WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.839 I think about images from concentration camps during the Holocaust, or images of Emmett 00:00:06.839 --> 00:00:12.700 Till at his funeral, or of that little Syrian boy lying face down on the beach of the Mediterranean, 00:00:12.820 --> 00:00:18.940 and these types of images that you just see and ask, where in the world is God? 00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:23.960 There's one image in particular, though, that has stuck with me for a few years. 00:00:24.240 --> 00:00:29.320 The first time I saw this image was in a documentary, a film called The Salt of the Earth, 00:00:29.320 --> 00:00:35.320 which chronicles the career of a famous photojournalist by the name of Sebastial Salgado. 00:00:36.439 --> 00:00:43.579 And Sebastial Salgado, he covered the front lines of human suffering for decades. 00:00:44.620 --> 00:00:51.820 He captured images to tell the story of suffering people to try to help them, to help the world know what was going on. 00:00:51.820 --> 00:00:59.480 So he captured images of workers forced to labor in extreme and dangerous work conditions, 00:00:59.859 --> 00:01:05.620 and the countless victims of the countless wars and the refugee crises that resulted from them. 00:01:06.299 --> 00:01:10.240 And he worked tirelessly until he covered the Rwandan genocide. 00:01:11.319 --> 00:01:13.539 It was this project that broke him. 00:01:13.540 --> 00:01:17.780 And so he describes in the documentary a series of photos. 00:01:18.060 --> 00:01:20.300 You see pictures, and then he's talking about the pictures. 00:01:21.260 --> 00:01:25.219 And in this particular image, it's in the aftermath of the genocide. 00:01:25.620 --> 00:01:33.560 Two million refugees fled Rwanda, and they had assembled in a refugee camp in the Goma region in the DRC. 00:01:33.740 --> 00:01:36.620 So there's two million of them, and the situation is extreme. 00:01:36.740 --> 00:01:37.700 It's really terrible. 00:01:37.700 --> 00:01:44.680 Twelve to fifteen thousand are dying every single day from diseases that are preventable, things like cholera. 00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:47.939 And there were just too many people to bury by hand. 00:01:48.620 --> 00:01:52.859 And so Western governments, I think it was the French government, I don't know what other aid they sent in, 00:01:52.920 --> 00:01:54.359 but they provided bulldozers. 00:01:55.079 --> 00:02:02.079 And the image that is burned into my mind is a bulldozer with a bucket, and it has a human body in it, 00:02:02.079 --> 00:02:07.000 and it's just being dumped into a mass grave and covered with dirt. 00:02:07.700 --> 00:02:10.740 I remember the arms and the legs hanging over the bucket. 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:15.640 About this image and this series of images, Salgado says, 00:02:15.960 --> 00:02:22.039 everyone should see these images to see how terrible the human species is. 00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:25.060 About his experience in Rwanda, he said, 00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:28.000 when I left there, I no longer believed in anything. 00:02:28.780 --> 00:02:31.680 I no longer believed in any salvation for the human species. 00:02:32.379 --> 00:02:33.659 You couldn't survive such a thing. 00:02:33.659 --> 00:02:35.919 We didn't deserve to live. 00:02:36.479 --> 00:02:38.520 No one deserved to live. 00:02:39.919 --> 00:02:42.780 This seems grim, maybe overly pessimistic, 00:02:43.219 --> 00:02:46.699 but when I consider the evil and the injustice that I read about, 00:02:46.759 --> 00:02:48.159 the images that I see, 00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:50.120 maybe, maybe not. 00:02:50.740 --> 00:02:51.639 You can pick your poison. 00:02:52.340 --> 00:02:55.800 Whether it's the commodification of people and the rise of sex slavery 00:02:55.800 --> 00:02:58.800 or systemic racism leading to violence, 00:02:59.000 --> 00:03:02.420 leading to women being shot in their own homes and losses of freedom, 00:03:03.020 --> 00:03:06.860 or the destruction of the earth fueled by our rampant greed and consumerism, 00:03:06.939 --> 00:03:11.280 it's sometimes hard not to see the world as one big wildfire. 00:03:12.280 --> 00:03:15.439 And this is just the stuff that we see in the headlines, right? 00:03:15.439 --> 00:03:20.680 This isn't taking into account the things that you or I experience on a daily basis. 00:03:20.680 --> 00:03:23.060 I wonder what you would add to that list. 00:03:23.819 --> 00:03:26.280 When we think about these things, I think it's fair to ask, 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:28.520 where in the world is God? 00:03:29.420 --> 00:03:30.400 Is he involved? 00:03:31.200 --> 00:03:32.040 Does he care? 00:03:32.159 --> 00:03:32.700 Is he good? 00:03:34.460 --> 00:03:35.439 As I've thought about it, 00:03:35.460 --> 00:03:39.980 I think there are two options for how we can understand God's role in human history. 00:03:40.520 --> 00:03:42.659 On the one hand, you have somebody like Martin Luther King, 00:03:42.760 --> 00:03:46.680 who famously said that the arc of the moral universe is long. 00:03:46.680 --> 00:03:50.599 There will be ups and downs, but it ultimately bends towards justice. 00:03:50.780 --> 00:03:54.400 So there's a force guiding history, and that force happens to be a person. 00:03:55.060 --> 00:03:58.140 It's God, and he's good, and he's just, and he's loving. 00:03:58.640 --> 00:04:01.219 And so we can take heart because we are not alone. 00:04:01.460 --> 00:04:03.180 All will be well in the end. 00:04:04.379 --> 00:04:06.719 On the other hand, you have somebody like Ta-Nehisi Coates, 00:04:07.500 --> 00:04:11.319 who argues that history actually isn't guided by any sense of destiny. 00:04:12.140 --> 00:04:16.460 He writes that the moral arc of the universe is bent not towards justice, 00:04:16.459 --> 00:04:21.439 but towards chaos, and then is concluded in a box. 00:04:22.319 --> 00:04:23.359 Somebody like Coates would say, 00:04:23.500 --> 00:04:25.139 there is no God to come to the rescue. 00:04:25.959 --> 00:04:30.339 We are forced to fend for ourselves until we die. 00:04:31.199 --> 00:04:33.620 And there might be another option, deism, 00:04:33.740 --> 00:04:35.079 which is sort of a combination of the two, 00:04:35.159 --> 00:04:36.759 that there is a God, but he's not involved, 00:04:36.979 --> 00:04:39.699 which functionally is just like Coates' view. 00:04:39.699 --> 00:04:45.099 So I wonder which view of history best describes how you see the world this morning. 00:04:46.159 --> 00:04:50.000 Maybe it changes every day based on your circumstances, 00:04:50.420 --> 00:04:54.500 or maybe you came to church this morning because you're asking these kinds of questions. 00:04:55.819 --> 00:04:59.699 And as a church, we believe it's important to wrestle with these hard questions, 00:04:59.800 --> 00:05:03.379 to think through them, and to see what the Bible has to say about them. 00:05:03.379 --> 00:05:08.959 And I think the book of Esther, the book that we're focusing on in this series, 00:05:09.079 --> 00:05:12.240 is a really helpful book to wrestle through some of these hard questions. 00:05:12.939 --> 00:05:15.079 It's a story about a people facing genocide, 00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:20.379 and God appears to be absent in the story. 00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:22.240 God's name is never mentioned. 00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:25.120 So as we study Esther, we can ask, 00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:28.259 Is the moral arc of the universe bent towards justice, 00:05:28.740 --> 00:05:30.639 or is it bent towards chaos? 00:05:31.540 --> 00:05:34.480 What role does God play in our lives, in human history, 00:05:34.740 --> 00:05:38.600 and what is our role as human beings in the world? 00:05:39.360 --> 00:05:45.240 Our chapter, Esther 7, I think will help us to begin to wrap our heads around some of these questions. 00:05:45.920 --> 00:05:49.139 We'll learn how God deals with evil and injustice, 00:05:49.899 --> 00:05:53.439 and perhaps most surprisingly, uses flawed and imperfect people, 00:05:53.439 --> 00:05:58.360 people like Esther, people like you and me, to accomplish his purposes. 00:05:59.439 --> 00:06:00.819 So here's my plan for this morning. 00:06:00.920 --> 00:06:04.139 I want to summarize chapter 7, summarize our scene, 00:06:04.579 --> 00:06:08.459 and then I want to look at how this passage teaches us some things 00:06:08.459 --> 00:06:12.180 about the nature of evil and God's justice in the world, 00:06:12.379 --> 00:06:17.319 and then lastly, I want to consider how all this points to the greatest surprise in human history. 00:06:18.339 --> 00:06:19.980 So first, we're going to summarize the scene. 00:06:20.579 --> 00:06:23.000 This is an incredibly dramatic scene. 00:06:23.439 --> 00:06:24.800 A lot of things happen. 00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:30.219 All of the action up until this point in the story really comes to a head in chapter 7 of Esther. 00:06:30.620 --> 00:06:33.459 So I want to rehearse where we've been in case you've missed a few weeks, 00:06:33.500 --> 00:06:34.699 or maybe this is your first Sunday. 00:06:35.300 --> 00:06:37.459 So recall the opening scene in the book of Esther. 00:06:37.879 --> 00:06:41.019 The king of Persia is throwing a banquet, 00:06:41.159 --> 00:06:44.600 a lavish feast to show off his wealth and his power, 00:06:44.600 --> 00:06:52.840 and we see that Queen Vashti is deposed because she refuses to be an object of lust for the king and his bros. 00:06:53.340 --> 00:06:55.660 So he gets rid of her because she was disobedient, 00:06:56.060 --> 00:06:57.800 and to cheer himself up, the king says, 00:06:57.879 --> 00:06:59.540 you know, I'm going to throw a beauty contest. 00:06:59.820 --> 00:07:02.980 And so he gathers all of the virgins around the Persian Empire 00:07:02.980 --> 00:07:07.740 and tries to see which one of them will please him the most. 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:10.900 That woman will be queen, or that girl will be queen. 00:07:11.379 --> 00:07:14.819 As the story goes on, we see that Esther, this undercover Jew, 00:07:15.280 --> 00:07:17.259 just so happens to become queen. 00:07:17.819 --> 00:07:20.360 And in becoming queen, she becomes the queen of the most, 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:23.560 the mightiest empire in the world, the Persian Empire. 00:07:23.560 --> 00:07:26.620 And then Mordecai, her adoptive father, 00:07:27.300 --> 00:07:30.160 as the story goes on, disrespects the wrong guy. 00:07:30.339 --> 00:07:32.620 If you remember, he refuses to bow down to Haman. 00:07:32.699 --> 00:07:34.079 We don't know why, but he doesn't. 00:07:34.600 --> 00:07:38.399 And Haman happens to be the second most powerful person in the whole kingdom, 00:07:39.240 --> 00:07:43.139 and not honoring him was an offense worthy of death. 00:07:43.519 --> 00:07:48.740 Haman was enraged that Mordecai didn't honor him and respect him, 00:07:49.100 --> 00:07:51.180 and so he decides he's going to manipulate the king. 00:07:51.180 --> 00:07:56.579 And he manipulates the king to issue an irrevocable edict with instructions 00:07:56.579 --> 00:08:00.620 to destroy, to kill, and just in case we're not clear, 00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:02.040 to annihilate all of the Jews. 00:08:02.980 --> 00:08:05.319 And they end up casting lots to find out, 00:08:05.379 --> 00:08:07.420 to determine what the execution date would be, 00:08:07.939 --> 00:08:09.860 and it would be 11 months from now. 00:08:09.960 --> 00:08:12.600 They'd have to wait 11 months for the final solution. 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:14.759 While all this is going on, 00:08:15.300 --> 00:08:17.620 Queen Esther decides to step up to the plate, 00:08:17.699 --> 00:08:19.780 and in this moment, she becomes the queen. 00:08:19.779 --> 00:08:22.839 And she risks her life to save her people, 00:08:23.119 --> 00:08:25.779 and she shows herself to be a brilliant political strategist. 00:08:26.500 --> 00:08:27.439 She hatches a plan. 00:08:27.639 --> 00:08:32.379 She throws two banquets in order to have a big setup, 00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:36.039 to butter up the king so that she can present her request to save her people, 00:08:36.539 --> 00:08:38.860 and to thwart Haman and his evil plans. 00:08:39.539 --> 00:08:40.699 While all this is happening, 00:08:40.839 --> 00:08:43.240 Haman has no idea what's going on, 00:08:43.240 --> 00:08:45.080 and he's feeling pretty good about himself, 00:08:45.180 --> 00:08:50.600 because he and he alone was a guest of honor invited to the queen's banquet for the king. 00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:54.960 And as he's going home, after he gets this wonderful invitation, 00:08:55.440 --> 00:08:59.399 he's going home to tell his friends and family how amazing and successful he is, 00:08:59.580 --> 00:09:00.799 and as he's walking home, 00:09:00.899 --> 00:09:02.879 he just so happens to see Mordecai, 00:09:03.259 --> 00:09:04.700 this man that he hates. 00:09:04.700 --> 00:09:09.200 And he thinks he just hates seeing Mordecai's face so much 00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:11.180 that he can't wait 11 months to kill him, 00:09:11.540 --> 00:09:13.560 so he decides to build a gallows, 00:09:13.660 --> 00:09:15.000 a 75-foot spike, 00:09:15.100 --> 00:09:16.300 and he puts it in his front yard, 00:09:16.420 --> 00:09:18.879 and he's going to kill Mordecai on that. 00:09:20.180 --> 00:09:21.220 And as we see in the story, 00:09:21.300 --> 00:09:22.340 it's all fun and games 00:09:22.340 --> 00:09:25.800 until somebody builds a 75-foot spike to kill God's people. 00:09:27.080 --> 00:09:29.920 Things begin to turn for Haman at this point, 00:09:29.919 --> 00:09:32.139 and he's publicly humiliated twice. 00:09:32.459 --> 00:09:33.199 A couple weeks ago, 00:09:33.299 --> 00:09:38.199 Tommy preached on what might be the funniest passage in the scriptures. 00:09:38.459 --> 00:09:39.519 There's a comical turn. 00:09:40.059 --> 00:09:41.199 He approaches the king 00:09:41.199 --> 00:09:44.579 and wants to get permission to hang Mordecai on the spike, 00:09:45.099 --> 00:09:46.599 and in so doing, 00:09:46.799 --> 00:09:50.599 the king decides to have Haman honor Mordecai. 00:09:50.759 --> 00:09:52.179 It's a hilarious scene 00:09:52.179 --> 00:09:57.539 where he's forced to walk Mordecai on the king's horse 00:09:57.539 --> 00:09:58.579 with the king's crown 00:09:58.580 --> 00:10:00.759 throughout all the streets of Susa, 00:10:00.840 --> 00:10:01.040 saying, 00:10:01.220 --> 00:10:02.600 Thus shall it be done to the man 00:10:02.600 --> 00:10:03.980 who the king delights to honor. 00:10:04.560 --> 00:10:06.660 It would be like the Astros leading the Nats 00:10:06.660 --> 00:10:09.200 in the World Series victory parade through D.C. 00:10:09.680 --> 00:10:11.080 It just wouldn't happen. 00:10:11.220 --> 00:10:11.900 It's ridiculous. 00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:15.940 And our chapter is the second public humiliation. 00:10:16.500 --> 00:10:18.300 Things are no longer funny. 00:10:18.440 --> 00:10:20.879 Things get deadly serious in this chapter. 00:10:21.700 --> 00:10:22.800 So that's where we've been, 00:10:23.280 --> 00:10:24.180 and we're going to pick up 00:10:24.180 --> 00:10:26.300 in the second banquet in chapter 7. 00:10:26.299 --> 00:10:30.579 So there's a lot of wine being drank, 00:10:30.699 --> 00:10:32.159 drunk, I never know how to say that. 00:10:32.279 --> 00:10:34.219 They're drinking a lot of wine at this feast. 00:10:34.719 --> 00:10:37.519 Wine is mentioned three times in this story. 00:10:37.620 --> 00:10:41.139 So the queen is whining and dining the king and Haman. 00:10:42.019 --> 00:10:43.839 King Ahasuerus is feeling pretty good, 00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:45.439 and so again he asks his queen, 00:10:46.099 --> 00:10:47.419 What is your request, my queen? 00:10:47.919 --> 00:10:50.539 And this is the moment that she's been waiting for. 00:10:50.939 --> 00:10:52.719 But the situation is fraught. 00:10:52.799 --> 00:10:54.319 It's a really complicated situation. 00:10:54.320 --> 00:10:58.080 She needs to highlight the horrors of the king's edict 00:10:58.080 --> 00:10:59.480 and accuse Haman, 00:11:00.420 --> 00:11:02.280 while at the same time doing this 00:11:02.280 --> 00:11:05.600 without implicating the king who himself made the edict. 00:11:06.340 --> 00:11:08.280 And she shows off her political savvy. 00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:11.900 She pulls a play from the playbook of Nathan the prophet, 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:13.720 if you remember this, from 2 Samuel, 00:11:14.220 --> 00:11:17.760 when he accused the king of adultery and murder. 00:11:18.500 --> 00:11:19.940 Nathan the prophet told a story 00:11:19.940 --> 00:11:22.500 to circumvent the king's defenses. 00:11:23.300 --> 00:11:26.560 And he aroused King David's indignation 00:11:26.560 --> 00:11:28.900 and his resolve to fix the injustice 00:11:28.900 --> 00:11:32.480 without initially revealing that David was the person guilty. 00:11:33.300 --> 00:11:34.360 And then there's the big reveal, 00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:34.880 where he says, 00:11:35.040 --> 00:11:36.000 You are the man. 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:38.200 So Esther does something similar here. 00:11:38.580 --> 00:11:40.680 She skirts the king's defense mechanisms, 00:11:41.040 --> 00:11:42.700 and she appeals to him 00:11:42.700 --> 00:11:44.680 by showing how her situation 00:11:44.679 --> 00:11:47.279 actually just affects him negatively. 00:11:48.139 --> 00:11:49.639 The king is enraged at the injustice, 00:11:49.839 --> 00:11:51.159 and he wants to fix it. 00:11:51.219 --> 00:11:52.219 This is what Esther says. 00:11:52.799 --> 00:11:54.219 For we have been sold, 00:11:54.839 --> 00:11:56.799 I and my people, 00:11:57.359 --> 00:11:58.339 to be destroyed, 00:11:59.000 --> 00:11:59.719 to be killed, 00:12:00.339 --> 00:12:01.299 to be annihilated. 00:12:01.399 --> 00:12:02.599 She's talking about the edict. 00:12:03.319 --> 00:12:05.459 If we had been sold merely as slaves, 00:12:05.539 --> 00:12:06.699 I would have been silent, 00:12:06.700 --> 00:12:09.600 for our affliction is not to be compared 00:12:09.600 --> 00:12:11.100 with the loss to the king. 00:12:12.100 --> 00:12:14.120 Then King Ahasuer said to Queen Esther, 00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:16.320 Who is he and where is he who has dared to do this? 00:12:16.660 --> 00:12:21.140 One of the commentaries describes this sentence. 00:12:21.420 --> 00:12:22.540 It's sort of lost in translation, 00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:24.640 but if you read this quickly in the Hebrew, 00:12:24.780 --> 00:12:26.160 it sounds like machine gun fire. 00:12:26.280 --> 00:12:27.520 So he's very angry. 00:12:28.280 --> 00:12:29.000 And Esther says, 00:12:29.020 --> 00:12:29.720 this is the big reveal, 00:12:29.860 --> 00:12:30.900 A foe and an enemy, 00:12:31.020 --> 00:12:31.640 the wicked Haman, 00:12:31.800 --> 00:12:32.780 he is the man. 00:12:33.620 --> 00:12:34.800 And Haman, understandably, 00:12:34.799 --> 00:12:38.219 was terrified before the king and the queen. 00:12:39.019 --> 00:12:40.339 And immediately the king gets up, 00:12:40.399 --> 00:12:40.979 he leaves, 00:12:41.519 --> 00:12:42.299 he's pretty drunk, 00:12:42.719 --> 00:12:43.459 he's pretty angry, 00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:45.519 and now he's pretty confused. 00:12:46.079 --> 00:12:49.459 He just heard several alarming things all at once. 00:12:50.839 --> 00:12:52.959 It's the kind of news that servers you up real quick. 00:12:53.919 --> 00:12:56.000 He learns his queen is Jewish, 00:12:56.399 --> 00:12:58.339 and that the destruction of the Jews, 00:12:58.439 --> 00:12:59.839 which he himself decreed, 00:13:00.259 --> 00:13:01.759 meant that he would lose another queen, 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:03.139 which he didn't want to lose. 00:13:03.139 --> 00:13:06.460 He also learns that his most trusted leader, 00:13:06.580 --> 00:13:07.759 his number two guy, 00:13:08.120 --> 00:13:08.379 Haman, 00:13:09.220 --> 00:13:10.159 has been playing him. 00:13:10.860 --> 00:13:12.120 He manipulated him 00:13:12.120 --> 00:13:13.860 and orchestrated his queen's death, 00:13:14.379 --> 00:13:15.419 and not only the death of the queen, 00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:16.519 but Mordecai, 00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:18.699 the man that he just publicly honored 00:13:18.699 --> 00:13:20.559 through the streets of Susa. 00:13:21.259 --> 00:13:23.019 And so I want us to appreciate the conundrum 00:13:23.019 --> 00:13:24.659 that King Ahasuerus is in. 00:13:24.720 --> 00:13:25.759 It really is complicated. 00:13:26.559 --> 00:13:28.819 If he decides to punish Haman, 00:13:28.820 --> 00:13:32.740 he'll appear foolish and weak before his kingdom. 00:13:33.200 --> 00:13:34.780 They'll see that he's been a puppet, 00:13:35.240 --> 00:13:35.800 Haman's puppet, 00:13:35.920 --> 00:13:36.520 all along. 00:13:37.180 --> 00:13:39.800 And if he doesn't punish Haman, 00:13:40.460 --> 00:13:41.980 he'll have to kill the queen 00:13:41.980 --> 00:13:43.920 and kill Mordecai, 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:45.540 and again appear foolish. 00:13:45.700 --> 00:13:47.560 After having honored him, 00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:50.060 he'll have to kill the man he publicly honored 00:13:50.060 --> 00:13:51.760 and will look like a fool. 00:13:52.559 --> 00:13:53.580 So it's complicated, 00:13:53.740 --> 00:13:54.259 so he just says, 00:13:54.340 --> 00:13:55.399 T, I gotta go outside, 00:13:55.480 --> 00:13:56.439 I need to think this through, 00:13:56.879 --> 00:13:58.840 I need to process what I'm going to do. 00:13:59.740 --> 00:14:00.059 Meanwhile, 00:14:00.480 --> 00:14:01.980 Haman stays inside 00:14:01.980 --> 00:14:03.779 and is pleading for his life. 00:14:04.539 --> 00:14:06.519 And note who he speaks to 00:14:06.519 --> 00:14:07.460 when he's pleading for his life. 00:14:07.500 --> 00:14:08.819 He doesn't go outside with the king, 00:14:09.340 --> 00:14:10.439 he talks to Queen Esther, 00:14:10.580 --> 00:14:12.939 because Queen Esther really is the boss. 00:14:14.059 --> 00:14:14.939 The king returns, 00:14:15.639 --> 00:14:18.200 and I have no idea what his plan was, right? 00:14:18.200 --> 00:14:20.039 I don't know how you solve the situation, 00:14:20.039 --> 00:14:22.139 but Haman does him a favor. 00:14:22.259 --> 00:14:23.279 When the king returns, 00:14:24.419 --> 00:14:27.139 Haman seems to fall down on the couch 00:14:27.139 --> 00:14:29.219 where Esther is seated. 00:14:30.120 --> 00:14:31.759 We don't know what happened. 00:14:31.819 --> 00:14:33.500 I don't think he was trying to assault her or something. 00:14:33.579 --> 00:14:34.519 He was pretty drunk, remember, 00:14:34.620 --> 00:14:37.319 so he was just begging for his life. 00:14:37.879 --> 00:14:38.799 And he falls down, 00:14:39.500 --> 00:14:41.419 and as soon as the king sees that, 00:14:41.679 --> 00:14:43.599 the problem is solved for him. 00:14:44.099 --> 00:14:46.439 An assault on the queen is worthy of death. 00:14:46.439 --> 00:14:47.559 And so the king says, 00:14:47.559 --> 00:14:50.379 Will he even assault the queen in my presence, 00:14:50.539 --> 00:14:51.500 in my own house? 00:14:52.059 --> 00:14:54.159 And as the word left the mouth of the king, 00:14:54.199 --> 00:14:54.839 this is terrifying, 00:14:55.019 --> 00:14:56.739 they cover Haman's face. 00:14:57.299 --> 00:14:58.679 It's like something out of a spy movie 00:14:58.679 --> 00:15:00.579 with a black bag over your face. 00:15:00.619 --> 00:15:01.419 It's terrifying. 00:15:03.159 --> 00:15:04.639 And as this is happening, 00:15:05.099 --> 00:15:08.039 one of the king's eunuchs interjects and says, 00:15:08.119 --> 00:15:08.519 Well, you know, 00:15:08.619 --> 00:15:09.559 there just so happens to be 00:15:09.559 --> 00:15:11.399 a pretty decent tool for execution 00:15:11.399 --> 00:15:13.419 in Mordecai's front yard, 00:15:14.179 --> 00:15:15.519 the 75-foot spike, 00:15:15.519 --> 00:15:16.620 and so the king says, 00:15:16.779 --> 00:15:17.059 Perfect. 00:15:17.379 --> 00:15:19.079 Let's hang him on that. 00:15:19.840 --> 00:15:22.120 And so Mordecai is impaled on the spike, 00:15:22.600 --> 00:15:22.779 meant, 00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:25.139 Haman is impaled on the spike, 00:15:25.220 --> 00:15:26.319 meant for Mordecai, 00:15:26.759 --> 00:15:28.419 and the king's wrath is abated. 00:15:28.980 --> 00:15:29.919 It's an amazing scene. 00:15:30.799 --> 00:15:31.659 What I want to do now 00:15:31.659 --> 00:15:32.860 is draw out a few things 00:15:32.860 --> 00:15:34.019 about the nature of evil 00:15:34.019 --> 00:15:35.039 and God's justice 00:15:35.039 --> 00:15:37.960 that we learn from this passage. 00:15:38.419 --> 00:15:40.360 So first, the nature of evil. 00:15:40.980 --> 00:15:42.740 We see in this passage 00:15:42.740 --> 00:15:43.980 and other places of Scripture 00:15:43.980 --> 00:15:46.960 that evil is self-deceptive 00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:48.680 and it's always bent 00:15:48.680 --> 00:15:50.700 towards its own destruction. 00:15:51.740 --> 00:15:53.360 So evil is self-deceptive 00:15:53.360 --> 00:15:54.100 and always bent 00:15:54.100 --> 00:15:55.539 towards its own destruction. 00:15:56.259 --> 00:15:59.240 So evil always tricks evildoers. 00:15:59.980 --> 00:16:01.600 Evildoers think that they're justified 00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:03.240 in their wicked deeds. 00:16:03.840 --> 00:16:05.800 They think that they will never get caught 00:16:05.800 --> 00:16:07.139 in their evil schemes. 00:16:07.240 --> 00:16:09.080 I think of somebody like Bernie Madoff 00:16:09.080 --> 00:16:10.039 in the Ponzi scheme 00:16:10.039 --> 00:16:12.800 who in his evil shenanigans 00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:14.459 thought he would never get caught. 00:16:15.439 --> 00:16:17.039 Haman, in his evil ways, 00:16:17.459 --> 00:16:18.159 was fooled. 00:16:18.439 --> 00:16:20.399 He thought that with his immense power 00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:21.639 and his immense wealth 00:16:21.639 --> 00:16:23.240 and his immense influence, 00:16:23.819 --> 00:16:24.779 that he could do whatever 00:16:24.779 --> 00:16:25.879 he wanted to do, 00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:27.719 even oppose God, 00:16:28.319 --> 00:16:29.679 and nothing could stop him. 00:16:30.259 --> 00:16:31.919 He was deceived by evil, 00:16:32.059 --> 00:16:32.679 and if you look, 00:16:32.979 --> 00:16:35.219 sort of reading Esther in reverse, 00:16:35.859 --> 00:16:37.279 he is constantly weaving 00:16:37.279 --> 00:16:39.199 a web of his own destruction. 00:16:39.200 --> 00:16:42.480 A real-world example, 00:16:42.759 --> 00:16:43.940 another real-world example, 00:16:44.400 --> 00:16:45.500 sort of the classic one, 00:16:45.560 --> 00:16:46.740 the personification of evil. 00:16:46.840 --> 00:16:47.520 I might have chosen 00:16:47.520 --> 00:16:49.860 a different example than Hitler, 00:16:50.080 --> 00:16:51.240 but there's so many similarities 00:16:51.240 --> 00:16:52.780 between Haman and Hitler 00:16:52.780 --> 00:16:54.940 with their desire to kill the Jews, 00:16:55.040 --> 00:16:56.060 but we see this playing out 00:16:56.060 --> 00:16:57.040 in Hitler's life. 00:16:57.700 --> 00:16:58.620 He deceived himself 00:16:58.620 --> 00:17:00.440 into thinking that his evil plan, 00:17:00.700 --> 00:17:01.820 the taking over the world 00:17:01.820 --> 00:17:03.180 and the destruction of the Jews, 00:17:03.520 --> 00:17:04.700 was so good, 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:06.519 was so unstoppable, 00:17:06.519 --> 00:17:07.940 that in his arrogance, 00:17:08.139 --> 00:17:09.339 he decided to do a thing 00:17:09.339 --> 00:17:10.039 that everyone knows 00:17:10.039 --> 00:17:10.700 you shouldn't do, 00:17:11.220 --> 00:17:12.680 wage a war on two fronts, 00:17:12.900 --> 00:17:14.539 on the east and on the west, 00:17:15.039 --> 00:17:16.559 and that led to his destruction, 00:17:16.740 --> 00:17:18.240 the destruction of the Third Reich, 00:17:18.359 --> 00:17:19.440 and prevented the destruction 00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:20.500 of the Jews. 00:17:22.299 --> 00:17:24.139 So evil is always self-deceptive 00:17:24.139 --> 00:17:26.200 and leads to its own destruction. 00:17:26.940 --> 00:17:27.660 The second thing 00:17:27.660 --> 00:17:29.099 this passage teaches us 00:17:29.099 --> 00:17:31.539 is about how divine justice 00:17:31.539 --> 00:17:33.180 works into this, 00:17:33.240 --> 00:17:33.940 and I think it works 00:17:33.940 --> 00:17:35.000 in a surprising way. 00:17:35.819 --> 00:17:37.359 God's justice leverages 00:17:37.359 --> 00:17:38.740 the corrosive qualities 00:17:38.740 --> 00:17:41.059 of evil against itself. 00:17:41.319 --> 00:17:43.240 We saw that in Psalm 7, 00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:45.039 which we read this morning. 00:17:45.559 --> 00:17:46.660 I'll read it again for us, 00:17:46.700 --> 00:17:47.619 and I want you to note 00:17:47.619 --> 00:17:49.599 the imagery used 00:17:49.599 --> 00:17:51.259 to describe God's justice 00:17:51.259 --> 00:17:52.759 and then the surprising way 00:17:52.759 --> 00:17:53.839 in which God's justice 00:17:53.839 --> 00:17:54.960 is meted out. 00:17:56.119 --> 00:17:58.099 So Psalm 7, 12 to 16, 00:17:58.619 --> 00:18:00.019 if a man does not repent, 00:18:00.119 --> 00:18:01.960 if he remains in his evil ways, 00:18:02.980 --> 00:18:03.619 note the imagery, 00:18:03.619 --> 00:18:04.839 God will wet his sword, 00:18:04.979 --> 00:18:06.219 God will sharpen his sword 00:18:06.219 --> 00:18:07.159 to bring justice. 00:18:07.879 --> 00:18:09.779 He has bent and readied his bow. 00:18:09.959 --> 00:18:12.259 God is depicted as standing there 00:18:12.259 --> 00:18:13.819 with a bow ready to fire 00:18:13.819 --> 00:18:15.679 these fiery darts 00:18:15.679 --> 00:18:17.059 at the evil person. 00:18:17.759 --> 00:18:19.039 He has prepared for him 00:18:19.039 --> 00:18:20.259 his deadly weapons, 00:18:20.379 --> 00:18:21.979 making his arrows fiery shafts. 00:18:23.000 --> 00:18:24.500 And there's a surprising turn. 00:18:24.639 --> 00:18:26.059 This is how God's justice 00:18:26.059 --> 00:18:26.979 works itself out. 00:18:27.579 --> 00:18:28.839 Behold, the wicked man 00:18:28.839 --> 00:18:30.179 conceives evil 00:18:30.180 --> 00:18:32.360 and is pregnant with mischief 00:18:32.360 --> 00:18:34.500 and gives birth to lies. 00:18:35.120 --> 00:18:36.140 He makes a pit, 00:18:36.900 --> 00:18:37.700 digging it out, 00:18:38.200 --> 00:18:39.620 and falls into the hole 00:18:39.620 --> 00:18:40.759 that he has made. 00:18:41.340 --> 00:18:42.400 His mischief returns 00:18:42.400 --> 00:18:43.620 upon his own head 00:18:43.620 --> 00:18:45.440 and on his own skull 00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:46.900 his violence descends. 00:18:47.440 --> 00:18:48.299 So God's justice 00:18:48.299 --> 00:18:49.180 is depicted as 00:18:49.180 --> 00:18:50.240 a bow and arrow 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:50.900 and a sword 00:18:50.900 --> 00:18:51.920 and how it plays out 00:18:51.920 --> 00:18:53.000 in real time 00:18:53.000 --> 00:18:55.160 is we fall into pits 00:18:55.160 --> 00:18:55.779 that we've dug 00:18:55.779 --> 00:18:56.580 for ourselves. 00:18:56.579 --> 00:18:59.139 So sometimes I think 00:18:59.139 --> 00:19:01.419 when we do bad things 00:19:01.419 --> 00:19:02.059 and evil things 00:19:02.059 --> 00:19:02.960 God's going to hit us 00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:03.460 with a bus 00:19:03.460 --> 00:19:04.199 or something like that. 00:19:04.279 --> 00:19:05.699 That's what justice would be. 00:19:06.220 --> 00:19:07.279 But that's not the case. 00:19:07.960 --> 00:19:08.919 So for instance, 00:19:09.179 --> 00:19:12.799 if you're looking at pornography 00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:13.919 or things that you shouldn't 00:19:13.919 --> 00:19:14.539 be looking at 00:19:14.539 --> 00:19:15.519 on the internet, 00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:16.299 you're not going to get hit 00:19:16.299 --> 00:19:16.859 by a bus. 00:19:17.480 --> 00:19:18.019 Most likely, 00:19:18.099 --> 00:19:19.179 that's not how God's justice 00:19:19.179 --> 00:19:20.519 is going to work itself out. 00:19:21.019 --> 00:19:21.740 What you're going to do 00:19:21.740 --> 00:19:23.500 is slowly destroy your marriage 00:19:23.500 --> 00:19:24.639 or your capacity 00:19:24.639 --> 00:19:26.240 to have meaningful relationship. 00:19:27.379 --> 00:19:27.859 Likewise, 00:19:28.259 --> 00:19:29.500 if you're involved 00:19:29.500 --> 00:19:31.179 in immoral practices 00:19:31.179 --> 00:19:31.879 at work, 00:19:32.039 --> 00:19:33.000 you're not going to be 00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:33.720 struck by lightning. 00:19:34.199 --> 00:19:35.000 You're probably just going 00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:35.819 to lose your job 00:19:35.819 --> 00:19:37.279 and maybe your career. 00:19:38.279 --> 00:19:38.480 You see, 00:19:38.539 --> 00:19:39.159 God's justice 00:19:39.159 --> 00:19:40.319 isn't a lightning bolt. 00:19:40.859 --> 00:19:42.000 It's a hole we dig 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:42.659 for ourselves. 00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:44.179 We see that with Haman. 00:19:44.299 --> 00:19:45.159 Haman gets himself 00:19:45.159 --> 00:19:45.759 impaled 00:19:45.759 --> 00:19:47.500 on a spike 00:19:47.500 --> 00:19:48.899 that he himself made. 00:19:49.539 --> 00:19:50.220 And so we see 00:19:50.220 --> 00:19:51.259 God's justice, 00:19:51.500 --> 00:19:52.480 how it relates to evil, 00:19:52.619 --> 00:19:53.919 is it judo's evil. 00:19:54.299 --> 00:19:55.579 It leverages the weight 00:19:55.579 --> 00:19:56.279 and the power 00:19:56.279 --> 00:19:56.839 and the strength 00:19:56.839 --> 00:19:57.359 of evil 00:19:57.359 --> 00:19:58.539 against itself. 00:19:59.759 --> 00:20:00.160 Now, 00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:00.660 at this point, 00:20:00.700 --> 00:20:01.319 I think I need to 00:20:01.319 --> 00:20:02.879 qualify this a little bit 00:20:02.879 --> 00:20:04.000 and make an important caveat. 00:20:05.139 --> 00:20:06.079 We all know, 00:20:06.119 --> 00:20:06.819 I don't have to tell you, 00:20:06.859 --> 00:20:07.680 that we don't always 00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:08.339 get to see 00:20:08.339 --> 00:20:09.700 God's justice 00:20:09.700 --> 00:20:10.740 working itself out 00:20:10.740 --> 00:20:11.259 in the world. 00:20:12.180 --> 00:20:12.579 Oftentimes, 00:20:12.879 --> 00:20:13.899 it's one of the big themes 00:20:13.899 --> 00:20:14.960 of the Psalms 00:20:14.960 --> 00:20:15.879 where people are crying 00:20:15.879 --> 00:20:16.399 out to God, 00:20:16.559 --> 00:20:17.139 why did the wicked 00:20:17.139 --> 00:20:18.019 seem to prosper? 00:20:18.579 --> 00:20:20.299 Where is God's justice? 00:20:21.059 --> 00:20:21.259 You know, 00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:21.960 I think of somebody 00:20:21.960 --> 00:20:23.000 like Jeffrey Epstein, 00:20:23.640 --> 00:20:25.259 this rich and powerful man. 00:20:25.340 --> 00:20:26.240 He thought he was 00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:27.620 rich and powerful enough 00:20:27.620 --> 00:20:28.480 to buy friends 00:20:28.480 --> 00:20:29.600 and influence people 00:20:29.600 --> 00:20:30.799 so that he could 00:20:30.799 --> 00:20:32.299 sexually assault young girls 00:20:32.299 --> 00:20:33.059 with impunity 00:20:33.059 --> 00:20:33.720 for decades. 00:20:34.519 --> 00:20:35.980 And he was imprisoned, 00:20:36.079 --> 00:20:36.720 he was caught, 00:20:36.840 --> 00:20:37.460 and it looked like 00:20:37.460 --> 00:20:38.400 justice was going to be 00:20:38.400 --> 00:20:39.400 working itself out. 00:20:39.480 --> 00:20:40.360 He would go to trial, 00:20:40.559 --> 00:20:42.180 and then he died in prison. 00:20:43.240 --> 00:20:43.660 So, 00:20:43.799 --> 00:20:44.779 true justice 00:20:44.779 --> 00:20:46.180 wasn't really served. 00:20:46.900 --> 00:20:47.360 I don't know 00:20:47.360 --> 00:20:48.019 what it looks like 00:20:48.019 --> 00:20:48.759 in your life 00:20:48.759 --> 00:20:50.200 where you've experienced 00:20:50.200 --> 00:20:51.380 evil or injustice 00:20:51.380 --> 00:20:52.700 and you're still waiting 00:20:52.700 --> 00:20:53.420 for God 00:20:53.420 --> 00:20:55.120 to bring justice. 00:20:56.100 --> 00:20:56.620 Sometimes, 00:20:56.740 --> 00:20:57.799 God's justice tarries. 00:20:57.960 --> 00:20:59.220 I wish it wasn't the case. 00:20:59.279 --> 00:20:59.799 I wish we had 00:20:59.799 --> 00:21:01.000 easy answers. 00:21:01.160 --> 00:21:01.980 We don't know why 00:21:01.980 --> 00:21:03.000 God doesn't meet 00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:03.799 justice out 00:21:03.799 --> 00:21:04.700 right away. 00:21:05.420 --> 00:21:06.500 But the Bible tells us 00:21:06.500 --> 00:21:07.840 the math is always the same. 00:21:07.980 --> 00:21:08.299 Sometimes, 00:21:08.380 --> 00:21:09.299 it just takes a little while 00:21:09.299 --> 00:21:10.440 to crunch the numbers. 00:21:11.400 --> 00:21:12.000 We need to take 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:13.140 God at his word. 00:21:14.259 --> 00:21:14.440 So, 00:21:14.500 --> 00:21:15.080 I think of 00:21:15.079 --> 00:21:16.439 the promise of judgment 00:21:16.439 --> 00:21:17.539 or the warning of judgment 00:21:17.539 --> 00:21:19.059 depending on where you are 00:21:19.059 --> 00:21:20.299 with regards 00:21:20.299 --> 00:21:21.199 to God's judgment. 00:21:21.359 --> 00:21:22.279 In Isaiah 13, 00:21:22.379 --> 00:21:23.379 this powerful language 00:21:23.379 --> 00:21:24.179 says, 00:21:24.379 --> 00:21:25.319 wail for the day 00:21:25.319 --> 00:21:26.480 of the Lord is near. 00:21:26.599 --> 00:21:26.819 Sometimes, 00:21:27.019 --> 00:21:27.500 we have to wait 00:21:27.500 --> 00:21:28.500 until the final judgment 00:21:28.500 --> 00:21:30.659 to see justice play out. 00:21:31.539 --> 00:21:31.960 Isaiah writes, 00:21:32.039 --> 00:21:32.379 behold, 00:21:32.500 --> 00:21:33.960 the day of the Lord comes. 00:21:34.500 --> 00:21:36.679 I will punish the world 00:21:36.679 --> 00:21:37.519 for its evil 00:21:37.519 --> 00:21:38.960 and the wicked 00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:39.839 for their iniquity. 00:21:39.980 --> 00:21:41.159 I will put an end 00:21:41.159 --> 00:21:41.740 to the pomp 00:21:41.740 --> 00:21:42.379 of the arrogant 00:21:42.379 --> 00:21:43.879 and lay low 00:21:43.879 --> 00:21:45.000 the pompous pride 00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:45.819 of the ruthless. 00:21:46.819 --> 00:21:47.579 We might have to wait 00:21:47.579 --> 00:21:48.359 until the final judgment 00:21:48.359 --> 00:21:49.180 to see that, 00:21:49.740 --> 00:21:50.660 but sometimes, 00:21:50.779 --> 00:21:51.859 we do see it play out 00:21:51.859 --> 00:21:52.480 in real time 00:21:52.480 --> 00:21:53.720 and such is the case 00:21:53.720 --> 00:21:54.599 in our chapter 00:21:54.599 --> 00:21:56.440 in the story of Esther. 00:21:56.539 --> 00:21:57.400 We see this dynamic 00:21:57.400 --> 00:21:58.019 of evil 00:21:58.019 --> 00:21:59.099 and God's justice 00:21:59.099 --> 00:22:00.220 and a number 00:22:00.220 --> 00:22:01.559 of surprising reversals 00:22:01.559 --> 00:22:02.380 in Esther. 00:22:03.319 --> 00:22:03.599 Right? 00:22:03.660 --> 00:22:04.359 When Haman 00:22:04.359 --> 00:22:05.000 wants to, 00:22:05.220 --> 00:22:06.000 goes to the king 00:22:06.000 --> 00:22:06.579 to request 00:22:06.579 --> 00:22:07.759 to kill Mordecai, 00:22:08.359 --> 00:22:08.980 God's justice 00:22:08.980 --> 00:22:09.640 works itself out. 00:22:09.720 --> 00:22:10.200 He actually 00:22:10.200 --> 00:22:11.200 has to honor 00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:12.000 Mordecai. 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:14.119 Haman thinks 00:22:14.119 --> 00:22:14.980 he's being invited 00:22:14.980 --> 00:22:15.759 into a banquet 00:22:15.759 --> 00:22:16.759 where he'll be honored 00:22:16.759 --> 00:22:18.779 and God's justice 00:22:18.779 --> 00:22:19.559 works itself out. 00:22:19.640 --> 00:22:20.619 It actually becomes 00:22:20.619 --> 00:22:21.599 the place 00:22:21.599 --> 00:22:22.440 where he receives 00:22:22.440 --> 00:22:23.420 his death sentence. 00:22:24.380 --> 00:22:25.940 All of Haman's evil schemes 00:22:25.940 --> 00:22:27.000 intended to destroy 00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:27.579 the Jews 00:22:27.579 --> 00:22:28.819 end up resulting 00:22:28.819 --> 00:22:29.859 in the exaltation 00:22:29.859 --> 00:22:30.420 of the Jews 00:22:30.420 --> 00:22:31.599 to positions of power 00:22:31.599 --> 00:22:32.480 and influence 00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:34.140 in the mightiest empire 00:22:34.140 --> 00:22:34.859 on earth. 00:22:35.619 --> 00:22:36.880 We see that evil Haman, 00:22:37.039 --> 00:22:38.539 this empowered destroyer, 00:22:38.539 --> 00:22:40.399 loses his power 00:22:40.399 --> 00:22:42.119 and is himself destroyed. 00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:43.180 This is how 00:22:43.180 --> 00:22:44.759 God's justice works. 00:22:45.339 --> 00:22:46.099 And the most obvious 00:22:46.099 --> 00:22:48.240 example is the 75-foot spike 00:22:48.240 --> 00:22:48.940 that was built 00:22:48.940 --> 00:22:50.259 for Mordecai. 00:22:50.700 --> 00:22:51.799 This becomes the place 00:22:51.799 --> 00:22:53.339 of Haman's own execution. 00:22:54.440 --> 00:22:55.420 The scene is full 00:22:55.420 --> 00:22:56.059 of surprises, 00:22:56.480 --> 00:22:58.259 but the most surprising 00:22:58.259 --> 00:22:59.500 thing, to me at least, 00:22:59.559 --> 00:23:00.319 isn't that God 00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:01.259 judges Haman. 00:23:01.899 --> 00:23:02.579 And this takes us 00:23:02.579 --> 00:23:03.460 to our final point 00:23:03.460 --> 00:23:03.960 this morning, 00:23:04.339 --> 00:23:05.099 how this passage 00:23:05.099 --> 00:23:05.960 points to the most 00:23:05.960 --> 00:23:07.000 surprising thing 00:23:07.000 --> 00:23:08.099 in human history. 00:23:08.539 --> 00:23:10.099 The most surprising thing 00:23:10.099 --> 00:23:10.920 is not that God 00:23:10.920 --> 00:23:12.639 judges evil in this story. 00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:14.240 That's what God does. 00:23:14.680 --> 00:23:15.720 The most surprising thing 00:23:15.720 --> 00:23:16.559 is that he doesn't 00:23:16.559 --> 00:23:17.180 judge evil. 00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:19.220 God uses Esther. 00:23:20.319 --> 00:23:20.559 You see, 00:23:20.700 --> 00:23:21.279 divine justice 00:23:21.279 --> 00:23:22.159 is a bit like 00:23:22.159 --> 00:23:23.420 the laws of nature. 00:23:24.079 --> 00:23:24.299 So, 00:23:24.559 --> 00:23:25.759 we're not surprised, 00:23:25.879 --> 00:23:26.859 like if I drop my pen, 00:23:27.000 --> 00:23:27.720 what's it going to do? 00:23:28.379 --> 00:23:29.159 It's going to fall 00:23:29.159 --> 00:23:29.779 to the ground, right? 00:23:29.899 --> 00:23:31.740 That's the gravity 00:23:31.740 --> 00:23:32.440 taking over 00:23:32.440 --> 00:23:33.420 and doing its thing. 00:23:33.779 --> 00:23:35.000 We would be surprised 00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:36.339 if when I dropped my pen, 00:23:36.740 --> 00:23:37.319 it floated, 00:23:37.799 --> 00:23:38.039 right? 00:23:38.039 --> 00:23:39.200 It would require 00:23:39.200 --> 00:23:39.859 some sort of 00:23:39.859 --> 00:23:40.700 outside force 00:23:40.700 --> 00:23:41.460 into the system, 00:23:41.639 --> 00:23:42.619 some sort of miracle 00:23:42.619 --> 00:23:43.899 to prevent the laws 00:23:43.899 --> 00:23:44.319 of nature 00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:45.000 from doing what 00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:46.220 the laws of nature do. 00:23:46.319 --> 00:23:46.819 And so it is 00:23:46.819 --> 00:23:47.659 with divine justice. 00:23:47.980 --> 00:23:49.839 It always works itself out 00:23:49.839 --> 00:23:50.839 unless it's disrupted 00:23:50.839 --> 00:23:52.420 by some outside force, 00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:53.639 by mercy, 00:23:54.299 --> 00:23:55.440 or by grace. 00:23:56.379 --> 00:23:57.139 When we look at 00:23:57.139 --> 00:23:57.980 Esther and Haman, 00:23:58.480 --> 00:23:59.759 we see two types 00:23:59.759 --> 00:24:00.460 of people. 00:24:01.099 --> 00:24:01.899 But the binary 00:24:01.899 --> 00:24:03.019 is not good people 00:24:03.019 --> 00:24:04.460 and bad people. 00:24:05.339 --> 00:24:06.059 Don't get me wrong, 00:24:06.559 --> 00:24:07.480 Haman is a devil. 00:24:07.480 --> 00:24:08.440 He's the personification 00:24:08.440 --> 00:24:09.240 of evil. 00:24:09.900 --> 00:24:11.059 But Esther is not 00:24:11.059 --> 00:24:11.539 an angel. 00:24:12.480 --> 00:24:13.120 She's not evil 00:24:13.120 --> 00:24:13.920 in the same way 00:24:13.920 --> 00:24:15.259 as Haman is evil. 00:24:16.039 --> 00:24:17.160 But she's managed 00:24:17.160 --> 00:24:18.339 to arrange her life 00:24:18.339 --> 00:24:19.980 with no regard 00:24:19.980 --> 00:24:20.579 for God 00:24:20.579 --> 00:24:21.299 or his purposes 00:24:21.299 --> 00:24:22.160 or the plight 00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:23.140 of God's people. 00:24:23.759 --> 00:24:24.500 She's insulated. 00:24:24.640 --> 00:24:26.000 She's comfortably numb. 00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:27.640 She's not an oppressor, 00:24:28.240 --> 00:24:29.680 but she's a bystander. 00:24:30.279 --> 00:24:31.039 Makes me think 00:24:31.039 --> 00:24:32.079 of words 00:24:32.079 --> 00:24:32.900 from Kirk Franklin 00:24:32.900 --> 00:24:34.099 from a couple weeks ago. 00:24:34.879 --> 00:24:35.539 He said, 00:24:35.639 --> 00:24:36.159 in the end, 00:24:36.299 --> 00:24:37.259 it's not the words 00:24:37.259 --> 00:24:38.319 of our enemies 00:24:38.319 --> 00:24:39.079 that we'll remember. 00:24:39.919 --> 00:24:41.079 It's the silences 00:24:41.079 --> 00:24:42.119 of our friends. 00:24:42.799 --> 00:24:43.480 Standing by 00:24:43.480 --> 00:24:44.319 when evil and injustice 00:24:44.319 --> 00:24:44.879 is happening 00:24:44.879 --> 00:24:45.939 is different, 00:24:46.099 --> 00:24:47.000 but it might not be 00:24:47.000 --> 00:24:48.259 better than 00:24:48.259 --> 00:24:49.419 being an oppressor. 00:24:50.299 --> 00:24:51.099 And the only reason 00:24:51.099 --> 00:24:52.240 why Esther herself 00:24:52.240 --> 00:24:54.159 isn't eventually impaled 00:24:54.159 --> 00:24:54.859 on a spike 00:24:54.859 --> 00:24:55.779 of her own making 00:24:55.779 --> 00:24:56.980 is because 00:24:56.980 --> 00:24:57.759 a force 00:24:57.759 --> 00:24:58.359 from outside 00:24:58.359 --> 00:24:59.119 of the system 00:24:59.119 --> 00:24:59.980 broke in. 00:24:59.980 --> 00:25:01.440 God's mercy. 00:25:02.059 --> 00:25:02.620 She chooses 00:25:02.620 --> 00:25:03.240 to embrace 00:25:03.240 --> 00:25:04.160 her Jewish faith, 00:25:05.279 --> 00:25:06.440 her Jewish people, 00:25:06.599 --> 00:25:07.360 and she becomes 00:25:07.360 --> 00:25:08.640 God's chosen instrument 00:25:08.640 --> 00:25:09.980 to thwart evil 00:25:09.980 --> 00:25:10.440 and to bring 00:25:10.440 --> 00:25:11.200 God's justice. 00:25:12.059 --> 00:25:12.640 She was worthy 00:25:12.640 --> 00:25:13.039 of judgment, 00:25:13.200 --> 00:25:13.799 but she becomes 00:25:13.799 --> 00:25:15.079 the mouthpiece of God. 00:25:15.799 --> 00:25:16.319 She was worthy 00:25:16.319 --> 00:25:16.700 of judgment, 00:25:16.860 --> 00:25:17.440 but she becomes 00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:18.799 God's hands and feet. 00:25:19.640 --> 00:25:20.360 And this is why 00:25:20.360 --> 00:25:21.019 I think Esther 00:25:21.019 --> 00:25:22.440 is such an encouraging book 00:25:22.440 --> 00:25:23.440 for me. 00:25:23.960 --> 00:25:25.400 God uses flawed 00:25:25.400 --> 00:25:26.420 and imperfect people 00:25:26.420 --> 00:25:27.140 like Esther 00:25:27.140 --> 00:25:28.500 to accomplish 00:25:28.500 --> 00:25:29.279 his purposes. 00:25:29.980 --> 00:25:30.720 So there are 00:25:30.720 --> 00:25:31.559 two types of people. 00:25:31.700 --> 00:25:32.559 It's not good people 00:25:32.559 --> 00:25:33.400 and bad people. 00:25:34.000 --> 00:25:34.819 The two types of people 00:25:34.819 --> 00:25:35.259 in the world 00:25:35.259 --> 00:25:36.779 are unrepentant sinners 00:25:36.779 --> 00:25:38.500 and repentant sinners. 00:25:39.620 --> 00:25:40.559 Either we are 00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:41.380 living a life 00:25:41.380 --> 00:25:43.039 where we'll ultimately 00:25:43.039 --> 00:25:44.180 be hung on the gallows 00:25:44.180 --> 00:25:45.180 of our own making, 00:25:45.759 --> 00:25:47.099 or we allow God 00:25:47.099 --> 00:25:48.019 to hang on the gallows 00:25:48.019 --> 00:25:48.680 for us. 00:25:49.339 --> 00:25:50.099 And by faith, 00:25:50.180 --> 00:25:51.220 we become empowered 00:25:51.220 --> 00:25:52.539 and commissioned 00:25:52.539 --> 00:25:53.920 to participate with him 00:25:53.920 --> 00:25:54.660 as citizens 00:25:54.660 --> 00:25:56.420 of his kingdom 00:25:56.420 --> 00:25:57.980 and become the means 00:25:57.980 --> 00:25:59.019 by which he overcomes 00:25:59.019 --> 00:26:00.299 evil and injustice 00:26:00.299 --> 00:26:01.160 in the world. 00:26:01.720 --> 00:26:02.660 We become used 00:26:02.660 --> 00:26:03.359 like Esther. 00:26:04.240 --> 00:26:04.859 The only reason 00:26:04.859 --> 00:26:05.720 why every single one 00:26:05.720 --> 00:26:06.599 of us is not doomed 00:26:06.599 --> 00:26:07.460 to die on the spike 00:26:07.460 --> 00:26:08.099 of our own making 00:26:08.099 --> 00:26:09.879 is because Christ, 00:26:10.019 --> 00:26:10.900 though he had done 00:26:10.900 --> 00:26:11.819 nothing wrong, 00:26:11.960 --> 00:26:12.619 like we read about 00:26:12.619 --> 00:26:13.519 in our gospel lesson, 00:26:14.119 --> 00:26:15.099 he had done nothing wrong, 00:26:15.160 --> 00:26:16.519 but he hung on the gallows 00:26:16.519 --> 00:26:17.259 for us, 00:26:17.759 --> 00:26:18.599 in our place, 00:26:19.160 --> 00:26:20.460 taking upon himself 00:26:20.460 --> 00:26:21.039 the judgment 00:26:21.039 --> 00:26:21.779 we deserve 00:26:21.779 --> 00:26:22.759 for our evil. 00:26:23.660 --> 00:26:24.960 The greatest surprise 00:26:24.960 --> 00:26:27.140 is not that God's justice 00:26:27.140 --> 00:26:28.059 defeats evil 00:26:28.059 --> 00:26:29.319 and judges sinners, 00:26:30.100 --> 00:26:30.920 it's that he extends 00:26:30.920 --> 00:26:32.440 mercy in Christ 00:26:32.440 --> 00:26:33.400 to redeem sinners. 00:26:34.140 --> 00:26:35.460 And then he uses us, 00:26:35.620 --> 00:26:36.200 it's amazing, 00:26:36.700 --> 00:26:37.440 he uses us 00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:38.180 to accomplish 00:26:38.180 --> 00:26:39.519 his purposes. 00:26:40.420 --> 00:26:41.360 The moral arc 00:26:41.360 --> 00:26:41.819 of the universe 00:26:41.819 --> 00:26:42.680 is long, 00:26:43.940 --> 00:26:44.720 and God uses 00:26:44.720 --> 00:26:45.600 redeemed people, 00:26:45.740 --> 00:26:46.559 he always has, 00:26:47.059 --> 00:26:48.000 to help it bend 00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:49.180 towards justice. 00:26:49.960 --> 00:26:50.640 So I want to come 00:26:50.640 --> 00:26:51.819 full circle this morning. 00:26:52.480 --> 00:26:53.299 Remember we asked, 00:26:53.299 --> 00:26:54.859 we look at these 00:26:54.859 --> 00:26:55.839 terrible images, 00:26:56.419 --> 00:26:57.379 we read these terrible 00:26:57.379 --> 00:26:58.099 things in the news, 00:26:58.139 --> 00:26:58.579 and we ask, 00:26:58.740 --> 00:26:59.440 where in the world 00:26:59.440 --> 00:27:00.039 is God? 00:27:01.119 --> 00:27:01.899 Where is God 00:27:01.899 --> 00:27:02.299 in the world? 00:27:02.359 --> 00:27:03.180 And the answer is, 00:27:03.639 --> 00:27:04.759 2,000 years ago, 00:27:05.339 --> 00:27:06.539 the image of the invisible 00:27:06.539 --> 00:27:08.019 God walked the earth, 00:27:08.680 --> 00:27:10.399 and he hung on the gallows 00:27:10.399 --> 00:27:11.500 of our own making. 00:27:12.659 --> 00:27:13.659 After he was raised 00:27:13.659 --> 00:27:14.279 and ascended 00:27:14.279 --> 00:27:15.319 by his spirit, 00:27:15.919 --> 00:27:16.740 he's now present 00:27:16.740 --> 00:27:18.059 among his people, 00:27:18.779 --> 00:27:20.139 a group of repentant, 00:27:20.339 --> 00:27:21.259 recovering sinners, 00:27:21.960 --> 00:27:22.659 people like us. 00:27:23.299 --> 00:27:25.000 remade in his image, 00:27:25.399 --> 00:27:26.659 and called to bear 00:27:26.659 --> 00:27:28.220 his image in the world, 00:27:28.619 --> 00:27:29.460 in the broken world, 00:27:29.539 --> 00:27:30.119 to repair it. 00:27:30.740 --> 00:27:31.359 Let's pray. 00:27:35.599 --> 00:27:36.539 Father, I pray 00:27:36.539 --> 00:27:37.559 that we would not 00:27:37.559 --> 00:27:39.259 consider Christianity 00:27:39.259 --> 00:27:40.759 to be just a thing 00:27:40.759 --> 00:27:42.159 where we are made right 00:27:42.159 --> 00:27:43.279 with you. 00:27:44.879 --> 00:27:46.419 Help us to understand 00:27:46.419 --> 00:27:47.899 the fullness of the gospel, 00:27:48.059 --> 00:27:48.960 the fullness of what it means 00:27:48.960 --> 00:27:49.539 to be a Christian, 00:27:49.639 --> 00:27:50.879 to be made right with you, 00:27:50.880 --> 00:27:52.480 to be reconciled 00:27:52.480 --> 00:27:53.500 so that we can become 00:27:53.500 --> 00:27:54.420 reconcilers, 00:27:54.920 --> 00:27:55.940 that we can participate 00:27:55.940 --> 00:27:57.020 with you in the world 00:27:57.020 --> 00:27:58.320 to set the world to rights 00:27:58.320 --> 00:28:00.480 as we wait for you 00:28:00.480 --> 00:28:01.820 to come fully and finally 00:28:01.820 --> 00:28:03.840 to bring heaven to earth. 00:28:04.820 --> 00:28:06.740 Help us in this amazing adventure, 00:28:06.880 --> 00:28:07.860 this amazing task. 00:28:09.000 --> 00:28:09.760 Lord, have mercy. 00:28:09.760 --> 00:28:10.800 Amen. 00:28:10.799 --> 00:28:14.680 Let's sing the gospel. 00:28:14.680 --> 00:28:44.660 Thank you.