Sermons

We see bad stories all the time both in our lives and in the world. We have unhappy beginnings, the middle can be discouraging and at times distressing, but then there can be a turn where victory seems possible, hope seems probable but final resolution hasn’t happened yet. It’s not how a story starts; it’s how it finishes. Recap- The self-centered king of Persia has dismissed his bride the queen launched a massive war, taken all the eligible young women in the nation for himself (not once but twice) made Esther (a Jewish minority, orphan, exile) his new queen. Dodged an assignation attempt (thanks to the heads up from Mordechai) promoted the sinister Haman to second in command. Haman is disrespected by Mordechai leading to Haman’s genocidal plot to become the Persian Hitler complete with a set date for the “final solution” to be literally executed eliminating all Jews in Persia… and effectively ending the potential for God’s promise to send a savior TO the nations FROM the nation of Israel. This is real pain, real injustice, causing real mourning and lament. Mordechai is responds with lament. Esther struggles but processes through a journey of compliance and conformity leading to conviction and courage. She is not as safe as she thinks she is, but God is more active than we realize. Mordecai has confidence that God will deliver and raise up relief, but Esther has been placed in this role and season for a reason. She is resolved to risk her life now to help her people rather than stand by and wait for things to get worse. The Jews in Susa fast with her and for her. She fasts, plans, prepares and risks her life. She is reward with favor. The king asks what she wants (I’ll give you half the kingdom) and she throws a feast in his honor (with Haman!) and says… “I’ll tell you” tomorrow at another feast. Haman, goes from high to low when he sees Mordecai fail to honor him after the feast. He throws a pity party at home, recounts his awesomeness but says it’s worthless if Mordecai is alive. His wife and “friends” plan to hang Mordecai before lunch the next day. He agrees to the plan, and the scene is set. But then there is a sleepless night where the king is reminded that Mordecai saved him years ago and was never honored. In an ironically comic scene Haman is asked what a man should receive when he’s honored by the king and he goes big! Kings Robes, Kings Whip, Kings crown all while being treated like royalty by royalty. It ends up being all for… Mordecai and Haman has to make it so. He desires honor but ends up humiliated as he runs home to whine to his wife and advisors who being to let him know the tide has turned and his defeat is likely. The next feast Haman is exposed by Esther as an evil plotter and the King’s Justice is swift and merciless as Haman is hung from the gallows he created. The author of evil has been defeated but his plot and plan of destruction still looms over the people. There is a victory experienced, but work to be done remains. We don't have the ability to undo the wrongs done to us, that is a God- sized task. Our attempts at justice either go too far, or not far enough. Our desire for justice is from God, we should also expect God will be the one who perfectly provides it. He has the Last word!

Jesus is the central figure in History we worship Him as God & King so there is a separation of church and state but not of Jesus & Politics. We are citizens of Heaven, ambassadors of His Kingdom, with the church as an embassy on a mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ who Love God and Love People. We have a role and responsibility to love our neighbors as ourselves to be involved in politics to promote flourishing, liberty and justice for all. How are you today? A lot has happened. We need Hope & Humility - History happens every day, but some events impact us more than others. The course of human events can easily propel us to the heights of elation or the depths of despair. When our political allegiances and aspirations seem to be ascending, we can assume a position of pride and satisfaction. When we suffer an apparent defeat or experience what seems like a loss our frustration can lead to fear. Regardless of circumstances, we need to remember what is true, what we are called to do now, and where our hope lies for the future.

Jesus is the central figure in History we worship Him as God & King so there is a separation of church and state but not of Jesus & Politics. We are citizens of Heaven, ambassadors of His Kingdom, with the church as an embassy on a mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ who Love God and Love People. So we have a role and responsibility to love our neighbors as ourselves to be involved in politics to promote flourishing, liberty and justice for all. This means our allegiance and activisms will transcend earthly parties and politicians. God and Government have and will have a relationship as an arena God uses for His Glory. We Need Leadership

“This is the most important election of our lifetime!” “The fate of the country and our democracy is at stake! “You cannot be a Christian and vote for Donald Trump!” “I couldn’t go to a church where there are people who voted for Obama!” “Jesus was the first socialist!” “America is a ‘Christian’ Nation!” “(X)Want’s Tyranny!” I’ve heard all of these in the last several years. From traditional media to social media, sports and streaming services, social science and climate science, even down to the coffee beans and garbanzo beans we choose; even the Avengers showing up to a rally, every aspect of how we participate in the public square seems to be influenced by a political message or position. The church in America is not immune to our highly politicized culture. It seems people are either eager to coopt Jesus and the church for the advancement of their political goals or pretended that somehow religion and politics do not have an impact on one another. How are we supposed to effectively navigate politically in this environment? There is so much pressure to engage, so many landmines to avoid, and so much temptation to check out of politics all together. So rather than remaining silent in the face of contradictory and incendiary language or to shout over opponents, let us have a civil discourse around the two topics we are told we are supposed to ignore. Let’s talk Jesus & Politics.

When there is injustice happening and more pain and death on the horizon we want it exposed and dealt with. When we are the ones who are suffering we want vindication AND we want Justice served. When we have opportunities for our voices to be used to effect real change we need to respond with courage and boldness. When we realize how powerless and helpless we are then we cry out for someone to stand up for us.

When have we have succeeded and not been rewarded? How do all the “insignificant” details of our lives function to help achieve God’s purposes in our lives? Have you ever experienced a great delay only to later see that it was ultimately profitable? What about a dramatic reversal where you were certain one outcome was assured only to have the tables turn in a way you didn’t expect leading to an outcome you didn’t foresee. When have you experienced wrong or injustice and craved vindication and victory? We begin to see hope.

What is your plan? What drives “your plan”? Is it reactive or proactive? How do you deal with it facing adversity or doesn’t all come together? Is your “plan” usually about you or others? What happens when you “win” how do you feel, how long does that last? Where are you finding true and lasting satisfaction? Recap- The self-centered king of Persia has dismissed his bride the queen launched a massive war, taken all the eligible young women in the nation for himself (not once but twice) made Esther (a jewish minority, orphan, exile) his new queen. Dodged an assignation attempt (thanks to the heads up from Mordechai) promoted the sinister Haman to second in command. Haman is disrespected by Mordechai leading to Haman’s genocidal plot to become the Persian Hitler complete with a set date for the “final solution” to be literally executed eliminating all Jews in Persia… and effectively ending the potential for God’s promise to send a savior TO the nations FROM the nation of Israel. This is real pain, real injustice, causing real mourning and lament. When we are first made aware of injustice with tender hearts our reaction should be one of mourning. Mordechai is responding the truth of the situation with true lament. Esther struggles but processes through a journey of compliance and conformity leading to conviction and courage. She is not as safe as she thinks she is, but God is more active than we realize. Mordecai has confidence that God will deliver and raise up relief but Esther has been placed in this role and season for a reason. She is resolved to risk her life now to help her people rather than stand by and wait for things to get worse. The Jews in Susa fast with her and for her. Now it’s go time. In this chapter, two plans are laid out. One plan is developed for the Jews' destruction, and looks formidable. Esther's plan, the plan with the look of weakness - is developed for the salvation of God's people. Esther's plan is destined for success not because Esther is beautiful and brilliant, but rather because God's plan is unstoppable.

What have you lost this year? What has changed in a way that has caused you to move from pretty good to melancholy? What pain have you experience that has actually caused you to need to mourn. Maybe it’s personal or it’s something you’ve seen happen to others. What injustice have you seen or experienced? How do you typically react? How have you reacted to the pain, lose, and injustice around us? Has it lead you anger, activism, or paralyzed you with passivity? Passivity is not humility. Most of us want to or are inclined to live peaceful lives. But even when I say that, we are mistaking “peaceful” lives with conflict free lives. We love NW nice and so we get really uncomfortable with people expressing opinions different that the mainstream of the day. When we are faced with grave injustice, we are not to cooperate with it or capitulate to it. We are to be confronted with the truth of a situation and then be humbly conformed to God’s will which will include processing grief and may include confronting injustice so our mourning can be turn to joy.

What do you expect (or expected) your life to be like? When you grew up or even now what do you expect life to be like? What are you entitled to experience? What you expect to be shielded or protected from? We walk in entitlement. We believe we are due decadence or at the very least deference, when we succeed all our good actions should receive a reward, people should be throwing parades for us and life should be a series of continual promotions and straight-line growth in wealth, influence, responsibility, pleasure, etc. When something interrupts this progress, we find it personally offensive and how we response tells us (and others around us) a lot about ourselves and the world we believe we live in. We do good or succeed we hate delayed gratification or denied honor. When we fail or know we’ve done something wrong we firmly believe our transgressions should be overlooked. In this current climate fear, insecurity (both personal and in the state of the world) have driven us to be more and more isolated and self-focused. This has made us more susceptible to self-preservation rather than self-sacrifice, fits of paranoia fueled by various conspiracy theories or the truth of brokenness in the world. In isolation and division we see us and them entitlement high and empathy is low. Honor is sought but horror is experienced. How do you your sense of personal entitlement impact those around you? The driver of entitlement is pride, the driver of empathy is humility. Let’s find perspective in our pride in and hope for humility in Esther 2-3.

How do we faithfully navigate difficult circumstances? What does it look like to engage with the world when darkness seems to cover like a cloud all aspects of life. How do we preserve when we are powerless especially if and when the powerful in the world seem to be erratic at best and evil at worst. When we are in challenging chapters of our individual or collective stories where do we find hope? How do we process the darkness we face or even the darkness we participate in either willingly or because those with power over us have inflicted damage, pain, or even abuse. It’s darkness we dread and light we long for. We want suffering, difficulty and oppression to end AND we want joy, justice, flourishing, and glory to reign. That is a good desire. We all desire glory because we are all created to reflect glory. Yet when we search for glory in ourselves what we find will always be fleeting at best. Struck with reality, we can easily experience fear with our imperfect selves and surrounding, when we are called to faith found in a perfect God. One who knows our story and is working out all things for good for His glory and our Joy. One who is with us in our darkest chapters and is able to both change our perspective, destiny, and circumstances. As we seek to process the pain, trauma, and seeming senselessness of our lives and culture we are often (in the rearview) able to see God’s hand active in and through our path. I hope this can give us greater confidence in Him when He seems to be distant, Unseen God. Let’s find hope in Esther Chapter 2.