WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.620 Good morning. We continue this morning in the book of Esther. Now, I hadn't planned on doing 00:00:07.620 --> 00:00:12.620 this, but it just occurred to me, and this is a spoiler, that in the sermon and from the passage 00:00:12.620 --> 00:00:21.980 we heard in Esther, that God is often working unseen, unnoticed, unheard. And it occurred to me 00:00:21.980 --> 00:00:27.600 that our sound guys kind of demonstrate that. They kind of embody God for us. They embody Christ, 00:00:27.600 --> 00:00:32.079 you know? They work, but when everything is going wrong, and you don't know it, 00:00:32.300 --> 00:00:38.179 they are like delivering us, working behind the scenes, like making sure the sound 00:00:38.179 --> 00:00:48.359 runs great. So I really just want to thank Luke and Luke and Adam, Worthy, Roy, Kyle, for all they 00:00:48.359 --> 00:00:57.079 do for us and helping us worship. Can we thank them together? Yeah. Thank you. You have no idea 00:00:57.079 --> 00:01:02.219 how stressful it is, well, to be in exile as a church and to work with a sound system that's not 00:01:02.219 --> 00:01:11.539 ours. And they do a fantastic job. I'm really grateful, guys. So like I said, we're in the book 00:01:11.539 --> 00:01:19.700 of Esther. And this book has an important place in the lives of very many Jews. Every year and for the 00:01:19.700 --> 00:01:28.340 past 2,300 years, the Jewish people celebrate and have celebrated the Feast of Purim. The central 00:01:28.340 --> 00:01:35.240 activity of the feast is the reading of the scroll of Esther. And the celebration surrounding this 00:01:35.240 --> 00:01:42.520 reading is crazy. It's nuts. There's costumes, there's gift giving, music making, partying. 00:01:42.519 --> 00:01:49.519 There's noise making. There's noise making when Esther is read, and we'll be introduced to Haman in 00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:55.259 just a minute. But if you are following the reading, you can tell he's the antagonist in the story. 00:01:56.060 --> 00:02:01.599 When the name Haman is read, everyone has noisemakers and are like spinning them around. It's trying to 00:02:01.599 --> 00:02:08.599 blot out the name of Haman. It's really, you can watch it on YouTube if you like. It's in Hebrew, 00:02:08.599 --> 00:02:13.319 but you'll know when they hit the name of Haman, because that thing goes nuts. And there's a lot 00:02:13.319 --> 00:02:21.699 of drinking during the Feast of Purim. As a matter of fact, the Talmud, which is like the body of 00:02:21.699 --> 00:02:28.060 writings which make up the Jewish civil and ceremonial law, the Talmud goes so far as to state 00:02:28.060 --> 00:02:35.680 that a person is obligated to drink on Purim until he does not know the difference between 00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:44.659 cursed be Haman and blessed be Mordecai. It's, the whole thing is a burlesque. It's, 00:02:45.480 --> 00:02:53.760 I would love to experience it sometime. This kind of revelry seems dissonant, however, 00:02:53.760 --> 00:02:59.060 when we read about the mortal threat posed by the new figure in this story, Haman the Agagite. 00:02:59.060 --> 00:03:06.640 I mean, things are really bad. The Jewish people are exposed to the dangers of living in exile. 00:03:07.659 --> 00:03:14.560 So we're going to look this morning at the realities of exile and the response. So the 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:19.300 realities of exile and our response to those realities. Let me pray. 00:03:19.300 --> 00:03:29.680 I continue the prayer we prayed earlier, Lord. Good Lord, deliver us. 00:03:32.540 --> 00:03:35.720 And in this reading and studying of your word, give us hope. 00:03:40.640 --> 00:03:42.640 Open our eyes to your word. 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:47.339 Open your word to our eyes and ears. 00:03:48.439 --> 00:03:52.519 For your good, for our good, and for your glory. Amen. 00:03:54.099 --> 00:03:59.539 Well, let's first review the cast of characters from the first two chapters of Esther. Now there's 00:03:59.539 --> 00:04:07.379 King Ahasuerus. He's ruler of the Persian Empire. And he commands extraordinary wealth and countless 00:04:07.379 --> 00:04:13.359 people, except for one person. At the end of a lavish six-month party, when the king wants to 00:04:13.359 --> 00:04:19.360 display to the people and the nobles the beauty of his queen, Queen Vashti, she refuses. 00:04:20.300 --> 00:04:25.740 The king loses it and wants a new queen. And so we meet Esther. She's chosen to belong to a 00:04:25.740 --> 00:04:32.379 harem of virgins who are given a year of training, a year of training and beauty treatment that each 00:04:32.379 --> 00:04:36.959 virgin is given one night with the king. And whoever pleases him the most gets to become queen. 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:44.180 Esther does so. Queen Vashti is deposed and the crown is given to Esther. Now Esther, we learn, 00:04:44.239 --> 00:04:49.359 is an orphan and was raised by her uncle Mordecai. So there's four main characters so far. 00:04:51.159 --> 00:04:58.179 Raised by her uncle Mordecai, an official in the capital of Susa. Both Esther and Mordecai were Jewish, 00:04:58.359 --> 00:05:04.259 yet they hid their identities. At the end of chapter two, Mordecai uncovers a plot to assassinate King 00:05:04.259 --> 00:05:12.879 Ahasuerus. Though Mordecai's actions are recorded in the king's book of Annals, Mordecai's deeds go 00:05:12.879 --> 00:05:21.139 unnoticed, unheralded. And so we arrive at chapter three and are introduced to the antagonist of our 00:05:21.139 --> 00:05:28.839 story, Haman the Agagite. Now you probably don't know what an Agagite is. I didn't. So we need to go 00:05:28.839 --> 00:05:35.519 back in the story of Israel to when the Israelites escaped captivity from Egypt. We read an exodus of a 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:40.979 tribe called the Amalekites, who were the first to attack them, having fled Egypt. The Israelites 00:05:40.979 --> 00:05:46.620 prevailed and God told Moses, write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that 00:05:46.620 --> 00:05:51.959 Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. 00:05:51.959 --> 00:06:00.739 Centuries later, that job was given to Israel's first king. But instead of fully obeying God and 00:06:00.739 --> 00:06:07.099 executing his judgment, Israel's first king destroys only what was weak and despised. And he kept the 00:06:07.099 --> 00:06:16.240 great looking stuff for his people. And that would have been the king, King Agag, and all the lovely 00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:24.259 people and all the lovely livestock and such. And though the prophet Samuel executes Agag, we can 00:06:24.259 --> 00:06:31.420 assume that Agag's descendants survive. And now several centuries later, one of them is elevated 00:06:31.420 --> 00:06:36.759 to a seat of honor higher than of all the other nobles of the Persian empire. 00:06:38.819 --> 00:06:45.879 So do you see Amalekites? From them is descended Agag the king, and from Agag is descended Haman. 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:51.720 And if you were a Jew in the third century BC reading this book, you might suddenly hear ominous 00:06:51.720 --> 00:06:57.920 music in the background when you hear that Haman is an Agagite. Not unlike the music heard when in 00:06:57.920 --> 00:07:08.319 Star Wars episode one, the Jedi Council figured out that there is still a Sith. There's a Sith. And 00:07:08.319 --> 00:07:12.439 then when there's a Sith, there's two, right? So remember the ominous music? Like this is what 00:07:12.439 --> 00:07:21.019 a Jew in this time is like feeling and thinking. Probably. Kind of like that. If they're sci-fi fans. 00:07:23.060 --> 00:07:26.860 Well, it's that kind of moment, and there's a lesson in here for us, right? 00:07:26.860 --> 00:07:35.020 God gives us commands for our protection and our provision. And we might not understand his commands, 00:07:35.800 --> 00:07:43.740 but we trust and obey God. We trust him that they are for our good, not just for now, but for years 00:07:43.740 --> 00:07:51.379 in the future, or perhaps generations. Because Israel's first king didn't obey. Centuries later, 00:07:51.379 --> 00:07:57.500 the Jewish people will be threatened with total annihilation. And who was Israel's first king, by the way? 00:07:57.639 --> 00:08:05.040 His name was Saul. And Saul was a Benjaminite. And so was Mordecai. Mordecai is a distant relative of King Saul. 00:08:06.659 --> 00:08:12.240 And in the beginning of chapter three, about four years after Mordecai uncovered the plot to assassinate 00:08:12.240 --> 00:08:20.159 King Ahasuerus, when all the other officials bowed down to Haman, Mordecai refuses. And we're not sure why. 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:25.000 I mean, it would not be a commission of idolatry to bow down to Haman. Elsewhere in the Bible, 00:08:25.540 --> 00:08:31.480 we find people paying honor, showing honor to other people by bowing to them. It's not breaking a 00:08:31.480 --> 00:08:37.860 commandment. So does Mordecai refuse to bow to Haman because of the bad blood between their ancestors? 00:08:38.680 --> 00:08:48.139 Perhaps. Or perhaps Mordecai is resentful that having saved Ahasuerus' life, he wasn't given this 00:08:48.139 --> 00:08:53.039 prominent position, but it was Haman instead. Or perhaps Mordecai was just being a pompous jerk. 00:08:53.720 --> 00:09:00.039 Well, that sounds like me. I would relate to that. The book of Esther, though, is remarkably silent 00:09:00.039 --> 00:09:07.259 on its character's motives. So we don't know. But we do know that this gets Mordecai in trouble, 00:09:07.340 --> 00:09:13.279 whether it's his foolishness or his bravery. By this time, Mordecai has revealed that he is a Jew. 00:09:13.279 --> 00:09:21.240 So when Haman gets furious in typical book of Esther fashion, he goes way over the top and makes plans 00:09:21.240 --> 00:09:29.419 not just to destroy Mordecai, but all Jews in the Persian Empire. He uses his wealth to influence the 00:09:29.419 --> 00:09:36.480 king to make an edict, which is sent by couriers to all the king's provinces with the order to destroy, 00:09:36.480 --> 00:09:46.420 kill, and annihilate the Jews, young and old, women and little children, on a single day. 00:09:48.279 --> 00:09:54.519 Now, if you are paying attention, you may have noticed the language Haman used to describe the Jews. 00:09:54.519 --> 00:09:58.779 He said to the king, 00:09:58.899 --> 00:10:08.279 Did you hear that? It's like they've infiltrated. 00:10:08.740 --> 00:10:09.899 They already sound scary. 00:10:11.579 --> 00:10:15.059 Their laws are different from those of every other people, which is true. 00:10:16.120 --> 00:10:19.319 And they do not keep the king's laws, which is false. 00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:21.919 But that's believable because it's mixed with the truth. 00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:27.439 So that it's not to the king's profit to tolerate them. 00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:34.319 You know, it's the same language used of the Israelites by Pharaoh in Exodus chapter 1. 00:10:34.699 --> 00:10:35.240 Pharaoh said, 00:10:35.539 --> 00:10:36.799 The people of Israel are too many. 00:10:36.939 --> 00:10:38.959 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply. 00:10:39.360 --> 00:10:41.740 And if war breaks out, they join our enemies. 00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:44.879 Did you hear the commonality? 00:10:44.939 --> 00:10:47.620 There's a certain people scattered and dispersed. 00:10:47.740 --> 00:10:48.259 They're different. 00:10:48.360 --> 00:10:49.139 Let's deal with them. 00:10:49.779 --> 00:10:50.799 Lest they multiply. 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:58.120 Frankly, it's the same language that has been used by countless cultures, including our own, 00:10:58.939 --> 00:11:01.059 when there is a fear of minority cultures. 00:11:02.379 --> 00:11:06.479 Language that too often leads to oppression, dehumanization, and hatred. 00:11:06.480 --> 00:11:17.539 Lord, lead us to love and cherish and defend those around us who are different than us. 00:11:17.680 --> 00:11:18.860 Those who do not have a voice. 00:11:19.700 --> 00:11:21.940 Because they are made in your image. 00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:23.740 And you love them. 00:11:23.740 --> 00:11:34.519 When we read scripture, a common mistake people make is to read ourselves into every hero that scripture presents. 00:11:34.940 --> 00:11:37.139 Or to make moral examples of its heroes. 00:11:38.680 --> 00:11:40.740 David was brave, so we should be brave too. 00:11:43.019 --> 00:11:45.960 Joseph was obedient, so we should be obedient too. 00:11:46.200 --> 00:11:46.320 Right? 00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:49.440 Moses was a pretty good leader, so I should be a pretty good leader too. 00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:53.660 Well, there's two major problems with this approach. 00:11:53.860 --> 00:11:56.400 First, the Bible's heroes aren't terribly heroic. 00:11:56.900 --> 00:11:57.960 They're quite the opposite. 00:11:58.900 --> 00:12:01.200 And they're usually not very good moral examples. 00:12:01.360 --> 00:12:02.700 They are very flawed and sinful. 00:12:05.400 --> 00:12:08.900 I mean, do you want to be like David who used his power to sexually coerce his friend's wife, 00:12:08.980 --> 00:12:11.800 get her pregnant, and try to cover it up by having her husband killed and marrying her right away? 00:12:11.860 --> 00:12:12.900 This is not what we want to emulate. 00:12:12.899 --> 00:12:15.860 This is not how the Bible presents its characters. 00:12:16.019 --> 00:12:18.659 Not as figures to emulate. 00:12:19.340 --> 00:12:19.519 Okay? 00:12:20.019 --> 00:12:25.019 The other problem with reading ourselves into the Bible's heroes is the assumption that the Bible is about us. 00:12:25.079 --> 00:12:25.759 But it's not. 00:12:25.980 --> 00:12:27.019 The Bible's not about us. 00:12:27.100 --> 00:12:30.139 The Bible's about God and his glory. 00:12:31.779 --> 00:12:37.139 It's about his plan to rescue a people for himself and to renew and restore a broken world. 00:12:37.199 --> 00:12:38.480 A world broken by our sin. 00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:44.519 So I can still read myself into the book of Esther. 00:12:46.460 --> 00:12:49.920 Not the best choice to read myself into Mordecai nor Esther. 00:12:51.360 --> 00:12:52.659 Who am I in the book of Esther? 00:12:52.879 --> 00:12:57.080 I'm probably just one of the unnamed Jews in exile. 00:12:58.480 --> 00:13:01.320 The disobedience of my people have put me here in exile, 00:13:01.500 --> 00:13:07.259 and I am powerless to rescue myself from mortal danger caused by miles away by wealthy, powerful people. 00:13:07.259 --> 00:13:13.819 The disobedience of the human race has exiled us all from paradise, from the Garden of Eden. 00:13:14.319 --> 00:13:19.460 And now we are subject to the mortal dangers of sin, of brokenness, of injustice, 00:13:19.460 --> 00:13:22.299 and we are powerless to lift ourselves out of our condition. 00:13:22.759 --> 00:13:25.500 Now for many of you, that's where it feels like you are. 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:26.980 You are in Esther chapter 3. 00:13:27.620 --> 00:13:27.740 Right? 00:13:27.740 --> 00:13:34.960 In Eden, we were meant to work and have a calling, but your job sucks. 00:13:36.039 --> 00:13:38.240 You have a boss that has treated you unfairly. 00:13:38.759 --> 00:13:40.240 Co-workers have betrayed you. 00:13:40.519 --> 00:13:42.879 Your responsibilities are tedious and frustrating. 00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:45.320 Every day at work, a piece of your soul dies. 00:13:45.320 --> 00:13:49.840 This is Esther chapter 3. 00:13:50.280 --> 00:13:54.780 In Eden, we were meant to be whole persons. 00:13:56.379 --> 00:14:04.500 But you feel like you're held hostage to addiction, to mental illness, to physical illness, to loneliness. 00:14:04.500 --> 00:14:10.679 From Eden, we were meant to multiply and fill the earth, 00:14:10.759 --> 00:14:15.879 and yet you can't join in that mandate due to infertility and every day you feel the loss. 00:14:17.340 --> 00:14:20.700 Or you have adult children who have walked away from the faith. 00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:26.720 You worked so hard to instill in them because you wanted them to be image bearers. 00:14:26.720 --> 00:14:29.379 But they have walked away. 00:14:30.360 --> 00:14:31.440 Now you feel like a failure. 00:14:35.879 --> 00:14:38.220 Eden was supposed to be a place of safety. 00:14:40.680 --> 00:14:42.540 Where no harm could reach us. 00:14:44.379 --> 00:14:45.620 But harm reached you. 00:14:45.720 --> 00:14:46.540 You've been abused. 00:14:47.639 --> 00:14:52.940 And every night is a struggle to go to sleep because you can't forget the sound of those footsteps coming down the hall when you're a child. 00:14:52.940 --> 00:14:58.720 Eden was to be a place of shalom. 00:14:59.840 --> 00:15:07.820 Where the fabric of our relationships and communities and society was to be characterized by peace and mutual self-giving and justice. 00:15:08.020 --> 00:15:13.460 Yet you look around and you are overwhelmed by the injustice that pervades society. 00:15:14.140 --> 00:15:16.860 And you're desperate, wondering if it will ever end. 00:15:17.620 --> 00:15:21.820 I mean, less than two weeks ago, after the conclusion of the trial for the murder of Botham Jean, 00:15:22.940 --> 00:15:28.560 in Dallas, another African-American, 28-year-old, a Tatiana Jefferson. 00:15:29.340 --> 00:15:30.240 This was last night. 00:15:31.500 --> 00:15:32.480 Two nights ago. 00:15:32.900 --> 00:15:37.260 Was shot and killed by a police officer standing in her own house in neighboring Fort Worth. 00:15:37.340 --> 00:15:40.520 Just moments after playing video games with her nephew. 00:15:40.840 --> 00:15:41.920 We are in exile. 00:15:43.620 --> 00:15:44.660 This is not Eden. 00:15:46.520 --> 00:15:47.480 You feel it. 00:15:47.560 --> 00:15:48.000 You know it. 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:51.259 We are in Esther chapter 3. 00:15:52.080 --> 00:15:55.179 And right now, for many of us, that's where it seems the story ends. 00:16:00.899 --> 00:16:01.860 One more point. 00:16:01.940 --> 00:16:03.860 We belong to a worldwide family. 00:16:05.159 --> 00:16:06.279 That's in exile. 00:16:06.899 --> 00:16:10.399 Who face the literal dangers of Esther chapter 3. 00:16:10.399 --> 00:16:15.360 Because they belong to Jesus, they face opposition, violence, and other threats. 00:16:15.659 --> 00:16:17.259 These are our brothers and sisters. 00:16:17.939 --> 00:16:21.860 In June, authorities in a Laotian village threatened a local pastor in Gunpoint, 00:16:22.319 --> 00:16:25.199 insisting that he and his congregation renounce their faith, 00:16:25.659 --> 00:16:28.639 and that he sign a document agreeing to seize worship in his home. 00:16:28.860 --> 00:16:33.340 On July 12, 2019, a demolition crew hired by local authorities 00:16:33.340 --> 00:16:37.279 surrounded a house church in Zhengzhou, Hinan province in China, 00:16:37.279 --> 00:16:38.759 in order to demolish it. 00:16:39.279 --> 00:16:40.379 During a scuffle with the work crew, 00:16:40.480 --> 00:16:43.139 a Christian man who was at the house church with his wife 00:16:43.139 --> 00:16:47.059 was severely beaten, suffering three severed tendons in his wrist. 00:16:47.459 --> 00:16:49.439 On Easter Sunday, do you remember this? 00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:52.819 On Easter Sunday, attacks on churches in Sri Lanka 00:16:52.819 --> 00:16:56.379 left 250 dead and 500 wounded. 00:16:57.100 --> 00:17:00.639 On the same Easter day, this year, in a different country, 00:17:00.779 --> 00:17:03.579 a Christian congregation held a fire trail. 00:17:04.119 --> 00:17:06.559 Elderly members in their beautiful Easter Sunday clothes 00:17:06.559 --> 00:17:08.240 had to cross busy streets, 00:17:08.240 --> 00:17:11.220 but it was worth the practice and precaution 00:17:11.220 --> 00:17:14.539 due to their country's history of attacks on churches. 00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:19.319 That would have been Canaan Baptist Church in Columbia Heights. 00:17:19.720 --> 00:17:21.919 We were going to worship there that very evening. 00:17:23.240 --> 00:17:26.179 And I only know this because I stopped by there 00:17:26.179 --> 00:17:27.319 to grab a piece of equipment 00:17:27.319 --> 00:17:30.259 for us to use Easter morning at Luke Seymour High School. 00:17:30.259 --> 00:17:35.220 And I saw people filing out of the church 00:17:35.220 --> 00:17:36.519 wondering what is going on. 00:17:36.619 --> 00:17:37.980 And I learned it's a fire drill. 00:17:38.220 --> 00:17:42.240 And I thought, oh, that's a funny thing to do on Easter Sunday. 00:17:42.960 --> 00:17:45.420 You know, that's not very seeker sensitive. 00:17:45.420 --> 00:17:53.080 You know, what a pompous ass I was in that moment. 00:17:53.080 --> 00:17:56.180 On top of the long, ugly history of attacks 00:17:56.180 --> 00:17:57.759 on black churches in our country, 00:17:57.960 --> 00:17:59.759 there had just been three arson attacks 00:17:59.759 --> 00:18:02.000 in the three weeks leading up to Easter. 00:18:02.360 --> 00:18:06.580 This year, 2019, of course they're going to have a fire drill. 00:18:06.700 --> 00:18:07.600 We're in exile. 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:14.819 So what should be our response? 00:18:16.399 --> 00:18:19.740 When the realities of exile hit home, what do we do? 00:18:23.119 --> 00:18:25.099 Well, the first is to acknowledge it. 00:18:26.839 --> 00:18:29.539 Acknowledge the realities of exile. 00:18:29.759 --> 00:18:34.139 Acknowledge how bad it is and listen to your emotions. 00:18:34.140 --> 00:18:39.700 Listen to the sadness, the frustration, and the grief. 00:18:40.700 --> 00:18:41.820 Pause and listen. 00:18:42.680 --> 00:18:44.140 Because the temptation is to think 00:18:44.140 --> 00:18:46.500 we need to immediately change those bad emotions 00:18:46.500 --> 00:18:48.140 from negative to positive. 00:18:48.540 --> 00:18:49.700 We look for the right technique 00:18:49.700 --> 00:18:51.560 or the right steps to do so, right? 00:18:52.360 --> 00:18:53.740 But as Dan Allender writes, 00:18:54.220 --> 00:18:57.120 rather than focusing on trying to change our emotions, 00:18:57.740 --> 00:19:00.200 we are wiser first to listen to them. 00:19:00.720 --> 00:19:02.700 They are a voice that can tell us 00:19:02.700 --> 00:19:05.259 how we are dealing with a fallen world, 00:19:05.960 --> 00:19:06.880 hurtful people, 00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:08.600 and a quizzical God 00:19:08.600 --> 00:19:11.559 who seldom seems to be or do what we expect of him. 00:19:13.059 --> 00:19:14.840 Our emotions reveal something 00:19:14.840 --> 00:19:16.660 about how we are dealing with God. 00:19:17.740 --> 00:19:18.960 How we're dealing with God. 00:19:19.039 --> 00:19:20.960 In other words, this emotion, 00:19:21.500 --> 00:19:23.039 it's either taking me toward God 00:19:23.039 --> 00:19:25.120 or away from him, right? 00:19:25.640 --> 00:19:27.240 Is it leading me away from God 00:19:27.240 --> 00:19:30.059 into independence and idolatry? 00:19:30.059 --> 00:19:32.240 Or is it leading me toward God, 00:19:32.399 --> 00:19:33.899 into God, into awe, 00:19:34.679 --> 00:19:35.679 into dependence, 00:19:36.480 --> 00:19:37.679 and ultimately gratitude? 00:19:40.319 --> 00:19:42.039 Hear what the Jews do 00:19:42.039 --> 00:19:44.679 in chapter 4 of Esther, verse 3. 00:19:45.240 --> 00:19:46.379 In every province, 00:19:46.579 --> 00:19:47.839 wherever the king's command 00:19:47.839 --> 00:19:48.859 and his decree reached, 00:19:49.179 --> 00:19:51.700 there was great mourning among the Jews 00:19:51.700 --> 00:19:54.819 with fasting and weeping and lamenting. 00:19:54.819 --> 00:20:00.980 We have songs and prayers in the Bible 00:20:00.980 --> 00:20:02.679 that teach us how to do this. 00:20:03.899 --> 00:20:06.339 We can call them the psalms of lament. 00:20:07.019 --> 00:20:08.019 Walter Brueggemann calls them 00:20:08.019 --> 00:20:10.000 the psalms of disorientation. 00:20:11.960 --> 00:20:14.299 They help us make this journey 00:20:14.299 --> 00:20:15.819 from listening to our emotions 00:20:15.819 --> 00:20:17.220 into the very heart of God. 00:20:17.220 --> 00:20:20.799 In her book, Broken Halleluias, 00:20:21.220 --> 00:20:24.100 Beth Allen Slevkov recounts her experiences 00:20:24.100 --> 00:20:25.839 with her own illness 00:20:25.839 --> 00:20:27.740 and with that of her husband's 00:20:27.740 --> 00:20:29.240 and then with infertility 00:20:29.240 --> 00:20:31.299 and then with the death of her brother. 00:20:32.860 --> 00:20:33.839 And she writes, 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:36.079 As I read the psalms, 00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:40.039 I discovered my journey 00:20:40.039 --> 00:20:41.419 of childlike belief 00:20:41.419 --> 00:20:43.159 and the loss of some of that belief 00:20:43.159 --> 00:20:45.939 is not a journey of moving away from God, 00:20:46.039 --> 00:20:48.399 but part of the journey all of us are on 00:20:48.399 --> 00:20:50.819 who seek to honestly engage with God 00:20:50.819 --> 00:20:51.679 throughout a lifetime. 00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:55.519 The lament are the prayers offered 00:20:55.519 --> 00:20:57.240 after the chair's been pulled out 00:20:57.240 --> 00:20:58.759 from under the people of God. 00:20:59.159 --> 00:21:01.619 They are the where are you God psalms. 00:21:01.779 --> 00:21:03.699 They are the why aren't you protecting 00:21:03.700 --> 00:21:06.340 and providing for us psalms. 00:21:07.000 --> 00:21:08.740 Aren't we God's chosen people? 00:21:09.140 --> 00:21:10.880 Didn't God say he would protect us? 00:21:11.259 --> 00:21:12.880 The psalms of lament teach us 00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:14.600 how to pray in the dark. 00:21:15.380 --> 00:21:17.220 They help me see that God is bigger 00:21:17.220 --> 00:21:20.120 than both my current felt experience of God 00:21:20.120 --> 00:21:21.779 and my past assumptions. 00:21:22.600 --> 00:21:24.819 Reading the psalms might even lead me 00:21:24.819 --> 00:21:26.480 to believe that if I don't come up 00:21:26.480 --> 00:21:28.180 against some serious loss of faith 00:21:28.180 --> 00:21:29.039 from time to time, 00:21:29.039 --> 00:21:32.680 I might be carrying around a very small God. 00:21:33.700 --> 00:21:38.799 Did you hear how lament moves us into worship, 00:21:39.100 --> 00:21:41.840 into new theological insights and conclusions? 00:21:42.519 --> 00:21:44.960 And that in turn leads us into mission. 00:21:46.319 --> 00:21:48.100 Sung Chan Ra writes, 00:21:48.099 --> 00:21:52.399 Lament recognizes the struggles of life 00:21:52.399 --> 00:21:54.639 and cries out for justice 00:21:54.639 --> 00:21:56.659 against existing injustices. 00:21:57.219 --> 00:21:59.480 The status quo is not to be celebrated, 00:21:59.899 --> 00:22:01.459 but instead must be challenged. 00:22:01.460 --> 00:22:07.660 So if you've never prayed a psalm of lament 00:22:07.660 --> 00:22:09.779 or knew you were praying a psalm of lament 00:22:09.779 --> 00:22:11.519 or know what one was, 00:22:11.640 --> 00:22:12.539 how do you do that? 00:22:12.579 --> 00:22:14.740 Well, there's psalms of lament in the Bible. 00:22:15.460 --> 00:22:19.960 There are psalms 10, 13, 22, 35, 43, 44. 00:22:20.059 --> 00:22:23.420 You can Google psalms of lament and find those. 00:22:23.420 --> 00:22:26.759 And you can use them as a template 00:22:26.759 --> 00:22:28.920 to compose your own prayer of lament. 00:22:30.880 --> 00:22:33.600 So listen to a loss that is inside of you, 00:22:34.440 --> 00:22:36.820 wanting some acknowledgement, 00:22:37.980 --> 00:22:42.460 and then pour out your honest, raw emotions to God. 00:22:42.580 --> 00:22:44.759 Try not to edit them or judge them. 00:22:45.060 --> 00:22:45.800 Just pour them out. 00:22:46.140 --> 00:22:47.080 Whatever comes to mind. 00:22:47.840 --> 00:22:50.180 You know, I'm reminded of a song by Bruce Coburn 00:22:50.180 --> 00:22:52.600 when he saw injustice in Central America. 00:22:53.340 --> 00:22:54.019 The refrain is, 00:22:54.920 --> 00:22:56.120 if I had a rocket launcher. 00:22:56.600 --> 00:22:58.180 God, if I had a rocket launcher. 00:23:01.279 --> 00:23:02.320 It's a cry. 00:23:03.080 --> 00:23:05.340 You're letting God know how you feel. 00:23:06.620 --> 00:23:09.539 Then ask God to act decisively, 00:23:09.779 --> 00:23:11.460 to do something decisively. 00:23:11.660 --> 00:23:12.820 Act, God. 00:23:12.900 --> 00:23:13.539 Wake up. 00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:15.880 Come. 00:23:16.940 --> 00:23:17.480 Hear me. 00:23:19.080 --> 00:23:19.740 Help me. 00:23:20.180 --> 00:23:25.160 And then remember how God has been with you in the past. 00:23:27.799 --> 00:23:29.980 Remember how God has been with you in the past. 00:23:30.680 --> 00:23:32.640 This leads us to our second response. 00:23:33.340 --> 00:23:33.500 All right? 00:23:33.539 --> 00:23:36.420 Our first response to the realities of exile, 00:23:37.160 --> 00:23:39.759 to acknowledge the brokenness in the world 00:23:39.759 --> 00:23:40.660 and to lament that. 00:23:41.000 --> 00:23:42.060 The second response, 00:23:43.259 --> 00:23:47.320 it's to remember God being with us in the past. 00:23:47.319 --> 00:23:52.599 Chapter 3 would teach us to remember 00:23:52.599 --> 00:23:54.200 that when all seems hopeless, 00:23:54.740 --> 00:23:55.579 God is there. 00:23:56.619 --> 00:23:59.059 You may remember Tommy telling us two weeks ago 00:23:59.059 --> 00:24:01.200 that God is nowhere mentioned in the book of Esther. 00:24:02.539 --> 00:24:03.599 And because of this, 00:24:03.659 --> 00:24:05.019 the book of Esther is most, 00:24:05.240 --> 00:24:07.859 it most closely approximates 00:24:07.859 --> 00:24:10.700 our own lived experiences in this world, 00:24:10.779 --> 00:24:11.779 with our faith, 00:24:11.859 --> 00:24:12.519 with God. 00:24:12.519 --> 00:24:14.639 But in this book, 00:24:14.720 --> 00:24:16.859 the longer he remains unmentioned, 00:24:17.019 --> 00:24:18.400 the larger he looms. 00:24:19.319 --> 00:24:19.460 Now, 00:24:19.480 --> 00:24:21.240 earlier I mentioned that the scroll of Esther 00:24:21.240 --> 00:24:23.240 is read during the Feast of Purim. 00:24:23.680 --> 00:24:24.960 Purim comes from the word, 00:24:25.400 --> 00:24:26.420 the Persian word, 00:24:26.940 --> 00:24:27.160 poor, 00:24:27.299 --> 00:24:28.019 P-U-R. 00:24:28.379 --> 00:24:30.339 And it appears in chapter 3, 00:24:30.599 --> 00:24:31.339 verse 7. 00:24:31.339 --> 00:24:35.220 Haman determines the day of the Jews' destruction 00:24:35.220 --> 00:24:36.679 by casting poor, 00:24:36.759 --> 00:24:37.859 by casting lots, 00:24:38.779 --> 00:24:39.740 rolling the dice. 00:24:40.059 --> 00:24:41.179 And through the rolling of the dice, 00:24:41.399 --> 00:24:44.339 the day of the Jews' annihilation 00:24:44.339 --> 00:24:46.000 was delayed for 12 months. 00:24:48.559 --> 00:24:48.799 You see, 00:24:48.859 --> 00:24:50.579 when God appears to be absent, 00:24:50.720 --> 00:24:53.179 he is working through what appears to be luck, 00:24:53.480 --> 00:24:53.859 coincidence, 00:24:54.220 --> 00:24:54.439 fate, 00:24:54.699 --> 00:24:55.039 chance, 00:24:55.039 --> 00:24:57.659 or the misuse of the free will of human beings. 00:24:58.059 --> 00:24:59.699 But he is always present, 00:24:59.700 --> 00:25:02.039 suffering alongside of us, 00:25:02.580 --> 00:25:04.600 working things to our good. 00:25:09.200 --> 00:25:09.799 Now, 00:25:09.840 --> 00:25:10.140 ultimately, 00:25:10.360 --> 00:25:11.840 our exile from Eden 00:25:11.840 --> 00:25:13.960 is a bondage 00:25:13.960 --> 00:25:14.880 to sin 00:25:14.880 --> 00:25:15.799 and death. 00:25:18.759 --> 00:25:19.880 But God proves 00:25:19.880 --> 00:25:20.860 he is active 00:25:20.860 --> 00:25:22.580 in providing for us 00:25:22.580 --> 00:25:24.039 a means of rescue 00:25:24.039 --> 00:25:25.039 from exile 00:25:25.039 --> 00:25:27.259 before we are even aware 00:25:27.259 --> 00:25:27.799 of our need, 00:25:28.240 --> 00:25:29.500 before we're even aware 00:25:29.500 --> 00:25:30.980 God's there, 00:25:31.099 --> 00:25:31.400 acting. 00:25:31.859 --> 00:25:33.000 In Romans chapter 5, 00:25:33.259 --> 00:25:35.000 we read that God shows his love 00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:35.940 for us in this, 00:25:36.259 --> 00:25:37.660 that while we were still sinners, 00:25:37.799 --> 00:25:39.000 Christ died for us. 00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:41.240 That's ultimately how we know. 00:25:41.299 --> 00:25:42.079 Look at the cross. 00:25:43.960 --> 00:25:45.500 Jesus triumphed over sin 00:25:45.500 --> 00:25:46.740 on the cross. 00:25:47.000 --> 00:25:47.759 In Christ, 00:25:47.880 --> 00:25:48.680 we are no longer 00:25:48.680 --> 00:25:50.240 slaves to sin. 00:25:50.660 --> 00:25:52.720 Our sins are blotted out 00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:54.660 and with salvation 00:25:54.660 --> 00:25:54.819 comes healing, 00:26:10.759 --> 00:26:11.440 you know, 00:26:11.880 --> 00:26:13.120 there is more healing 00:26:13.120 --> 00:26:13.480 in your relationships. 00:26:13.480 --> 00:26:13.740 There is more healing 00:26:13.740 --> 00:26:14.440 for you, 00:26:14.779 --> 00:26:15.579 your nation. 00:26:17.220 --> 00:26:18.240 There's more healing 00:26:18.240 --> 00:26:18.680 for you. 00:26:18.680 --> 00:26:25.200 and there's more freedom available to you now 00:26:25.200 --> 00:26:27.080 freedom from shame 00:26:27.080 --> 00:26:29.140 freedom from fear 00:26:29.140 --> 00:26:32.279 now it's because you belong to a kingdom 00:26:32.279 --> 00:26:33.259 you're in exile 00:26:33.259 --> 00:26:37.039 but you have been rescued and delivered into a kingdom 00:26:37.039 --> 00:26:40.000 ruled by the one who rules and made the universe 00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:45.000 in his resurrection from the dead 00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:47.480 Jesus destroys death 00:26:47.480 --> 00:26:50.120 because of Christ's resurrection 00:26:50.120 --> 00:26:52.140 we look forward to our own resurrection 00:26:52.140 --> 00:26:54.680 when we'll have an eternal feast 00:26:54.680 --> 00:26:56.539 a wedding celebration 00:26:56.539 --> 00:27:00.059 celebrating our deliverance in a world made new 00:27:00.059 --> 00:27:03.420 in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit 00:27:03.420 --> 00:27:04.339 Amen 00:27:04.339 --> 00:27:05.380 let's pray 00:27:05.380 --> 00:27:15.339 Almighty God we long to see you 00:27:15.339 --> 00:27:20.079 Almighty God we long to hear from you 00:27:20.079 --> 00:27:23.500 it is indeed 00:27:23.500 --> 00:27:28.220 most of our experience that you seem silent to us or absent 00:27:29.980 --> 00:27:34.299 thank you Lord for being here in this meal that we're about to share 00:27:34.299 --> 00:27:37.039 you are truly here 00:27:37.039 --> 00:27:41.379 so in this bread and in this wine 00:27:41.379 --> 00:27:42.720 speak to us 00:27:42.720 --> 00:27:43.440 assure us 00:27:43.440 --> 00:27:44.259 comfort us 00:27:44.259 --> 00:27:46.940 show us the hope that we have 00:27:46.940 --> 00:27:51.279 in this bread and this wine 00:27:51.279 --> 00:27:52.139 heal us 00:27:52.139 --> 00:27:57.359 thank you for always being with us 00:27:57.359 --> 00:28:00.839 we pray in Jesus name 00:28:00.839 --> 00:28:01.679 Amen 00:28:01.679 --> 00:28:03.859 now I'd like us to rise 00:28:03.859 --> 00:28:05.519 thank you 00:28:05.519 --> 00:28:09.659 thank you 00:28:09.659 --> 00:28:11.159 thank you 00:28:11.159 --> 00:28:13.159 we pray in Jesus 00:28:13.159 --> 00:28:13.839 our family 00:28:13.839 --> 00:28:14.359 our friends 00:28:14.359 --> 00:28:14.579 thank you 00:28:14.579 --> 00:28:14.599 thank you 00:28:14.599 --> 00:28:15.479 our family 00:28:15.479 --> 00:28:16.859 our son was 00:28:16.859 --> 00:28:20.779 we're still here in this 00:28:20.779 --> 00:28:21.500 our family 00:28:21.500 --> 00:28:24.099 our father and if our father know who 00:28:24.099 --> 00:28:24.779 our police 00:28:24.779 --> 00:28:25.319 key 00:28:25.319 --> 00:28:26.539 our parents 00:28:26.539 --> 00:28:27.819 believe me 00:28:27.819 --> 00:28:28.899 our parents 00:28:28.899 --> 00:28:29.979 know our families 00:28:29.979 --> 00:28:30.619 and everybody 00:28:30.619 --> 00:28:30.919 thank you 00:28:30.919 --> 00:28:31.419 thank you 00:28:31.419 --> 00:28:31.679 thank you 00:28:31.679 --> 00:28:32.399 john