A Defining Moment

Well, we come this morning to Esther chapter 5, and Esther is a book of high drama. And you say, well, at the moment my life may be far from dramatic. Your life might be downright boring.

I don't know. On the other hand, you may think you've too much drama, uncertainty, surprises and tensions and fears in your life, and you long for a life of tranquility, stability, and the routine. One of the vital lessons we've been learning in our study of this fascinating book of Esther is that irrespective of our circumstances — we need to grasp this — irrespective of our circumstances, whether they're full of drama or whether it's just the dull routine of life, God is in control. There are never any surprises to God. There are many surprises to us. God declares Isaiah 46 verse 10, the end from the beginning. Our life is a story. God knows the end of it from the beginning.

And from ancient times, things not yet done. Think God doesn't know what's going to happen in the Middle East? Do you think He doesn't know what's going to happen in your life? My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purposes. How wonderful that God is the God of history. He knows the end from the beginning. He knows exactly what's going to happen, and nothing can stand in His way.

He is all-powerful, and He's also all-knowing. Now His hand, albeit to us sometimes invisible, sometimes silent, is always at work in our lives. And as we sang about this not walking alone as we look back over our lives, it's much easier to see, isn't it, how God has been at work. Right now, sometimes it's difficult.

Sometimes we feel abandoned. Sometimes we feel things in our lives are totally out of control, and yet if we've lived life, as some of us have, we can look back and say, yes, we did never walk alone, and God was with us. Now, at this time of high drama for this young woman Esther, she shows no sign of panic or impatience, but with grace and dignity, she's placing her trust in God. Ahasuerus is the powerful king of Persia. I read this week that at the time of the Persian Empire, this is written by a secular historian, at the time of the Persian Empire when King Ahasuerus was the king, 44 percent of the world's population lived in the Persian Empire. Think of that.

Think how vast it was. This is the king over 44 percent of the world's population, King Ahasuerus. Someone said to me, isn't it King Xerxes? If you're reading the NIV, it says Xerxes. If you're with the King James, the international, the English standard version that we use, it's King Ahasuerus. King Xerxes was his Greek name.

King Ahasuerus that we're using was his Persian name. He's powerful, but he's not more powerful than God. And a wicked prime minister by the name of Haman, we're learning, cannot thwart the purposes of God.

This evil man has manipulated circumstances to have this evil edict to annihilate all of God's ancient people, the Jews. But God can handle the most dramatic, the most unexpected, the most difficult, the most intimidating of circumstances. And when we're very fearful and when we don't know what's going to happen, Esther is teaching us our trust is to be in God. So whatever your circumstances today, whether you're facing some high drama in your life, something that may cause you some fear, some anxiety, or whether your life is just pretty boring and routine, I want you to be still and know God.

I want you today, deliberately, once again, to place your trust in God. Now the fact that God is sovereign does not mean inaction by us. Scripture tells us that faith without works is dead. It's true God is at work. Remember Paul's letter to the Philippines, he says in chapter 2, yes, God is at work, but we must also work out our salvation with fear and trembling. The Christian life is not just sitting back and saying, well, let God do it all. I'll just sit here in a passive kind of way.

Not at all. God often works in us and through us to accomplish His purposes. So we must understand that while we believe strongly in the sovereignty of God, that does not negate human responsibility or choice.

We're not fatalists, we're not robots, we're not machines, but we're human beings with a capacity of choice. Sometimes we wait. In our lives there's sometimes a time to wait, but there's also sometimes a time to act, a time to respond. So let's learn from Esther, from Esther chapter 5, this young queen who's in the middle of the most dramatic, the most defining moment of her life.

What's she going to do? First of all, verses 1 and 2 as we think of Esther's action. On the third day, what's the third day? We saw last week at the end of chapter 4 that when Esther decides to go before the king, I'll go to the king even though it's against the law, and if I perish, I perish, realizing that this was the time, this was her defining moment, that she was raised for such a time as this, they have three days of fasting. And so during, on the third day, Esther puts on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king's palace, in front of the king's quarters, while the king was sitting on his royal throne inside the throne room, opposite the entrance to the palace. And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won favor in his sight, and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.

How dramatic this was. So she makes the decision she's going to go before the king, even though she's risking her life. And so they have these three days of fasting. No doubt she's waiting on the Lord. No doubt she's crying out to the Lord for wisdom, for the king to hear this request to save her people. And so now after these three days of, three days and nights of fasting, she puts on her royal robes and she stands in the inner court of the king's palace, right in front of the king's quarters.

By putting on her royal robes, she's reminding the king that she's a queen. Now is the time for action, but she's risking her life. From a human perspective, the odds of success are against Esther. Let me mention four reasons why.

From a human perspective, it seemed a doomed enterprise. First of all, to go before the king unsummoned will lead to death unless he extends his golden scepter. Secondly, the king looked on Esther as a Persian woman. Now she'll have to disclose that she's Jewish, and there's an edict that all of the Jews are going to be annihilated. How will the king respond? Third, she's aware of the law of the Medes and Persians which has been passed. That law cannot be revoked, and she's Jewish. Fourth, she's in direct opposition to him and the king's right-hand man, his prime minister.

The second most powerful man in the Persian Empire, a man who's full of wicked hate against her people, the Jews. Yet knowing all of this, this young woman proceeds to stand in the court. Can you imagine how her heart must have been pounding as she waits? And then to her great joy, he extends his golden scepter, and she touches it. She's now able to come into the presence of the king.

And you say, this is dramatic. Yes, but think of who he is. He's King Ahasuerus.

He is a total despot. He can take anyone's life that he wants, and so risking her own life, she comes before the king. Verse 3, and the king said to her, what is it Queen Esther?

What is your request? It shall be given you even to the half of my kingdom. And Esther said, if it please the king, let the king and Haman come today to a feast that I've prepared for the king. Then the king said, bring Haman quickly so that we may do as Esther has asked.

So the king and Haman came to the feast that Esther had prepared. And as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king said to Esther, what is your wish? It shall be granted you.

What is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled. Then Esther answered, my wish and my request is, if I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my wish and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come to the feast that I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said. Now the king knows that before his queen would ever approach him in this highly unusual way, there must be something of great importance.

He's very sympathetic to the queen. He makes this tremendous statement, I'll give you whatever you want, up to half of my kingdom. Now rather than immediately telling the king that she's Jewish, and she wants her people to be delivered from the cruel edict, Esther merely asks the king and Haman to attend a private feast later that day, which he's going to prepare, and that takes place. During the feast, the king again asks, understandably, what's all this about? What's your, what's your request?

I'll give you, I'll answer your request, up to half of my kingdom. And the king, this mighty king, King Ahasuerus, the grandson of Cyrus the Great, he continues to show kindness and generosity toward Esther, who seems very poised and then rushed. Look what she says in verse 8. Notice, notice her grace. Notice her skill. Notice her good manners. She is a woman of grace, a woman of elegance. This is a demure woman, who is coming before the king, and notice her language, if I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please the king. Can I just stop there and say notice? Not the most important thing, but notice how she is speaking to her king, with grace, with good manners.

We have in our society, our society is becoming harsher and harsher. As a little boy, my mother bought a book for us, Manners Can Be Fun. She wanted to teach her sons, who needed it badly, manners. Manners at the table, manners to interact with people, how to speak to people, what is mannerly? To say thank you, to say please, to show your appreciation and so on. Manners can be fun.

And so, my mother felt her boys needed it, and we did. I think we've lost that, haven't we? Don't you think Christians should have good manners? How do you speak to people? How do you speak to wait in a restaurant? How do you speak to your colleagues? How do you speak to your subordinates of your employer if you're in business? How do you speak to your wife, man? How do you speak to people? We've become very dumbed down in our language, haven't we?

We've lost the skill of being graceful in our speech, of being nuanced in our speech, so much it's in your face, and we're demanding things, and it's all about me, and we're shouting at people. And that's not the spirit of Christ, is it? And it wasn't the spirit of Esther. Now I know she's speaking to the most powerful man in the world, but still we see this is a woman of skill. And the fact that she believes it's the right thing to do still shows deference to this king. Now surprisingly, she doesn't immediately reveal her request. She simply says she wants the king and Haman to come to another feast which will be held the following day.

We're wondering is she buying time? Is she conscious of God's guidance? Is she carefully laying a trap, a plan to catch Haman? After all, she wants Haman at the feast, and he is the originator of the wicked edict against the Jews.

You can feel the tension and the drama continuing to rise. So that's Esther's actions. Think of Haman's reactions, verses 9 through 14. And Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he neither rose nor trembled before him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai.

Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home, and he sent and brought his friends and his wife Zerush. And Haman recounted to them the splendor of his riches, the number of his sons, all the promotions with which the king had honored him, and how he had advanced them above the officials and the servants of the king. Then Haman said, even the queen, let no one but me come with the king to the feast she has prepared.

And tomorrow also I'm invited by her together with the king. Yet, all of this is worth nothing to me so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate. Then his wife Zerush and all his friends said to him, let a gallows 50 cubits high be made. And in the morning tell the king to have Mordecai hanged upon it. Then go joyfully with the king to the feast. This idea pleased Haman, and he had the gallows made.

Fascinating, isn't it? Initially he's full of joy and pride. He's delighted. He's attended a private feast just with the king and the queen. And now he's invited to another feast the next day.

Persian kings were very protective of their wives, so it was an unusual honor for anyone to be invited to have a private feast with the king and his queen. Haman considers himself the ultimate insider. He's at the very top.

There he is. He and he alone is dining with the king and his queen. When he goes home, he's bragging about it. He tells his friends, his wife, all of his achievements. He's the only one in the kingdom invited to these private feasts, and his pride and his ego swell, don't they, to alarming proportions.

Everything in life centers on Haman. Life is wonderful, but there's one bitter pill which is sticking in his throat, and that makes him very angry and hateful. His joy quickly turns to anger when he sees Mordecai at the king's gate. Mordecai still refuses to stand up and tremble before him. In spite of his powerful position, Mordecai is not intimidated by Haman.

And so Haman is furious at Mordecai. He manages to control himself, and he goes home, and he is no doubt gratified by knowing that soon Mordecai and all of the Jews are going to be killed. As he goes home, he brags of all his glory, his riches, his family, his possessions. But then he says, all of this is worth nothing to me, verse 13.

His joy and satisfaction in life are being spoiled by Mordecai the Jew, notice how he refers to him, Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate, verse 13. This man has got so much, and he's still not satisfied. Proud people are never satisfied. They're so self-centered that they think the whole world revolves around them.

They want more and more and more. Haman is a vivid example of pride distorting a person's thinking. Now, when we think of pride, we always think of other people, don't we? I just think I know a lot of pride people. And all sin distorts our thinking, and pride certainly does. Pride. You're a proud person. When we're proud, we can't see past ourselves. My views, my opinions, my plans, they're the best. And pride distorts us. And pride, in a sense, shuts out other people.

Who needs other people? We're at the top. Haman is at the top. And his wife, Zerush, and his friends have this brilliant plan to get rid of Mordecai. Why wait until the 13th day of the 12th month, which was the date when the edict to annihilate all of the Jews was going to take effect?

Why wait until then? Have a gallows constructed, 50 cubits. You know how high that is? 75 feet.

That's huge, isn't it? Hang Mordecai on the gallows as a warning to all of the Jews and anyone else who would dare defy Haman. And the pride of Haman and his family are seen in the height of the gallows. They just don't want just to hang Mordecai. They want it to be a spectacle. They want to show their superiority over the Jews. Proverbs 16, 18, pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Pride. Verse 14 is a crux in the drama, isn't it? It's the point on which there's going to be this dramatic reversal because gallows are going to be built by Haman in order to kill Mordecai.

And if we can anticipate the story a little bit, I hope you've read the story, Haman himself is going to end up hanged on it. Talk about irony. Talk about God reversing things dramatically.

It's all going to happen within 24 hours. We'll think of that next week. Come back next week for the next installment. Let me give three concluding lessons. Pretty obvious ones, but in your Christian life when you stumble, it's usually on the basics. It's usually on the obvious ones.

Here it is. In life's defining moments, humble yourself before God. That's what Esther did. In the kingdom of God, the way up is always down. So, again I ask you, not can you think of a proud person. That is easy, right? What about yourself? Pride. Pride. As we studied 1 Peter, we learned, 1 Peter 5, that God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble. You want God's grace on you?

Of course we do. You want God's grace on your family? Do you serve God?

Absolutely. Well, God's opposed to the proud. He gives grace to the humble. Humble yourself therefore under the mighty hand of God so at the right time God will exalt you. Do you think you're overlooked in your business? Do you think in your work people don't appreciate you? Do you think as you serve God people are taking you for granted? That's OK. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and at the right time, that is the time of God's choosing, God may exalt you.

The way up is the way down. Didn't Jesus teach that to His followers? Think of the quiet humility of Esther as opposed to the wicked pride and the selfish pride of Haman.

Haman is all about Haman, his career, his riches, his family, his future, his plans. You find yourself being resentful of others, their possessions, their family, their achievements, their attitudes, their resentment, pride, bitterness. When we're bitter, there's usually an evidence of our pride. Life hasn't gone the way we expect, the way that it should go. We become judgmental. We become wanting revenge. What are some of the symptoms of pride?

There are many. Always talking about yourself. You're with people, your achievements, your family, your friends, your life, rather than listening to others. Pride is a deadly sin, isn't it? Because it makes us regard the goodness of God and the grace of God as something which we are entitled to. We were singing of the goodness of God. God is good.

The faithfulness of God. You take that for granted. You think it rightfully belongs to you. Do you really think that you deserve God to make your life successful and comfortable and to fulfill all of your plans and your dreams?

Is that what you think? Pride. Pride takes the goodness of God and the faithfulness of God and the kindness of God to us as rightfully belonging to us. In other words, we have not understood the whole concept of grace. The Christian life is a life of grace, which by definition is undeserved.

You don't deserve it. Our pride robs God of his glory. Haman had so much. The man was at the very top of his career, as it were.

Right under the king, over the huge empire, but he bitterly resents Mordecai, who humanly speaking had so little. You are a defining moment in life. Humble yourself before God. Will you do that? Humble yourself before God.

Here's the second one. In life's defining moments, pray to God for guidance, strength, courage, and wisdom. In life's defining moments, pray to God for guidance, strength, courage, and wisdom.

Isn't it significant? Before Esther takes action, she fasts for three days and nights. She's calmly waiting on God. She's sensitive to God's timing. She does not act impetuously. She acts with calm, with patience, with grace. Why doesn't she make her request at the first banquet? Why does she arrange the second feast for the following day? She doesn't know how things will turn out, but we do, because between feasts one and two, God arranges, as we'll see next week for King Ahasuerus to have a bit of insomnia.

He can't sleep, and the story is going to dramatically change. Facing some big decisions in your life, your career, your family, wondering if you should marry such a person, wondering if you should enter this particular ministry. Do we really pray to God for His wisdom, His strength, His courage? Think how God has blessed us. Think of His Reach, Welcome, Grow, the expansion. Have we waited on God, how this is being used?

Think of Calvary Christian Academy with His Grow. Decisions have to be made. Are we waiting on God? Are we acting impetuously in our flesh?

The flesh is always in a hurry. Do you remember Esau? He's the man that sold his birthright. He's the man, the Bible says, despised his birthright. What happened? Oh, he comes in from hunting, and he's so hungry, and he sees this wonderful stew, and he says, give it to me, or I'll die.

Really? And Jacob the deceiver says, okay, but I want your birthright. Esau is a man in a hurry. Example of the flesh, that's her flesh. It's impatient, instant gratification. It's difficult to stop. But in defining moments, we need to wait on God. Have you not known?

Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary.

His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to Him who has no might, He increases strength. Even youth shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted. But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint.

You want to be lifted up on eagles' wings? Those who wait for the Lord. That's not like waiting in the doctor's waiting room saying, is it going to be my turn? Waiting in a kind of frustrated, annoying attitude. That's not what it means, to wait on the Lord. No. It's coming into the presence of God, and asking God for direction, asking God for courage, asking God for wisdom, to wait for the Lord. In other words, instead of rushing ahead impetuously, instead of taking control as it were in our own lives and saying, this is what I've been waiting for all my life, and grabbing it.

No. Esther, for three days and three nights, she fasts. That was not just a meaningless ritual. She was waiting on the Lord. Your flesh is always in a hurry. Stop.

Before you do that deal, before you enter into ministry, before you accept that promotion, before you decide to relocate, before you accept that proposal of marriage, wait for the Lord. And He does a wonderful thing. We're tired. We're exhausted spiritually. We renew our strength. We mount up with wings like eagles, and we shall walk, run and not be weary, and walk and not faint.

Now here's the third one, the last one. In life's defining moments, trust God and obey God. Esther doesn't know how things will turn out, but she knew that God was greater than the king, that God was greater than Haman, that God was greater than the irrevocable edict passed by the law of the Medes and the Persians. She knew God was greater. In life's defining moments, trust God for the impossible, and obey God as we learned last week. Do the right thing and leave the consequences to God.

There's a time to wait that's true, but there's also a time of trust, a time of stepping out, a time of taking action. Esther does that. She waits for the Lord. And now, I'm sure with the assurance of God Himself, she puts on her royal robes and she stands in front of the king, humanly speaking.

It was a silly move, but it was a move that God used in His purposes to save His people. You say, well, John, sometimes it's difficult to step out because I don't know what's going to happen. If I go into that ministry, how is it going to work out? If I take that action in my business and my family, I'm not sure what's going to happen. Trust God. Step out. Leave the consequences to God.

If you're trying to figure out all of the consequences of your actions, you may be paralyzed into inaction. The Christian life is a life of faith. Yes, we have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ as we enter the kingdom of God, as we believe in our Lord Jesus Christ in that most defining moment of our lives when we're faced with the claims of Christ, when we realize that by ourselves we can never ever enter the kingdom of God. And we must repent of our sins and we must embrace Christ who loved us, who gave Himself for us on the cross, who rose again, this living Christ that I need Him. And I take that step of faith and say, I will believe. I will trust you as my Savior and my Lord.

I believe in you. That's the defining moment. And if you've never had that defining moment, you're not truly a follower of Christ. You come to church, you're going to be involved in ministry, but this is the critical defining moment of your life that each of us must do personally to come to Christ who invites us, come and I'll give you rest. And the offer of Christ is given to all of us, magnificent Christ, and we come in our brokenness, in our sin and receive Christ as our Savior. Now, if you've done that, that's just the beginning of the Christian life. We don't abandon our faith.

We say, OK, I did that. I'm saved. When I was 10 years old, I prayed that little prayer and now I'm just going to live my own life.

Absolutely not. You're a follower of Christ, and you follow Him. And sometimes it's wonderful following Christ and you're at the top of the mountain. I've been there. Life is wonderful, but there's other times when there's a valley experience and there's the darkness and there's the loneliness and we remind ourselves that He is there and that God calls us to do different things and we, in our flesh, we wonder, what's it going to be? How will it work out?

I want all the answers. This seems as if I'm stepping out into the darkness. No, you're not stepping out into the darkness. You're stepping out following the One who's the light of the world, who says that the One who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. And as I follow Christ, as I trust Christ with all of my heart, He leads me each day. Each step, I leave the consequences to Him. Whether it's the mountaintop or whether it's the valley, followers of Christ, we say, I've surrendered my life to you, Lord, and I will follow you wherever I go. That takes faith.

That takes boldness. You have a friend in your life who doesn't know Christ and you're a bit afraid to speak to that person, wait on the Lord. He'll give you the right words. He'll give you the courage. He'll give you the wisdom. Step out. You say, well, He may never speak to me again. It's my boss and He may fire me.

That may happen. Trust God. Obey God. Remember the old hymn, trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.

That's what you're to do. That's what Esther did. She trusted the Lord and then took that action into the lion's den, as it were, and yet God was with her.

And God was using this remarkable young woman to change the destiny of her people. So when the divining moments come into your life, don't miss them. Take a stand for God.

Pray to God for guidance and wisdom. He's a heavenly Father. We have many fathers here. Only your child comes and asks you for advice. You give them the best advice you can because you love them. You want the best for them. And so we have a perfect heavenly Father, and we come as children, and we say, I don't know what to do. I'm afraid.

What steps should I take? Do you think God says, well, come back again? Of course not. Jesus said, if you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him? Asking for wisdom, asking for strength, asking for guidance, asking for your faith to be deepened.

These are good requests. Trust God. Step out. Yes, there's a time to wait, but there's a time to take action and then be still and see the Lord at work. We're thankful, aren't we, that we have a Savior. When He came to the defining moment of His life in the Garden of Gethsemane, what did He do?

He bowed His head, not my will, but Yours being done. And through the seeming tragedy of the cross, there comes the magnificent Christ and His resurrection and says, now, if you want to be my disciple, deny self, take up your cross, and follow me. Have you ever received Christ?

Has there ever been that defining moment in your life? Let's pray. And as we pray, I ask that the Holy Spirit will convict you of your sin, will open your eyes which are blinded, and look to Christ.

Will you do that? If you're a follower of Christ, pray for boldness, pray for wisdom, pray for help in that situation wherever it is. It may be very dramatic, it may be very routine, but day by day follow Christ.

Ask for His help. And as we walk through life with our Savior, we know that He watches us. And of His eyes on the sparrow, I know He watches me and you. Our Father and our God will look out in the world today with all of the turmoil, with hopeless situations as far as we're concerned, even in our own lives, even in this church, there are very, very difficult situations and we bring them to you, Father. Help us not to panic. Help us not to be afraid. You are the keeper not only of Israel, but you are our keeper and you watch over us day and night. Help us as your people, Father, to love you more, to serve you more devotedly, and to make a difference in this world, that we'll be strong and bold and never ashamed of the gospel, and that we will be found faithful followers of Christ. We ask it in His name. Amen.