When God Seems Silent... Much Risk is Required (Esther 4:1-5:8, Part Two)

Here’s my sermon from this past Sunday. You can download the audio here or the manuscript here.

Well, unless you’ve been in bed the past couple of months - and haven’t been at all on social media - you’ve heard of this virus spreading across the world - coronavirus. We’ve seen it before. But it’s putting fear in lots of people. Flights are getting cancelled. Schools are not in session. Even some churches aren’t gathering, or they’re not taking communion. Now this is largely in places other than the U.S. But the time could be coming - when we start raising those questions here. 

Now my wife the nurse would remind us that regular old influenza should be far more of a concern. But the reality is that this virus doesn’t really have a cure at this point. It will probably be a couple of years - I’ve heard - until there is a vaccine. So I can certainly understand all the concern. Especially considering I’m a bit of a germaphobe. And have been diagnosed with hypochondriasis - by that same lovely spouse of mine.

But here’s the question I want to kick off with today. If this disease goes literally viral across America - if it hits our town here - how are we going to respond? Well, it originated in the Wuhan province of China. And Christians there are now on the frontlines. Serving their Lord boldly. Caring for the sick. Sharing Christ’s love. 

But you may not realize this. They’re just doing what the church has always done. Rodney Stark is a historian and sociologist. And he’s spent a lot of time studying the church. He talks in his book The Rise of Christianity about how the early church cared for those caught up in pandemics like this. 

“Christianity revitalized life in Greco-Roman cities by providing new norms and new kinds of social relationships able to cope with many urgent problems. To cities filled with the homeless and impoverished, Christianity offered charity as well as hope. To cities filled with newcomers and strangers, Christianity offered an immediate basis for attachments. To cities filled with orphans and widows, Christianity provided a new and expanded sense of family. To cities torn by violent ethnic strife, Christianity offered a new basis for solidarity. And to cities faced with epidemics, fires, and earthquakes, Christianity offered effective nursing services.” (Rodney Stark)

Stark tracked conversion rates during the times of most intense plagues. And he found they were much higher as the church cared for the sick with death all around. Apparently in the third century A.D., as many as 5,000 people were dying a day - just in Rome alone. This corresponded to a strong season of persecution against the church. And Christians - even though they were often blamed for the plague - served people in their darkest hours and often ended up dying right along with them. In a society where people ran from the plague, the church ran right into it. And God used it to spread the good news of Jesus. 

An early church leader named Dionysus put it this way:

“Heedless of danger, they took charge of the sick, attending to their every need and ministering to them in Christ, and with them departed this life serenely happy; for they were infected by others with the disease, drawing on themselves the sickness of their neighbors and cheerfully accepting their pains. Many, in nursing and caring for others, transferred their death to themselves and died in their stead.” (Dionysis of Alexandria)

But hear also what the general population did:

“The heathen behaved in the very opposite way. At the first onset of the disease, they pushed the sufferers away, and fled from their dearest, throwing them into the roads before they were dead and treating unburied corpses as dirt, hoping thereby to avert the spread and contagion of the fatal disease, but do what they might they found it difficult to escape.” (Dionysis of Alexandria)

Non-Christians ran from. Believers ran to. Therefore, as people were dying, the church was growing. They offered hope - and help. And people noticed. Most of all, their Lord noticed. Christians were giving it all, and looking like Him. The One who ran to lepers. When everyone else avoided them. He embraced risk. As He looked ahead to the reward.

Well, we’re in our fifth week in our series through Esther, and this is what we see the new queen do. She says, “If I perish, I perish.” And she puts it all on the line. Today, we’ll take our second look at this section, stretching from chapter 4, verse 1 to chapter 5, verse 8. Last week, I focused on Esther’s vocation - her calling. She needed to stand with God’s people and utilize the position in which God had placed her. Today, I want to talk about the sacrifice that comes with that calling. Standing for - and with - the Lord comes at a great cost. Esther feels this here. And so should we.

This morning, I’ll review where we’ve been so far - along with what we see in this passage here. I’ll raise two questions along the way. I’ll then again give you two challenges - just like last week - closing with a look at the One to whom this whole story points. Much risk, my friends, is required - if we want to be faithful followers of our Lord. 

Why Esther Must Risk It All (And How)

Well, how did we get to this point? In chapter one, the scene is set. We’re in the Persian Empire. And the King - Ahasuerus - or Xerxes, as he’s also known - throws this big party to show off his wealth and gain support for his wars. He calls his wife, the Queen, demanding that she parade herself naked in front of his guests. She refuses. His comrades convince him to fire her immediately. And he does. And they spread the word throughout the empire.

In chapter two, we meet the Jews living in exile in that kingdom. They’re put there due to God’s judgment. And now they’re settled, really living indistinguishably from everyone else. The King’s advisors encourage him to hold this massive sex/beauty contest to determine the next queen. They gather up all the most beautiful virgins of the empire and bring them in. A young Jewish woman named Esther, who had been orphaned and taken in by her cousin Mordecai, a court official of some sort, is gathered up. 

Surprisingly, she wins the contest and is brought into the palace. Following Mordecai’s orders, she doesn’t reveal her nationality. The chapter closes with him overhearing a plot to kill the king. He shares it with Esther. It saves the king’s life. 

In chapter three, instead of promoting Mordecai, the king raises up Haman, a wicked man, an enemy of the Jews, the people of God. Mordecai refuses to bow down or respect this new leader. Haman, therefore, resolves to wipe this man out - along with all of his people. He goes to Ahasuerus. He convinces the king to let him go after them. An edict is written - a day is appointed - when the Jews would be killed, would be plundered - by their citizens around them. 

That brings us up to where we find ourselves today. In chapter four, verses 1 through 4, word of this wicked decree spreads, along with great mourning. It moves from leaders like Mordecai out to the far reaches of the empire. And Jews everywhere can’t believe it. Or handle it. It even reaches Esther in the palace. 

In verses 5 through 9, the queen reaches out to her cousin - in order to learn exactly what has taken place. Mordecai informs her, through an intermediary, even sending back a copy of the decree itself. And verse 8 says that he commands her to go into the King and advocate for the people of God.

In verses 10 through 12, Esther responds. “You’re crazy, cuz!” She reminds him that you don’t just pop into the king. More often than not, it leads to swift, immediate death. 

In verses 13 and 14, Mordecai responds. He gives her a final push. “If you just sit there, why do you think you’ll survive? And maybe God put you there for just this reason!” That leads to the first question I want you to hear this morning: will you call your brothers and sisters to repentance and faith? That’s what Mordecai is doing here. He’s going to this woman, speaking truth in love. Wake up. Turn from sin. Trust the Lord. Do the right thing. 

And if you didn’t realize it, that’s basic ministry in the local church. Mark Dever has called church life a “series of hard conversations.” Will you let God use you in that way? You need the church - to do this for you. But the church also needs you - to love your brothers and sisters well. Will you step up and say what needs to be said? What your family needs to hear?

In verse 15 through 17, Esther agrees to go. She gets ready. She turns from taking the commands to handing them out. And she tells Mordecai to get all the Jews together. Why? To fast and pray. Well, that may sound like what you’d expect in a Bible story. But this is really the first mention of any such religious activity in the book. It seems as if the Jews have fallen so much for Persia that they’ve lost their first love, the God of Jacob. And this fiery trial brings them back. 

That brings us to my second question for us to think about: will you see your great need enough to pray? I think so much of the time, we act like practical atheists. We walk around like we have no need for God. We got this. Why would we pray? And, beyond that, fast? But if a virus started to spread - or our town got hit by a twister - would that put us on our knees? Maybe we should get started already. Because our need is great now. We have an enemy after us. Trying to destroy us. Sin is going viral trying to kill us. It causes more damage than tornadoes. We need prayer now.

That brings us to chapter 5. In verses 1 through 3, Esther gets dressed up. She approaches the throne. The King holds out his scepter. She touches it and approaches him. He asks her what she needs. 

In verses 4 through 8, she makes her request to King Ahasuerus. It’s not what we expect, is it? She asks for a feast. For him and for Haman. And then for another. Is she putting her request off? Is she really nervous? Maybe. Or really brilliant. She’s liquoring them up. She’s buttering them up. She’s making it really hard for the king to refuse. And she’s setting Haman up for the surprise of his life. 

The Calling to Sacrifice

Well, we’ll pick it up in verse 9 next week. But here, I want you to see two challenges from this passage - and specifically from Esther the queen’s actions right here. Here’s the first: sacrifice yourself and live. So again, Esther is strolling up to the king to make this request. And there’s a pretty big chance she’s going to die. She reminds her cousin, in verse 11, that only two things happen when you approach the king. You’re immediately killed. Or he beckons you near. Esther tells Mordecai she hasn’t been into see the king in a month. So it’s not looking good. Her chance of death is high here.

But there is a greater death to fear. That’s what Mordecai wants her to hear. Listen to verse 13 again. He says to her, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews.” Is he saying her ethnicity will be found out? Or maybe that he might be the one to reveal it? Is it a threat? We’re not sure. 

But he goes on in verse 14 and says, “For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place.” Mordecai hasn’t forgotten God’s commitment to His people. Of the covenant the Lord had made with Abraham. He’s convinced they’ll be rescued. 

But he goes on: “But you - Esther - and your father’s house will perish.” Yes, the slaughter of her people just might make it to her room. But it’s the God of Israel that she needs to be thinking about. His judgment if she doesn’t obey. There is a greater death to fear here. It’s dangerous if she takes a stand, but it’s even more dangerous if she just sits there. Because that reveals something about her heart. 

The palace is strategic. But it’s dangerous. As I said last week, we may not feel like it, but we’re all pretty much there. We have power at our disposal that we don’t realize. But if we don’t use it for Him, it means we’re leaning into the wrong identity. We’re in bed with Persia. The pleasures of this world. We’re in love with wealth. And status. Most of all our comfort. And that is far more dangerous than the sword.

Last week, I talked about the vocations - the strategic positions - in which the Lord has placed us. How we’re to use them for Him. For our God. But let’s say you had an opportunity to stand. A way to use that platform for Him. But you just can’t risk it. Your job. Your paycheck. Your status. Your title. What does that communicate? That your vocation isn’t a way you honor God. It has become your God. And hear me: that’s death in just another, deeper form.

I’ve been to Japan multiple times to support our work there. People over there have literally worked so long and hard that they’ve died. The hours they work in that nation are unbelievable. It’s also common when someone loses their job, that person kills himself. The country has had one of the highest suicide rates in the world. You serve your God until it kills you. If you lose it, you can’t live anymore. If Esther wouldn’t have put it all on the line, it would have been clear. All her hope is in the palace. Her identity is found there.   

If you’re not willing to give it up, it means it’s already got you by your throat. That position at work is your Lord. Your identity is found in that band. That spot on that team is what you worship. And that’s a dangerous place in which to live. 

Mordecai is calling Esther - and us - away from the worst kind of death. The judgment of God because we’re not His. From building our lives on something that won’t last. That will end with this life. With Esther, we can’t choose comfort. Or we’ll die. Sacrifice yourself and live. 

This brings a couple of important passages to mind. First, Jesus in the gospels. 

Matt. 16:24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

Cling to that false identity. You’ll lose everything. You’ll die. Give up your life. Lay it all down. You’ll gain everything. As Paul puts it in Philippians 1:21, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” 

Esther had to lean into her identity as one of God’s people. And more importantly as one of His. Or risk losing it all. In giving it all up, that’s where she’d find everything she needed. Church, we’ll find ourselves in these places, as well. In little moments that will add up to define our character. In big moments that will end up determining our path. Where will our identity be found? In the palace? Or in the true King? Sacrifice yourself and live. 

The Need to Trust

Here’s our second challenge from this passage. Trust His plan and die. Esther is like all of us. She doesn’t like the feeling of being out of control. She knows how the palace works. She knows what to do - and not to do. You don’t mess with the king - even if he’s technically your husband. But there is a greater King who reigns.

Esther realizes this - or maybe tries to convince herself of this - in verse 16. 

Esther 4:16 “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”

She calls her people together to pray. Again, God isn’t ever mentioned in the book. But it seems they’re seeing their desperate need for Him. She commits to do what she needs to do. She says, “If I perish, I perish.” It seems like Queen Esther is putting her life in the hands of God - the true King, over Israel - and over the world. 

It’s easy for her, and all of us, to think our destiny is held in other hands. Right? Maybe in a politician who can make scary laws. Or a boss who can promote or fire. Perhaps a professor who can hand us a diploma or make us waste thousands of dollars and years of our life. But those guys or gals don’t hold our destiny at all. King Xerxes doesn’t. Only our God and Father does. 

He’s in control of the world. Over every detail. Who wins this election. What happens tomorrow at work. All of our trials. And guess what? He’s good. He loves us. He doesn’t remove all the hard things - at least not yet. He uses them to make us more like Him. So let’s trust Him. In His sovereignty. In His plan. And be willing to die like Esther here.

And not give ourselves over to fear. And to worry. Anxiety comes when we act like we have to work everything out. That we have to fend for ourselves. And we roll over and over in our minds what could happen. And we try to manipulate our circumstances so that none of it does. It’s so much better - but so much harder, in a sense - to trust in the one who truly holds our destinies in His hands. Trust His plan and die. 

I think of what the Lord says in 1 Peter 5.

1Pet. 5:6   Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 

How do we free ourselves from anxiety and fear? Humble ourselves. Stop acting like we’re God. And what else? Instead of talking to ourselves about all our problems, and stewing over them, and trying to fix them - we give them up to Him. The One who cares. And who can actually do something. 

The question is: which King do we fear? Whom do we trust? As Jesus puts it in Matthew 10, verse 28: “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Again, there is a greater death to worry about. But there is life - the ability to relax - in His loving care.  Put your destiny in the wrong hands, and you’ll never truly live. But be willing to die for Him, and you’ll have joy and purpose and peace.

Like Israel - like Esther - in their panic, in their great need - they had to find their destiny in the God of the universe. In giving control over to Him, they found true freedom, and so do we. Again, there will be little moments when we can decide - will we do what He asks and trust Him with our lives? There will be life-shaping opportunities - where you can say, “I’ll die with Him. Wherever it leads, I’ll follow my Lord.” Who holds our destiny in His hands? The kings of this earth? Or the eternal Lord? Trust His plan and die. 

Social Media and Deconversions

I think I’d be remiss to not mention social media in this sermon. Really in most sermons. But think about the two ways we see it primarily used. Posturing. Building and maintaining this identity. Maybe your kids in rage just threw their breakfast on the floor. But you still salvage at least a pancake. You bribe them to smile. You get that on social media. We put forth this image. Of who we are. Who we want to be. Of what we’re for. Right? And what we’re against. We rage against those who disagree with us.

Posturing and freaking. Fearing for and worrying about our destiny. If your kids eat that four-syllable ingredient, they’re soon GOING TO DIE. If this candidate gets in office, we’re all suddenly gonna be living in a totalitarian state. We share our fears. We worry those around us. Social media sure has a lot of raging - by people wanting to defend who they are, what they’re about. But there is also so much freaking out - by those who don’t believe we have a God who controls all things.

I also think about something that’s been circulating via social media. At least in the Christian world. These deconversions. People giving their testimony on how they turned away from Jesus. Joshua Harris was the big one. A couple of weeks ago it was Rhett and Link. But I can’t stop thinking about Christ’s parable of the soils. How some seeds are thrown on the ground. They never take root. Others go down deep, grow into big plants, and bear fruit for years and years. 

But there are two types that hit the ground that don’t last. Those that go in the rocky soil. Those are the ones that embrace the gospel, but trials come, and they don’t persevere. They forget who controls their destiny. They turn from the Lord. There are also those that go in the thorns. Those are the ones who come to believe, but then fall in love with the riches of the world. And they, too, turn away. They find their identity in the wrong things. 

What we see happening is what has always happened. We see these two kinds of soils in Mark. We see these two twin struggles in Esther. Comforts and trials both tempt us. The palace. The gallows. We start having doubts. We pull out of community. And then here comes the Instagram post or the YouTube video. It’s our moment to stand. And we give in. We give up. Our great enemy wants to use pleasures, use sufferings, to take us out. The more we forget where our identity is found, as well as who holds our destiny, the easier and quicker that will come.

Two Warnings as We Risk

Sacrifice yourself and live. Trust His plan and die. Before I close with a few illustrations of this, here are a couple of warnings. First, don’t presume upon His sovereign care, as if God could be manipulated. What do I mean? One of my mentors - that many of you have met - is a man named Tom Schreiner. I love the guy so much. He’s such a humble, loving guy. But he’s an amazing scholar. I remember when we were talking about coming to plant this church. He looked at me and said, “Well, it may work out. Or it may not. Only God knows.” And that was when a lot of people in the church planting world talked like this: if God calls you, you’ll succeed. And they were speaking this into a world where 80% of church starts failed.

What did Tom’s words communicate? Confidence in God’s plan. Recognition that ours may not be His. But that, at the end of the day, His would be best. In other words, “If I perish, I perish.” We’re in His hands. It’s His will. Remember that, as you take risks for Him.

Second, don’t take foolhardy risks, as if God’s obligated to rescue you. Esther counts the cost. She thinks it through. She knows the possibilities. She prays. And she acts. Don’t bust into nursing the plague and think you don’t have to wear an isolation suit. Don’t neglect to wash your hands and think God’ll miraculously protect you. Don’t decide you’re going to go serve Him in India and jump on a plane tomorrow. Without raising any support. That’s usually not the way the Lord works. He uses means. Like you and I not being stupid. He is in control, yes. But He works in us wisdom. 

Trusting and Sacrificing

Back in the early days of Karis, we had support from a denomination to get started. They held strongly to this view that imbibing alcohol, even in moderation, wasn’t good or wise for a believer. They heard we were doing a Bible study in what they thought was a bar. They got wind that we didn’t really agree with that conviction. So they tried to hold their money out in front of me. They said, “Preach total abstinence from alcohol. Sign this document that says you will. Or lose all your funding.” Now I thought the gospel was at stake. I remember meeting with some leaders, laying out what I believed, basically telling the Lord, “If we lose it, we lose it.” They defunded us around Christmas. But the next couple of weeks, we received what felt like an avalanche of support in its place. 

I have a friend whose parents were serving as missionaries in West Africa. They had decided, after their kids left the nest, to not just play golf and hang on the beach. But to give their lives for Jesus. Little did they know that the Ebola virus would hit Liberia, where they found themselves. Public figures called them idiots. But they served the people there. They trusted the Lord. Well, his mother, Nancy Writebol, contracted the deadly virus. She got to where she couldn’t move. They were convinced she would die. They brought her by plane to a hospital in Atlanta, but they weren’t convinced she’d make the flight. She made it, though, and there received an experimental drug. She survived. But what did they do when she healed up? They moved right back. The Lord is their King. They didn’t care about the things of this world - and what other people thought.

Here’s my appeal to you. Pursue real life in Christ, church. Die in a way that matters. In big ways. Yes, I hope - I pray - some that are here will give their lives in Africa. In Asia. Running into danger. Doing anything for the gospel.

But also in small ways. A sister here emailed me this week some encouragement. She found herself in an intimidating group of moms. And one of them asked her, point blank, a challenging question - right in front of everyone. I’m sure she groaned, “Lord, help me,” and tried to do her best. And someone ended up coming up afterward and saying they wanted to hear more about Jesus. There are those little moments. Those short conversations - that can make a difference for eternity. Where we put everything on the line. And sacrifice. And trust God with our future. And truly live. 

Justification and Justice

Well, as we go, what do we give? What do we share? What do we live for? And die for? Justification and justice. Justification. The message of God’s word. How we’re made right with God. Declared righteous by Him through faith in Jesus. Sharing the good news, the gospel. I was at a restaurant the other day with a friend, when I was frankly starting to get anxious about leaving to work on this sermon. And that friend struck up a conversation with the server. I got to share the good news of Jesus. We have to look for those divine appointments. And step right into them.

Justice. How Jesus makes everything new. The gospel isn’t just about having a personal relationship with Him. And Him saving our souls. One day, He’ll heal this broken world again. There will be no more sin, sadness, and pain. Here and now, before that day, we can bring some of heaven into earth. As we seek justice. Nursing people with viruses. Standing up for victims of racism. Helping the poor find food and jobs. Talking to the homeless man on the street. Both justification and justice require our risk. But in that risk, we also meet our God.

The Need for Vulnerability 

Really, what we’re talking about here is vulnerability. Opening ourselves up. Pouring ourselves out. Like Esther here. Putting our comforts on the line. Making ourselves susceptible to pain. We’ll have opportunities to do that out in the world. We’ll certainly experience that here in the church. If we make ourselves vulnerable, we can be certain we’ll get hurt. But what the Lord wants us to see is that it’s worth it.

Think about Esther. She is used here to deliver God’s people, the nation of Israel. More than that, she keeps the hope of the gospel alive. She preserves the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah. Her vulnerability becomes victory - for her, for us.

How Jesus Gave It All (And Why)

What an example this woman Esther gives us here. But as we say over and over here in Karis Church, she points beyond to a Savior. He came and sacrificed everything. All the comforts of heaven. Taking on the trials of this world. Even - unlike Esther - giving up His life. He put His destiny in His Father’s hands. “Not my will, but Yours be done.” He was obedient to the point of death. 

He interceded for us, the people of God, before a King. But before a good, perfect One, our heavenly Father. He stood as the perfect mediator between God and men and women like us. And it cost Him everything. And through it, He became our Deliverer.

Hebrews 12:2 tells us that Jesus, “for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.” He embraced the risk. He saw the reward. And the question is. Will we? Will we lean into the identity we have in Him? Will we trust Him - and Him alone - with our destiny? Even if our nation is hit with an epic pandemic. 

In the Christian life, much risk is required. But so much reward awaits. Let’s run after both, church of the living God. Let’s look to Him. Look like Him. It may hurt. But He is so, so good.