Bowing Down | Esther 3:1-4

Our passage for today, just four verses in Esther

Esther 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3, and you may be thinking, hold on a

second, didn't we cover these verses last week?

You're not crazy. We did. But I promise we're

going to come back and drill down a little bit

deeper on the choices that Mordecai makes in

these four verses. So we're going to look at

that. We're going to try to then bridge the gap

to our time period and ask some questions about

Did Mordecai make the right call? Did he do the

right thing? And how does that apply in our lives

in the church today? Now, in my research over

the past few days, I took a really deep dive

into some of the ancient historical Jewish perspectives

on this text. I looked at portions of the Talmud.

I looked at some collections of Midrash. I went

to one particular Targum. I even looked at Rashi's

commentary on Esther from the 11th century. And

I did all of that because there is so much material

about the book of Esther. If you don't know,

this is going to come out later in the series.

It is the basis for the Jewish holiday of Purim.

And so there's much material written about the

book of Esther, and it was so interesting to

get that background. Now, in all those things,

that's not the inspired word of God, so we have

to remember that, take it with a grain of salt,

but some really interesting perspectives rooted

in solid rabbinical scholarship. So we'll talk

about that as we go along. Let's look at verse

one. It says, after these events, meaning after

the events of chapter two, King Ahashverosh promoted

Haman, the son of Hamadethah, the Agagite, and

advanced him, advanced him in rank and established

his authority over all the princes who were with

him. So remember, Mordecai had just saved the

king's life, right? He exposed a plot to assassinate

the king that was happening with his security

team at the king's gate. And we would expect

then that Mordecai would be rewarded for that,

but no. Mordecai doesn't get promoted for his

good deed. Instead, we're told that Haman is

promoted to the position of what we would call

in Persian culture, the chief vizier. And he

gets authority over every other official there

at the palace. He's the number two guy now. Verse

two, all the king's servants who were at the

king's gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman.

For so the king had commanded concerning him.

So get this now. The command comes down from

on high, from the king himself. All the servants

must bow down in reverence and honor to Haman

the Agagite. Good job. Well done. So how is Mordecai

going to respond? End of verse 2. But Mordecai

neither bowed down nor paid homage. Now. Look,

we all love a good resistance story, don't we?

We love our George Washingtons who fights the

revolution. We love our William Wallaces. And

our first inclination here is, when we read this

verse, is to cheer Mordecai for taking this principled

stand. But we need to slow down for just a second.

From a civil perspective, we should be honest

about this. What Mordecai has done here is break

the king's law. He's broken the king's law. So

we should be cautious about just jumping on the

bandwagon and saying, way to go, Mordecai. It

takes a little bit of study to figure out what's

going on here. We should look at the situation

in context and try to decide, is this a godly

thing that he's done or is it an ungodly thing?

Because the way we answer that question, the

way we analyze Mordecai's choices here is probably

going to affect us because we have a government

and we have commands and laws that come down

from our government. State government, federal

government, local government, and how we answer

that question is gonna impact the way we respond

to our governing authorities. Okay, I'm just

gonna take that picture down. Now, Mordecai's

actions have his fellow servants concerned. Look

at verse three. Then the king's servants who

were at the king's gate said to Mordecai, why

are you doing this? Why are you transgressing

or disobeying the king's command? Now it was

when they had spoken daily to him, meaning they

were warning him, and he would not listen to

them, that they told Haman to see whether Mordecai's

reason would stand. I said it last week. This

is kind of, these are rats. They ran to Haman

to say, do you see what Mordecai's doing? Is

this going to stand? Will you tolerate the way

Mordecai is rebelling against the command? So

obviously this is something that is ongoing.

This isn't just a one time I refused about on

a regular basis. It seems like Mordecai is refusing

this command and it's drawing the attention of

other people. It's becoming a problem for the

whole staff. And when he's challenged and warned,

it just seems like his mind is made up. I am

not gonna budge on this. And we should take note

of this. This is a huge personal risk, right?

Mordecai's putting his life on the line here.

This is conviction. This is courage. especially

since we've just seen what happened to Queen

Vashti. Remember, when she disobeyed the king's

command, boom, she's out. And what could happen

to Mordecai could be much worse than that, because

remember, Xerxes loved Queen Vashti. So he doesn't

have that same kind of love for Mordecai, so

there's nothing really that would cause Xerxes

to overlook what Mordecai's doing here and spare

his life. So there's a great risk taking place

here. Now, finishing verse four, this is the

critical piece of information. why was Mordecai

refusing the command? End of verse four, it says,

he had told them, meaning the other servants,

that he was a Jew. And there is our only clue

in the text itself to explain why Mordecai will

not bow down to Haman because I'm a Jew, which

implies the obvious. There's something going

on in that command that runs counter to what

Jews are allowed to do according to Torah law.

And that means we can rule out ignorance, by

the way. He knows exactly what he's doing. He

is choosing to violate the king's commandment.

And that, of course, raises the question that

I want to ask today. And that is, in violating

this command, in refusing to bow, is Mordecai

honoring the Lord or is he sinning? Is he honoring

the Lord? Is he being faithful to the Lord or

is he in sin? So we have to figure out the why.

behind of all this, right? Why is, this is a

stubborn conviction that Mordecai's come to.

Why? Exactly what was so problematic about bowing

down to Haman that this man would take such a

big risk, and it is, again, a giant risk. Well,

last Sunday I made the case that the most probable

reason, really the only reason that the text

itself gives us, is the fact that Haman was,

what, an agagite. Okay, good, very good. He's

an Agagite, right? Now, I won't go back over

all that Old Testament history. If you missed

last Sunday, it'd be super helpful to go back

and listen. But we talked about who King Agag

was, and we talked about the cowardly Amalekites,

and how the Lord told his people to remember

the treachery of the Amalekites, and how he instructed

King Saul to deal with them. And it's interesting,

when you read the historical Jewish texts about

this, they do point out the Amalekite issue,

but they actually go much deeper. They talk about

how the descendants of Agog and the descendants

of Saul goes all the way back to Jacob and Esau.

This is a very ancient rivalry, very ancient

conflict. But I want to consider another possible

reason for why Mordecai does not bow, beyond

the Amalekite issue, because I think that's obviously

there. But many of the ancient sources believe

this was an issue of worship. Many of the ancient

rabbis say this was an issue of worship. Let

me explain. This theory comes, by the way, in

two forms. The first one I don't put a lot of

stock in, but some historians believe that Haman

must have been wearing some kind of idolatrous

icon somewhere on his person that set Mordecai

off. In other words, he's got, based on the Persian

culture of the day, he's wearing a medallion

around his neck. that has some kind of image

on it. Or some have said, well, he might have

been wearing a turban with some kind of an icon

that's right there in the front of the turban.

Some have said, well, there's the possibility

that there was an image embroidered into his

robe and that he was out there in the palace

flaunting his culture with this image, flaunting

his gods before Mordecai. And of course, if that's

true, you can see why Mordecai would have been

repulsed by this man. as a Jew, repulsed by the

idea of having to bow before him. Now, the reason

I find that to be a stretch is primarily just

historical logic. I find it hard to believe that

Haman would have some kind of medallion or icon

or image in his garment that Xerxes wouldn't

have or Vashti wouldn't have had. And for Mordecai

to become an official at the king's gate in the

palace of Susa, listen, I have no doubt at some

point he had to bow down to Xerxes. otherwise

he wouldn't be there, or to the queen. And I

can't believe that this guy Haman has stuff,

has gear that the king and queen didn't have.

So why would Mordecai bow down to some people

but not Haman? Strictly because of what he's

wearing. So I'm not sure that one holds a lot

of weight. But here's the second theory, and

I think this one's a little bit more on point.

The second theory is that Haman, in his pride,

no doubt he's a prideful man, and in his thirst

for power, He's been put in a very powerful place.

How many of you guys know somebody who gets a

big promotion and suddenly they change? Right?

All of a sudden the pride and the arrogance comes

out. In that thirst for power, that somehow Haman

was daily presenting himself to the servants

and to the officials in some kind of idolatrous

fashion, meaning that he's demanding from them

a level of honor and respect beyond simple etiquette.

He's demanding worship from them. Okay, Rashi

actually explains that Haman had this, quote,

he had made himself into an object of worship,

expecting not just deference, but divine reverence.

Now, the question is, does the language here

in Esther 3 support that possibility? Well, the

first thing we should say is this, there's actually

no biblical law that forbids a Jew to bow down

to a king. or to bow down to somebody where it's

appropriate to show them honor or respect. It's

not forbidden in Jewish law. In fact, you can

go down a whole long list of biblical heroes

who did exactly that, bowed down to people in

authority. Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Saul,

David, Daniel, Nehemiah, Ruth, and more. They

bowed down when it was appropriate because they

found themselves in those situations where that

was the right response. But now look back at

verse two and notice the two phrases. In English,

bow down and pay homage. We need to look at those

in the Hebrew. The Hebrew root words there, you

see on the screen, kara and shakha. The first

of those two verb roots, you'll find used 36

times in the Old Testament. And I looked at every

single one of them. And on many occasions, that

first verb refers to a physical posture. It'll

talk about kneeling down or crouching. Sometimes

it refers to being brought low or being subdued.

But in a number of places, it does refer to kneeling

in worship. And then the second word, shakha,

which you see there, is the most commonly used

word in Hebrew to describe the worship of Yahweh.

It's found 175 times in the Old Testament. In

its most literal sense, it conveys the idea of

physically bowing or kneeling as an expression

of reverence, humility, and honor. But sometimes

it goes beyond that to prostrating oneself. in

worship. So the language there is very strong.

And just as an example, by the way, you find

these two verbs put together in a very famous

verse, Psalm 95, 6, where it says, come let us

worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the

Lord, our maker. Is that worship? To Yahweh,

it sure is. It's very clear. So if there's a

core truth to this, what the ancient sages say

here, that Haman was presenting himself in such

a way that he was demanding prostration and worship

from the officials, then Mordecai is to be commended

here, right? Certainly, it would fall into the

same category that we saw Shadrach, Meshach,

and Abednego deal with the golden statue in Daniel

3, right? Now, that dilemma would be much simpler

because, I mean, there's a giant statue. I mean,

that's a little bit more obvious than Mordecai's

attitude and arrogance, right? You remember the

story, right? How Nebuchadnezzar built this massive

golden statue, put it on the plain of Dura, invited

everybody to come to the dedication, and then

said, hey, when you hear the music, everybody

better drop, and you better prostrate yourself

and worship the statue. And of course, Shadrach,

Meshach, and Abednego will not do that. So that

was very, very clear. Much more so than Mordecai's

situation. But when you study ancient Jewish

life and values, especially for Jews who live

in the diaspora, which is what we're talking

about here, you see some common themes come out.

And one of them is, look, the Torah values life.

It's always about saving life. However, there

are certain commandments that are so fundamental

to the moral fabric of Jewish life that one must

be ready to give up their life for it. And the

number one thing on that list is idolatry. The

number one thing is idolatry. Bowing down and

worshiping anything or anyone other than Yahweh,

the living God. So if a Jew is told that they

have to choose between certain death and the

worship of a deity other than Yahweh, they only

have one choice, according to the Torah. They

cannot bow down. And you have to wonder, surely

Mordecai, as he's facing this dilemma about what

he does, does he have the story of Shadrach,

Meshach, and Abednego in his mind? and how they

were faithful and how God rescued them by miracle.

Is that going through his mind as he thinks about

this? At the very least, I mean, we're beginning

to see, I know I've been hard on Mordecai up

until this point in the series because there's

definitely compromise there, but are we beginning

to see faith in Mordecai? At the very least,

whether he's taking a stand because of the Amalekite

issue or because he doesn't want to worship Haman,

at the very least, Mordecai is beginning to outwardly

and tangibly provide evidence that he cares about

his Jewish identity. And more importantly, that

he puts his citizenship in the kingdom of God

over and above his role within the Persian kingdom.

That's important, right? By the way, do we not

face the same thing in our world? Where we have

a choice, we live in the kingdom of Santa Clarita.

Is that a kingdom? The kingdom of California?

America, maybe? But above and beyond that's the

kingdom of God, right? Now again, before we cheer

too much for Mordecai, let me show you one other

possible reason for his refusal to bow. This

one is also found among the ancient sages. What

if Mordecai's primary motivation was his pride

and his anger? Consider that for a second, that

he was upset about A, the lack of a promotion

after he saved the king's life. B, He's frustrated

by the fact that this other guy, Haman, gets

this giant promotion right over the top of him.

C, he's bitter that now he's got to serve an

Amalekite. And then D, he's really angry that

now he has to show honor and respect to what

he knows is a dishonorable man. And I wonder,

has that ever happened to anybody? in here, say

in the workplace or in some part of your life,

where this is wrong, it's unfair, it doesn't

make any sense, and yet here I am now, I'm forced

into this place where I've got to submit to this

authority that I don't respect, that is mean

-spirited, that maybe even is hostile towards

Christians, but this is the authority established

over you. What do you do in that moment when

things just look so unfair? When nobody's recognizing

your work and you're not getting that promotion.

There's no attaboys and it's just, you're just

hard. And then out of nowhere you're like, that

is not a good person and they just leapfrogged

over me. And it makes no sense. Have you responded

in that kind of situation? How would you respond

if you were faced with that kind of situation?

If Mordecai's pride is the driving force here,

I want you to think about the potential cost

of him responding in this way. He has put his

own life at risk. He's put Esther's life at risk.

He's put his entire people at risk. We talked

about it last week. Probably 750 ,000. Three

quarters of a million Jews living in the Persian

Empire at this time. Because in response to Mordecai's

rebellion, Haman's going to seek to destroy every

single Jew in the entire empire. So he's put

everything at risk. And for what? If pride and

anger is the issue, For what? Because he's got

a personal beef with his boss? Is that a good

risk? An ancient grievance that goes back generations?

Very good. So let me ask the acorns who are with

us this morning. Have you ever felt like you're

in a situation that just feels really unfair?

Maybe your mom and dad, you think, man, that's

not fair. And you get angry in your heart about

it. Here's the question for you acorns. Does

that anger help the situation or make it worse?

Does that anger in your heart, does it make mommy

and daddy happy? Does it make God happy when

you're angry like that? This is why we began

our service this morning in 1 Peter 2. talking

about our need to submit to the authorities that

God puts in our lives. For our acorns, Adam said

it earlier, what's your primary authority? It's

your parents, it's mom and dad. When you come

to church, it's your teachers and helpers in

your classrooms that you're in, right? This matters

in every one of our lives. Adam mentioned it.

Look, we're all under authority. The Christian

life is about submission in so many ways. There's

so many levels of it that we should know this

particular passage. So let me go back to it.

It's 1 Peter 2. I'm going to put it on the screen

for you guys. But I want you to notice as we

go back into this passage, at the outset, God

is calling us to fight two battles for the glory

of God. One is on the inside, and one is on the

outside. It starts, verse 11. Beloved, I urge

you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly

lusts which wage war against the soul. What that

means is the first battle we fight is within

us, right? Guarding our heart and mind carefully

so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, we're

able to restrain our ungodly passions and make

our love for Christ and our walk with him our

primary passion. But we got to win that war within

first, right? But those daily victories that

we get within in our soul, those things are going

to spill over into our outside life. And that's

what you see in verse 12. Keep your behavior

excellent among the Gentiles. That means the

unbelievers in your life. Live carefully among

them, remembering that you are always an ambassador

for Christ. And here's the purpose statement.

So that, here's why you should do that, in the

thing in which they slander you as evildoers,

they may, because of your good deeds, as they

see them, as they observe them, that they will

glorify God in the day of visitation. This is

how we magnify the name of Christ in our culture,

in our communities, in our neighborhoods. We

win them over with two things, with being zealous

for good deeds and manifesting the fruits of

the Spirit in our lives. We win the battle within

so it spills over on the outside. We're always

cognizant of how we speak and how we act around

unbelievers. And then comes the key. Verse 13,

Peter says this. Submit yourselves for the Lord's

sake to every human institution. Now he's making

a connection there about our outward lives. A

big part of that is submitting to authority.

And the key phrase is for the Lord's sake. If

you miss that phrase, you miss the whole thing.

It's for the Lord's sake. So we don't submit

to fallible, often corrupt, mostly wicked institutions

in this world because we feel like it or because

it's easy. We do it as an act of worship for

the Lord's sake. And that's really hard, isn't

it? It's really hard. But remember, Peter's just

told us, look, you're an alien. You're a stranger

in this world. You don't fit in. So you're going

to look at those institutions and say, wow, that's

a mess. That should be normal for believers because

we're not of this world. And yet we're to submit.

And that's not easy. So we're really not that

different from Mordecai, are we? Remember, Mordecai's

part of the diaspora. He's a Jew living in Persia.

He feels like an alien. He feels like a stranger.

He feels like he's living in two worlds, and

so are we. We have to deal with the institutions

of our culture, but while we do that, we have

to prioritize our citizenship in the kingdom

of God, in our heavenly citizenship. Why does

Peter want us to do that? Look at verse 15. Drop

down there. For such is the will of God, that

by doing right, you may silence the ignorance

of foolish men. So we're to live such humble

lives, joyful lives, generous lives, sacrificial

lives, that the unbelievers around us who, because

of their ignorance, would love to just condemn

us and say, boy, those people are awful. They

can't do it because they don't have any ammunition.

And in that, we point them to Christ. We win

the war within. It spills out in this way outside.

In fact, our consistency in living out good deeds

in the fruits of the Spirit will eventually force

them to acknowledge the goodness of God. Force

them to say that's actually a beautiful life

that that man or woman leads in their worship

of Christ. Verse 16, act as free men. Do not

use your freedom as a covering for evil, but

use it as bond slaves of God. Be careful about

your witness. You have freedom in Christ. Use

it wisely. Use it wisely. And then verse 17,

he summarizes, honor all people, love the brotherhood,

fear God, honor the king. Oh, honor the king,

Mordecai. Interesting, huh? Look at the progression

there. Start with all people. Christians have

a reputation of being just really mean -spirited

sometimes. Like, you're outside the kingdom,

so I can treat you poorly. We're to value. and

respect every human being made in the image of

God. They're sinners like us. We show them basic

respect and honor. But above that, then, we give

special honor and love to our brothers and sisters

in Christ. And then above our spiritual family,

we give God the fear and respect he deserves.

Look at the progression. All people, people in

the church, and God, but look at the last. You

would think Peter would stop there, but he doesn't.

He comes back full circle, and he says, honor

the king. Submit to the king for the Lord's sake.

Because that king has been placed there by the

Lord. How many of you guys believe that? Honestly,

you believe that God has established? Gavin Newsom

is our governor. I know, I just challenged you.

I know. Let's go to the screen. No. It's terrible.

Karen Bass, yeah. Listen, the king is not to

be feared in the same way we fear God. He's not

to be loved with the same commitment that we

love our church family, but we have to honor

the king. It's a huge part of how we win as ambassadors

for Christ, how we win the culture when they

see the way that we do that. Now, we're going

to come back to Mordecai's refusal to bow down,

and we're going to talk about times when we have

to refuse to bow down, but I want you to know

this principle first that comes out of Romans

13. It comes out of this passage here. As Christians,

we should be people who first and foremost are

inclined towards submission and obedience. That

should be our default setting, for the Lord's

sake, even when it's hard. We're not to be rebellious.

We're not to be pugnacious. We're not to be looking

for a fight all the time. We're not to let the

forces of the world drag us into division and

disunity and arguments. Has anybody seen that

on social media? How do we get manipulated? We

know better. And yet the forces at work in social

media, in the spiritual realm, just, I see Christians

just battling each other. It looks such a bad

look. And yet we allow those forces to drag us

into division. We know better. We don't buy into

every conspiracy theory that runs across our

desk on social media. We should be known as the

people who are slow to anger, who are thoughtful

on the issues of the day. We're not reactionary.

We're driven by truth, not by all the voices

out there that want to mislead us for profit

because they're everywhere. Slow. thoughtful,

wise, restrained. Paul says it this way. We should

not be acting like children who are tossed all

over by the waves and carried by every wind of

doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness

and deceitful scheming. That is the description

of the world we live in. So don't be children.

Be adults. So, now let's ask the question and

answer it. Slip on Mordecai's ancient sandals.

And let's look at our lives today. Did Mordecai

act justly or unjustly? Justly or unjustly? And

when do we refuse to bow down in our world today?

Some folks look at Esther 3 and they ask, would

it have been so bad for Mordecai to just grit

his teeth and bow to Haman out of respect for

the king, if only just to maintain peace and

to not put everybody at risk? As I shared earlier,

I think the answer to that question depends on

his heart. Depends upon what motivated him to

refuse to bow down. Guys, the motivation of the

heart is everything in our lives, is it not?

What drives us to make the choices we make? What

drives our decisions? So what motivated Mordecai's

heart? Was it his pride and anger? If so, he

put a ton of people at risk for a very selfish,

ungodly reason. Was it just about Haman was an

Amalekite? If so, I think he failed to discern

the situation rightly on a cost -benefit analysis.

And as much as I understand the Jewish perspective

on the bitterness of the Amalekites, wisdom in

seeing the bigger picture tells me that that

is a petty reason to take this stand and put

an entire people group at risk of being annihilated.

This is a lesson I think that all of humanity

needs to learn, including Americans. Living in

the past, living in the past and applying old

grudges in the present only stirs up wrath and

dissension. It furthers hatred across generations

and we shouldn't be a part of it. Because James

says the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness

of God. Lay it aside. Let that stuff die. It's

not healthy for you. It's not good for the church.

Let it die. But was Mordecai's motivation an

issue of idolatry? Was he being asked to worship

Haman in some way? That's an important question.

If so, I'm going to say it. If so, the state

was asking too much of him. Even for a Jewish

man who had probably compromised in other ways

to get where he was, worshiping Haman was too

much. That's an affront to the living God and

therefore it's an appropriate time to take a

stand and then trust God that somehow he is going

to work through that. But guys, we have to be

discerning in the stands that we take. And the

first thing is to look at my heart. Why am I

not bowing down? Is it a godly reason or is it

a selfish reason? Is it a rebellious reason?

What's going on? We always ask that question.

Why do I do what I do, right? Why do I choose

the way I choose? So what are the lines that

we need to identify when we stand our ground?

Are there times we just keep our heads down and

weather the storm? You are going to have difficult

presidents and you're going to have difficult

governors and mayors and you're going to have

bosses, some that might be incredibly hostile

towards you or towards Christianity. Have you

thought about this? You go work for a company

and they promote an Islamic fundamentalist over

you as a boss. And he's open about his hatred

of Christianity. He's actually open about jihad.

What do you do? That's kind of what Mordecai's

facing here. What do you do? And the answer isn't

black and white. It's going to be case by case.

And it requires wisdom and it requires prayer

and wise counsel in searching the scriptures.

Did we not just have to walk through this recently

with COVID? It's such a great test case. Don't

forget what we walked through with COVID. It's

a great test case for us. At the outset, at least

here at Oak Hill, we were inclined towards submission

and obedience because we were... Posturing ourselves

according to Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2. Let's learn

more about this situation. But at some point,

after doing the research and listening to experts,

spending time in word and prayer and having important

discussions, we came to the conclusion the state

is asking too much of us. There are fundamental

things that stand opposed to our faith and our

worship that have to be confronted. But that

was not done quickly and it was not done as a

reactionary thing. So let me caution you again,

lest we all get William Wallace about this. The

default position of the Christian is to be a

law -abiding citizen, to find every reason to

live peaceably and quietly under the authorities

that have been established. But yes, there are

limits to our obedience, and there are lines

that can be crossed. And when the authorities...

command us to cross biblical boundaries, and

they ask us to do something that clearly violates

something in Scripture, that is when we have

to stand up. But we do it humbly, don't we? We

do it humbly, and we do it steadfastly with a

sense of confidence in the Lord, and we say,

I'm not going to bow down to that. It all comes

back to the heart. Peter and his fellow apostles

laid this principle out. So I'm so grateful for

this little passage in Acts chapter five. Remember

when the high priest in Jerusalem, remember he

scolds Peter and the apostles. He said, look,

we told you not to preach in the name of that

Jesus guy. And what did the Peter and the apostles

say? Sorry, Bob, we're gonna keep doing it. Actually,

that's not what he said. They said, we must obey

God rather than men. And that is the critical

caveat of the story, right? The resistance is

tied to God's command. So if our cause is a godly

one, listen now, if our cause is a godly one,

it's not selfish, it's not rooted in our anger,

it's not rooted in some personal beef with somebody,

it's not rooted in somebody's conspiracy theory

that they sold on us, but it's rooted in biblical

truth, then we can stand our ground and trust

that God will carry us through. But even in that,

does it guarantee that we're not going to suffer

for it? No guarantee. As we take a stand, we

deal with the consequences. And then we don't

shake our fist to God, right? We suffer the consequences.

Peter talks about this. He says, rejoice as you

share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you

may also rejoice with great joy when his glory

is revealed. If you're ridiculed for the name

of Christ, you're blessed. because the spirit

of glory and of God rests on you. Then he gives

a warning. He says, but look, let none of you

suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, a

meddler. Make sure that if you're suffering in

the name of Christ, it's for a godly reason.

But if anyone suffers as a Christian for the

sake of Christ, let him not be ashamed, but let

him glorify God in having that name, in having

that name. Are you willing to take a stand for

the name and the glory of Christ, even if it

costs you something? It costs you your comfort.

It brings about pain. Are you willing? I read

a great quote this week during my preparation.

Listen to this now. The paradox for the Christian

is that we need to obey better than the world

does and resist better than the world does. In

other words, doing both for the right reasons

and making that clear to the world. As a church,

we have to be prepared to do both of those things.

First of all, to shine like lights in the world

as we submit and obey the authorities. Right?

Shine like lights. But then when lines get crossed

and we muster up the courage to stand our ground

for a right reason, then we have to do that in

a way that the world looks at that and goes,

I get it. I see why they can't obey that. What

a testimony that would be, right? They see us

and go, wow, look at how those Christians submit

to the authorities. That's impressive. And then

when we resist, we do it for such a righteous

reason, they go, you know what? That's good.

We see that as well. But if we're all angry and

screaming and shaking our fists and writing social

media things, we're not being ambassadors for

Christ. Keep your behavior excellent among the

Gentiles. Now, the interesting PS to the story

about Mordecai is this, and we'll pick up on

it next Sunday. God appears to have honored Mordecai's

resistance, right? He honors his resistance.

Does that tell us something about why he refused

to bow down? Maybe, or maybe God just bailed

him out. We'll talk about it next week. But either

way, just know God is, we've said this in every

single sermon, God is sovereignly at work in

this whole situation. Every detail is being worked

out so that God will save his people. So, Mordecai's

defiance has, since that day, just so you know

this in Jewish tradition, Mordecai's defiance

has just been a source of encouragement for Jewish

people for centuries. The stand that he takes

is invoked time and time again in moments of

persecution, in moments of terror, and in moments

of survival. And that's what we're going to pick

up on next week. If I haven't been clear on the

lines on this, will you come talk to me? This

is such an important principle because we live

in a complex world. Isn't that true? Amen. Let's

go to prayer. Father, thank you for your word

that always instructs us and sometimes it instructs

us in ways where we are really challenged in

our mind and our hearts to look into the text

to see what the lesson is you have for us. But

Lord, we want to live these principles out well

in this complex world that we live in. And we

know as believers here in California that we

live in a tough place where it is hard to submit

to the governing authorities. Yet you call us

to be really cautious in the way we do this.

And you tell us to be cautious about it for your

sake, for your glory. And I pray that you would

remind us of this tomorrow when we go on Facebook

or we go on some social media site and we begin

to get angry, that you would remind us that we

need to submit. And we need to obey for your

glory. And Lord, as the things come up where

the state asks too much of us, that you would

make those things really clear in our minds.

But even then, Lord, that we would show humility

and love for our fellow man as we, like Mordecai,

just refused to bow down. These are hard things,

Lord. We need your wisdom. So help us do that

well. Thank you for time in your word this morning.

Thank you for baby dedications. Thank you for

all the acorns who are with us this morning.

And Lord, thank you that we now get to sing your

praises. Let's do that well for your glory. Thank

you, Lord Jesus. We love you. Amen.