:44:37 –
2:46:07]
Heavy of heart Frodo sighs: “I wish none of this had happened”
But that is not for him to decide, Frodo is reminded. “All you
have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to
you.”
Interesting how Tolkien’s story mirrors that of Esther in that
someone comes along to help clarify a true sense of purpose or
mission. Without Gandalf Frodo might have given up. Without
Mordecai’s challenge Esther might have played it safe, stuck in
her shadow mission.
Without Big Jim… Who is your Mordecai? Who loves you enough to
challenge you when you want to shrink back or settle for less
than God’s task…?
Being clear of your own shadow mission and naming it is crucial,
because when you see it for what it is, you come to realize that
you don’t want to devote your life to it.
You don’t get to choose your time; your time chooses you.
You are where and who you are for a reason. “Who knows if
perhaps you are (in this position) for just such a time as
this?!” (Esther 4:14) “All you have to decide is what to do with
the time that is given to you.” So do what you can…with what you
have…where you are... because this is your niche in time!
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