The Great Reversal

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to St Paul's. If I've not met you, my name is Steve. I'm the lead pastor here at St Paul's.

Great to have you here. If you have just joined us, we are partway through the book of Esther. We've been following this story.

She's a young, orphaned Jewish woman who becomes the Queen of Persia.

We're doing this in this season as a church because we are looking forward into our life and ministry together as a church over the next three, five to ten years,

developing a strategic plan for our next phase of our 124-year history here at St Paul's in this place at Chatswood.

And particularly looking forward in a society that, in the time that we've existed here, has moved further and further away from the Christian faith.

So what does it mean to be God's people in this time, in this place for such a time as this?

And so what we've seen leading up to this, Esther has risked absolutely everything,

used a position in the palace as Xerxes' new queen to save God's people from annihilation.

An edict has gone out to the entire Persian Empire against the Jews.

And that edict's got several months to run before they are all annihilated.

But there's another crisis that we've just seen.

It's just risen right here.

It's much more immediate.

And the crisis is that Haman, who is the villain in this entire book of Esther, is determined to execute Mordecai.

And this plan has got literally hours to run.

It's a much more immediate crisis.

So open up your Bibles, Esther 5, running into 6.

And also, if you've got the Sir Paul's app, there's an outline for today's message,

which that's the trajectory we're heading on through the course of this morning.

Haman would have to be one of the most vivid and, I think, sustained case studies in the Bible

about what the Bible talks about in terms of pride.

And what happens when pride rages unchecked in the human heart?

Haman was the highest position in the king's administration.

But the odd thing with this is that Xerxes, the ruler of this empire,

must, in fact, command people to kneel and to honour Haman.

What is unusual about that is that this is a hierarchical traditional society

where bowing and honouring is instinctive.

But Xerxes has to command people to bow and honour Haman.

And so we get an indication that Haman must have been a particularly obnoxious individual.

And Mordecai would not honour him.

And so in chapter 5, verse 9, Haman is leaving a dinner party that he's just had,

a personal dinner party with Xerxes and Esther.

And he is in very high spirits.

Not because of the alcohol.

Nevertheless, he was filled with rage against Mordecai.

Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home.

In other words, he went out of there in high spirits of his own importance.

That was the point.

And Mordecai was the pin that popped the balloon for him.

He was intoxicated by his self-importance.

Verse 10, here comes the true Haman,

calling together his friends and Jerez, his wife Haman,

both of them about his vast wealth, his many sons,

and all the ways the king had honoured him

and how he had elevated him above all the other nobles and officials.

And then he says, that's not all.

I'm the only person the Queen Esther invited to accompany the king

to the banquet she gave.

And she has invited me along with the king tomorrow.

But all this gives me no satisfaction

as long as I see that Jew Mordecai sitting at the king's gate.

What we have here is a man whose fragile ego is being poked.

And his whole sense of who he is

has got to do with his ego.

When his ego was fed, as it was moments earlier

in the presence of Xerxes and Esther,

he was feeling great on top of the world.

But when it was dented, when he saw Mordecai,

he is filled with anger and malice.

The Oxford professor, C.S. Lewis,

has a great definition of pride in his book, Christian Behaviour.

He wrote,

In other words, what he's saying is that your whole world

is so desperately working to concentrate everything on me.

You don't get into relationships.

You don't take up a role.

You don't do anything unless it affirms your perception

that you have of yourself.

Nothing is about the thing that you're doing

or the people you do it with.

Everything is ultimately about you.

And in that sense, pride is essentially competitive.

Lewis wrote that pride gets no pleasure out of getting something,

but only in having more of it than the next person.

Pride turns everything into a means to an end.

You never do anything for its own sake.

It is a means to an end of getting respect, approval,

affirming who I perceive myself to be.

And so Haman here gets no satisfaction from his many accomplishments.

He only has satisfaction in those things

if it gives him what he really desires.

And what he really, really desires is really not a wife,

not his sons, it's not even his vast wealth.

What he really desires is the respect and the approval of others,

and Mordecai is not giving him what he thinks he deserves.

When you understand pride,

I mean, we can see people that we would regard as proudful.

There's two, really, two forms of pride.

One is obvious, one's not so obvious.

There's a superiority form of pride,

and that's fairly obvious amongst, you know, in the media,

certain leaders of countries and things like that,

we would say, very proud individual.

Like the very first president of Tunisia in his public assembly

has said that gifts of leadership that he has

is virtually non-existent in the world.

That's a proud moment.

That's a superiority form of pride,

and it's pretty obvious, right?

But there's also an inferiority form of pride

that is not so obvious.

This is where a person is constantly negative about themselves.

They are very self-conscious.

They are always beating themselves up.

Inferiority pride is when someone affirms you for something

and you deflect it.

You immediately talk about,

yeah, I could have done it better here

and I could have done it better there.

Inferiority pride is doing exact same comparisons

as the superiority pride,

but you're just not scoring yourself as well on the assessments.

And that's where I think Lewis was absolutely right

when he said humility is not thinking less of yourself.

It is thinking of yourself less.

Humility is not self-loathing.

You see, Lewis went on to write that

if we met a humble person,

we would not come away thinking

that they were a humble person.

We would just come away thinking

that they were just incredibly humble,

so incredibly happy that they were stable,

that they were not anxious by my presence.

They were interested in me.

A humble person is not thinking about themselves

and how you are treating them

or how you are scoring them.

For a humble person,

there's no ego calculation there.

But it's more than that.

Pride ultimately is deadly.

Haman's monologue of his greatness

is kind of embarrassing and awkward.

But it's more than just embarrassing.

Pride is more than just embarrassing and awkward.

It is so much worse than that.

Haman wasn't just satisfied with killing Mordecai

and therefore forcing Mordecai

to do the very thing that he desired of him

and that was to bow.

He was not going to...

He's going to force Mordecai down.

He wanted to make every Jew in the empire

bow down to him as well

by ultimately annihilating them.

That is, pride is deadly.

It leads to devastation.

It leads to ultimate destruction.

Christian theology,

ever since the days of St. Augustine,

has acknowledged that pride

is not just one of the sins of humanity,

but it's the very foundation

of all sins of humanity.

C.S. Lewis writes,

Pride leads to every other vice.

It is the complete anti-God state of mind.

It is the essential vice,

the utmost evil,

unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness,

are mere flea bites in comparison.

For instance,

and Lewis unpacks this more,

but for instance,

some of us struggle

with bitterness

towards other people

because they've hurt us

in some kind of way in the past.

They've put us down.

They've made us bow in one level.

They've made us feel low.

They've treated us

as if we are below them.

Ironically though,

the only way that you can stay bitter

towards another person

is because I feel superior to them.

Even my bitterness is linked to pride.

You can't stay bitter with someone

unless you feel superior to them.

And you want them to be brought low.

There is no bitterness without pride.

Pride says,

ultimately,

well,

I would never treat someone like that.

And with that statement,

you've elevated yourself above them.

Pride is the driving force

of a life distorted by anger.

Pride also leads to being indecisive.

It makes us either too abrasive

or it makes us too shy.

Pride is the fuel behind racism

and social injustice

and classism and imperialism.

Pride makes us foolish

by keeping us from learning

from our mistakes.

It diverts us to self-justification

and blame shifting consistently.

When relationships are going bad

or the job's not working out,

it is always someone else's fault.

It's a problem of circumstances.

It's something else's fault.

Humble people aren't always,

in any sense,

standing on their own dignity.

Humble people are learning.

When something goes wrong,

they look for what they've done

in terms of the contribution,

even if it's not mainly their fault.

And if they find the part that they own,

they learn from it and grow.

You see, proud people don't just not learn

from mistakes in general,

but they don't learn from criticism in particular.

One of the ways to grow

is to take criticism.

The superiority type of person,

of pride, dismisses criticism.

The inferiority form of pride person

means that you are so melted down

by criticism

that people are in fact

too scared to give you any.

Because of the mess,

they've got to clean up.

But what is particularly difficult

about pride

is that it hides itself.

Pride is the carbon monoxide of sin.

It's killing you,

you don't know it.

The prouder a person is,

the less proud they think they are.

Because the more they will see it

in other people.

That's the irony.

Lewis writes,

I pointed out a moment ago

that the more pride one had,

the more one disliked pride in others.

In fact,

if you want to find out

how proud you are,

the easiest way

is to ask yourself,

how much do I dislike it

when other people snub me

or refuse to take any notice of me

or patronise me

or show off?

He's making a very significant point there.

Traditionally,

in Australian culture,

we have a disdain.

It's called tall poppy syndrome,

but we have a disdain

for what we call snobs.

A snob

is a slang term

for someone

who believes

that they are superior to others

due to their social class

or their education

or their taste

in fashion or food

and it often leads them

to be condescending of others,

disdainful of others.

So we don't like snobs

in Australian culture.

Ironically,

it is only possible

to disdain a snob

if you feel superior to them.

That is,

disdaining snobbery

is snobbery.

That's the irony of pride.

See the problem?

We can't see it.

Takes a certain amount of pride,

in fact,

to come even to this point

in this message

and to be mostly

think about someone else.

I wish they were here

with me right now

listening to this.

But this leads me

to one more deadliness

associated with pride.

that there is no pride

like religious pride.

This brings it a bit home

for us.

Being religious

can stifle

a certain amount of,

or externally constrain

a certain amount

of sins

to a degree.

You know,

it can stifle greed

to a degree.

It can stifle

lust

to a degree.

And a whole lot

of other sins

to a degree.

If we work hard

to live

by a certain set

of moral standards

with the hope

of life going well now

or approval

in the future,

then we will

constrain ourselves

to certain constraints,

be strifled

as we pursue

those things.

That's the definition

of religion.

But religion

fuels,

it throws

petrol

on the fire

of pride.

Jonathan Edwards,

an American theologian

in the 1700s,

he's got a,

he wrote a book,

a series of lectures

really on humility.

It's called

Charity in Its

Fruits.

And he says

this,

to know that

there is

an infinitely

great God

of justice

does not

create humility

in itself.

Because either

you will try

to live up

to this God's

standard

and become

self-righteous

as you

achieve it

or

you'll feel

like you

can't live

up to that

standard

and you'll

just feel

like a failure.

And either

way,

you're focusing

on yourself.

Religion

will either

make you feel

more

self-consciously

a failure

or

it will

make you

feel

much more

superior

to everyone

else.

And either

way,

you're still

at the

centre.

So what

happens?

Where's the

cure for

pride?

Chapter 6,

right at the

beginning,

Haman is

arriving to

see Xerxes.

He's there

to ask

Xerxes to

kill Mordecai

in a pole

that he's been

building with

his mates

all night,

75 foot high.

Haman,

he's not

just satisfied,

he wants

to make

a public

spectacle

of Mordecai.

He doesn't

send his

assassins

in the

middle of

the night,

he wants

to,

this is

the man

who has

made me,

the public

figure Haman,

feel low

and I'm

going to

show to

everyone

what I

do to

the person

who makes

me feel

low.

So he's

spent the

night working

on his

pole,

he's now

coming to

King,

asking for

special

permission

to kill

Mordecai

and hang

him on it.

While he's

there,

while this

is all

going on,

while the

pole's

being built,

Xerxes

can't sleep.

Maybe it's

the construction

noise,

we don't

know,

but Xerxes

can't sleep.

Now,

here we see

another one

of those

so-called

coincidences

that is God

working silently

and sovereignly

through all

of this

narrative.

And so

here it is,

Xerxes

can't

sleep.

Xerxes

has a

harem

of the

most

beautiful

women

of the

empire,

the

choicest

food

and wine,

dances,

endless

options

for

entertainment,

and in

his inability

to sleep

and his

restlessness,

he says

to his

attendants,

go and

get what

is equivalent

to the

parish council

minutes and

read them

to me.

I mean,

he really

did want

to sleep,

didn't he?

And what

is read

out here

is the

record of

Mordecai

saving his

life from

assassination

and now

he really

can't sleep

because

there is

no record

of Mordecai

being rewarded

for that

and in

that moment

Xerxes

knows we

have a

cultural

crisis,

a cultural

crisis.

You see,

this is not

just a mere

simple oversight

that poor

Mordecai

wasn't

thanked,

so,

you know,

guys,

send him

an Uber

Eats

voucher.

This is a

cultural

crisis.

If word

got out

that Xerxes

does not

reward those

who stick

their neck

out and

report

assassination

attempts and

other risks

to his

rule,

who else

is going

to come

forward with

information?

And so he

needs some

suggestions of

what do we

do?

You know,

Uber Eats

wasn't around

those days,

so what do

we do?

And who's

in the court?

And it

just so

happens that

Haman's

there in

the middle

of the

night,

early hours

of the

morning.

What should

be done

for the

man the

king delights

to honour?

And so this

is Haman

desperately

needing

respect,

desperately

needing

approval,

desperately

wanting

honour

and glory

driven by

his heart

of pride

is thinking

as you

do as

a proud

person.

Who else

could he

be possibly

talking about

than me?

Verse 7,

this is his

response.

For the

man the

king delights

to honour,

have them

bring a

royal robe

the king

has worn

and a

horse the

king has

ridden,

one with

a royal

crest

placed on

its head.

Now this

is a bold

move by

Haman.

What he

is proposing

for himself

is nothing

short of

the

honour

that would

be given

to a

conquering

ruling

king

of an

empire.

A

conquering

conqueror's

parade.

Then let

the robe

and the

horse be

entrusted

to one

of the

king's

most

noble

princes.

The

greatest

noble

was to

be put

into

the

position

of

slave

and to

lead

the

horse,

elevating

the

rider

to the

position

of

momentary

king.

Make

the

great

one

less

and

the

lesser

one

great.

Let

them

robe

the

man

that

the

king

delights

to

honour.

In

ancient

times

for the

king

to put

the

robe

on

someone

is

more

than

just

giving

them

a

high

position

or

trying

out

his

outfits.

When

Pharaoh

puts

his

robe

on

Joseph

in

Genesis

41

it

means

Joseph

is

participating

at that

moment

in

the

king's

position.

When

Jonathan

gives

his

kingly

robe

to

David

in

1

Samuel

18

it

is

Jonathan's

way

of

saying

even

though

he

is

the

son

of

the

king

he's

saying

in

that

moment

to

David

you

are

to

be

king.

And

so

this

is

Haman's

moment.

If

everyone

saw

that

he

is

the

one

who

is

loved

and

approved

of

by

someone

as

great

the

most

powerful

man

in

the

world

at

that

time

Xerxes

the

first

then

everyone

will

know

and

he

will

know

deep

down

inside

of

him

how

much

he

is

valued

How

much

he

is

loved!

Lead

him

on

lead

him

on

the

horse

through

the

city

streets

proclaiming

before

him

this

is

the

one

what

he's

done

for

the

man

the

king

delights

to

honour

his

heart

is

so

satisfied

and

this

is

when

it

all

comes

tumbling

down

the

great

reversal

begins

Xerxes

says

great

plan

do

that

for

Mordecai

and

you

lead

the

horse

Mordecai

was

literally

hours

from

death

he was

about

to be

lifted

up

as a

public

spectacle

on a

pole

75

feet

high

to be

scorned

and to

be

mocked

by

all

who

passed

by

a

great

humiliation

and

instead

he is

lifted

up

onto

Xerxes

horse

covered

with his

robe

and paraded

in front

of all

and honoured

in front

of all

and

Haman

thinking

he was

about

to be

lifted

up

even

higher

than

what

he

currently

is

and honoured

is now

down at

the feet

of the

one

who

refused

to bow

in the

role of

the servant

leading the

horse

as a

slave

and in

verse 12

Haman

rushed

home

with his

head

covered

in

grief

and

Haman's

reversal

here

signals

the

great

reversal

of

God's

people

here

in

the

book

of

Esther

God

stands

against

the

proud

it's

an

ethic

that

runs

right

throughout

the

Bible

the

first

will

be

last

and

the

last

will

be

first

if

we

humble

ourselves

we

will

be

exalted

but

if

we

exalt

ourselves

we

will

be

humbled

as C.S.

Lewis

put it

lose

yourself

that

you

might

find

yourself

the

principle

runs

right

throughout

life

from

top

to

bottom

lose

your

life

and

you

will

save

it

for

instance

I haven't

got time

to unpack

this

in every

area

sphere

of life

but

in

social

life

you

never

actually

make

a

good

impression

on

people

until

you

stop

trying

to

make

a

good

impression

on

people

this

is

the

principle

of the

universe

because

it is

the

nature

of the

God

who

made

the

universe

Haman

wanted

the

one

thing

that

we

are

all

humanities

created

to

want

and

that

is

the

approval

the

love

of

the

lovable

what

we

need

what

we

need

is

the

ultimate

assurance

of

who

we

are

assurance

ultimate

assurance

of our

worth

what we

all

need

is

the

praise

and the

affirmation

and the

approval

and the

love

of the

praise

worthy

you see

Haman

here

asks

Xerxes

he's

seeking

from

Xerxes

for the

very thing

that we

all

want

and that

we

all

need

in

life

so

what

Haman

is

wanting

here

he

didn't

ask

Xerxes

for the

wrong

thing

he

just

asked

the

wrong

king

that's

his

problem

he

asked

the

wrong

king

there

is

a

better

king

there

is

a

king

with

ultimate

glory

who

came

to

earth

was

stripped

!

allowed

himself

to be

stripped

He

chose

to

strip

himself

of

all

of

his

glory

why?

because

he

was

trading

places

with

us

Mordecai

was

saved

because

Haman

swapped

places

with

him

but

Haman

did

it

involuntarily

and

if this

is new

to you

let me

just

say

that

the

uniqueness

and

the

truth

and

the

goodness

and

beauty

of

the

Christian

faith

is

that

it's

very

central

message

that

all

things

flow

out

the

very

central

message

what

we

call

the

gospel

the

good

news

of

the

Christian

faith

is

that

Jesus

Christ

the

son

of

God

the

one

of

infinite

glory

and

majesty

and

splendor

has

traded

places

with

us

just

in a

number

of

weeks

we

will

be

celebrating

him

taking

on

human

form

to

trade

places

with

us

but

he

did

it

voluntarily

you see

Jesus

is the

ultimate

king

he's

the

king

with

ultimate

splendor

and

glory

and

an

infinite

cost

to

himself

he

did

the

great

reversal

he

reversed

places

with

us

you see

in

Jesus

voluntary

act

of

trading

places

with

us

we

see

the

consequences

of

our

pride

and

the

cure

for

our

pride

2

Corinthians

5

21

puts

it

like

this

God

made

him

talking

about

Jesus

he

made

him

sin

who

knew

no

sin

perfectly

that

we

might

become

the

righteousness

of

God

in

him

that

he

might

give

his

royal

robes

to

us

he

was

stripped

naked

nailed

to a

stake

for

our

sin

and

that

all

would

walk

past

him

and

mock

him

and

scorn

him

as a

public

spectacle

humiliated

so that

we could

be raised

up and

clothed in

his perfect

righteousness

and

honoured

he takes

what we

deserve so

that we

can get

what he

deserves

John 17

in the

New

Testament

reads what

this means

for those

who bow

to Jesus

now

father

I want

those

you have

given me

to be

with me

where I

am

and to

see my

glory

the glory

that you

have given

me

because you

loved me

before the

creation of

the world

he's talking

about his

glory there

the father

has given

Jesus glory

and then he

says something

remarkable

a couple of

verses earlier

I have

given them

the glory

that you

gave me

I have

made them

what I

am

that is

unbelievable

you see

glory is

not fairy

dust

glory is

delight

it is

honour

for those

who bow

in submission

to Jesus

who hand

their life

over and

follow Jesus

what awaits

is not

a life

of religious

subjugation

what becomes

ours

is the

praise

of the

ultimate

one

who's

worthy

of

praise

the glory

and honour

and the

robes

of the

ultimate

eternal

king

and when

we know

Jesus

loves us

like that

when we

know that

the horror

of the

cross

was the

cost

of our

pride

and the

solution

to our

pride

that in

fact is

what our

ego needs

to divert

it from

us

and constant

self-assessment

to look to

him

and to

finally be

self-forgetful

and at

rest

you see

it's not

enough just

to say

well I

believe that

God exists

that doesn't

make us

humble

what we

must see

and know

and push

down into

the driving

centre of

our life

is God

coming down

and reversing

places

with us

at infinite

cost

to himself

to know

that he

had to

die

for us

humbles

us

to know

that he

was glad

to do

it

chose

to do

it

actually

affirms

you

in a

really

infinite

way

and that

ultimately

is what

causes the

Christian

to be

strong

enough

to be

weak

strong

enough

to learn

from

mistakes

strong

enough

and humble

enough

to not

try to

exert

power

or influence

people in a

negative

way

strong

enough

to take

jobs

and get

involved

in

relationships

and to

serve

others

that don't

just make

us feel

good

about

ourselves

it means

we won't

be constantly

down on

ourselves

or constantly

elevating

ourselves

or in fact

anything about

ourselves

it is a

place

of

stability

of

freedom

so

freeing

so

refreshing

so

restful

and so

beautiful

and that's

what we

offer our

society

as we

look forward

as a

church

a church

of

diverse

people

growing

downward

in

humility

as we

grow

upward

embracing

the Lord

Jesus

and all

that he

has done

for us

a church

that is so

beautifully

countercultural

that it

makes in

fact Jesus

and Christianity

compelling to

our society

Amen