The Invisible Work of God

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to St. Paul's.

We've not met you before.

My name's Steve, the senior pastor here at St. Paul's.

And this is a very important term for us here as a church.

It's the end of Follow 25, if you're familiar with that.

What Follow 25 has been for us is it's been our five-year ministry plan

to see us grow in faith in Jesus Christ

and be transformed into the image of Jesus

from the inside out, both individually and corporately.

Our plan has been to grow deeper and more confident in God,

particularly in a time and a place

where the prevailing view of society towards the Christian faith

is anywhere between apathy through to hostility.

And so this term, what we're doing is we're looking back

at what's happened in the last five years at the same time

while we're planning to look forward and seeking God's will

for our future together and what he's calling us into.

And so to help us to reflect on what's been and to inspire us

to look ahead with anticipation,

we are going back two and a half thousand years in history

to the book of Esther in the Bible,

which the first bits have just been read out to us.

Now, at first glance, when you take a helicopter view

of the book of Esther, it appears like it's one of those

kind of Cinderella stories of the Old Testament.

It's the orphan girl who, you know, raised up and becomes,

you know, queen of Persia.

It's, you know, rags to riches kind of story.

It's a heartwarming, you know, the poor girl gets good kind of thing.

And yet the reality is the book of Esther is fundamentally

so much more than that.

In fact, the book is about how God saves his people

from the brink of disaster, that he never abandons his people.

Because what we're reading here in the book of Esther

is one of the most perilous times in the history of God's people.

They're in exile in a foreign land.

They are a minority group ruled by a very powerful empire.

And as we will see in the coming weeks,

they are literally on the brink of extermination.

And what this book shows us is it teaches how to follow God,

how to trust him, and even how to expect big things of him

when, even when the society around us,

even when we're a minority group and society around us

is morally, spiritually, and culturally indifferent

or even hostile to the God whom we follow.

So if you've got the St. Paul's app,

three points for today that we're going to look at

just in these sections just being read out.

And the first point, God is working despite appearances.

One of the oddest things about the book of Esther

is that there is no mention of God in the book at all.

At all.

Not even once.

It's not like the writer got to the end of it

and sent it off for publishing.

It came back and re-read his.

Went, oh my goodness.

I forgot to mention God.

You know, like I'm pretty confident it's not an oversight.

I'm pretty confident that the writer here is making a point.

And the point is, is that God is always at work.

You see, whenever the God of Israel,

if you look at the Old Testament,

saw his people in trouble in the past,

he comes through for them in extraordinary

and spectacular ways.

And yet you get to the book of Esther

and there's no mighty miracle.

There's no vision.

Not even a dream.

It appears throughout the entire book

that God is absent.

That God is totally silent.

That God's not there.

And yet, when you read through the book,

what you discover is a whole heap of a string,

if you like, of apparent consequences.

You know, if those things had not happened,

God's people would have in fact been exterminated.

And each one is connected to the other.

You know, if Xerxes had not been a fool

and Xerxes had not got drunk

and made a boast about his queen Vashti,

Vashti would have still been queen

if he had not got drunk.

And yet Esther must be queen

in order to save God's people.

And what if there was no one

who was Jewish good enough

to be part of the harem?

What if Esther had not been pretty?

What if Esther was not chosen

to be part of the group?

What if the king had favoured

one of the other girls in the harem?

The whole narrative of Esther is

what if, what if, what if, what if,

what if, what if, what if?

All the way through.

And all of them are ordinary,

even flawed things,

bad things.

And by themselves,

they don't appear to be significant at all.

See, here's the point

that I think the writer is trying

to get across here.

When we see the plagues

in the book of Exodus,

we say,

there is God at work

saving his people.

Praise God.

When we see Xerxes drunk,

we don't go,

there is God at work

saving his people.

And Esther is telling us,

don't make the mistake

of overlooking the ordinary,

even the sinful and the bad,

about God bringing about his purposes.

Don't make the mistake

of the materialist

who judges situations

based on what they can see

and feel

and can know firsthand.

He may not be seen,

but God is at work

all the way through this book.

His silence

is not his absence.

His hiddenness

is not his abandonment.

God is not obsessed

with appearances

the way that we are.

He's working out his promises

even when it appears

that he's nowhere around.

And there are things going on

in our lives right now.

We could be looking

right at it,

things that God is doing

that are so ordinary

and we're not either

not seeing it

or we're not embracing it.

You see,

even in all the ugliness

of Esther 1 and 2,

and it is ugliness,

there's hardly anything redeemable

in Esther chapters 1 and 2

Esther 1 · chapter mention

at all.

God is at work.

He's using the flawed,

the failed,

and the questionable

people in this chapter

like Xerxes,

all his noblemen,

and Esther

to bring about his plans

and his purposes.

God is at work

despite appearances.

And that matters to us

because we live in a world

that is obsessed

with appearance.

The book of Esther begins,

if you've got it there,

open up chapter 1.

It begins by introducing us

to the great empire

of King Xerxes I,

also known as Xerxes the Great,

or the fourth king of kings

of the Achamanian Empire.

Verse 1,

this is what happened

during the time of Xerxes,

the Xerxes who ruled

over 127 provinces,

stretching from India

to Kush.

Xerxes I,

his reign

was from 486

to 465 BC

when he was

assassinated

by the head

of his security.

His empire

included

northwestern India,

Pakistan,

Afghanistan,

Uzbekistan,

Iran,

Iraq,

Armenian,

Azerbaijan,

Syria,

Lebanon,

Israel,

Jordan,

Turkey,

northern Greece,

Egypt,

Libya,

Eritrea,

Ethiopia,

and Sudan.

There is no one

at that time

more powerful

on the face

of the earth

than Xerxes I,

and he knew it.

He was not a humble man,

and so he holds a party

to show the world

just how great he is

in case there was any confusion

about the matter.

Verse 4 tells us

that it went on

for a full

180 days.

He displayed

the vast wealth

of his kingdom

and the splendor

and the glory

of his majesty.

In other words,

he got all of his wealth

out and he paraded it

like a ticker tape parade

in front of his friends

and it took six months

for the parade to end.

And with an open bar,

it's not surprising

he was drunk.

See,

the whole point here

is we are meant

to gaze

upon the greatness

of Xerxes,

gaze wide open,

eyed at his gold

and his silver

and his jewelry

and the sheer

accumulation

of his power

and his wealth

and his splendor

and his majesty,

and we are meant

to admire him.

We are meant

to be envious

of him.

He is the ancient

version

of a social media

influencer.

I have

the enviable

life.

Be like me.

Everyone was meant

to want to be

Xerxes.

That's the point.

But Queen Vashti

knows the man.

While Xerxes

is over here

for six months

doing his best

to get the thumbs up

and the likes

and the little love hearts

as many as possible

amongst the crowd

that's gathered,

Vashti is hosting

her own separate banquet

for the ladies.

And Xerxes' party

gets a little

out of control,

tends to happen

when the ladies

are not around.

Verse 10,

we see Xerxes

make too many trips

to the open bar

and he decides

it's time

not just to show

off to everyone

that he's the wealthiest,

most powerful man

in the world,

but he also has

the best looking woman

in the world

that he has

as his queen.

Verse 11,

bring before me

Queen Vashti

wearing her royal crown

in order to display

her beauty

to the people

and the nobles

for she was lovely

to look at.

That's the point.

Bring out my queen,

put her on the end

of the parade

so all the guys

can drool at her too.

He wasn't interested

in her friends,

his friends meeting her.

she was brought out

and paraded

amongst all

of his drunken

friends

so that she might

be admired

and people would go,

Xerxes,

lucky man.

And for some,

if Vashti refuses

to come,

it's an incredible

act of bravery

on her behalf

and defiance.

You see,

in a hierarchical shame

and honour culture,

for an authority

like this

to be rejected

is not just

a personal affront,

it's a cultural crisis.

The king

was furious

at this.

He's furious.

But instead of getting

some marriage counselling,

he holds a cabinet meeting

to work out

what now needs

to be done

with Vashti.

It's a crisis.

It's a cultural crisis.

What do we do

with someone

who will not join

on the end

of the parade

for the sake

of appearance?

What do we do

with someone

who's not

going to join

with the culture?

And of course,

the nobles

are concerned

because they've got

their wives

who Vashti

may inspire them

to do the same thing.

I mean,

anarchy will reign

in our homes.

Vashti is banished

and the royal decree

went out

to the whole kingdom

so that

when everyone

heard it,

verse 20,

all the women

will respect

their husbands

from the least

to the greatest.

Chapter 2

begins with

Xerxes.

It appears

that the

next day

comes

the...

he's kind of

waking up

from his drunken

stupor

and realises,

oh my goodness,

I've now

banished Vashti.

I need to find

another trophy

wife.

And the whole

kingdom is searched

for the best-looking

candidates.

It's probably,

from what we could

tell,

the first recorded

instance of an

international

beauty pageant,

Miss Persia

Empire

for 80 BC.

It's likely

that there

as many

as 1,000

young women

were brought

back to the

king's harem

to see

which one

will be

his favoured

one.

They underwent

beauty treatments

and training

for a whole

year

just to get

ready

for one night

with the

king.

That's it.

One night

alone with

Xerxes.

Every single

thing in

that preparation

turned on

that one

night.

And there

were only

one of four

possible outcomes.

Xerxes,

you have your

night with

Xerxes,

he sends you

back to

become a

permanent

concubine

but he never

calls you

again.

You see,

after you've

had that

one night

with Xerxes,

you don't go

back to your

family and

your friends.

You are

forever his

concubine

and he may

never call

you again

which means

that you're

essentially

banished to

permanent

widowhood

around about

the age of

18 in that

sort of

vicinity

somewhere.

Secondly,

you become

a concubine

which he calls

for, you

know,

occasionally

for entertainment

when he feels

like it

and that'll

be for the

rest of

your life.

Now,

thirdly,

you might

be one of

the one

or two,

maybe three

chosen women

whom he

marries

and the

children that

you have

will become

royal heirs

with royal

benefits.

But fourthly,

if you are

the one he

most favours,

you become

the queen.

He marries

and you

become the

queen.

And one

of the

girls who

was taken

was a

Jewish

orphan

named

Esther

who we

were just

introduced

to.

And when

they took

her,

her older

cousin

Mordecai

instructs

her

not to

say

anything

about

her Jewish

identity

or her

beliefs.

Nothing.

Don't mention

that.

Hide that.

and she

was the

one of

the great

harem,

she was

the one

that Xerxes

favours over

everyone else

and he

marries her

and he

makes her

his queen.

And so

this Jewish

orphan girl

becomes

the queen

of the

greatest

empire

on the

face of

the earth.

This is

not a

Cinderella

story.

Neither

is it

giving us

relationship

advice

in any

shape

or form.

You see,

what this

is telling

us,

when you

stand back

and look

at it,

in the

Persian culture,

the most

important thing

about a

man was

his wealth

and his

power.

and the

most

important

thing

about a

woman

was her

sexual

and

physical

beauty.

A man's

worth

was determined

by the

size of

his wallet

and a

woman's

worth

by the

size

of

her

dress.

Can you

imagine

living in a

culture like

that?

It's

pretty

ugly.

I mean,

look at the

way the

women are

treated here.

Look at the

pride and the

arrogance of

these blokes

here.

But I

wonder,

apart from

some superficial

differences,

is the

world still

the same?

Is it

still the

same?

Our

society

says

externals,

images,

appearances

matter more

than

character.

character.

What you

have matters

more than

who you

are.

Whether it

be beauty,

talents,

money,

connections,

influence,

they matter

much more

than your

character.

We are

in our

society

today

under

constant

pressure

to undergo

beauty

treatments

on all

their

various

forms.

Our

culture

says that

unless you

get these

credentials,

this kind

of beauty,

this kind

of money,

this kind

of

resume,

this kind

of

education,

these kinds

of

connections,

in the

end you

don't truly

matter.

And it

says it

different to

men and

women and

it says it

different depending

on your

culture and

your race

or your

class,

but it's

basically saying

the same

thing.

You need to

go through

your culture's

beauty

treatments,

you need

to perform,

you need

to do

all this

and maybe

once you

do you

will find

approval,

acceptance,

admiration,

you become

enviable.

We live

in a world

of appearances

and performance.

We live

in a world

that elevates

the trivial

on social

media.

we have

entire

magazines

devoted

to the

antics

of soap

opera

stars.

We

elevate

to hero

status

and pay

obscene

amounts of

money

to people

who run

around

hitting

little

balls.

We live

in a

culture

that considers

the car

we drive

or the

tone

of our

skin,

the texture

of our

skin

as an

extension

of who

we are

and our

worth.

We are

more impressed

by the

school someone

attends

than what

they learn

when they're

there.

In other

words,

we blow

it again

and again

and again

just like

Xerxes.

and just

like Esther

too,

just like

Esther.

You see,

in these

first two

chapters,

there's

nothing

redeemable

about her.

She has

completely

sold out

her culture

and her

God.

Esther

gets to

her pinnacle

to where

she is

as queen

by absolute

compliance

to the

culture.

She does

what Mordecai

tells her

to do.

She

listens to

the head

guy in

the harem

more than

any of the

other women

in the

harem.

She did

everything

that she

has asked

of her.

She

aims to

be the

next

Vashti.

She

is a

blank

page

on

which

these

men

write

what

they

want.

She

kept her

identity,

her culture

and her

God

secret.

She

turns her

back on

God's

law

when she

ultimately

goes and

has her

one night

with Xerxes.

she's

completely

sold out

and yet

the good

news of

this entire

book as

we will

see as

we go

through

that God

is not

yet finished

with her.

We'll

see again

and again

God's

patience

with her,

the way

that he

grows her

in invisible

ways through

circumstances,

again and

again and

again grows

her and

turns her

into

something that

is truly

great,

someone who

is truly

great.

And that

which brings

me to my

third point

is in

fact

God's

work,

his

invisible

work

and

visible

work.

His work

is in

fact to

make us

beautiful.

And that

is the

good news

of the

message of

the Bible

is that

God is

not,

this is the

great foundation

of the

Christian faith,

God

does not

bless us,

he does not

love us,

he does not

save us

because we

are beautiful,

because we

are morally

good or

exemplary in

any way,

he goes,

ah,

there's someone

worthy of my

love.

The message of

the Bible is

that God

persistently

and consistently

gives his grace

to people who

don't ask for

it,

who don't

deserve it,

and don't

appreciate it

when they're

being given

it.

The good

news is that

God has not

given up on

us either.

In 1

Samuel 16,

when

Samuel's

looking for

a king

to replace

Saul,

God says,

man looks

at the

outward

appearance,

but God

looks at

the heart.

You see,

true beauty

is not

on the

outside.

God is

the only

one who

does not

judge a

book by

its cover.

How often

we say

that,

don't you,

you should

never judge

a book

by its

cover,

and yet

we do

it every

single

moment,

every

single

day.

Every

culture

in one

way or

another

communicates

to its

members,

we will

accept

you,

but you

must work

incredibly

hard and

make yourself

attractive to

us,

to make

yourself

lovable,

to make

yourself

approval

worthy,

and then we

will approve

of you.

And it is

exhausting,

exhausting,

it is

exhausting,

and there

is only

one way

out,

and that

is the

gospel of

Jesus

Christ.

One of

the most

striking

images of

the Bible

is its

declaration

that God

wants to

be your

spouse.

He wants

you to

be his.

see,

what the

Bible does,

it betrays

God not

just as

the divine

creator and

the all-powerful

king over

everything and

rules everything

in the world,

but a God who

is an all-loving

husband.

What makes

that so

great is

it's not

about what

we do to

make ourselves

beautiful to

him,

good for

him,

worthy of

him,

Ephesians

5 puts

it like

this in

its

instructions

to

husbands how

to love

their wives,

it says,

husband,

love your

wives just

as Christ

loved the

church,

his bride,

and gave

himself up

and gave

and gave

cleansing

her by

the washing

with water

through the

word and

to present

her to

himself as

a radiant

church without

stain or

wrinkle or

any other

blemish,

but holy

and blameless.

would it

surprise you

if I

said that

the whole

purpose,

the

trinitarian

God of

the Bible,

the whole

purpose of

creation is

that he

would provide

a spouse

for his

son,

that God

the Father

would provide

a spouse

for his

son,

whom his

son delights

in,

who is

blameless,

flawless,

whose heart

bursts when

he sees

her.

The Bible

declares in

the New

Testament

that that

is his

church.

Esther was

accepted by

Xerxes because

she was already

beautiful,

but Jesus

loves us

despite our

flaws and

our sin

and our

ugliness.

He does it

to make us

beautiful.

Esther had

to give her

life and

her freedom

up for the

king,

but

Jesus

Christ is

the only

king,

the only

spouse who

gives up

his life

and freedom

for us.

He gives

up everything

for us,

not because

we are

lovely,

but in

order to

make us

lovely.

And when

we understand

that,

when that

truth gets

driven down

into our

hearts,

we have,

I think,

at least

three things,

the three

things that we

need to be

free from

our culture's

enslavement

to external

appearances and

be made

truly beautiful

and glorious

on the

inside.

Firstly,

what it does,

what it does

is it gives us

a definition of

what true

beauty actually

is.

beauty is.

You see,

our culture's

definition of

beauty means

that we

cannot go

past a

mirror

without

noticing

ourselves.

that we

are obsessed

with

appearances.

Who would

have imagined

that within

two years

of combining

products that

we'd have for

a very long

time,

a camera

and a

phone,

combining

those two

things,

within two

years of

combining

those two

things,

that dictionaries

in the world

had to be

rewritten to

include the

word selfie.

a word

that didn't

exist

before

2002.

Selfie.

Millions

of selfies

are taken

every day.

And when

we look

at Jesus

instead of

ourselves,

we actually

see ultimate

beauty.

we see

infinite

glory and

majesty and

splendor.

And he

gave all

of that up

for us

to make

us beautiful.

He left

it to one

side.

He became

human.

He went

to a cross.

And the

book of

Isaiah says

that he

had no

beauty that

we would

desire him.

beauty.

The one

of infinite

majesty

became

cosmically

unsightly

to make

us beautiful,

to make

us majestic

in such

a way,

so cosmic

unsightly

that his

father

turns his

face away

from him.

That is

true beauty.

genuine

beauty is

not

self-obsession.

It is

self-sacrifice.

And that's

why it

says at the

end of

Isaiah 53

about Jesus,

the one

who had

no beauty,

the suffering

servant of

humanity,

I will give

him a portion

among the

great.

and he

will divide

the spoils

with the

strong.

That's the

first thing.

The second

thing we get

when we

understand that

Jesus gives

up everything

to make us

beautiful is

a new

experience of

our beauty

to him.

Nat and

I, my

wife, were

married 26

years, eight

months and

27 days

ago today.

It's not

an anniversary

per se.

That's

9,767

days, not

that I'm

counting.

Now I

still remember

that day,

not far from

here, I still

remember the

day when she

appeared at

the door of

the church and

started to walk

down the

aisle.

She looked

stunning.

she was

absolutely

stunning.

Do you

know why?

Do you

know why?

Because an

awful lot of

money had been

spent on a

fancy dress,

on hair and

makeup, that

she had to get

woken up early

in order for

that all to be

worked out.

now bear with

me here.

I haven't

finished the

illustration just

yet.

I think Nat

was beautiful

before all of

that and in

fact I would

say so much

more to me

now than

even then.

but it is

a fact that

makeup and

fancy clothes

make most

of us,

pushes most

of us up

a notch in

terms of

appearances.

Regardless of

what you think

of my appearance

right now,

you should have

seen me when I

crawled out of

bed this

morning.

this morning,

you don't get

my when I

first wake up

look, I've

used David

Beckham's

shower gel

this morning.

Not literally

his shower gel

but the one

that promises

you, you may

look like him

if you use

the shower gel.

And also a

thing called

facial fuel.

which promises

to be a

facial recovery

accelerator.

Now the

irony of that

particular

product is

that I

didn't even

know, I

didn't even

buy it, it

was just

there on

the bench

and it's a

men's product

and I'm the

only man in

the house,

man in the

house, so

someone has

picked this

up.

I'm working

on the

assumption

that maybe

I need

it.

So there

we go,

recovery

accelerator.

We'll see

over the

course of

Esther whether

it's worked

or not.

Several of

the

imperfections

and flaws

that I'm

self-conscious

of have been

hidden, they've

been covered

up, they've

been worked

on.

See, when

Jesus uses

the metaphor

of us being

his bride,

one of the

things that he

has in mind

is that despite

all the

spiritual flaws,

despite all

the failings,

despite all

the sin,

despite all

of my

lackluster and

apathy towards

him, that he

has so

clothed me

with his

beauty, with

his righteousness,

that he

has so

surrounded me

and us

with his

own beauty

that he

gave us,

that he

has so

cleansed me

of my

sin, that

when he

sees me,

when he

sees his

children, when

he looks

upon his

church, his

heart

bursts,

his heart

bursts with

delight.

and to

the degree

that we

know that

this is

true of

us, in

his eyes,

every single

moment, it

will free

us from

our culture's

enslavement,

telling us

what we must

look like,

what we

must have,

what we

must accomplish

in order to

be accepted,

in order to

be loved,

in order to

be approved

of, because

in Jesus

Christ, in

the gospel,

we have the

approval of

the only

praiseworthy

one.

one.

The third

thing we

get when

we understand

that Jesus

gives up

everything to

make us

beautiful in

his sight,

is a new

understanding of

the ugly

things in

life.

Those things

which we

might otherwise

cause us to

question his

existence or

his power or

his willingness

to intervene

or even

his presence.

And including

the new

understanding of

the ugly

things within

the church

which are

difficult to

navigate and

process.

There are

parts of the

Bible that

talk about

suffering and

hardship,

refining those

who Jesus

loves.

And the

imagery is

always of

gold being

refined and

the impurities

being burned

up in the

furnace.

And once

we are

assured of

God's love,

I mean really

assured of

it, when we

go through

troubles and

sufferings, it

actually purifies

us.

It makes us

more beautiful

down on the

inside.

You see, in

Jesus, suffering

is not God

abandoning us

in any sense.

He uses the

refining process

to get rid of

the pride and

the foolishness

and the fear,

bit by bit, he

is making us

more beautiful

to him.

And once we

are assured of

God's love,

then we see the

hard times, the

ugly moments of

life as God's

spiritual beauty

treatments.

When we go

through the

hardships with

absolute assurance

that we are

already beautiful

in God's

sight, we

start to become

more beautiful

in our hearts,

in our lives,

just like

pressure creates

a diamond.

So God has

not abandoned

you in your

troubles.

He's at work,

even if it's not

obvious, he's at

work, leading

you, holding

you, refining

you, and

ultimately saving

you.

His invisibility

is not his

absence.

So keep

looking to

what he's

already done

for you in

Jesus to

make you

beautiful and

acceptable to

him.

It's a

commitment to

you that he

intends on

following through

for all of

eternity.

Once he sets

his heart on

you, he will

make you

beautiful forever.

Romans 8,

we know that

in all things

God works for

the good of

those who

love him,

who have

been called

according to

his purpose.

For those

God foreknew,

he also

predestined to

be conformed

to the image

of his son.

Those he

predestined,

he called,

those he

called, he

justifies,

and those he

justifies, he

glorifies.

When he set

his heart to

love you, the

end of that is

to make you

beautiful.

Let's

show

some