Perhaps? | Sunday, June 13, 2021

When Mordecai learned all that had occurred, he tore his clothes, he put on sackcloth and ashes, he went to the middle of the city, he cried loudly and bitterly. He only went as far as the king's gate, since the law prohibited anyone wearing sackcloth from entering the king's gate. There was great mourning among the Jewish people in every province where the king's command and edict reached. They fasted, they wept and lamented, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes. (Esther 4:1-3)

God may have placed you exactly where you are "for such a time as this" — perhaps?

Dropped Into the Confusion

This chapter drops us right into the action, so we need to glance back at chapter 3. There Haman approached the king and got him to agree to an edict allowing the Jewish people to be slaughtered on a particular day. At the end of chapter 3, Haman and the king sat down to drink while the city was in confusion. Here we see a picture of that confusion. Mordecai hears the news, tears his clothes, puts on sackcloth and ashes, goes to the middle of the city, and cries loudly and bitterly.

He only went as far as the king's gate because a law forbade anyone wearing sackcloth from entering the king's presence — the king doesn't want to see any unhappy people. Only shiny happy people get to approach the king, and it keeps his schedule full of pleasant meetings rather than rough ones. Meanwhile, there is great mourning among all the Jewish people. An extinction-level event has been planned, and now it has been announced.

So Mordecai parks himself outside the king's gate, visibly mourning for everyone to see. He can't go inside where his job was; he's stuck outside and can't even do his work properly because of how he's mourning. This is the same Mordecai who wouldn't bow down to Haman, and now he's openly debasing himself in sackcloth and ashes. It tells us something about who Mordecai is: he will debase himself before God, but he will not bow before Haman.

Esther Hears the News

There is one Jew who has been insulated from this news.

Esther's female servants and her eunuchs came and reported the news to her, and the queen was overcome with fear. She sent clothes for Mordecai to wear so that he would take off his sackcloth, but he did not accept it. (Esther 4:4)

Her response to hearing what's going on is to send Mordecai clothes, because she is afraid. Why send clothes, and what is she afraid of? There are a couple of possibilities. First, she may be embarrassed by Mordecai's public display and afraid it would reflect badly on her, or even out her as a Jew. Second, she may want him to come and explain the problem to her, but he can't come in wearing sackcloth, so she sends him clothes. We don't know which it is, but it's probably one of those two.

In verse 5, Esther summons Hathach, one of the king's eunuchs who attended her, and dispatches him to learn what Mordecai is doing and why. Mordecai tells him everything, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay the royal treasury for the slaughter of the Jews — so there's a bit of bribery going on as well. Esther uses Hathach as her go-between, which indicates this eunuch most likely knows that both Mordecai and Esther are Jews. Esther has continually found favor with the people around her, and this official is apparently willing to cover for her.

Mordecai's Charge to Esther

Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa ordering their destruction so that Hathach might show it to Esther, explain it to her, and command her to approach the king to implore his favor and to plead with him personally for her people. (Esther 4:8)

At this point Esther has the information, and Hathach is effectively part of the crew. Mordecai asks Esther to use her position to plead with the king on behalf of her people. He sees her as the obvious solution — she has access to the king, she's favored above all women, after all she is the queen. From the outside observer's chair, it seems so simple. But we need to remember that to an outside observer, most problems seem cut-and-dried with obvious, simple solutions. We tend not to see the difficulties and intricacies until we are the ones actually in the hot seat.

Point one: opportunity often shows up dressed as danger.

The Danger of Approaching the King

Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to tell Mordecai, all the royal officials and the people of the royal provinces know that one law applies to every man or woman who approaches the king in the inner courtyard and who has not been summoned. The death penalty, unless the king extends the royal scepter, allowing that person to live. I have not been summoned to appear before the king for the last 30 days. (Esther 4:10-11)

Here is the problem Esther sees that Mordecai may not see from the outside. It is dangerous for her to approach the king. The default for approaching the king uninvited was death; the only exception is if he lifts the scepter. This could cost her life.

On top of that, the queen has not been summoned to the king in 30 days. This indicates Ahasuerus has been finding his companionship elsewhere. Put yourself in Esther's position: you're the queen, arguably the most highly placed woman in the court, and yet you haven't seen the king in 30 days. That leaves her self-conscious and worried about her position. Remember, the whole reason she has this position is that the last queen ticked off the king and was sent on her merry way. Thirty days ago it might have been easy to approach the king; now there are a lot of doubts that can crop up in that time. On the other hand, she is the obvious person to bring her people's plight before the king — she's the queen, she's a Jew, and she's under the same death sentence.

Point two: a God-given opportunity will require that we be willing to sacrifice.

We can often find ourselves in situations like Esther's — maybe not responsible for an entire race, but situations where we feel we should do something yet are afraid to lose our position, popularity, or a relationship. We might not feel secure enough to take the chance to do what God is calling us to do. And remember, the big step Esther is being asked to take comes after a lot of small steps where God has already shown His faithfulness. The same happens in our lives: when we're approached with a very big step, there are usually previous steps that led up to it where God has proven faithful. This should give us courage.

Such a Time as This

Esther's reply prompts Mordecai to send one back:

Don't think that you will escape the fate of all the Jews because you are in the king's palace. If you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will come to the Jewish people from another place. But you and your father's family will be destroyed. Who knows? Perhaps you've come to your royal position for such a time as this. (Esther 4:13-14)

Mordecai is the focus of Haman's hatred, so he tells Esther clearly: don't think you'll get away with this. Relief for God's people will come, but you and your father's house — which includes Mordecai — will be destroyed. Mordecai has probably heard from childhood the stories of how God rescued His people, and they're living in a time when the Babylonian captivity has ended and the temple is being rebuilt. But he has no illusion that they will survive in Shushan. Then he says, "perhaps" — perhaps everything in your life before has been leading up to this moment.

Point three: a God-given opportunity will have far-reaching effects — far past what we can see.

Look at the steps that led here. The Vashti incident, where Vashti was removed for daring to say no to the king. The failed military campaign against the Greeks. A well-placed uncle who serves the king. A beauty pageant Esther was part of, where she received assistance from members of the king's staff because she found favor. Being chosen from hundreds, if not thousands, of women to be queen. Mordecai happening to overhear a plot to kill the king. Esther being positioned to tell the king about it. All these little steps led to this moment. From our vantage point, it's clear God has been working — we plainly see the hand of an omnipotent, omniscient God.

Perhaps for Us

It's easy to look at someone else's situation from the outside, like Mordecai looking at Esther's, and give advice from a position of relative safety. But what happens when it's our bacon in the pan? If we believe God is omnipotent — He can do anything — and omniscient — He knows everything — then we need to look at our situation the way we look at Esther's. Perhaps we are right where God wants us to be to bring Him glory and grow His kingdom.

Did God place you where you are? Could He have changed your situation? Easily. Was He shocked or surprised at your circumstances? No. If we believe what we say we believe and sing during worship, we need to ask the same question Mordecai posed to Esther: perhaps I've been placed in this situation for such a time as this. Perhaps I'm in line at Costco by this person for such a time as this. Perhaps I'm in this neighborhood with these neighbors for such a time as this. Perhaps I'm working this job, or unable to find a job, for such a situation as this. Perhaps the very circumstances that have me in sackcloth and ashes, wailing to the heavens, have been carefully orchestrated to put me where God wants me, so I can do something amazing whether or not anyone else notices.

Another Mordecai — and Billy Graham

Let's talk about a different Mordecai — not the one in the book of Esther, but Mordecai Ham in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1934. That May, a group of Christian businessmen held an all-day prayer meeting, and out of it came the decision to bring in a traveling evangelist for a series of revival meetings. The Christian Men's Club and local pastors invited Dr. Mordecai Ham.

Thousands flocked to hear him preach inside a tabernacle — really just a sprawling building thrown up with a sawdust floor for the occasion. He preached six days a week, morning and night, for eleven weeks, not mincing words about sin. One of the people in that crowd was a 15-year-old boy who heard the gospel and became a Christian that evening. That boy's name was Billy Graham. We all remember Billy Graham, but how many remember Mordecai Ham? He was faithful to take advantage of the opportunity God put before him.

In that initial prayer meeting, one of the men praying alongside Billy Graham's father asked the Lord to raise somebody up out of Charlotte to preach the gospel to the world. Perhaps that man was there that day to make that prayer. Perhaps Mordecai Ham was in a position to respond and come. And all of those perhapses led to Billy Graham becoming a Christian — and then preaching to billions around the world, including a crowd of over a million people in South Korea.

The Love of God

Yet the thing Billy Graham said pushed him over the edge to become a Christian was not the omniscience of God, nor His omnipotence. What pushed him over the edge, he said, was the love of God. While we serve a God who knows everything and is all-powerful, the most amazing characteristic of our God is that His love for us is unchanging.

When we put these together — the power of God, the all-knowingness of God, and His amazing love for us — it gives us perspective on the situations we face. Holding onto the facts that God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and loves me enough to sacrifice His Son for me gives me a new way of looking at my circumstances, even and especially when I can't make sense of what lies in my path. This eternal perspective reminds us to choose to obey God, and any other response to a God-given opportunity is, in fact, betrayal.

If I Perish, I Perish

Go and assemble all the Jews who could be found in Susa, and fast for me. Don't eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my female servants will also fast in the same way. After that, I will go to the king, even if it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish. So Mordecai went and did everything that Esther had commanded him. (Esther 4:15-17)

Notice verse 17: Mordecai did everything Esther had commanded him. Earlier in the book, Esther had done everything Mordecai commanded her. There's a role reversal here. She asks the people to fast for her — with the fair implication that she's asking them to pray for her too — and says that in three days she will take actions that will either help her people or end her life. It's a bold move. She is stepping out in faith.

Luke 9:33 — and this verse shows up in all four Gospels — says, "Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it." It's important enough that God put it in four times. If you seek to preserve your life, you'll lose it. But if you give your life to Jesus to guide and direct, no matter how it ends, you'll keep it. God's perspective is not like ours. Ours is short and temporal, focused on the moment; the things that were earth-shattering to us in grade school or high school no longer matter, because our perspective shifts so quickly even over a few years. God's perspective spans eternity. The best thing we can do is have confidence that if I lose my life following Jesus, I will keep it for eternity.

God is calling Esther to put all her chips on the table, and He's calling us to do the same — completely and utterly focused on following Him, whether the situation seems big or small, whether it's the beauty-contest side of things or approaching the king under the sentence of death. He calls us to trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.

Closing Prayer

Heavenly Father, we see in the book of Esther your fingerprints all over it, Lord God. We see you setting her up in a position where she has the influence even before the need is apparent to everyone else. Father God, help us to be able to see those things in our own life, and even if we can't see it, help us to be confident, Jesus, that you are in fact with us, that you are guiding and directing us and presenting us with opportunities. Help us to take advantage of those. Forgive us where we fall short and where we turn our back on those things. Thank you that you are a God of grace and a God of love, and that we can start each day anew. Help us to see the opportunities and to lean into them. Lord Jesus, we pray these things in your name. Amen.