A Surprising Lady

What do you think of when you think of the book of Esther? I guess its the brave heroine bravely going before the king at great personal risk to herself and saving God's people as God maintains his faithfulness to his covenant. And that is the final image of Esther, but surprisingly at the outset of the book Esther is very different and so Mordecai.

Chapters 1-2 are a little bit like the prologue of a novel, setting the scene as we meet the characters: there is Xerxes – the king, his sycophantic adviser's, Vashti the bold ex-queen, Mordecai the Jew, and Esther his cousin.

Then in chapter 2 after the removal of the old queen we see the reality of living in the world.

1. A World of Pressure
(1-4) King Xerxes does not come out of these opening chapters very well, he’s a party animal (ch1) and here ch2 we see he’s into pleasure. His advisers say why not hold a beauty contest and the winner (4) must please the king - there are two criteria beauty and performance in bed (14). It is definitely not X-Factor.

It is then strange to see Esther taken into this competition. It’s not what would you would expect to see or read, especially not when the passage emphasises her Jewishness. It seems that Esther is unwillingly taken to the court (8) but once there she seems to have done what was expected of her.

One of the intriguing things is that she kept her Jewishness secret under Mordecai’s instruction. It is certainly a messy situation which raises lots of questions as Esther is under pressure, as she faces being taken to the kings bed and assessed.

It is a reminder that pressure is natural for the people of God. Aliens and Strangers – that is what the Jewish were scattered throughout Persia. Living in lands and under rulers who did not know or follow God. Esther is not a manual telling us how to do that, how to live in a world which has very different standards and ideas to the Bible. She does not take a stand as Daniel and his friends did? (Is there a deliberate contrast there?) It is not advocating compromise. It is recording the facts.

2. The Sovereign Lord
What we see in the book of Esther is that God works through the muck and mistakes for his glory. Indeed it is one of the OT’s big lessons. (e.g. Gen Jacob and wives and children- is not recommending it is recording it). I think something similar is going on here.

This is not giving us Esther as a template to follow – keep quiet don’t tell anyone you are one of God’s people. Go along with the prevailing morality of the day. But it is showing us that God works through the muck, grim and mistakes to work out his sovereign purposes.

God will use Queen Esther, not because he approves of her actions and Mordecai's secrecy but because he is sovereignly at work. In God’s grace Esther is chosen despite her mistakes and God will use her to save his people and be faithful to his promises.

God places Mordecai where he can overhear and react – so that he will be where God needs him to effect God’s salvation. So God fulfils his promises to Abraham. Because what is at stake is God’s promises.

It poses the question - will I trust God? As a people in exile in a land hostile to God and Christian living will I trust him. Maybe we feel guilt for past mistakes and think that limits our usefulness to God. Esther tells us that God uses failures, in fact that is why Jesus has to come because none of us get it right. But God can use failure who realise they need to stand for him as Esther and Mordecai do in the rest of the book.

Emotion - a right response

We were looking at Luke 7 again on Sunday and the incident where the woman weeps, wipes and anoints Jesus feet. It is striking passage, why? Because her response is so emotional - in fact Jesus draws attention to her response of great love and contrasts it unfavourably with Simon's failure to love but desire to discuss ideas.

It poses the question are we to respond to Jesus emotionally? This woman is aware of her sin and the great salvation that Jesus has given her hence her lavish love seen in action. A great sinner worships a great Saviour.

I found myself asking whether I know that response? Whether I keep on knowing that response and what does appropriate expression of that look like? Or am I like Simon engaging in the debate enjoying the cerebral challenge but not broken and worshipping because I love little because I think I have little to be forgiven for?

Forgiveness for missed opportunities

Don't you hate it when it happens? You pray for opportunities to share the gospel with someone and then one comes along and you miss it. I was having a minor op yesterday and just as I was having the local anaesthetic injected into my head before the biopsy the nurse said "That looks like a heavy book you are reading?"

The book concerned is Jeffery, Ovey and Sachs 'Pierced for our transgressions'. She then went on to ask what it was about and was it blood thirsty? Probably not the question you want as the doctor is poised with the scalpel. I was not alert enough and just said that it was a theology book. What a missed opportunity - the book is all about hoe God in love sent his Son to die in our place for our sin so that we could again be in relationship with God.

What an opportunity and I missed it. It was a bit of a wake up call to:
1. keep reading books like that in public places - you never know when they will present an opportunity,
2. to always be ready - you never know when an opportunity will come, I should have thought more about the questions the book might pose,
3. to ask God's forgiveness (1 John 1:9) and be ready for the next opportunity to tell people the great news about God's grace.