Father, we give you thanks and praise that you have never stopped being king of the whole earth.
You are the same God who shaped all the planets and the galaxies with your hand,
and you have never let the planets and the galaxies go.
You are the same God who shapes and turns history and turns people's lives
in the direction that you have already chosen.
Father, we thank you so much for Jesus.
We thank you that he has redeemed us.
We thank you that through faith in him, we do not call out to an unknown God,
but that we can call to you, you, our Father in heaven, who is still the Lord of this place.
So, Father, we call out to you as your children, and we ask that your Holy Spirit would fall,
and we ask that as the Holy Spirit falls, that we would know Jesus,
and that your word would speak to us deep in our heart.
And we ask all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
Please be seated.
If I seem a little bit less energetic than usual, I'm jet-lagged.
I was in British Columbia all week, and my internal clock is completely and utterly discombobulated.
Hopefully, my brain won't be completely and utterly discombobulated as I talk this morning,
as we open the word.
If you have your Bibles, turn in them to Esther 5.
I know the text will be up there in the screen as well, for those of you who don't have Bibles,
but it's just a really great thing to have a Bible with you,
and get familiar with your book, or however it is that you read the Bible,
and sometimes be able to make notes in it as different things speak to you.
I know you can do that electronically as well.
So, we're going to be looking at Esther 5.
And, you know, this is a very...
One of the things that keeps us from being a Christian,
or gets in the way of us being a Christian,
is we're aware of the fact that often it'll mean that we have to be a bit weaker,
and nobody likes to be weak.
And this text sort of speaks into that in a very, very interesting way in the context of a story.
So, let's just plunge in.
If you're just trying to remember where we are in this story,
it's a story set in Persia, ancient Persia,
when King Xerxes was the king, the emperor of the Persian Empire,
the greatest empire in the world at that time.
And it's all about how a plan has now developed from this fellow by the name of Haman
to kill all of the Jews in the empire, like everyone,
whether you're young or whether you're old, male or female,
to kill every Jewish person and to steal and plunder their property.
And the king has given permission for this.
And even as the events in this story transpire,
the wheels, so to speak, of the state, the bureaucracy, the military, the police, the judiciary,
and even the citizens as individuals are starting to prepare for this great day,
about ten, ten and a half months hence, when every Jew will be killed.
And central to this whole story have been two Jewish people.
One of them is a man by the name of Mordecai,
whom I've said week after week, I know it gets a bit boring for some of you,
who's lived as a Persian.
He's lived as some combination between being a pagan and being a Zoroastrian.
He has a name that says, I worship Marduk, the god of Babylon.
And he has raised an adopted daughter by the name of Esther.
That's her Persian name.
She had a Jewish name, but he tells her to use her Persian name,
which is she's named after the goddess Ishtar.
And Esther, through a series of circumstances,
has become one of King Xerxes' queens.
But she has lived like a Persian, looks like a Persian,
eats like a Persian, worships like a Persian.
Nobody knows that she's Jewish.
And so we see in the story as it unfolds this conversion moment for Mordecai,
where he's just brought to that point where he returns to the Lord of Israel
who cares for his covenant people.
And he says, I am a Jew.
I am one who's going to live under the Lord's hand and under his covenant.
But Esther hasn't done that.
And after this decree is made to use the power of the state to kill every Jewish person,
what we looked at last week is that Mordecai outs his adopted daughter, Esther.
He outs her.
And he outs her because he's come to confront her and say,
you know, through an intermediary that you need to go in and speak to the king
and appeal for your people.
And Esther gives Mordecai a very, very, very, very, very, very reasonable reason
as to why she shouldn't do something like that.
Because basically she has a very high likelihood of being put to death
because there's a rule, which is also, by the way, reported in other secular historians
or pagan historians, I should say,
that if you come into the king's inner sanctum to speak to him
and he hasn't invited you,
unless when he sees you, you come in.
And if he doesn't give you, extend his royal scepter to give you permission,
the only other option is to have you killed.
And Esther says, it's pretty foolish of you, really, Mordecai,
to ask me to go and appear before the king.
I haven't seen him in 30 days.
Who knows how long it'll be.
And so there's this, the whole story turns in this last interchange
of what we just looked at last week,
where Mordecai, his faith in the Lord's providence comes out.
He says, listen, the Lord is going to deliver his people
because that's what he's promised he does.
And don't think that you can hide while Mordecai goes through his,
Haman goes through his plan
and that you won't come under this judgment
and you won't die and suffer.
But here's the thing.
I know that the Lord is going to deliver.
And maybe the Lord has put you in this position for such a time as this,
that you are the one here right now to take this message to the king.
And if you don't, you'll perish.
And as we looked at a little bit last week,
it's the language of a type of eternal perishing
within the context of the Hebrew.
And you'll fall under God's judgment.
So this is like a conversion moment for Esther
as to whether she's going to trust the Lord or trust herself.
And Mordecai's words pierce her heart.
And she becomes a reluctant convert.
She doesn't start saying yes and jumping up and down
because she's all pumped.
She says,
I will spend the next day,
three days fasting without food or water.
And I will reveal who I am to my young women.
And I will ask them to join me in fasting and prayer
for three days to the Lord.
And I ask you, Mordecai,
if you would gather all of the Jewish people that you know
and you would ask them to fast and to pray for me for three days.
And at the end of the three days,
I will go unto the king.
And if I perish, I perish.
I mean, when you say, if I perish, I perish,
that's not a sign that you're just,
that you're filled with the joy of the Lord.
It's not despairing.
It's not cynical.
It's very realistic.
And it's very, very courageous.
And really, for those,
everything that happens in the rest of the book of Esther
has to be understood from that perspective
that the Lord has going to deliver his people,
whether Esther is the one who is there for such a time as this,
and whether her faith and obedience to the Lord
will lead her to end up being, to perishing,
because she might die in this whole process.
And so that's where we begin this story today.
It's verse one.
On the third day,
Esther put on her royal robes
and stood in the inner court of the king's palace
in front of the king's quarters
while the king was sitting on his royal throne
inside the throne room opposite the entrance to the palace.
And just pause.
One of the things which is hard for some people
as this sermon series has been going on
is because I'm sort of bringing out things in the story
which make it obvious that
the way you've normally heard the story talked about isn't right.
Like, I know after I shared where Esther gets introduced
and the fact that she's a compromised person
who doesn't live like a Jew,
who goes under the name of the goddess of Ishtar,
and the way she becomes queen,
literally the way she becomes queen,
is her sexual performance with the emperor
and her conversation with him makes him choose her,
which doesn't usually get talked about in Sunday school.
And here in this story,
it's often said that what Esther does
is she makes herself beautiful to appear before the king.
And that's wrong.
The text has made clear
that she's just spent the last three days
fasting without food or water.
One of the things which I'm prey to
is I can get so busy with work
that I don't drink fluids.
I go from one thing to another to another to another
and I don't drink enough fluids.
And I'll be home and I'll say to my wife,
you know, I finally get home and I say to Louise,
I say, gosh, I'm really feeling just tired and draggy.
And, you know, and then like I'm dumb, right?
So it doesn't dawn on me at first that I'm dehydrated.
And then I sort of think to myself,
maybe I'm just dehydrated.
And before I know it,
like I've had three glasses or four glasses of something
and half an hour later,
the world looks better.
I have energy.
I'm not tired.
I was just dehydrated.
And that's just after an afternoon.
I'm not a doctor.
I did a little bit of looking on the Internet
to see what happens
if you go three days without food and water.
But at the end of three days without water,
you can still live.
By the way, the text isn't recommending you do this.
And whether it was a full 72 hours or a little bit less,
the text is a bit silent on it,
but she's gone a while without food and without water.
And after this length of time without water,
her brain would feel tired and heavy.
She wouldn't have energy.
It's very possible that her joints would be aching
because regular fluid's important for your joints
to be able to work well.
And the body's ability to control its temperature
would be way out of whack.
And she might be going through periods
where she's literally shivering with cold.
And then within a few moments,
she could be heavily sweating.
And if one of us was brought into the hospital
because we'd gone three days without fluid,
they wouldn't say,
okay, now you're in the exact right state of affairs
to go do an important interview.
They'd say, we're putting you in the hospital.
We're not letting you out.
We're going to give you intravenous.
We're going to pump some fluids into you
and we're going to fix you.
That's what they'd say.
And so she would look either sweaty or clammy.
She would be maybe shivering,
sweating and shivering.
And she might be walking with pain.
And her lack of energy would be apparent.
So now it isn't as if she goes in.
It says here she puts on her royal robe
and that many people will just jump to the thing
that she spent her time working on her makeup.
But this is,
the whole thing is a very, very interesting thing
in this story, you see.
And it's a puzzling story, right?
Because the fact of the matter is,
let's be honest.
If one of you came up to me and said,
George, I have a really, really, really important meeting
in three, you know, next week
or in three days,
like on Wednesday, George, or Thursday,
I have this really, really, really important interview
that I have to go through.
What should I do?
And I have to confess,
I probably wouldn't tell you to fast for three days
and take no water and pray.
I'd probably,
I'd tell you you should pray,
but I'd probably say,
you know what you can do is
you can visualize success.
You know, send me a copy of your words,
your speech,
and we can make it punchy.
You've got to work on your elevator talk.
You know, those first 30 seconds or 90 seconds,
it's key.
You want to say something at the beginning
that's going to really grab the person,
hook them and bring them in.
And in other words,
basically what I would be telling them
is I would be telling them
all of the different ways.
And, you know, maybe I'd be saying,
of course, you know,
you're going to, you know,
don't come to me for fashion advice,
which is obvious.
Some of you ask me occasionally
why it is that I always wear
a clergy shirt at church.
I don't wear it throughout the week.
It's very simple.
I am such a non-clothes person
that if I actually tried to not dress
in a clergy shirt and pants,
you'd start to say,
he's wearing the same pants like every week.
And look at the socks with the sandals.
And the socks don't match his shirt
or his tie or whatever it's supposed to match.
I wouldn't even know
what it's supposed to match.
Like, I'm the opposite of a clothes person.
I can wear black,
like, dress, it's like a uniform.
I'm allowed to wear it every week
and nobody comments on it,
which is one of the reasons,
the main reason why I do it.
I can just get by like this every week.
I don't have to think about my clothes.
So I would say to you,
don't come to me about advice about clothes.
You know, go to Victor
or, you know, or some other person,
and they'll tell you how to be well put together
so you look spectacular for your meeting.
And, but you know,
what I'd be doing is
all of my advice would be how to get strong.
That's what we'd all do.
All of our advice would be how to get strong,
how to get pumped,
how to visualize your success,
work on your talk,
you know, work all of these types of,
pray and work and work and work.
And you come to a text like this
and it's a very, very, very counterintuitive text
is that she makes herself weak.
And when she stands to come into the king's presence
to see whether she's going to live and die,
maybe she's had some fluid now,
but she won't have had enough
to have been rehydrated.
And she's put on her royal robes
to show that she's the queen.
And I'm sure she did her hair
and whatever makeup her would have been back then.
But she comes in a weak,
in a weakened state.
Now, just to be clear,
the Bible here isn't saying
that there's something virtuous
about weakness per se.
And it's not saying
that you have to be weak
to speak before the king.
What you see here
is something which is really
counterintuitive to our flesh
and to the world,
but very, very, very, very,
very important to understand.
She humbles herself
not before the king,
not before power of the world,
not before the people
who want to kill her people.
She's not humbling herself
and making her weak before them.
She becomes weak
and humbles herself
before her God
that she can stand
before the king.
It's not saying
that the world would be better
if everybody was weaker.
It's not saying anything
other than the fact
that this is a profound story
of conversion.
And with her conversion,
and she knows
the power of the court
and the power of the empire,
and if she is going
to trust in the Lord,
she's going to have to trust
in the Lord
all of the way.
Unless the Lord does this,
she is doomed.
And she has this profound sense.
The text never explains it.
It may be as just
the memory she's had
of her upbringing
and of the stories
of God's deliverance,
but the fact of the matter
is it's going to have to be
the Lord who will deliver
his people,
the Lord who will act
in the midst
of all these other things.
And the way that she
is to do this
is if she is going to be able
to stand before the king
and look him in the eye,
if she is going to be able
to stand before Haman,
the one who wants
to murder her
and all her people,
if she is to stand
before her enemies
and her kings,
she needs to humble herself
before the Lord
so she may stand.
And that's what she does.
And so we come to see
how it is that the king
is going to respond.
Verse 2.
Now remember,
when she comes in,
she's looking more frail.
She's not walking
with the usual spring
in her step.
She doesn't look well.
But she's come
and stood
in the place
where within the next few moments,
the king will either
ignore her,
and that means
the guards will come
and take her away
and kill her,
or he will look at her
and he will beckon her
to come
and she will live
at least for that moment.
So in verse 2,
and when the king
saw Queen Esther
standing in the court,
she won favor
in his sight
and he held out
to Esther
the golden scepter
that was in his hand.
Then Esther approached
and touched
the tip of the scepter.
That's one of those
little aspects
of the story
for those of you
who have visual imaginations
that just help you
to understand
what's happening.
It's a sign
that she's acknowledged
that he's letting her live.
And she comes close
to him.
She touches
the symbol
of his authority
as acknowledgement
that she can be
in his presence
and that she can live.
And
the king must have noticed
how she looks.
So he says to her,
what is it,
Queen Esther?
What is your request?
Shall be given you
even half of my kingdom.
Now just sort of
pause here again.
He doesn't mean this literally.
He's just
having good manners.
If she'd said,
well actually,
I'd like,
I have a map
of the kingdom.
I've drawn a line
right here.
I'd like you to have,
I'd like to have this half
and you can have that half.
But you know,
at the end of the day,
it doesn't matter.
You can have the other half
and I'll have this half.
If she'd said that,
she'd be dead.
It's just good manners.
By the way,
here's a really important thing.
When you read the Gospels,
when you read something like,
for God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten son
to the end
that all who believe in him
shall not perish
but have eternal life,
it's not good manners.
It's literal.
He really will
stop you from perishing.
He really will give you
eternal life.
But this
is just good manners.
And so,
how is she going to respond?
She says,
and Esther said,
verse 4,
if it please the king,
let the king and Haman
come today to a feast
that I have prepared
for the king.
And pause again.
Now,
this would have puzzled the king
because he would
say to himself,
she didn't risk her life
just to ask
to have some
hummus and tabouli
and lamb and goat
and wine with me.
He wouldn't know what it is,
but he'd know
that there's something else
going on.
And it's really puzzling.
The text never explains
why it is
that the queen asks
not only to see the king
but also the king and Haman.
Part of the reason
that she asked for the meal
is maybe clear to all of us
if we just sort of picture
what happens
is that this isn't as if,
this isn't like
what it's like
probably in most offices
where if you can make it
through all of the security guards
and all of the,
and the receptionists
and the personal assistant,
you eventually get into
the office of the cabinet minister
or the prime minister
who's there by himself.
What happens in the inner court
is the advisors
of the king
would be around
and there's soldiers
who are around
and there's people
with other type of business
who'd made the proper appointments
and they're all around.
There'd be many people
who are all around.
And so it is sort of,
if you sort of understand
that that's what it looks like,
it's not like our being able
to go see the prime minister.
It would sort of really be more
like you get to see
the prime minister of Canada
but while he's there,
half of his cabinet is there
and half of his aides are there
and his chief of staff is there
and there's security guards
and police there
and it's a big crowd
and you can well imagine
that it's going to be
a very intimidating thing
to try to make your request
to the prime minister
in front of so many people.
It'd be very intimidating.
And so you can understand
why she asked for the meal
but the puzzling thing
is that she asked for Haman
and the text doesn't tell you
why she asked for Haman
but she does.
So we can be free to differ.
I mean, that's one of those things
we can talk about over coffee.
Why did she ask for Haman
to be present?
I think it's maybe
for at least two reasons.
Part of it is I think
just the courage
that God has given her
even in her weakened state
because I don't know
how many of you
have been profoundly wronged
but I know that there are
some of you here
who have been profoundly wronged
that maybe have been
even beaten
or treated very, very unjustly
and this is a sign
of great courage
that when the time comes
for her to actually speak
about this
that she will be able
to look
the man
in the eye
be in his presence
unintimidated
and unashamed
and look him in the eye
and reveal what he has done
and call him out
on his evil.
This is great courage.
She has humbled herself
before the Lord
so that she might stand
in front of the emperor
of the empire
and stand
and speak clearly
about the evil
of his top advisor
and confront him.
The other thing
might be a little bit practical
is that
you could well imagine
let's say you had
a big request
of the prime minister
and you got him privately
and you asked the prime minister
to do something
and then you leave
and the first thing
the prime minister does
is go and talk
to his advisors
including the ones
who are giving him
all the bad advice
and you're stuck out there.
You can't come back
into the king's presence
without risking his death again
and now all of a sudden
you know
and the prime minister
might be sort of favorable
when he sees you
but he goes back
and he talks to Gerald Butts
and he talks to some
of his key cabinet ministers
and say don't
that's crazy
don't do that
like get another queen
like get over it
you already have lots
so just get another one
like so maybe it is
that she wants to be able
to have it out
with Haman
and the king
in private
just the three of them
but the text is silent
but this is the surprising thing
she wants a feast
and she wants it
with the king
and she wants it
with Haman
so in verse 5
the king responds
by saying bring Haman quickly
so that we may do
as Esther has asked
so the king
and Haman
came to the feast
that Esther had prepared
and as they were drinking wine
after the feast
the king said to Esther
what is your wish
it shall be granted you
and what is your request
even to the half
of my kingdom
it shall be fulfilled
then Esther answered
and we expect her to say
this terrible Haman
wants to kill me
you need to protect me
I'm Jewish
he's evil
you think that she's going to say that
but she doesn't
this is a very helpful feature
of the story
the thing that's so helpful
about this story
is
because each one of us
is fallible
none of us is perfect
and sometimes we screw up
and sometimes when it comes
right to the opportunity
and the time to do it
we lose a bit of our nerve
but we don't complete
I mean sometimes we completely
lose our nerve
but sometimes we just like
we're in two minds
and you want to
but you can't
and she stumbles here
a little bit
she has the opportunity
but she doesn't
just completely
walk away from the opportunity
but she wants an extra day
to work on it
and as we're going to see
in a moment
that waiting a day
might have horrific consequences
for a man that she loves deeply
but when it comes time
to do the ask
see this is so helpful
because this is like
how we live
isn't it
this is how each of us lives
not perfect lives
that are straightforward
in our obedience
but
with zigs and zags
and
times when we go home
and
afterwards
and say to our friends
and say to our God
I just
Lord I'm really sorry
I messed that one up
you gave me this
spectacular opportunity
and you saved my life
and I just didn't do it
the way I should
because that's what happens
verse 7
then Esther answered
my wish and my request
is
if I have found favor
in the sight of the king
and if it please the king
to grant my wish
and fulfill my request
let the king and Haman
come to the feast
that I will prepare for them
and tomorrow
tomorrow
I will do as the king has said
now
here's another thing
which is so interesting
about this story
and you know
it's one of the reasons
that these stories
are so important
is you can have a doctrine
I can tell you about a doctrine
but
it doesn't necessarily
have any place in us
but
when we actually get the story
the story helps us to feel
and sort of visualize it
and
the
the person who writes this book
doesn't now say
and the Lord was angry with Esther
for having screwed up
doesn't say anything like that
it's going to take a really
really bad turn
but
the reader is to remember
the Lord will deliver his people
is Esther here for such a time as this
and Esther's line
if I perish
I perish
she's willing to put herself
available to the Lord
even if it means she dies
and her greater confidence
isn't in her own success
she has no particular confidence
or view or that
her greater confidence
is that the Lord is the Lord
and that the Lord will keep his promises
and the Lord will deliver his people
even when they are in exile
in the empire of Persia
he will keep his promises
because he is still the Lord
but verse 9
she doesn't have her opportunity
and verse 9
it's really interesting
Haman
verse 9
he went out that day
joyful and glad of heart
the man who is plotting to kill
every Jew in the empire
leaves joyful and glad of heart
but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate
that he neither rose nor trembled before him
Haman was filled with wrath against Mordecai
nevertheless
Haman restrained himself and went home
and he sought and brought his friends and his wife Zeresh
and Haman recounted to them
the splendor of his riches
literally the glory of his riches
the number of his sons
and all of his daughters
no the daughters are omitted
sucks to be a daughter
in this particular family
the number of his sons
and all the promotions
with which the king had honored him
and how he advanced him above
the officials and the servants of the king
then Haman said
even Queen Esther
let no one but me
come with the king
to the feast she prepared
and tomorrow
also
I am invited by her
together with the king
now look at this
this next line is so
so psychologically true
you know
it's interesting
because in
in our flesh
and in the world
and in our culture
what gives us meaning to life
what do we
like many people
will wreck their marriages
so they can get promotions
many people will wreck their marriages
so they can have more money
many people think
that if they just had
this certain number of children
that their life would be
completely and utterly meaningful
or that they could just be married
or
but it
we
we can set our
the bible isn't saying
there's nothing wrong with children
it's not saying it's
sad to have
not be able to have children
it's not saying anything like that
it's
not saying it's bad to have money
it's not saying it's bad to have a job
but it's
we
we all know
that some of these things
can become like an idol to us
where we get our meaning
where we get our identity
where we get our sense of worth
where we
we feel justified
and that somehow or another
if I could just have that amount of money
if I could just have this promotion
if I could just have this
if I could just have that
then somehow or another
my life would be complete
my life would be full
and yet
the fact of the matter is
is that those things
don't satisfy us
and it's so perfectly captured here
in verse 13
so he's just said
he has
he has this access to the king
he has this access to the queen
I have all this wealth
I have this spectacular family
I have all these promotions
yet
all this is worth nothing to me
so long as I see Mordecai the Jew
sitting at the king's gate
now I'm going to make a small little political comment here
I'm really sorry
but I'm still going to do it
maybe afterwards I think I shouldn't
sometimes
the way the discourse goes
is
by the way
I have four daughters
I
I love my daughters
I love my wife
and I have nine granddaughters
and
I'm going to be happy
if one of them is prime minister
or something like that
there's not a negative thing
about any of that
but sometimes the way the discourse goes
is that
you need to have a woman present
because
well you know
women are nurturing
women are peaceable
you know
women try to bring people together
and you know
we never think about it
when we have talk like that
it actually demeans women
as if somehow all women are like that
really
every single one
like they're not individuals
and so it's really interesting
so his wife says
he just confessed all things
and so what's the advice his wife gives him
is it to be nurturing
no
verse 14
and his wife Zeresh
and all his friends
but Zeresh is the leader
she says
let a gallows
50 cubits high
that's 75 feet
be made
and
and in the morning
tell the king
to have Mordecai
hanged upon it
it's sort of neat eh
like it's funny
the
we
trade in stereotypes
when it helps us
but the Bible never trades
in stereotypes
in fact
often
part of the problem
we have in reading the Bible
is that the Bible
is too realistic for us
we wish it was religious
we wish it was spiritual
we wish it wasn't
just so earthy
and it's why
it's the great
tendency
and problem
for Bible teachers
to want to make
to downplay
what Esther has done
and make it look
as if she's made herself
beautiful
or as if
the reason she became
queen was because
she was so charming
rather than
the sheer
blood and guts
earthiness
of the text
but here we get
the blood and guts
earthiness
of the text
look at it again
verse 14
let a gallows
and the literal word
as you see
in some of your things
is it just
it literally means
a stake
okay
and if you're wondering
how it is
that they could make
something 75 feet tall
in a day
the actual language
just means
that the top
of the stake
has to be 75 feet high
so if Mordecai
is already in a house
that's
50
65 feet high
he just has to put
a 10 foot stake
on the top of it
the point is
that it's going to be
very very public
and prominent
and the odds are
that they're not going
to hang him on it
the odds are
that what they're going
to do is
they're going to
drop Mordecai on it
so that he's impaled
so that the whole city
or that whole neighborhood
can look up
and see Mordecai
impaled
dying slowly
and gruesomely
for all to see
that's his wife's advice
and
so she says
let a gallows
or a stake
50 cubits high
be made
and in the morning
tell the king
to have Mordecai
hanged upon it
then
go joyfully
with the king
to the feast
and this idea
pleased Haman
and he had
the gallows made
so
just a couple
of things
about
about this text
sort of
to
you know
to bring it
to collect
why is something
like this
even in the Bible
and
why is all of this
bloodthirstiness
and
and all this stuff
why is it in the Bible
well you know
part of
part of the reason
it's in the Bible
is because
when we just have
all of these stuff
the spiritual talk
and religious talk
it ends up
very easily
becoming like
hallmark cards
or just platitudes
and our own lives
are
full of
of pain
and drama
and tragedy
and
hard times
and stuff like that
and
in a very
very powerful way
when we read
texts like this
it helps us
to understand
that the Bible
is communicating
truths to us
that fit with
how the world is
it's real
for how our lives
are real
and
in that way
it trains us
when our lives
are really having
very very hard
times
it trains us
to call out
to the Lord
because the Lord
knows about this
it's not
foreign to him
and it's not
strange to him
we live in a world
where somebody
can just take
a dislike
to us
and because
they take
a dislike
to us
they tell
lies about us
and because
they take
a dislike
to us
they stop
us from
getting promotions
or they get
us in trouble
with the police
or they get
us in trouble
with our wives
or our families
or our husbands
and we live
in a world
where that happens
we live in a world
where somebody
can just be mean
to us
day after day
after day
some of us
have grown up
with parents
like that
some of us
have had bosses
like that
some of us
have been
in a neighborhood
with that
and if all
of the talk
in the Bible
is just all
about love
love love
love
good good
good
well
that might
motivate us
a little bit
but in the blood
and guts
of our world
it just doesn't
cut it
and so
when texts
like this
just communicate
what life
is like
it helps us
to see
that this Bible
the text
doesn't talk
about God
delivering his people
in the abstract
but in a life
and death
situation
with a real
woman
at a real
time
and so
on one hand
the reason
texts like this
are important
is it prepares
our hearts
to pour out
our hearts
to the Lord
but the other
thing which is
very very important
about the text
there's a really
wonderful line
in 2nd Corinthians
where it says
my grace
is sufficient
for you
my power
is made
perfect
or complete
in weakness
and
texts like this
show us
this
you see
the fundamental
human problem
is the problem
of
it's identified
right in the very
beginning of the Bible
in Genesis chapter 3
where Adam and Eve
desire to be like God
they want to be like God
and
because
when they choose
that they're no longer
going to sort of
just trust the God
who really does exist
and they're going to
live with him
is that the Lord
saying amen
no it's just
planes flying over
it's also him
saying amen
but
the fundamental
human problem
is the human problem
of our desire
to be like God's
to exalt ourselves
against God
to turn our back
on God
to be
as great as God
and that's in a sense
the fundamental
human problem
it's something
which is deeply
ingrained in every
human being
and when we can do
when we can sort of
pretend that we're
having all this power
and all the success
we're filled with pride
and
at the same time
when we're not
successful at this
we can be filled
with despondency
and despair
because
we're still
having our hearts
sit on this
and that's why
you see
it's so
most of us think
that if God
was going to really
deliver us
the way that he's
going to have to
deliver us
is by having
this profound
act of powers
if he can just
overwhelm us
because you see
at the end of the day
we only want to
respect God
if he can sort of
show himself
to be really
really powerful
and that his power
is used in the way
that we think
it should be used
because what we
really want to do
is to be like God
but the fact of the
matter is
is that our
fundamental problem
is that we have
to be pulled back
from that
it's as if
everything that we
are like
is straining
and bending
this way
and when we're
successful
we're proud
and when we're
not successful
we feel despair
and so for the
Lord to save us
in a sense
he has to want
all of that back
because you see
part of what
the story of
Jesus is
is that Jesus
becomes the man
that we
the person
that we could
never be
he becomes
the person
that we could
never be
so that when we
put our faith
and trust
in him
we're not only
acknowledging
that what he
did
in a sense
to turn away
God's judgment
on us
in a sense
to deal with
all the karma
that we deserve
to use modern
language
but at the same
time he stands
for us
and by standing
for us
it means that
we trust him
to that the
life that he
lives will now
stand for us
and so
the way the
Bible describes
Jesus'
ministry
is that he
humbles himself
he empties
himself
he humbles
himself
to be born
of a virgin
he humbles
himself
to live a
normal human
life
he humbles
himself
to only receive
the knowledge
and the wisdom
that he needs
when his father
chooses to give
him
he's dependent
upon God
giving him the
wisdom or the
knowledge
because all of
those things
his power
in a sense
is veiled
it's curtailed
he humbles
himself
to save us
he becomes
weak
to save us
every breath
he depends
upon God
to save us
and he even
continues to
humble himself
to the point
of death
upon the cross
and his death
upon the cross
being a shameful
death
and tasting
all there is
to taste
of death
and it's all
a descent
it's all
a humility
and a humility
which is completely
and utterly
dependent upon
God
and so when it
is is that
when we put
our faith
and trust
in Jesus
not only
to deal
with our
sin
which is
just one
aspect
of salvation
but also
to stand
for us
to be the
one for us
on one hand
we can trust
him
he doesn't
just go
by whims
he's not
all about
his power
he's not
all about
him
that he
humbles
himself
out of
love and
obedience
to God
and out
of love
for us
he humbles
himself
and his
perfect life
of humility
is the
antidote
of our
addiction
to pride
and our
desire
to be
like God
and so
he can
stand
for us
and at
the same
time
if he
humbled
himself
to save
me
then that
starts to
shape me
to understand
that I
need to
humble
myself
before him
to live
that it's
not that
the Lord
calls me
to be
weak
but the
Lord
calls me
to come
to him
which is a
sign of
weakness
in the
world
to humble
myself
before him
which is a
sign of
insanity
and weakness
to the
world
but to
humble
myself
before him
knowing that
he has
called me
to do
things
of
courage
and bravery
today
that I
can only
do in
his
strength
when I
humble
myself
before him
he will
give me
the strength
and the
confidence
to deal
with the
things I
need to
deal with
today
please
stand
let's
bow our
heads in
prayer
father we
thank you
that Jesus
humbled himself
to save
us
we thank
you father
that
we thank
you father
that you
just
invite us
to humble
ourselves
and turn
from our
pride
and our
sense of
self-sufficiency
to acknowledge
our great
need
of you
to provide
the way
by which
we can be
made right
again with
you and we
thank you
that you
provided that
in Jesus
we thank
you that
he humbled
himself
that he
humbled
himself
to save
us
and we
ask father
that this
great truth
of him
humbling
himself
to save
us
that that
might
shape
us
that that
might
that that
story might
captivate
our imagination
that it
might
captivate
the affections
of our
hearts
that it
might
captivate
how we
plan
and how
we
understand
who we
are
and where
our
confidence
comes
from
we ask
father
that our
confidence
in our
identity
might be
in the
one
who
saved
us
who
died
to save
us
who humbled
himself
to save
us
that that
might be
father
the source
of our
identity
the source
of our
hope
the source
of our
joy
and the
source
of the
confidence
that you
give
those
who
humble
themselves
before you
help
help us
to do
that
by the
power
of your
Holy
Spirit
and
father
help us
to see
how it
is
that you
are
using
us
and
shaping
us
and
preparing
us
to bring
you
glory
in our
day-to-day
lives
and we
ask all
of this
in the
name
of
Jesus
your
son
and
our
savior
amen
for
to
have
an
who
are