WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.419 During my 20s, I was living in Boston. 00:00:05.160 --> 00:00:10.820 I had just finished grad school and desperately needed to pay bills and start repaying school loans, 00:00:11.240 --> 00:00:15.560 and so I really needed a job, and ideally I wanted a job as a counselor. 00:00:16.039 --> 00:00:17.420 That's what my training was in. 00:00:17.420 --> 00:00:26.699 And so I was looking for jobs and interviewing, and I interviewed and finally got an opportunity to come work at this one clinic just north of the city. 00:00:26.699 --> 00:00:31.919 But one of the things I learned pretty quickly after starting work there is that this clinic, 00:00:32.019 --> 00:00:35.280 and in particular a number of other clinicians who worked at this clinic, 00:00:36.100 --> 00:00:40.439 it was pretty biased against what they called born-agains. 00:00:41.519 --> 00:00:50.739 And according to them, a born-again was a Christian who actually believed in Jesus as being a real person, 00:00:50.939 --> 00:00:55.840 who really died on a cross for sin, who really rose from death and all of that. 00:00:55.840 --> 00:01:00.540 And there was a pretty strong kind of open bias against born-agains. 00:01:01.160 --> 00:01:05.859 And I picked up on this pretty quickly, and being the new guy and the low man on the totem pole, 00:01:06.020 --> 00:01:12.600 I just sort of flew under the radar for a while, and people knew I had a seminary in my background and all of that, 00:01:12.659 --> 00:01:14.340 but I just kind of hoped it didn't come up. 00:01:15.480 --> 00:01:22.040 And so some time passed, and I started to make friends and started to, you know, build a little credibility as a new clinician. 00:01:22.040 --> 00:01:30.100 And I had lunch with one of the other clinicians, and this woman I knew was particularly hostile toward born-agains. 00:01:30.780 --> 00:01:34.219 And we're sitting there talking about something, and all of a sudden, just in the middle of the lunch, 00:01:34.280 --> 00:01:38.200 with no warning whatsoever, she just sort of stops eating and looks at me and says, 00:01:38.439 --> 00:01:39.760 So you're a Christian? 00:01:40.780 --> 00:01:42.780 And I said, Yeah. 00:01:43.080 --> 00:01:44.380 And I almost choked, you know. 00:01:44.379 --> 00:01:48.359 And she said, Well, what does that mean? 00:01:49.739 --> 00:01:50.659 And I said, What do you mean? 00:01:50.719 --> 00:01:52.739 And she goes, Well, what kind of Christian are you? 00:01:53.799 --> 00:01:55.119 What do you actually believe? 00:01:56.519 --> 00:01:58.439 And it was this golden moment. 00:01:58.979 --> 00:02:02.280 You know, it's the kind of moment that comes along once or twice in a lifetime, 00:02:02.280 --> 00:02:05.979 where somebody just sort of opens up and says, Okay, hit me. 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:09.460 You know, what's the gospel all about? 00:02:09.780 --> 00:02:11.859 You know, why do you follow Jesus? 00:02:11.860 --> 00:02:12.860 Why do you follow Jesus? 00:02:13.720 --> 00:02:15.200 But I demurred. 00:02:16.340 --> 00:02:22.420 I mumbled some kind of non-answer, looked down, concentrated very hard on the sandwich I was eating, 00:02:22.780 --> 00:02:24.300 and changed the subject. 00:02:25.260 --> 00:02:27.320 Because in that moment, I was afraid. 00:02:27.400 --> 00:02:31.660 I was afraid that if I really admitted what I believed, I would lose her respect. 00:02:31.880 --> 00:02:36.080 And she was one of the most respected therapists in the clinic. 00:02:36.280 --> 00:02:39.220 She was very much my senior in terms of experience, 00:02:39.219 --> 00:02:43.699 and I was simply afraid of losing face. 00:02:44.759 --> 00:02:47.819 And I went home that night, and I was just filled with shame. 00:02:48.960 --> 00:02:53.840 And I thought, You know, that's the kind of opportunity that comes along once or twice ever. 00:02:53.840 --> 00:03:01.620 God really probably wanted to use me in that moment, use me in that woman's life, and I blew it. 00:03:02.379 --> 00:03:03.360 I sold out. 00:03:04.319 --> 00:03:07.800 And, you know, that was my chance. 00:03:08.659 --> 00:03:11.599 And I don't know if, you know, some of you here who are Christians, 00:03:11.699 --> 00:03:16.439 I don't know if you've ever had an experience like that or feel like that where you work 00:03:16.439 --> 00:03:22.079 or feel like that around the people that you live next to or your college friends. 00:03:22.139 --> 00:03:24.259 I don't know if you can identify with that, 00:03:24.359 --> 00:03:29.819 but that experience is one of the reasons I'm so glad the book of Esther is included in the Scripture. 00:03:30.780 --> 00:03:34.979 Because Esther's an amazing character in an amazing story. 00:03:34.979 --> 00:03:41.579 It's this story about this beautiful young woman who is essentially forced into a beauty contest. 00:03:42.679 --> 00:03:45.639 And then against all odds, she wins the beauty contest. 00:03:45.859 --> 00:03:49.539 And then she gains the favor of the king after sleeping with him. 00:03:49.959 --> 00:03:54.839 And then against all odds, she rises to the height of power in the Persian Empire. 00:03:55.000 --> 00:03:56.739 It's this amazing ascent to power. 00:03:57.039 --> 00:04:00.899 She's at the very center of culture and influence and power. 00:04:00.900 --> 00:04:03.719 But there's a problem. 00:04:05.480 --> 00:04:09.620 And Karen Jobes, the commentator, points this out in her commentary. 00:04:09.980 --> 00:04:13.280 She says, you know, kind of Esther gets it from both sides. 00:04:13.780 --> 00:04:23.280 People on the left criticize Esther because she was too compliant with the patriarchy of the Persian Empire. 00:04:23.480 --> 00:04:28.620 She didn't stand up for herself when she was forced into this beauty contest, 00:04:28.620 --> 00:04:30.639 when they tried to force her to sleep with the king. 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:36.919 She didn't start a Me Too movement and stand up for the rights of women throughout the Persian Empire like her predecessor did. 00:04:37.879 --> 00:04:39.199 She capitulated. 00:04:40.180 --> 00:04:40.339 Right? 00:04:40.419 --> 00:04:43.079 And some might argue she slept her way to the top. 00:04:44.060 --> 00:04:50.180 But then people on the right criticize Esther because she didn't stand up for her faith. 00:04:51.479 --> 00:04:51.959 Right? 00:04:52.060 --> 00:04:54.680 She's the only character in the book who has two names. 00:04:54.680 --> 00:04:58.219 And up to this point, she's concealed her Jewish identity. 00:04:58.579 --> 00:05:00.180 She's concealed her Jewish faith. 00:05:00.180 --> 00:05:01.860 And she's lived as a Persian. 00:05:02.079 --> 00:05:03.759 She's taken a Persian name. 00:05:03.819 --> 00:05:07.560 And we can assume she's taken on Persian lifestyle habits. 00:05:09.019 --> 00:05:12.079 And so people on the right say she's compromised her faith. 00:05:12.180 --> 00:05:13.600 She's compromised her morals. 00:05:13.740 --> 00:05:15.259 She's compromised her values. 00:05:15.960 --> 00:05:21.600 And so it's very easy from multiple vantage points to make the case that Esther is a sellout. 00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:27.640 And if God wanted to use Esther, he, by this point, has probably given up. 00:05:28.460 --> 00:05:30.760 Because it's obvious she's not going to stand for anything. 00:05:32.379 --> 00:05:38.020 And so you look at a story like this and it sort of begs the question, has Esther sold out? 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:40.760 And if so, can God still use her? 00:05:40.759 --> 00:05:56.139 More broadly, can God use people who have compromised in their faith, who have compromised in their morals or ethics or values? 00:05:56.240 --> 00:05:57.980 Can God use people like that? 00:05:58.740 --> 00:06:00.319 Can God use people like me? 00:06:00.319 --> 00:06:01.319 Can God use people like me? 00:06:01.319 --> 00:06:02.319 Can God use people like me? 00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:07.839 All of this comes to a head in Esther chapter 4 when three major things happen. 00:06:08.480 --> 00:06:10.139 A crisis becomes real. 00:06:11.099 --> 00:06:13.060 A choice becomes necessary. 00:06:13.060 --> 00:06:15.800 And then a girl becomes queen. 00:06:16.600 --> 00:06:18.759 So let's pray and we'll look at this story together. 00:06:20.199 --> 00:06:21.720 Lord, we thank you for your word. 00:06:21.879 --> 00:06:23.759 We thank you for these stories. 00:06:24.120 --> 00:06:27.879 And it would be so tempting to look at them as these kind of ancient fairy tales. 00:06:28.579 --> 00:06:38.100 But we know that there's a great cosmic intentionality behind your word, behind every letter. 00:06:38.100 --> 00:06:44.439 We know that there's a reason that you've given us this account of Esther's life. 00:06:45.320 --> 00:06:49.780 And we pray that you would use it for whatever purposes you intend this morning, Lord. 00:06:49.800 --> 00:06:56.879 That we might grow more fully into an understanding of what it means to know and love you and what it means to be human beings. 00:06:58.040 --> 00:06:59.540 We pray this in your son's holy name. 00:06:59.760 --> 00:07:00.000 Amen. 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:00.120 Amen. 00:07:01.639 --> 00:07:03.759 So we're looking at Esther chapter 4. 00:07:03.860 --> 00:07:08.959 And the first thing we see is that a crisis, a looming crisis, finally becomes real. 00:07:09.060 --> 00:07:10.660 And I'll tell you what I mean by that. 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:14.360 By the end of chapter 3, there's a man named Haman. 00:07:14.839 --> 00:07:16.500 And he's a very wicked man. 00:07:16.980 --> 00:07:21.459 And he has convinced King Ahasuerus, also known as King Xerxes, 00:07:21.459 --> 00:07:28.120 to set a date on which all of the Jews living in exile throughout the Persian Empire. 00:07:28.239 --> 00:07:30.719 There are lots of Jews that are scattered throughout the empire. 00:07:31.060 --> 00:07:32.379 Many of them are living in hiding. 00:07:33.740 --> 00:07:39.859 And they've set a date on which all of the Jews living in the Persian Empire will be killed. 00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:43.919 So the king writes this down, makes a bunch of copies, 00:07:43.919 --> 00:07:50.579 and sends this written edict out to every village throughout the empire in every language available. 00:07:51.459 --> 00:07:57.859 And it essentially says, on this date, if you know a Persian family living down the road, 00:07:58.279 --> 00:08:04.579 it will be perfectly legal for you to go murder that entire family and plunder all of their goods. 00:08:05.060 --> 00:08:08.279 And in fact, if you do that, you'll be doing a service to the empire. 00:08:09.539 --> 00:08:13.639 So it's understandable that everyone throughout the empire knows this. 00:08:14.019 --> 00:08:18.719 And an existential dread has sort of fallen over the Jewish people. 00:08:18.720 --> 00:08:23.400 And Mordecai is Esther's foster parent. 00:08:23.860 --> 00:08:25.080 He's also Jewish. 00:08:25.700 --> 00:08:30.200 And Mordecai is so distressed by this that he has torn his clothes, 00:08:30.460 --> 00:08:32.340 and he's wearing sackcloth and ashes, 00:08:32.680 --> 00:08:36.340 which is a sign of public grief and lament. 00:08:36.540 --> 00:08:40.259 Everybody is dreading this day. 00:08:40.779 --> 00:08:43.120 But here's the thing that we need to tune into. 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:49.840 In verses 4 through 9, Esther hears that Mordecai is wearing sackcloth and ashes. 00:08:50.039 --> 00:08:54.860 So she's up in the palace, and she hears that he can't come into the king's gate. 00:08:54.960 --> 00:08:59.560 That means he can't come into the place where all of the influencers do business. 00:09:00.500 --> 00:09:04.100 He can't come into that area because he's wearing sackcloth and ashes. 00:09:04.299 --> 00:09:06.960 She hears this, and she's like, what's going on with Mordecai? 00:09:06.960 --> 00:09:11.660 So she sends some clothes down and says, tell him to take that off and put on some proper clothes. 00:09:11.879 --> 00:09:15.440 And then she sends her servant down and says, find out what's going on. 00:09:17.320 --> 00:09:19.340 Now, what does this tell us? 00:09:20.620 --> 00:09:22.019 Well, this is pretty noteworthy. 00:09:23.660 --> 00:09:28.480 Everybody in the empire knows what's about to happen to the Jews except Esther. 00:09:29.639 --> 00:09:30.700 Esther doesn't know. 00:09:31.180 --> 00:09:33.180 And Esther lives right there in the palace. 00:09:33.320 --> 00:09:34.620 This is where the decision was made. 00:09:34.840 --> 00:09:36.180 It's where the edict came from. 00:09:36.179 --> 00:09:38.459 Everybody in the empire knows what's going on. 00:09:38.739 --> 00:09:39.859 And servants talk. 00:09:41.219 --> 00:09:44.359 So even if you hadn't read the edict, you would know. 00:09:45.179 --> 00:09:46.599 And yet Esther doesn't know. 00:09:47.719 --> 00:09:49.339 She says, find out what's going on. 00:09:50.539 --> 00:09:54.519 And so Mordecai sends Hathak back with a copy of the written decree. 00:09:54.819 --> 00:10:02.259 And he says, take this to Esther and explain it to her so she'll understand exactly how dire our situation is. 00:10:02.259 --> 00:10:08.500 And then beg her to go on our behalf before the king to plead for our lives. 00:10:09.319 --> 00:10:10.500 Genocide's about to happen. 00:10:10.500 --> 00:10:14.240 So this is a real crisis. 00:10:14.840 --> 00:10:16.759 But here's the thing I want to zoom in on. 00:10:16.840 --> 00:10:17.799 It's a real crisis. 00:10:18.820 --> 00:10:21.899 But until this point, it has not become real to Esther. 00:10:21.899 --> 00:10:29.319 See, when a need becomes real to you, it means you feel connected to it. 00:10:30.259 --> 00:10:33.899 It means you feel responsible to do something about it. 00:10:34.459 --> 00:10:36.120 So there are a lot of needs out there. 00:10:37.019 --> 00:10:40.179 But for a need to become real, it becomes your need. 00:10:40.240 --> 00:10:42.199 It becomes a concern that you share. 00:10:42.620 --> 00:10:44.220 And you start to feel responsible. 00:10:44.459 --> 00:10:45.519 I have to do something. 00:10:45.579 --> 00:10:47.179 I have to respond in some way to this. 00:10:47.319 --> 00:10:48.259 That has not happened. 00:10:48.259 --> 00:10:50.500 Now, we don't know why. 00:10:51.679 --> 00:10:56.860 It could be that she's truly ignorant, truly doesn't know. 00:10:57.500 --> 00:10:59.340 But as I said before, servants talk. 00:10:59.799 --> 00:11:00.600 People talk. 00:11:01.080 --> 00:11:01.720 People gossip. 00:11:01.879 --> 00:11:02.519 People whisper. 00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:06.279 It's really hard to imagine Esther truly not knowing. 00:11:08.100 --> 00:11:09.899 It might be willful blindness. 00:11:11.460 --> 00:11:11.700 Right? 00:11:11.779 --> 00:11:14.419 It might be something she just chooses not to acknowledge. 00:11:14.419 --> 00:11:25.279 Maybe she's been living so long in the center of power and wealth and influence that she simply has become out of touch with the suffering all around her. 00:11:25.419 --> 00:11:29.459 It's very possible not to see suffering if we don't want to see it. 00:11:29.860 --> 00:11:31.620 We can not see it. 00:11:32.419 --> 00:11:32.559 Right? 00:11:32.620 --> 00:11:38.899 Every day when you go to work and all of the people that you pass who are homeless on the street, it's very easy to not see that. 00:11:38.899 --> 00:11:42.899 As we're going to work or to eat or to our homes. 00:11:44.419 --> 00:11:44.840 Right? 00:11:44.899 --> 00:11:47.939 So this is the first point I want to think about for just a moment. 00:11:48.079 --> 00:11:50.000 There are real crises in the world. 00:11:50.419 --> 00:11:51.779 There are real needs. 00:11:52.439 --> 00:11:55.579 There are real people who are really suffering. 00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:59.659 And yet the question we need to ask is, are those needs real to us? 00:11:59.659 --> 00:12:04.019 I don't think it's because we're ignorant. 00:12:05.379 --> 00:12:21.899 I think especially these days when we have something like the internet, one of the things that comes out of being connected instantaneously to every corner of the world is that we are connected instantaneously to much of the suffering all around the world. 00:12:22.059 --> 00:12:25.679 And that can become incredibly overwhelming. 00:12:26.100 --> 00:12:27.279 It can be exhausting. 00:12:27.279 --> 00:12:30.459 It can be the kind of thing that shuts us down. 00:12:31.579 --> 00:12:37.399 And so as a coping strategy, it's very tempting to just tune it all out. 00:12:38.779 --> 00:12:41.259 To just recognize it's out there, but just to tune it out. 00:12:41.339 --> 00:12:42.959 It's out there, but it's not real to me. 00:12:43.000 --> 00:12:44.740 It can't be real to me because it would crush me. 00:12:46.839 --> 00:12:56.839 But like it or not, even though no person, no community can handle all of the need in the world, 00:12:57.279 --> 00:12:59.779 there are needs that we can't ignore. 00:13:00.959 --> 00:13:03.799 As the church, there are needs that we can't ignore. 00:13:03.939 --> 00:13:10.579 When we look at something like climate change, when we look at something like racism, when we look at something like poverty, 00:13:11.079 --> 00:13:13.539 these are issues that the church cannot ignore. 00:13:13.539 --> 00:13:18.419 These are things that we have to talk about, that we have to respond to. 00:13:19.419 --> 00:13:27.559 In our own community, in our midst, there are marriages that are on the brink. 00:13:27.679 --> 00:13:30.959 People who are struggling, who are fighting to stay together. 00:13:30.960 --> 00:13:40.540 There are people who are grieving, grieving loss, grieving the death of people they loved, family members, 00:13:40.740 --> 00:13:45.940 grieving the loss of jobs, grieving the loss of all kinds of things. 00:13:46.019 --> 00:13:47.860 There are people who are silently grieving. 00:13:47.860 --> 00:13:59.100 Certain things like miscarriage or infertility are things that are grieved often secretly and silently, 00:13:59.500 --> 00:14:04.279 so that there might only be one or two people in your life who even know you're grieving. 00:14:04.840 --> 00:14:06.659 Everybody else assumes things are okay. 00:14:07.940 --> 00:14:09.820 There's pain like that in our midst. 00:14:09.820 --> 00:14:15.320 There are people who are struggling desperately with loneliness, who feel disconnected. 00:14:15.320 --> 00:14:21.360 These are real needs that we can't ignore. 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:24.940 And then there's the greatest need of all. 00:14:25.820 --> 00:14:28.660 The greatest need of all, believe it or not, bigger than all of these needs, 00:14:28.940 --> 00:14:33.040 is the need for people to hear the truth and the hope of the gospel. 00:14:33.720 --> 00:14:38.820 The need for people to hear that there is a God who made them, who loves them, 00:14:39.060 --> 00:14:41.400 who desires to have a relationship with them, 00:14:41.400 --> 00:14:44.840 who has died in order to make that possible. 00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:49.120 People who need to know that that is true and that it's possible. 00:14:50.140 --> 00:14:54.060 So there are real needs all around us, and we can't possibly handle all of them. 00:14:54.200 --> 00:14:56.120 But here's the thing I think we do need to recognize. 00:14:57.000 --> 00:15:04.980 Sometimes, like Esther, we are in a position to do something about some of these needs. 00:15:06.460 --> 00:15:06.580 Right? 00:15:06.580 --> 00:15:10.260 Sometimes we look and we realize, I actually have something to offer here. 00:15:10.259 --> 00:15:16.259 Because of my job or who I know or my family or my community, because of what I have, 00:15:16.340 --> 00:15:19.419 because of my resources, because of my money, because of my connections, 00:15:20.220 --> 00:15:22.759 I can actually do something about this need. 00:15:22.840 --> 00:15:25.480 I can't fix all the needs, but I can do something about this need. 00:15:25.899 --> 00:15:28.819 But in order for that to happen, the need has to become real to me. 00:15:28.860 --> 00:15:30.519 I have to feel a sense of connection to it. 00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:31.700 I have to take it on. 00:15:32.420 --> 00:15:32.500 Right? 00:15:32.560 --> 00:15:35.100 And so sometimes God is nudging us. 00:15:35.580 --> 00:15:35.680 Right? 00:15:35.720 --> 00:15:41.860 Maybe right now God is nudging you and putting a need on your heart because he wants you to 00:15:41.860 --> 00:15:42.840 do something about it. 00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:45.320 And the question is, do we allow that to happen? 00:15:45.320 --> 00:15:48.960 So this is the first point. 00:15:49.160 --> 00:15:52.220 The crisis has become real to Esther now. 00:15:52.400 --> 00:15:53.320 And here's the thing. 00:15:53.620 --> 00:15:56.140 When that happens, then you have a choice to make. 00:15:56.940 --> 00:15:58.260 A choice becomes necessary. 00:15:59.680 --> 00:16:04.800 Mordecai sends Hathak to explain everything to Esther, to plead with her to go to the king, 00:16:05.040 --> 00:16:07.080 to beg the king to call off the genocide. 00:16:07.660 --> 00:16:10.360 And Esther's first reaction is fairly understandable. 00:16:11.080 --> 00:16:12.420 She says essentially this. 00:16:12.419 --> 00:16:17.099 She says, listen, I would love to help, but here's the thing. 00:16:17.740 --> 00:16:20.599 There's a law, and we know this was actually a law in the Persian court. 00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:26.259 There's a law that says that unless you're formally summoned by the king, you are not allowed to 00:16:26.259 --> 00:16:27.099 approach the king. 00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:32.439 There are only seven people who are considered friends of the king who could see the face of 00:16:32.439 --> 00:16:34.719 the king without prior permission. 00:16:36.139 --> 00:16:40.860 And if you try to approach the king without a formal summons, you would be executed on the 00:16:40.860 --> 00:16:41.179 spot. 00:16:41.179 --> 00:16:45.279 The only thing that would keep you from dying immediately would be if the king just so happened 00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:53.000 to have favor on you and to extend his scepter, which was a sign to the guards, don't kill 00:16:53.000 --> 00:16:53.679 this person. 00:16:54.939 --> 00:16:55.139 Right? 00:16:55.319 --> 00:16:58.839 And so Esther says, but I have not been summoned for a month. 00:16:59.819 --> 00:17:06.059 At one point, Esther may have been the king's favorite, but you know how Persian kings are. 00:17:06.059 --> 00:17:12.179 Esther, you know, there's probably a new, young, pretty girl who has his attention. 00:17:13.179 --> 00:17:15.619 And Esther has maybe fallen out of favor a bit. 00:17:16.399 --> 00:17:20.059 And she says, if I go, and he hasn't summoned me, I'm going to die, and then I won't be any 00:17:20.059 --> 00:17:20.799 use to anybody. 00:17:21.279 --> 00:17:22.819 So I'm sorry, I can't help. 00:17:22.819 --> 00:17:30.079 And Mordecai says, don't fool yourself. 00:17:31.240 --> 00:17:36.899 He says, it's only a matter of time before they find out that you're also a Jew. 00:17:38.439 --> 00:17:39.980 What do you think's going to happen then? 00:17:39.980 --> 00:17:47.079 You know, this is one of the challenges of building relationships where we conceal the 00:17:47.079 --> 00:17:52.579 fact that we're followers of Jesus, is that you're building a relationship on a kind of 00:17:52.579 --> 00:17:53.480 false foundation. 00:17:54.240 --> 00:17:57.620 And it's as though a clock starts ticking at that point. 00:17:57.740 --> 00:18:00.380 And at some point in the relationship, you're going to be found out. 00:18:01.140 --> 00:18:04.539 And Mordecai says, you know, at some point, they're going to figure out who you are. 00:18:04.579 --> 00:18:05.900 And what do you think's going to happen then? 00:18:05.960 --> 00:18:07.039 You think you're going to be spared? 00:18:07.039 --> 00:18:11.180 And then Mordecai says something pretty amazing. 00:18:11.299 --> 00:18:16.839 In verse 14, he says, for if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise 00:18:16.839 --> 00:18:19.180 for the Jews from another place. 00:18:19.279 --> 00:18:22.220 God promised long ago that one day he would deliver his people. 00:18:22.539 --> 00:18:24.139 God's going to deliver his people. 00:18:25.680 --> 00:18:26.740 He's going to do it. 00:18:27.379 --> 00:18:30.139 And she says, but you and your father's house will perish. 00:18:31.339 --> 00:18:35.159 And then he says one of the famous lines from the book, and who knows whether you have not 00:18:35.160 --> 00:18:38.560 come to the kingdom for such a time as this? 00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:41.700 Now, notice what he's not saying. 00:18:43.600 --> 00:18:47.860 On the one hand, he is not saying, Esther, it all depends on you. 00:18:48.100 --> 00:18:51.640 If you don't come through for us, we are lost and we have no hope. 00:18:52.700 --> 00:18:53.860 That would be overwhelming. 00:18:54.300 --> 00:18:55.240 That would be crushing. 00:18:56.460 --> 00:18:59.019 That would be what you would say if you believe there's no God. 00:18:59.180 --> 00:19:00.580 If you believe this is all there is. 00:19:00.680 --> 00:19:01.920 Esther, it's up to you. 00:19:01.920 --> 00:19:03.300 It's all hinging on you. 00:19:03.900 --> 00:19:05.240 It's not what Mordecai says. 00:19:06.820 --> 00:19:10.000 Nor does Mordecai say, you know what? 00:19:10.779 --> 00:19:12.160 God's going to take care of it. 00:19:12.640 --> 00:19:16.600 Just let go and let God sit back, relax. 00:19:16.880 --> 00:19:18.180 I know this is a big ask. 00:19:18.400 --> 00:19:19.460 You've got a lot on your plate. 00:19:19.680 --> 00:19:22.400 You've got a lot of queenly things that you've got to worry about. 00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:23.860 So you just go worry about that. 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:25.140 God will take care of us. 00:19:25.640 --> 00:19:27.220 I'm not worried because I have faith. 00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:29.940 He doesn't say that either. 00:19:29.940 --> 00:19:30.259 Right? 00:19:31.140 --> 00:19:32.720 So he doesn't say it's all hinging on you. 00:19:32.779 --> 00:19:34.860 Nor does he say, let go and let God. 00:19:36.299 --> 00:19:37.880 See, one crushes us. 00:19:38.120 --> 00:19:38.840 It all hinges on you. 00:19:38.880 --> 00:19:40.240 That would crush a human being. 00:19:40.320 --> 00:19:42.500 No human being can endure that kind of pressure. 00:19:43.500 --> 00:19:43.740 Right? 00:19:43.759 --> 00:19:47.080 When you look at the needs of the world, when you kind of look at all the suffering around the world, 00:19:47.259 --> 00:19:50.740 if you think this is all hinging on us, that will crush you. 00:19:50.900 --> 00:19:51.779 It will overwhelm you. 00:19:51.840 --> 00:19:52.660 You'll shut down. 00:19:53.400 --> 00:19:57.480 But on the other hand, if we just sit back and say, you know, I got my own stress. 00:19:57.480 --> 00:19:59.180 Because God will take care of all that. 00:20:00.279 --> 00:20:01.299 That leads to apathy. 00:20:02.620 --> 00:20:05.279 So we're either crushed or we're apathetic. 00:20:06.059 --> 00:20:07.680 Mordecai says neither of those things. 00:20:07.759 --> 00:20:10.519 He says, listen, God has promised to deliver his people. 00:20:10.839 --> 00:20:12.360 That's going to happen one way or another. 00:20:12.740 --> 00:20:16.099 And yet, by all accounts, he has chosen to do that through you. 00:20:17.140 --> 00:20:21.140 By all, everything we can tell, you're the one that he wants to use to do that. 00:20:21.420 --> 00:20:23.539 And so here's the choice that Esther has to make. 00:20:23.539 --> 00:20:24.740 It's a choice of identity. 00:20:26.379 --> 00:20:35.559 Is she going to go on keeping her faith private and living a double life and focusing primarily on her own needs and self-preservation? 00:20:35.960 --> 00:20:42.200 Or is she going to publicly identify with God and his people once and for all? 00:20:42.200 --> 00:20:49.279 The only way she has a chance of saving her people is if she goes before the king and says, I'm one of them too. 00:20:51.080 --> 00:20:53.620 If you kill them, you're killing me. 00:20:54.660 --> 00:20:55.779 Because I'm one of them. 00:20:57.539 --> 00:20:58.900 All right, so here's what this means. 00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:05.539 You know, God's ultimate purpose in the world, God's ultimate reason for working in the world, 00:21:05.539 --> 00:21:09.099 is to heal and restore everything that has been broken. 00:21:10.619 --> 00:21:14.500 We saw that in our recent study of the book of Revelation, the end of Revelation. 00:21:14.680 --> 00:21:16.960 We see the culmination of human history. 00:21:17.159 --> 00:21:23.220 God has restored and rebuilt the world and human beings. 00:21:24.200 --> 00:21:28.339 And he's built a great city, the new Jerusalem, the coming together of the heavens and the earth. 00:21:28.339 --> 00:21:36.299 So that there is justice, so that there is peace, so that there is prosperity for all people, 00:21:36.759 --> 00:21:43.519 and so that all people know him and love him and are known by him and loved by him. 00:21:44.299 --> 00:21:46.659 And that is going to happen, the Bible says. 00:21:46.740 --> 00:21:47.720 And that's a certainty. 00:21:48.799 --> 00:21:51.879 And there's nothing anyone can do to stop it from happening. 00:21:52.480 --> 00:21:55.980 But then the question is, how does God accomplish this? 00:21:55.980 --> 00:21:59.940 And the amazing unexpected answer is, through his people. 00:22:01.039 --> 00:22:02.440 Now that's the amazing part. 00:22:02.720 --> 00:22:04.200 The fact that God can do it isn't amazing. 00:22:04.319 --> 00:22:05.259 God can do whatever he wants. 00:22:05.500 --> 00:22:08.420 The fact that God does it through us, that's amazing. 00:22:09.259 --> 00:22:13.420 Because God doesn't need us at all, right? 00:22:14.339 --> 00:22:15.740 He doesn't need us at all. 00:22:16.900 --> 00:22:18.779 But he chooses to work through us. 00:22:18.779 --> 00:22:26.500 I love that quote from Blaise Pascal, that in prayer, God gives human beings the dignity of causality. 00:22:28.059 --> 00:22:29.819 The dignity of causality. 00:22:32.059 --> 00:22:35.339 And I think this is true when we look at how history unfolds. 00:22:36.359 --> 00:22:42.960 The way God's providence works is not just to do things and humans sit back and just sort of watch God do his thing. 00:22:42.960 --> 00:22:47.380 God actually invites us into the process. 00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:54.019 To paraphrase Pascal, God gives us the dignity of co-authorship. 00:22:55.019 --> 00:22:57.319 So that our choices actually matter. 00:22:57.620 --> 00:23:00.220 We get to decide what role we play in the story. 00:23:01.660 --> 00:23:04.519 Our choices affect how history is written down. 00:23:05.980 --> 00:23:09.799 God invites us into the authoring of history. 00:23:10.180 --> 00:23:12.640 He shares that role with us, which is amazing. 00:23:13.080 --> 00:23:14.800 So Esther's choice is a real one. 00:23:15.120 --> 00:23:20.640 She's not an automaton that's simply doing what God is making her do with no free will. 00:23:20.759 --> 00:23:26.180 She's meaningfully having to choose, am I going to be the one through whom this deliverance comes or not? 00:23:26.960 --> 00:23:32.240 And I fully believe that if she had chosen not, that's how events would have played out. 00:23:35.240 --> 00:23:36.880 So this is what God does. 00:23:37.080 --> 00:23:41.060 And because God works through us to do this work of healing in the world, 00:23:41.059 --> 00:23:44.299 it means that he needs all of us. 00:23:44.500 --> 00:23:45.960 It takes all of us. 00:23:46.700 --> 00:23:46.799 Right? 00:23:46.839 --> 00:23:49.579 It takes pastors and missionaries. 00:23:50.500 --> 00:23:57.200 It also takes lawyers and doctors and artists and architects and city planners. 00:23:57.200 --> 00:24:03.500 And it takes entrepreneurs and people in the medical profession and people in education and academia. 00:24:03.799 --> 00:24:06.080 And people like Esther who are political leaders. 00:24:06.200 --> 00:24:06.299 Right? 00:24:06.319 --> 00:24:07.620 It takes all kinds of people. 00:24:07.720 --> 00:24:12.860 It takes us building healthy, godly homes and starting thriving, godly, gospel-centered churches. 00:24:12.859 --> 00:24:21.939 But it also takes us investing in and building other institutions that hold society up and infusing them with a kind of gospel DNA. 00:24:22.139 --> 00:24:26.379 It takes everybody doing everything that God has gifted them to do for the kingdom. 00:24:27.339 --> 00:24:28.459 That's what it takes. 00:24:29.119 --> 00:24:30.579 That's how the world gets fixed. 00:24:30.579 --> 00:24:31.819 That's how the world gets fixed. 00:24:31.819 --> 00:24:32.579 That's how the world gets fixed. 00:24:32.579 --> 00:24:34.839 And so we recognize this. 00:24:34.899 --> 00:24:38.179 And then we recognize there's a choice that we also have to make. 00:24:38.379 --> 00:24:39.980 Which is the same choice as Esther. 00:24:41.480 --> 00:24:44.740 You know, there are plenty of circumstances in our jobs. 00:24:45.079 --> 00:24:50.579 There are plenty of circumstances in our lives where it might make sense to keep quiet. 00:24:51.879 --> 00:24:55.819 As we'll see later in the story, Esther is amazingly shrewd. 00:24:55.819 --> 00:24:59.720 And there are times when it might make sense to keep quiet. 00:25:00.399 --> 00:25:01.339 To not speak up. 00:25:02.379 --> 00:25:05.639 But at the end of the day, the gospel is a public truth. 00:25:07.379 --> 00:25:13.720 Meaning it is about public events that happened with hundreds if not thousands of eyewitnesses. 00:25:14.279 --> 00:25:19.319 And it makes public claims about reality and God and about humanity. 00:25:19.799 --> 00:25:23.919 And it has implications for every man, woman and child on this planet. 00:25:24.339 --> 00:25:25.799 It's a public truth. 00:25:26.319 --> 00:25:28.720 And we are called to have a public faith. 00:25:29.119 --> 00:25:32.559 Meaning we are called to be witnesses to the truth of those events. 00:25:33.960 --> 00:25:38.000 Because we believe they have life or death implications for every single human being. 00:25:39.439 --> 00:25:46.919 And so at the end of the day, we have to decide if and when we will stand with God and his people. 00:25:47.859 --> 00:25:49.079 It's a choice we all have to make. 00:25:50.099 --> 00:25:52.579 So then we ask the question, well, what does Esther choose? 00:25:52.579 --> 00:25:59.519 And here's where we see, in Esther's choice, here's where we see a girl become queen. 00:26:00.159 --> 00:26:05.319 Now you say, well, I thought she became a queen years earlier in the story. 00:26:05.480 --> 00:26:06.319 And you're right. 00:26:06.319 --> 00:26:08.439 So I'll show you what I mean. 00:26:08.439 --> 00:26:11.279 Verse 16 says, this is Esther's response. 00:26:11.279 --> 00:26:25.519 By fasting and praying and going to the king, Esther has made her decision. 00:26:25.519 --> 00:26:26.519 Esther says, I'm going to pray. 00:26:26.519 --> 00:26:26.680 And if I perish. 00:26:26.680 --> 00:26:30.299 And if I perish, I perish. 00:26:32.259 --> 00:26:37.579 By fasting and praying and going to the king, Esther has made her decision. 00:26:37.579 --> 00:26:43.259 She's decided to identify with God's people, even though it may get her killed. 00:26:44.159 --> 00:26:48.220 She's decided to, in that, give herself fully to God's purposes. 00:26:48.500 --> 00:26:54.319 Because when you say, if I perish, I perish, you're saying, I trust something more than my own self-preservation instinct. 00:26:54.579 --> 00:26:56.079 I trust in God's purposes. 00:26:56.299 --> 00:27:03.759 And even if I die, even if I lose everything, I would rather die knowing I'm a part of God's purpose and fulfilling it 00:27:03.759 --> 00:27:06.740 than continue to live being apart from it. 00:27:07.700 --> 00:27:10.180 And then finally, she trusts in God's promises. 00:27:10.379 --> 00:27:13.019 God has promised deliverance, and I'm going to take him at his word. 00:27:14.460 --> 00:27:16.339 So she's identifying with God's people. 00:27:16.339 --> 00:27:20.700 She's giving herself fully to God's purposes, and she's trusting in God's promises. 00:27:22.099 --> 00:27:25.059 And in doing so, she finally decides who she is. 00:27:25.279 --> 00:27:27.359 And listen, this is really amazing to me. 00:27:27.900 --> 00:27:30.000 Something inside her shifts. 00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:34.319 This is the turning point for Esther in the story. 00:27:34.700 --> 00:27:38.180 Her character, the role she plays, changes. 00:27:39.299 --> 00:27:41.180 One commentator puts it like this. 00:27:41.559 --> 00:27:48.119 It is through this traumatic ordeal that Esther, initially a beautiful young woman with a weak character, 00:27:48.740 --> 00:27:54.500 becomes transformed into a person with heroic moral stature and political skill. 00:27:54.500 --> 00:27:55.000 Right? 00:27:56.240 --> 00:28:02.180 From this point forward, Esther stops being a passive victim of circumstance. 00:28:02.880 --> 00:28:05.240 She becomes the protagonist of the story. 00:28:06.500 --> 00:28:08.440 She takes charge. 00:28:10.539 --> 00:28:13.319 She begins to inhabit her life. 00:28:14.140 --> 00:28:16.720 She begins to own who she is. 00:28:17.099 --> 00:28:19.299 She develops a moral backbone. 00:28:19.859 --> 00:28:23.039 And she begins to exercise her authority. 00:28:23.039 --> 00:28:23.720 Right? 00:28:23.899 --> 00:28:30.559 Even though she got the title of queen years earlier, this is the moment when she begins to act like a queen. 00:28:31.680 --> 00:28:35.079 And from this point forward, she and Mordecai trade places. 00:28:35.220 --> 00:28:37.599 No longer is Mordecai telling her what to do. 00:28:38.240 --> 00:28:39.559 She's telling him what to do. 00:28:39.799 --> 00:28:42.920 It's very telling that the very last verse of this chapter says, 00:28:43.299 --> 00:28:46.799 And Mordecai went and did everything that Esther commanded him to do. 00:28:47.039 --> 00:28:48.000 She's the queen now. 00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:53.160 Now, this is the effect. 00:28:54.519 --> 00:28:57.859 This is the effect that making that choice has on Esther. 00:28:58.859 --> 00:28:59.059 Right? 00:28:59.099 --> 00:29:07.259 It's amazing to note that choosing to identify with God's purposes and give herself to God's purposes doesn't rob her of agency. 00:29:08.220 --> 00:29:10.660 It actually fills her with agency. 00:29:11.460 --> 00:29:13.119 Now she knows who she is. 00:29:13.400 --> 00:29:15.579 Now she knows what life is all about. 00:29:15.579 --> 00:29:17.699 Now she knows what she's aiming at. 00:29:18.980 --> 00:29:25.379 See, the thing is, when you live a double life, you know, when you hide parts of yourself, 00:29:25.500 --> 00:29:30.879 or when you swap out different facades depending on whatever context you're in, 00:29:31.079 --> 00:29:34.839 or when you remain perpetually agnostic about your beliefs, 00:29:35.019 --> 00:29:36.679 when people say, do you really believe that? 00:29:36.740 --> 00:29:37.539 Do you really think that? 00:29:37.699 --> 00:29:39.019 And you say, well, I don't really know. 00:29:39.099 --> 00:29:40.179 I've never really thought about it. 00:29:40.179 --> 00:29:41.740 I'm not really sure what I think. 00:29:41.740 --> 00:29:49.200 And when that's your posture over time, when you're continually downplaying those things, 00:29:49.319 --> 00:29:55.880 then your life is going to lack a certain integrity, meaning the pieces are not all going to be connected to one another. 00:29:56.059 --> 00:29:57.519 It's going to lack cohesion. 00:29:58.099 --> 00:30:02.480 And instead, certain parts of you are going to become compartmentalized. 00:30:02.480 --> 00:30:08.160 You know, your identity is going to be a hallway with a lot of doors, and some of them are locked. 00:30:08.680 --> 00:30:10.380 And you sort of forget they're even there. 00:30:12.259 --> 00:30:15.099 And as such, you're going to lack a true core. 00:30:15.620 --> 00:30:17.980 You know, some people, when you meet them, they have that core. 00:30:18.380 --> 00:30:19.799 You know, you can see it in their eyes. 00:30:19.839 --> 00:30:21.099 You can see it in their handshake. 00:30:21.779 --> 00:30:22.779 They have a core to them. 00:30:22.819 --> 00:30:23.759 They know who they are. 00:30:23.819 --> 00:30:24.920 They're grounded in the world. 00:30:26.039 --> 00:30:27.779 Other people don't have a core. 00:30:27.779 --> 00:30:29.339 They sort of seem soupy. 00:30:29.420 --> 00:30:30.619 They're hard to pin down. 00:30:30.859 --> 00:30:32.819 They're like jello or smoke. 00:30:32.940 --> 00:30:34.039 They just sort of drift. 00:30:34.660 --> 00:30:37.220 But there's nothing solid to hold on to. 00:30:38.259 --> 00:30:38.480 Right? 00:30:38.539 --> 00:30:43.079 When you assert opinions, they sort of don't really agree, don't really disagree. 00:30:43.259 --> 00:30:45.559 These sort of, it's like trying to push against vapor. 00:30:48.660 --> 00:30:54.940 If you compartmentalize long enough, you kind of lose a sense of who you really are. 00:30:54.940 --> 00:30:58.880 You lose a sense of where the boundaries are between you and other people. 00:31:00.080 --> 00:31:04.779 You know, my boys brought home this book from the library, and it was kind of a scary story. 00:31:04.900 --> 00:31:05.240 And I read it. 00:31:05.279 --> 00:31:06.700 It was a scary story for kids. 00:31:07.160 --> 00:31:10.240 And I read it to them, and I thought it was actually pretty scary. 00:31:10.380 --> 00:31:14.059 It was scarier than I thought a kid's story should be. 00:31:14.700 --> 00:31:17.360 Sadly, we didn't find that out until, like, after the scary part. 00:31:17.600 --> 00:31:20.240 But I was reading, and I was like, dang. 00:31:20.240 --> 00:31:28.700 I was just, you know, this kid goes and buys this, goes to the spooky store and buys this Halloween mask for Halloween. 00:31:28.819 --> 00:31:30.759 It's the best mask that he's ever seen. 00:31:30.799 --> 00:31:32.380 And he takes the mask, and he puts it on. 00:31:32.460 --> 00:31:34.440 But it's, you know, of course, a haunted mask. 00:31:34.539 --> 00:31:37.420 And that means that the mask fuses to his face. 00:31:37.740 --> 00:31:39.859 And it becomes his face. 00:31:39.880 --> 00:31:41.200 And then he can't take it off. 00:31:42.380 --> 00:31:43.319 Isn't that terrifying? 00:31:43.460 --> 00:31:44.880 And then you're all going to have nightmares. 00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:45.859 That's a kid's story. 00:31:45.900 --> 00:31:46.500 It's not true. 00:31:46.500 --> 00:31:49.700 But he can't take the mask off. 00:31:49.819 --> 00:31:52.819 And then he starts to take on the characteristics of the mask. 00:31:53.700 --> 00:31:54.099 Right? 00:31:54.140 --> 00:31:57.359 He starts to feel the feelings that the mask would feel. 00:31:57.440 --> 00:31:59.200 And it starts to change him. 00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:01.900 And, you know, it's a scary kid's story. 00:32:02.019 --> 00:32:03.700 But I think there's kind of a point here. 00:32:04.779 --> 00:32:11.319 You know, sometimes you get so good at putting on the mask that it starts to become harder and harder to take it off. 00:32:11.319 --> 00:32:17.099 And the time comes when you start to wonder, who am I really? 00:32:17.779 --> 00:32:20.919 Is there a real me under this mask, or am I becoming the mask? 00:32:21.519 --> 00:32:24.119 And you begin to lose touch with who you really are. 00:32:24.139 --> 00:32:25.639 And people say, well, what do you really believe? 00:32:25.700 --> 00:32:28.399 And you say, I don't really know anymore what I believe. 00:32:28.500 --> 00:32:31.200 I've been pretending so long that I just, I don't know anymore. 00:32:31.200 --> 00:32:46.620 The only way to develop that core, the only way to take the mask off, the only way to have that kind of integrity of being, if you're a Christian, is to choose once and for all to identify with God's people. 00:32:48.620 --> 00:32:50.480 To give yourself to God's purposes. 00:32:51.500 --> 00:32:52.660 Whatever they ask of you. 00:32:53.680 --> 00:32:55.559 And to trust in God's promises for you. 00:32:56.200 --> 00:32:57.680 And to believe that they're for you. 00:32:57.680 --> 00:33:01.640 That it's not just out there, a theological truth to contemplate over coffee. 00:33:01.940 --> 00:33:02.820 It's real. 00:33:03.019 --> 00:33:04.140 And he's talking about you. 00:33:05.480 --> 00:33:07.820 But this can be much harder than it sounds. 00:33:09.640 --> 00:33:24.420 I mean, I think for some of us, for some of you, you're in positions, you're in jobs, you play roles where if you were to totally open up to everybody about all the things that you believe, it might be catastrophic. 00:33:24.420 --> 00:33:30.940 And of course, it takes great wisdom to know how and when to be public in our faith. 00:33:31.019 --> 00:33:38.120 I think there's a great wisdom and shrewdness that we have to utilize to know how and when to allow our faith to be public. 00:33:39.519 --> 00:33:43.060 For some of us, though, I think that we've already made so many compromises. 00:33:43.059 --> 00:33:47.519 We've already compromised ourselves in our faith and in our morals and our values. 00:33:47.700 --> 00:33:54.720 You know, maybe in order to get to where you are in your job, you've had to compromise so much along the way that you think, what's the point? 00:33:55.960 --> 00:33:59.460 You know, I've sold out so much that I'm no good anymore. 00:33:59.639 --> 00:34:00.539 I have nothing more to offer. 00:34:00.659 --> 00:34:03.079 God can't possibly use a person like me. 00:34:03.079 --> 00:34:15.239 And this is why we have to end by recognizing that our hope is not ultimately in trying harder, nor is it in following an example like Esther. 00:34:17.679 --> 00:34:19.400 Our hope is in Jesus Christ. 00:34:20.860 --> 00:34:21.079 Right? 00:34:21.139 --> 00:34:27.159 If you look at Jesus and you compare Jesus to Esther, it's amazing what you see. 00:34:27.159 --> 00:34:32.980 You know, Esther spent years being willfully disconnected from the needs of her people. 00:34:34.799 --> 00:34:43.139 But when Jesus saw his people in need, even though those were the people who had rebelled against him and rejected him, 00:34:44.139 --> 00:34:50.460 when he saw people in need, he took that suffering on himself by becoming a human being. 00:34:51.119 --> 00:34:52.279 And he didn't hesitate. 00:34:53.179 --> 00:34:55.059 It was always his intention to do that. 00:34:55.059 --> 00:35:03.159 And then Esther had to be convinced by Mordecai to identify with the Jewish people in order to save them. 00:35:05.139 --> 00:35:07.340 But Jesus came for one reason only. 00:35:08.860 --> 00:35:16.679 It was because he came to identify with not just the Jewish people, but all of humanity. 00:35:17.940 --> 00:35:20.679 Jesus came to stand with all human beings. 00:35:20.679 --> 00:35:28.199 And to stand before the Father, to stand before the King, and to say, their sin is my sin. 00:35:29.159 --> 00:35:30.859 Their struggle is my struggle. 00:35:31.899 --> 00:35:34.819 And while Esther said, if I perish, I perish, 00:35:35.960 --> 00:35:39.679 Jesus said, when I perish, I perish. 00:35:39.879 --> 00:35:41.839 He did it knowing what it would lead to. 00:35:42.099 --> 00:35:43.679 He did it knowing that he would die. 00:35:44.299 --> 00:35:45.339 And he did it anyway. 00:35:45.480 --> 00:35:46.359 And he did it with joy. 00:35:46.360 --> 00:35:52.240 And then when he rose, he became a king. 00:35:53.059 --> 00:35:54.280 And he took the throne. 00:35:55.840 --> 00:35:56.300 Right? 00:35:56.360 --> 00:36:02.240 And so if we want the kind of integrity and solidarity that comes with having a public faith, 00:36:03.079 --> 00:36:05.539 we're going to need great courage to do it. 00:36:05.539 --> 00:36:09.059 And that courage comes by looking at the cross. 00:36:10.420 --> 00:36:20.340 By looking to Jesus Christ, who stood with us and died so that we would be able to stand with him and live. 00:36:21.199 --> 00:36:22.579 And live for eternity. 00:36:23.699 --> 00:36:24.380 Let's pray. 00:36:24.380 --> 00:36:27.980 Lord, we thank you for your word. 00:36:28.280 --> 00:36:29.780 We thank you for your son. 00:36:30.420 --> 00:36:31.660 We thank you for Esther. 00:36:32.460 --> 00:36:35.800 We thank you that in her failures, we see a mirror. 00:36:37.280 --> 00:36:40.180 Our own failures, our own struggles and shortcomings. 00:36:41.700 --> 00:36:47.059 And we thank you that when we see her victories and her success and this change that came about in her, 00:36:47.360 --> 00:36:50.200 we know that it wasn't just a force of her effort and will. 00:36:50.760 --> 00:36:53.500 Lord, we know that it was you working in her life. 00:36:53.500 --> 00:36:57.139 And we know that you're the same God who is here who can work in our lives. 00:36:57.760 --> 00:37:01.420 We pray that through Esther, but even more so through your son, Jesus Christ, 00:37:01.420 --> 00:37:06.099 we would have the kind of courage we need and the kind of wisdom we need 00:37:06.099 --> 00:37:10.579 to respond to the needs that you put on our hearts, 00:37:11.139 --> 00:37:14.239 to be the kind of public witnesses that you've called your church to be. 00:37:14.860 --> 00:37:18.199 We pray this for the good of this city, for our friends and neighbors, 00:37:18.420 --> 00:37:20.139 but ultimately for your glory. 00:37:21.280 --> 00:37:22.639 And it's in your son's name that we pray. 00:37:22.639 --> 00:37:23.019 Amen. 00:37:23.500 --> 00:37:26.500 Amen. 00:37:29.179 --> 00:37:31.139 Amen. 00:37:31.199 --> 00:37:31.739 Amen. 00:37:31.739 --> 00:37:32.079 Amen. 00:37:32.079 --> 00:37:33.119 Amen. 00:37:34.960 --> 00:37:35.380 Amen. 00:37:35.380 --> 00:37:36.559 Amen. 00:37:38.719 --> 00:37:39.420 Amen. 00:37:39.420 --> 00:37:40.719 Amen. 00:37:40.840 --> 00:37:41.800 Amen. 00:37:41.800 --> 00:37:42.380 Amen. 00:37:42.380 --> 00:37:42.440 Amen. 00:37:42.460 --> 00:37:42.500 Amen. 00:37:42.500 --> 00:37:42.619 Amen. 00:37:42.840 --> 00:37:42.880 Amen. 00:37:42.880 --> 00:37:42.900 Amen. 00:37:42.900 --> 00:37:43.159 Amen. 00:37:43.159 --> 00:37:43.719 Amen. 00:37:43.719 --> 00:37:44.300 Amen. 00:37:44.300 --> 00:37:44.920 Amen. 00:37:44.940 --> 00:37:46.559 Amen. 00:37:49.559 --> 00:37:50.059 I follow the next thing. 00:37:50.059 --> 00:37:50.420 Amen. 00:37:50.420 --> 00:37:51.159 Amen. 00:37:51.460 --> 00:37:52.179 Amen. 00:37:52.179 --> 00:37:53.139 Amen.