One television personality who was having a pretty rough year found out on the same day
that she was losing her TV show and that her husband was leaving her.
She responded, I know the Lord won't send me more trouble than I have the strength to bear,
but I do wish he didn't have such a good opinion of me.
Many of us might know that feeling.
I've heard people say on a number of occasions over the years
that the things that have really happened to me lately have really shaken my faith.
That is, at times when there's bereavement, serious illness, times of tragedy,
or even just a whole string of negative things happening,
it's hard to believe in a God who is love and a God who is in charge or rules the world,
as we sang tonight, God who is sovereign.
And it is an important thought.
It's a really serious question.
Many sceptics would say that belief in an all-loving and an all-powerful God
is just simply wishful thinking.
You can't have both of those things together in the world in which we live.
Some even go as far as saying that they refuse to believe in such a God
unless that particular God was to turn up and to fix certain things in their life.
And the assumption is that God has to think like I do about the world
and solve my problems or the world's problems in the way that I think that they should be solved.
Now, I get why we might say that,
and I get the feeling behind that and the sentiment behind that,
but in the end it would be a pretty benign God
if that God was limited to my understanding of the world
and how I think things should be fixed in the world.
Over the next number of weeks,
we're going to go back two and a half thousand years
into the book of Esther,
which we're just looking at now.
It was read out a couple of chapters just then.
Here, two and a half thousand years ago,
is one of the most perilous times for the people of God.
They are on the brink of extermination.
And on the surface, when you read those first couple of chapters,
it appears that this is one of those Cinderella stories.
You know, orphan girl rises to be the queen of Persia,
most powerful nation in the world at its time.
But it's actually not the thrust of the story.
It's actually about how God saves his people from the brink of disaster.
And yet, there is no mention of God in the book of Esther at all.
Not once.
Kind of strange, really,
when it's about God rescuing his people from the brink of disaster.
So why is that?
Why is God not mentioned in this book?
Now, I'm pretty sure it's not an oversight.
It's not like the writer got to the end, full stop,
and went, oh, my hat, I forgot to mention God.
I don't think that's the case.
I think the writer here is making a point.
And I think, let me just try and explain this.
You see, whenever the God of Israel saw his people in trouble in the past,
he comes to their aid through extraordinary ways.
The events are extraordinary.
But in Esther, there's no mighty miracle.
There's no vision.
There's not even a dream.
God appears to be absent here in this book.
Totally silent.
There are, however, this whole string of apparent coincidences.
They all happened at the right time.
And if they hadn't have happened, the Jews would have been wiped out.
But they all happened in the right sequence at the right time.
And they were saved.
If Xerxes, just from chapter one and two,
if Xerxes had not gotten drunk and he had not made that boast,
if that hadn't happened, Vashti would still be queen.
And Esther wouldn't have been queen.
And she couldn't have used her influence to save the Jews.
What if, for instance, Esther hadn't been pretty?
What if the king favoured one of the other girls?
The whole narrative all the way through is,
what if, what if, what if, what if?
And all of them are just these ordinary little things, everyday life.
And by themselves, they don't seem to be significant at all.
And here's the point that I think is underlying here through Esther.
When you see one of the ten plagues in Exodus,
where God uses his mighty power to rescue his people from Egypt,
and you see his hand at work, you go,
oh, that's God.
Yeah.
Extraordinary.
When you see the king drunk,
you don't go, oh, wow, God at work.
You just don't make that connection.
Esther is telling us, I think,
when you put it all together,
don't make the same mistake.
Don't make the mistake of the materialist
who judges situations based on what they see
and what they feel
and what they can experience firsthand.
We may not see God at work,
but that doesn't mean he's not.
God's silence is not his absence.
His hiddenness is not his abandonment.
God is not obsessed with appearances the way that we are.
He's working out his promises even when it appears that he's not even around.
That's one of the underlying themes right through Esther.
There are things going on for us,
even for us right now,
things going on for us in our lives
that we're looking right at,
things that God is doing,
and they seem so ordinary
and we have got no idea,
which is why that graphic that Yui put together
is just so brilliant.
Did you notice the invisible hands under the woman?
Ooh, it all makes sense.
And even in the ugliness of these first two chapters,
and frankly, they are ugly,
there's a whole lot wrong here.
God is at work.
He's even using flawed and failed
and questionable people like Esther and Xerxes
to bring about his plans and his purposes.
So let's just launch straight in on chapters one and two.
The book of Esther,
if you've got your Bibles open,
begins introducing us to the great empire of King Xerxes I.
It says,
notice how it reads, it says,
verse one,
this is what happened during the time of Xerxes.
And you say,
Xerxes?
Which Xerxes?
And he says,
well,
the Xerxes have ruled over 127 provinces
stretching from India to Kush.
He reigned from 486 BC
to 465 BC.
And his empire included the north-western part of India,
Pakistan,
Afghanistan,
Uzbekistan,
Iran,
Iraq,
Armenia,
Azerbaijan,
Syria,
Lebanon,
Israel,
Jordan,
Turkey,
northern Greece,
Egypt,
Libya,
Eritrea,
Ethiopia,
and Sudan.
a pretty big area he covered.
There was no person more powerful,
more greater on the face of the earth at the time,
and he knew it.
He was not a modest man.
Sort of like the first president of Tunisia,
Habib Burugibi,
he once explained to his National Assembly
that leadership abilities such as his were,
and I quote,
a miracle of nature
that rarely occurs in our history.
Do you like that modesty?
Isn't that nice?
He was also asked once,
so what's the Tunisian system of government?
System of government?
I am the system of government.
Isn't that a modest sort of man?
So Xerxes is that kind of guy,
and he holds a party for all of his main men
throughout his whole empire
so he can show off how great he is.
It's a party,
verse 4,
in chapter 1,
that says,
it went on for a full 180 days.
He displayed the vast wealth of his kingdom
and the splendour and glory of his majesty.
He got all of his wealth,
all of his possessions,
his livestock and all that sort of stuff,
and he's in the big banqueting hall
with all his head honchos,
and it's just,
he's marching it through the banquet hall.
And it took six months
from the beginning to the end
for all of his possessions and wealth
to be shown off to all his mates.
And at the time,
they're sitting there drinking wine.
It's no wonder he got drunk.
Six months of it.
We are meant to gaze wide-eyed here
at the gold and the silver and the jewels
and the sheer accumulation of wealth and power
in exactly the same way
that Alexander the Great did
when a hundred years,
just about a hundred years later,
he went into the citadel of Susa
and he discovered
over one and a half tonnes of gold alone,
let alone the piles of silver
and the jewels and everything else.
And Alexander the Great looked at it
and went,
my goodness.
Even Alexander the Great
was impressed by this guy.
So,
we read the first few verses
and we go,
who's the main man?
Who's in control here?
Who's in charge?
Xerxes
except he's got a woman.
Queen Vashti.
Now,
she has been given
a separate banquet
over here for the ladies.
And as there are no ladies
to civilise
the men,
Xerxes' party
gets out of control.
Verse 10,
Xerxes is in high spirits
from wine.
I think that's meant
to be an understatement there.
The guys had one too many
for sure.
And he decides
it's time
not just to show off
all of his wealth
and all of his splendour
and all of his majesty
and all of his power,
he wants to show
his mates
that he's also married
to the best looking woman
in the world.
So,
verse 11,
he says,
bring Vashti out
wearing a royal crown
in order to display
her beauty
to the people
and the nobles
for she was lovely
to look at.
He's not wanting
to show Vashti off.
He's not wanting
them to meet her,
to be friends with her,
to see whether
she's got a personality
or anything like that.
It's,
bring her out
so that my drunken mates
can drool over her
and gawk at her.
Now,
for reasons
that the text
doesn't explain,
she decides
that that's not
a great idea.
I mean,
it's not hard
to imagine why.
She refuses
to come
and that act
in itself
is an act
of incredible bravery.
in a hierarchical
shame
and honour culture
for an authority
like Xerxes
to be rejected
was a cultural crisis.
and this king
is furious
with his queen
but instead
of marriage counselling
he has a cabinet meeting
to work out
what to do
with her.
And of course
he pulls in
all the nobles,
all the head honchos,
they're all concerned
as well
because what if
Vashti sends
a priest in here
and our wives
do the same thing?
Anarchy will reign,
we'll get a bit
of pushback
from our wives.
The outcome
of it all
is that Vashti's
banished
a royal decree
went to the whole
kingdom
in all different
languages
from India
right through
to Sudan
so that everyone
heard it
in their language
all the women
will respect
their husbands
from the least
to the greatest.
What an idiot.
What an incredible
comical
overreaction.
a drunken
reaction
and then
beginning of chapter
two the grog's
worn off
so Xerxes wakes
up with a headache
and did I do
that?
Yes you did.
And he just
realises
that Vashti
the most beautiful
woman that he'd
ever met
is never to
approach him
again
ever.
and so he
needs a new
trophy wife
and the whole
kingdom is
searched for
the best
looking woman.
Chapter two
verse eight
suggests that
they weren't
invited to
apply
they were
picked
and they
were taken.
I mean
you couldn't
imagine
too many
clear
thinking
women
wanting to
marry a guy
like Xerxes
could you?
Although
Donald Trump
seems to be
sorry
and so
we have
international
beauty pageant
Miss Persian
Empire
482 BC
some scholars
have suggested
there is many
1,000
virgins
were brought
back to the
king's
harem.
and then
for a year
they underwent
beauty treatments
and they were
in training
to get ready
for one night
with the
king.
Everything
turned on
that one
night with
the king
and depending
on how it
went there
were only
four possible
outcomes
only four
number one
is that
in the morning
he goes
I didn't
really like
her
and he
would
send
the
girl away
to be a
permanent
concubine
but he
would never
ever
call on
her again
and at
an age
of 18
or 19
they were
essentially
banished
to permanent
widowhood
they were
never ever
to be allowed
with another
man
no marriage
no children
no nothing
permanent
banishment
no
second
option
was
he might
say
actually
I don't
mind
that
one
she would
become a
concubine
and occasionally
at his whim
and his will
and depending
on how much
wine he's
had
he would
call on
her
third
option
is
if he
you know
if you're
really
lucky
you might
be one
of the
two or
three
that would
go on
the list
that I
might marry
this one
and then
your children
would be
inheritors
of royal
stuff
number
four
if you
are super
fortunate
and you're
the one
that he
most favours
you became
the queen
and the
other
999
weren't
now one
of the girls
who was
taken was
a Jewish
orphan named
Esther
and when
they took
her
her older
cousin
Mordecai
instructed her
not to say
anything
about her
Jewish
identity
or about
her beliefs
she was
the one
Xerxes
favoured
above all
of the rest
he married
her and he
made her
his queen
the Jewish
orphan girl
becomes the
queen of
the greatest
empire
of the face
of the earth
so what's
going on
here
what's
going on
this is not
marriage advice
so let me
just take that
bit out
it's not
marriage advice
it's not
how to hook
up and
not any
of that
sort of
stuff
not dating
advice
in Persian
culture
the most
important
thing
about a
man
is his
wealth
and his
power
and the
most
important
thing
about a
woman
is her
sexual
and physical
beauty
a man's
worth was
determined by
the size
of his
wallet
and how
big his
muscles
were
and a
woman's
worth was
determined by
the size
of her
dress
isn't it
ugly
when you
realise
that's
what's
going on
in here
in
S's
one and
two
isn't
that
ugly
the way
that people
are treated
look at
the way
these women
are treated
look at
the pride
and the
arrogance
of this
bloke
Xerxes
wouldn't
it just
be
absolutely
terrible
to live
in a
culture
that judged
people like
that
and treated
people like
that
aren't you
glad that
we don't
live back
then
two and a
half thousand
years ago
with all
the superficial
differences
what's
changed
what's
really
changed
the world's
the same
it says
external
image
appearances
matter more
than your
character
what you
have
matters more
than what
you are
beauty
talent
money
connections
influence
matters more
than what
you are
and what
our culture
says is that
you must
undergo
beauty
treatments
not just
the women
our culture
says that
unless you
get these
credentials
this kind
of beauty
this kind
of money
this kind
of resume
this kind
of education
this kind
of job
unless you
get these
things
you don't
really amount
to much
you're not
really worth
much
it says it
differently to
men and to
women
and to
different races
and to
different
classes
but it's
basically saying
the same
thing
it's saying
that you
need to
go through
the beauty
treatments of
this world
you need to
perform
you need to
do all
this
and if
you do
then we
just might
accept you
we might
approve of
you
that's all
of us
we live
in a world
of appearances
and performance
we elevate
the trivial
in our
culture
whole magazines
are devoted
to the antics
of soap opera
stars
and we pay
incredible amounts
of money
to grown men
who hit little
balls around
we live in a
culture that
considers the car
we drive as an
extension of who
we are
we're more
impressed by the
school that
someone attends
than what
they're actually
learning at
the school
we blow it
just like
these couple
of chapters
in Esther
we blow it
just like
Esther does
herself
and most
scholars agree
that in these
first couple
of chapters
here
Esther has
completely
sold out
to the
culture
she's not
a hero
here
she gets
to her
pinnacle
through absolute
compliance
she does
what Mordecai
says
she listens
to the head
guy in the
harem more
than any
other woman
there
she did
everything
that he
asked
Esther plays
the Barbie
doll
here
she's the
sex kitten
here
she's a
blank page
on which
these men
write what
they want
and she's
the total
opposite
of Daniel
and his
friends
you see
when they
were brought
into the
pagan
court
they said
up front
that we're
here
we will
serve
but we
will follow
God's
dietary
requirements
they let
everyone
know that
they were
Jews
and were
still going
to follow
God's
law
Esther
kept
that stuff
secret
and she
must have
broken
law
after law
and then
she sleeps
with a man
who she's
not married
to and then
she marries
an unbeliever
all were
gross violations
of the
biblical law
she's
completely
sold out
but what
is great
about Esther
is that
although
there is
this bad
start
by the end
she's the
brave heart
God works
with her
God is
patient with
her and
grows her
and turns
her into
something great
and the
reason why
that is so
important is
that no matter
how bad
you have
screwed up
at the
beginning of
your life
no matter
what terrible
moves you've
made and
things that
you've done
you can never
write yourself
out of God's
final script
the good
news is
and this is
the message
of the Bible
is that
God does
not bless
those and
save those
who live
moral and
exemplary
lives
that's not
what God
does
the message
of the Bible
is that God
persistently and
continuously gives
his grace to
people who don't
ask for it
don't deserve
it and don't
fully appreciate
it when they
receive it
despite of
the fact
that we
are
into a
great degree
influenced by
our systems
our culture's
systems of
values and
morals
God hasn't
given up on
us
1 Samuel 16
says that man
looks at the
outward appearance
but God looks
at the heart
you see real
beauty is
different than
what this world
says it is
unlike God
we judge
books by
their cover
God doesn't
do that
our world is
like this
chauvinistic
tyrant
Xerxes and
it says to us
I'll accept you
as my bride
but you have
to work
incredibly hard
and you have
to make
yourself attractive
and you have
to come up
with an
incredible
resume and
make yourself
lovable and
then I might
approve of you
then I might
approve of you
and it is
exhausting
it is
crushing
and there's
only one way
out
God says
over and
over again
to us
in the
Bible
that he
wants to
be our
spouse
he's not
just the
all powerful
king
but the
all loving
husband
what makes
it so great
is that it's
not about
what we have
to do
to make
ourselves
so lovable
and good
and worthy
God is
the exact
opposite
of Xerxes
Esther
doesn't have
a great
start here
and yet
God has
got her
by the
hand
God
never gives
up on her
as this
book unfolds
God is
patient with
her
he loves
her
and he
turns her
into something
great
and that
is the
foretaste
of the
relationship
with Jesus
that Ephesians
5 talks
about
Ephesians
5 uses
the image
of the
loving
husband
this is
the way
God
treats
us
it says
husbands
love your
wives
just as
Christ
loved
the
church
and gave
himself
up for
her
to make
her
holy
cleansing
her by
the washing
with water
through the
word
and to
present
her to
himself
as a
radiant
church
without
stain
or wrinkle
or any
other
blemish
but holy
and blameless
that's what
Jesus does
for us
Esther
was accepted
by Xerxes
because
she was
already
beautiful
but Jesus
loves us
in spite of
our flaws
and our sin
and our
ugliness
in order
to make
us beautiful
Esther
had to
give her
life and
her freedom
up for
the king
but Jesus
is the
only king
the only
spouse
who gives
up his
life and
his freedom
for us
he gives
up everything
for us
not because
we are
lovely
but in
order to
make us
lovely
in order
to make
us beautiful
and when
we understand
that
when that
shift
happens
I think
we have
the three
things that
we need
to be
free from
our cultures
enslavement
to
external
appearance
and
performance
firstly
when you
understand
what Jesus
has done
for you
you get
a real
definition
of beauty
our culture's
definition of
beauty means
that we
cannot go
by a
mirror
without
noticing
ourselves
selfie
culture has
dominated
Facebook
but then
we see
Jesus
and
he
had
ultimate
beauty
infinite
glory
infinite
splendour
infinite
majesty
and he
laid it
to one
side
Ephesians
chapter 2
sorry
Philippians
chapter 2
he laid
it to one
side
gave it
all up
he became
human and
he went
to the
cross
the book
of Isaiah
says
talking about
him being
on the
cross
it says
he had
no beauty
that we
should desire
him
he became
cosmically
unsightly
his father
turns his
face away
Jesus gave
up his
splendour
his majesty
and his
beauty
for us
that is
true beauty
genuine
beauty is
not self
obsession
it is
self
sacrifice
that's the
new
definition
of beauty
you get
from Jesus
the second
thing we
get when
we understand
that Jesus
gives up
everything
for us
to make
us beautiful
in his
sight
is a new
experience
of our
beauty
to him
Nat and
I were
married about
17 and
half years
ago
and I
still remember
the day
I remember
standing at
the front
of the
church
and looking
to the
back of
the church
about this
kind of
distance of
the doors
over there
and seeing
Nat appear
in the door
trying to
wait for the
other bridesmaids
to get out
of the way
and seeing
Nat appear
in the door
and I
thought she
was stunning
do you know
why
makeup
now just
bear with me
here for
a moment
let me
finish
not just
makeup
the dress
as well
now I
think my
wife is
beautiful
and in fact
she's more
beautiful to me
now than what
she was
then
but and
the point
I'm trying to
make is
I've married
a lot of
people in
over 20
years of
pastoral
ministry
every person
that I marry
comes down
the front
every bride
that I marry
looks better
on the day
that I marry
her than
the day
that I was
doing marriage
prep with
her
that is
that's the
point of
makeup and
dresses and
stuff isn't
it is that
not the
point
the point
is that
you know
all the
makeup and
the fancy
all the
goop and
the fancy
clothes and
that sort
of stuff
it takes
people up a
notch in
appearance
now if you
think that I
could have
spent a little
bit more time
on that you
should have
seen me at
six o'clock
this morning
a number
of all the
imperfections
and the
flaws that
I'm self
conscious about
have been
covered up
they've been
hidden
they've been
worked on
the point
is that
when Jesus
uses the
metaphor of
us being
his bride
one of the
things that
he has in
mind is
that in
spite of
all of our
spiritual
flaws
in spite of
all of our
failings
in spite of
all of our
sins
he has
clothed us
with his
righteousness
he has
surrounded us
with his
own beauty
that he has
given us
he has so
cleansed us
from our
sin
that when he
sees us
he goes
wow
that's
awesome
that is
awesome
his heart
bursts
at the
sight of
us
to the
degree
to the
degree
that you
know
that that
is true
of you
in his
eyes
you will
be set
free
from our
culture's
enslavement
telling you
what you
must look
like
what you
must have
and what
you must
accomplish
in order to
be accepted
when you
realise that
you are
beautiful
beyond
comprehension
in his
eyes
because of
the work
that he's
done for
you
so you
get a new
definition
of beauty
you get a
new experience
of beauty
and the
third thing
you get
is a new
understanding
from Jesus
in making us
beautiful
a new
understanding
of the
hardships
and the
trials
and the
difficulties
that you
face
this is
taking me
back to
the beginning
there are
plenty of
things in
this world
that will
cause us
to question
his
existence
God's
existence
God's
power
and his
willingness
to intervene
in his
love for
me
plenty
of
things
and there
are plenty
of parts
of the
Bible
that talk
about
suffering
and hardship
refining
those
Jesus
loves
and the
imagery
of the
Bible
is
of gold
being
refined
and the
impurities
being burned
up in a
furnace
you see
once you're
assured of
God's
love
and really
assured of
God's
love
when you
understand
that you
are
beautiful
in his
eyes
and he
bursts
at the
sight
of
seeing
you
then when
you go
through
troubles
and
hardships
you start
to see
that it's
actually
purifying
you
making
you
more
beautiful
to him
that's
what it's
doing
it's
making
you
more
beautiful
on the
inside
God
hasn't
actually
abandoned
you
he uses
the
refining
process
to get
rid of
pride
and foolishness
and fear
and all the
other sinful
stupid things
that we
do
bit by
bit
he is
making
you
more
and more
beautiful
to him
once you
are
assured of
God's
love
then you
see the
hard times
as God's
spiritual
beauty
treatments
and when
you go
through the
hardships
with absolute
assurance
that you
are beautiful
in God's
sight
you actually
start to become
beautiful in your
heart
on the inside
just like
pressure
creates
a diamond
God has
not abandoned
you in his
troubles
he is at
work
leading you
and holding
you
and refining
you
and saving
you
making you
more beautiful
in his
eyes
for the
day when
he will
see you
face to
face
of the
great
wedding
banquet
where he
will
enfold you
in his
arms
and love
you
for all
eternity
and so
if that's
you right
now
trying to
not sure
whether or
not he
loves you
can I
just get
you to
look to
Jesus
and can
I have
Romans 8
floating around
in your
mind
we know
that in
all things
God works
for the
good of
those who
love him
who have
been called
according to
his purpose
Amen