two guys in their mid-20s tried to get tickets for a sold-out Metallica concert in the US.
That was probably their first mistake.
Having failed in getting the tickets to their concert to go and see their heroes,
they decided instead to hang out in the venue car park drinking alcohol.
And so eventually, fueled by alcohol, they decided that they would take a risk.
And the plan was to jump the two-metre fence and to sneak into the back of the concert.
However, the fence on the car park side was two metres.
What they didn't realise was on the other side was a seven-metre drop below the two-metre fence.
And so something that they couldn't see, obviously, in the darkness.
And so the first guy jumps over the fence, falls about halfway down the distance,
and lands in this large tree which broke his fall and his left arm.
He also somehow managed to get his shorts stuck in a tree branch,
and so he was dangling there in his shorts with his broken arm.
And it was at that point that he remembered he had a pocket knife.
Rips out his pocket knife and decides to cut his shorts free.
In the moment of cutting his shorts free, he dropped the knife,
and he fell through the rest of the tree and landed on some pretty hard concrete,
some branches of some concrete down the bottom, which broke his fall.
But he also landed on his knife that he dropped, which stabbed him in his left thigh.
His mate decides to attempt a rescue.
Throws a rope over the fence, ties his mate up, or gets his mate to tie himself up.
Tries to pull him up, but he's too heavy.
It's at this moment he has a stroke of genius,
and decides to tie the other end of the rope to his pickup truck.
And because of the level of alcohol in his system, he put it into the wrong gear.
He put it into reverse, drove through the fence, over the tree,
and landed on his mates, which killed him instantly.
He himself was thrown out of the vehicle
and died from internal injuries not much longer after that.
Now, risk is any action that exposes you to loss or injury.
That's what risk is.
If you take a risk, you can lose money, you can lose face,
you can lose your health, or you can lose your life.
And what's worse, if you take a risk,
you may in fact be endangering other people and not just yourself.
That's risk.
And so would a wise and loving person ever take a risk?
Is it loving to endanger others?
It depends.
You can throw your life away in a hundred sinful or stupid ways,
like trying to secure tickets for a Metallica concert,
and you can die as a result of it.
But losing your life is not the same as wasting your life.
What if successful risk brought enormous benefit to many people,
and its failure would cause harm to only you?
It may not be loving to choose comfort or security
when something great may be achieved for the cause of Christ
or for the sake of other people.
And that's where we find ourselves in Esther today.
As we saw last week in chapter 3,
Edict goes out to the whole Persian Empire
about the extermination of the Jews on a set date.
And on that day, if you're a Jewish person in the Persian Empire,
your next-door neighbour, your school friends,
your work colleagues are given permission by law to,
as it says in chapter 3, verse 13,
to destroy, to kill,
and annihilate you
and plunder all of your goods.
And so at the beginning of chapter 4,
as Deb just read out,
Mordecai is in sackcloth and mourning
at the open square of the city
in front of the king's gate
because of this edict.
It says,
When Mordecai learned of all that had been done,
he tore his clothes,
he put on sackcloth and ashes
and went out into the city
wailing loudly and bitterly.
Now, if I was Mordecai,
I've got to say,
I'd be feeling a little bit responsible at this moment.
This all transpired
because I refused to give acknowledgement to Haman.
Who could have predicted it would have gone this bad?
Feeling a little bit responsible.
But here's Mordecai.
He's at the palace gate,
chapter 1, verse 2.
He calls it the citadel of Susa.
It was a strongly fortified,
elevated position in Susa
and it was all designed
to exalt the importance of the king
and to guard his person.
So this is Mordecai.
He's at the gate of the palace complex,
the high city.
It's the palace.
It's the citadel
and it's the place of power and influence
for the whole Persian empire.
And this is where Esther is.
She's on the other side of this gate
and Mordecai is trying to get her attention
to do something about this situation,
to save the people of God.
Now the first thing we learn here
is that God doesn't just work
using missionaries and ministers
and church workers for his work in the world.
Esther's not head of a congregation.
She's not even in a congregation.
She's not even out in the streets.
She's here in the palace.
And this, of course,
is the problem with Esther
at the beginning of this chapter.
There is a danger
of being in the palace.
Notice Esther's response
to Mordecai's weeping in verse 4.
When Esther's eunuchs
and female attendants
came and told her about Mordecai,
she was in great distress.
Why was she in great distress?
Well, we know.
She sent clothes for him
to put on instead of his sackcloth.
But he would not accept them.
She was in great distress
because he'd torn his clothes.
And so she sends him clothes.
Maybe he's making a spectacle of himself.
Esther has become totally isolated
from the rest of God's people.
Every Jew from Ethiopia to India
knew about this edict.
Except Esther, it would appear.
She didn't have a clue.
Maybe she didn't have time
between the matricules
and the pedicules and the facials.
Maybe it was the shopping.
In any case,
she'd done a really good job
at concealing her identity
and so who would bother
to inform her
that her people
are about to be executed?
How easy it is
to become isolated
from the needs around us
and for God's concerns
for his world
when we live
the good life in the palace.
And Mordecai here begs her,
he pleads with her
to use her clout
and her position
and her faith with the king
to do something,
to work for justice
and to save her people.
Notice Esther's first response
to Mordecai in verse 11.
All the king's officials
and the people
of the world provinces
know that for any man
or woman
who approaches the king
in the inner court
without being summoned
by the king
has but one law,
that they be put to death
unless the king
extends the gold scepter
to them
and spares their lives.
But 30 days have passed
since I was called
to go to the king.
She says there's risk here.
Mordecai, there's risk.
Now let's not forget
that this is the Esther
who got to where she was
because her predecessor
was a little too bold.
Remember what happened to Vashti?
And notice too
that Esther says
that Xerxes
hasn't asked her
to come to her
for 30 days.
It's not like there's
a bunch of stuff
on Netflix
that he's trying to watch.
This guy does not
sleep alone.
And so if she has not
been called for 30 days,
then it could possibly
be a sign
that she is out of favour
with Xerxes.
So she says to Mordecai,
you don't know
what you are asking of me.
I could lose everything.
And Mordecai sends back
a message in verse 13
which is the high point
of all of Esther.
Esther.
This chapter 4
is the main chapter
in Esther
and this is the high point
of the chapter.
Do not think
that because you are
in the king's house,
you alone
of all the Jews
will escape.
For if you remain
silent at this time,
relief and deliverance
for the Jews
will arise
from another place.
But you and your father's
family will perish.
And who knows
but that you have come
to your royal position
for such a time
as this.
In other words,
if you don't risk
losing the palace,
you will lose everything.
If you risk
losing the palace,
you might lose everything
but if you don't risk
losing the palace,
you will lose everything.
If all the Jews
were killed,
then you'll eventually
be sniffed out
and you'll be discovered
as a Jew
and you will die too.
And if the Jews
aren't killed,
there's some other one
who comes in
and rescues
by God's hand,
then you'll just
be discovered
as a traitor.
Now,
we're not in
the identical situation
as Esther here.
Let's be clear
about that.
But it might be helpful
just to stand back
just for a moment
and generalise
a little for a moment.
I think there are
two remarkable principles
that have powerful
applications for us.
First,
first principle here,
unless you use
the cloud
that you've got,
the credentials
you've got,
the money you've got,
the position you've got,
the skills you've got,
for the service
of others,
rather than feathering
your own nest,
then those things
don't become
freeing for you,
they become
enslaving.
That's the first principle.
the palace
was in fact
death row
for Esther
if she used it
for her own comfort
and her own security.
If you're unwilling
to jeopardise
your place
in the palace,
then the palace
has ownership
of you.
It has taken
over you.
The only way
that you're prepared
to risk life
in the palace
is if your identity
has its foundation
somewhere else.
That is,
something other
than your net worth
becomes your self-worth.
Mordecai seems
to be saying here
that if you can't
throw away the palace,
or at least
risk throwing away
the palace,
or risk your place
in the palace
to do good
for other people,
then the palace
actually owns you.
You don't own
the palace.
So how do you
get an identity
that hasn't got
its foundation
in the palace?
And the answer
is actually hinted at
in these verses.
Remember those words
he said,
who knows,
but that you have
come to your royal
position for such
a time as this?
The word come there
is in the passive
form,
which means it's
probably a little
bit better to
translate it like
this.
Who knows,
but that you have
been brought
to the royal
position for such
a time as this?
He's saying
that you got
to the palace
by grace.
your beauty
was not
something that
your beauty
was something
that was given
to you.
She didn't
produce the
door of opportunity
that saw her
rise from
orphan girl
to queen.
God has been
silent but
sovereignly working
to this point.
Now,
although it's
a general
statement from
Mordecai,
Esther begins
to respond to
this message
here.
The Esther
that we know
from chapters
one and two,
the sweet,
the pretty little
Esther,
who was compliant,
who never rocked
the boat,
who doesn't
ruffle any
feathers,
goes away from
this moment and
starts to give
orders.
It's Mordecai
giving the
orders at the
beginning of the
chapter,
it's now Esther
who starts giving
the orders.
And this is
the turning
point for
Esther.
This is where
she steps
up.
This is where
she utters
those remarkable
words in
verse 16.
Go gather
all together
all the Jews
who are in
Susa and
fast for me.
Do not eat
or drink for
three days,
night or day.
I and my
attendants will
fast as you
do.
And when this
is done,
I will go to
the king,
even though it
is against the
law.
And if I
perish, I
perish.
We go from
Barbie doll
sex kitten
Esther to
the one who's
living the high
life in the
palace to
Esther risking
everything.
Esther the
hero.
What an
inspiration.
Let me just
pause again
there for a
moment because
there is a
danger here as
well.
There's a danger
that some of us
might be so
inspired by
Esther as
can I say
many feminists
are inspired
by Esther to
get out there
and do
something and
make change
for good.
If you're
inspired by
Esther,
that is,
some here
might stop
seeing all
that God
has given
them for
their own
benefit,
feathering their
own nest and
for their own
self-gratification
and start
instead to
use everything
that God's
given them
for a means
to serve
others.
You might
start to
take risks
and get
more interested
in justice
and mercy
and mission
and others
might be
interested by
Esther just
to start
speaking up
and speaking
your mind
and confronting
the issues.
Maybe you've
been too
quiet about
your beliefs,
you've been
afraid to
speak,
you're in
the background,
most people
don't know
who you are
so now,
come Monday
morning,
I'm on the
front foot and
I'm just
going to let
people have
it.
There's a
danger in
this and
the danger
is it
won't last.
The danger
is that if
you get
inspiration
by an
example,
even an
example like
Esther,
then your
basic motivation
is guilt.
Guilt because
of a past
life of
selfishness,
oh my
goodness,
I've been
living so
poorly and
I've got to
all change
now,
I feel so
selfish from
where I've
been.
It might
be guilt
over
elitism,
it might
be guilt
because I
live in
a really
nice part
of a
city in
a great
country.
Motivation
by guilt
wears off
because guilt
doesn't
actually change
you on the
inside.
Changes
actions on
the outside
but doesn't
change you
on the
inside.
When guilt
is your
motivation,
then you
are still
going to
get your
identity
from your
performance.
When guilt
is your
motivation,
you still
get your
identity
from your
performance.
And
self-righteousness
is always
the fruit
of performance.
I'm not
going to be
like those
other so-called
Christians who
don't give a
rip about
justice and
mercy.
I'm going
to lead
the way
in this.
I'm going
to be
principled
and I'm
going to
be outspoken.
It's not
actual change
in the
heart and
it's revealed
that when
you're confronted
by others
who don't
have the
same values
that you
have,
you get
angry with
them.
You become
judgmental.
That's the
outworking of
self-righteousness.
And there
is another
danger here
and that's
overreaction.
This is
where you
give everything
away,
go home
right now,
out all the
checks,
get everything
and put on
sackcloth
and mourning
and go
and sit
in the
mall.
You do
anything,
give away
everything
without any
thought,
any wise
stewardship.
Now,
let me say,
there is a
time to
throw a
band in
the air
and there
are also
times to
pull back
and to
regroup.
You know,
let's be
clear here,
it took
Esther a
little while
before she
actually
approached
Xerxes
and when
she did
approach
Xerxes,
he had
to ask
her three
times what
her request
was.
Three times.
It's almost
like she's
about to
say it,
come to
dinner.
You see
that in
chapter 5.
My point
is if you
just look at
Esther as an
example,
it will wear
off or
you'll become
more and more
self-righteous
and more
pharisaical or
you'll just
become stupid
if you just
look at her
as an
example.
But what
if you
didn't just
look at
Esther as
an example
but saw
her as a
signpost?
Esther
saved her
people by
two things,
by
identification
and by
mediation.
Identification
and mediation.
She
identified
with her
people.
She didn't
take the
safe way.
Her
people were
condemned
and she
identified
with them
and in
fact came
under the
same
condemnation.
She
risked her
life and
she says
if I
perish,
I perish.
And because
she identified
with her
people,
she could
mediate.
She could
go before
the throne
of power
in a way
that no
one else
could.
She went
before the
throne of
power and
because she
was favoured,
that favour
was attributed
to her
people or
imputed to
her people.
She saved
her people
through
identification
with them
and mediation
for them.
Now Esther
was a
flawed
saviour,
a very
flawed
saviour,
but she
points us
to a
far
greater
saviour.
Jesus
lived in
the ultimate
palace,
the very
presence of
God in
the kingdom
and as
the son
of God
he had
ultimate
beauty
and glory
and he
left it.
No one
had to
manipulate
him,
no one
put pressure
on him,
no one
had to
convince him
for it,
he wasn't
getting
pedicules
and manicules
and facials,
he wasn't
backed into
a corner,
Philippians 2
says that
he had
equality with
the father
but he
did not
hold on
to it,
he emptied
himself,
became down,
he identified
with his
people,
he took
on their
condemnation,
he didn't
do it
at the
risk of
his life,
he did
it at the
cost of
his life,
he didn't
say if
I perish
I perish,
he said
when I
perish,
I perish,
he went
to the
cross,
there he
died and
made atonement
for our
sins and
now the
Bible says
that he
stands before
the throne
of the
universe and
his favour
is our
favour in
front of
the king of
kings,
the lord of
all the
world.
You see
if,
you see
Esther as
an example
and say
be like
Esther,
it will
crush you
because you
could never
do it.
But if
you see
Jesus as
your
saviour,
not as
an example
doing
something for
someone else,
but as a
saviour
rescuing
you,
it changes
your identity.
He becomes
your security,
he becomes
your value,
he becomes
your worth
and suddenly
everything else
in your life
just becomes
stuff because
you've got
everything when
you've got
Jesus.
you're set
free to
risk stuff,
you're set
free to
lose stuff
because
your self-worth
is not
your net
worth and
when you
lose stuff
in Jesus,
you don't
lose
yourself.
If you
see what
Jesus has
done for
you in
losing the
ultimate
palace for
you,
then and
only then
will you
have the
freedom to
risk for
God's
glory in
the sake
of others.
When you
see Jesus
risk for
you,
there are
at least
four implications
for that.
At least
four.
So let me
go through
them.
Firstly,
if I perish,
I perish
is the
language that's
calling you,
Christian
person to
identify with
the poor
and the
oppressed in
this world.
Just like
Esther did,
identifying with
her people,
those in
great desperate
need.
So if I
perish, I
perish is the
language calling
you, Christian
person, to
identify with
the poor and
the oppressed
in this world.
If this is a
call for us
as believers,
having seen
what Jesus
has done for
us to
identify with
the people
who are
outside the
palace.
Scottish
minister
Robert
Murray
Mishane
preached this
message to
Scottish
Christians
living in
Scottish
cities in
1838.
He said,
I fear
that there
are some
Christians
among you
to whom
Christ will
not be able
to say on
the last
day,
well done,
good and
faithful servant.
He's referring
there to
Matthew 25.
Your
hearty
dwelling
rises
amongst
thousands
who have
scarcely a
fire to
warn themselves
at and
have but
little clothing
to keep
out the
biting frost
and yet you
don't darken
their door.
You heave
a sigh,
perhaps at a
distance,
but you do
not visit
them.
My
friends,
I'm
concerned
for the
poor,
but I'm
actually more
concerned for
you.
I don't
know what
Christ will
say to
you on
the great
day.
You say
you follow
Christ,
but you
don't care
for his
poor.
I fear
that there
may be
many hearing
me who
now know
well that
they may
not be
Christians at
all because
they don't
love to
give.
To give
largely,
and generously,
not begrudgingly,
requires a
brand new
heart.
An old
heart would
rather part
with its
lifeblood
than its
money.
Oh, my
dear Christians,
if you
would be
like Christ,
give much,
give often,
give freely
to the vile
and the poor
and the
thankless and
the undeserving.
Christ is
glorious and
he is
happy and
so will
you be.
It is not
your money I
want but
your happiness.
Remember his
word.
It is more
blessed to
give than
receive.
That's the
first bit of
if I perish,
I perish.
Secondly,
if I perish,
I perish is
the language of
exciting mission.
Wherever you
are right
now,
you've got
certain gifts,
certain
abilities,
certain
experiences,
certain
opportunities,
certain experiences
even of
hardship and
suffering
that make
you uniquely
ready,
uniquely
ready
to help
certain
people in
this world
that no one
else can
help.
Ephesians 2
verse 10
says that we
are God's
workmanship
created in
Christ Jesus
to do good
works that God
has prepared
in advance
for us to
do.
And the
word workmanship
there carries
the idea
of
the original
root meaning
is poem.
It's where we
get our word
poem form.
And the idea
is that we
are God's
artwork.
We have been
uniquely crafted
by God with
gifts and
talents and
positions and
strengths and
weaknesses,
even weaknesses
and blessings
and sufferings
that make us
uniquely placed
by God to
do unique
works for
other people.
Every one
of us.
You've been
brought to
whatever place
you've been
brought to
for such
a time
as this.
Ask God
what it
is.
Ask God
what it
is.
Thirdly,
if I
perish,
I perish
is the
language of
unconditional
obedience.
It means
I'm going to
follow God
whatever
happens.
And it's
really essential
for us to
understand who
it is that's
calling us
to
unconditional
obedience.
Imagine
the distance
between the
earth and
the sun,
approximately
149.6
million
kilometers,
is represented
by the
thickness of
this sheet
of paper.
that represents
149.6
million
kilometers.
The distance
between the
earth and
the nearest
star to
earth
is,
would,
a stack
of paper
like that,
360
reams of
paper high.
that's the
distance from
the earth
to the
nearest
star.
That's
about a
20 meter
high stack
of paper.
The distance
across the
little galaxy
that we
exist in
would require
3.456
million
stacks,
reams of
paper.
That's a
stack of
paper,
I think,
roughly
192
kilometers
high.
This
universe is
but a
little
speck
amongst
all the,
this galaxy
is a little
speck amongst
all the other
galaxies in
our world,
our universe.
It's pretty
impressive when
you consider
this is the
thickness between
here and the
sun.
Frankly,
the sun
wasn't close
enough this
morning to
us.
And the
point is that
Hebrews 1,
2 and 3
says that
this Jesus
is the
one who
spoke it
all into
existence
and he's
the one
who upholds
it by the
power of
his word.
Or another
way, my
translation,
he holds
it up by
his pinky.
This is the
Jesus who
calls you to
unconditional
obedience.
This is the
one who
calls you to
unconditional
obedience.
This is the
one who gave
his life for
you.
He's not
your personal
assistant.
He doesn't
fit with your
program and
follow you when
you can fit
him in.
You don't
RSVP with
Jesus and
wait for a
better offer.
friends,
take your
hands off
your life
because you
don't have
control of
it anyway.
You don't
have control
of it.
It seems to
me that God
intends for
us to live
with uncertainty
and risk in
our lives,
whether we're
Christian or
not.
James 4
verses 13
to 15
says this,
now listen,
you who
say today
or tomorrow
we will go
to this
city or
that city,
spend a
year there,
carry on
business and
make money,
why you
don't even
know what
will happen
tomorrow.
What is
your life?
You are a
mist that
appears for a
little while
and then
vanishes.
Instead,
you ought to
say if it
is the
Lord's will,
we will
live and
do this or
that.
You don't
know,
frankly,
friends,
if your
heart is
going to
stop before
this meeting
is over.
You don't
know if
some
oncoming
driver will
swerve on
the wrong
side of the
lane and
hit you on
the way
home.
You don't
know if the
food that
you've eaten
this morning
is some
sort of
wicked
bacteria and
virus thing
in it that's
going to
kill you.
You don't
know if a
man with a
gun is
going to
shoot you
down the
mall in
Chatswood
before the
afternoon's
over.
We are
not God.
we do
not know
what tomorrow
is and
risk,
therefore,
is built
into the
very fabric
of our
lives.
You cannot
avoid risk
even if you
wanted to
avoid risk.
All of our
plans for
tomorrow's
activities can
be shattered
by a thousand
unknowns.
Whether we
stay at home
in bed or
we walk
along a
footpath,
we need
to explode
the myth
of safety
and to
somehow be
delivered from
the seduction
of security
that exists
in our
culture.
It's a
mirage.
Security
doesn't
exist.
Don't
listen to
the retirement
ads.
It
doesn't
exist.
And the
tragedy is
that in
the myth
of security
we are
paralyzed to
take any
risk for
the cause
of Christ
because we
are deluded
and we
think it
will jeopardize
the security
that doesn't
exist.
Take your
hands off
your life
and put
them
into his
pinky.
fourthly,
if I
perish,
I
perish
is the
language
of
greatness.
There
are 14
times in
the book
of Esther
where
Esther is
referred to
specifically
as Queen
Esther.
13 of
the 14
times
occur
straight
after she
says,
if I
perish,
I
perish.
she
becomes a
person of
greatness
by letting
go of
her life
and placing
it in the
hands of
God for
his glory
and the
joy of
all others.
If I
perish,
I perish.
perish.
It's
the language
of risk.
It's
the language
of
greatness.
It's
the language
of
greatness.