The Strong and the Weak

Father, we give you thanks and praise that you have never stopped being king of the whole earth.

You are the same God who shaped all the planets and the galaxies with your hand,

and you have never let the planets and the galaxies go.

You are the same God who shapes and turns history and turns people's lives

in the direction that you have already chosen.

Father, we thank you so much for Jesus.

We thank you that he has redeemed us.

We thank you that through faith in him, we do not call out to an unknown God,

but that we can call to you, you, our Father in heaven, who is still the Lord of this place.

So, Father, we call out to you as your children, and we ask that your Holy Spirit would fall,

and we ask that as the Holy Spirit falls, that we would know Jesus,

and that your word would speak to us deep in our heart.

And we ask all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

Please be seated.

If I seem a little bit less energetic than usual, I'm jet-lagged.

I was in British Columbia all week, and my internal clock is completely and utterly discombobulated.

Hopefully, my brain won't be completely and utterly discombobulated as I talk this morning,

as we open the word.

If you have your Bibles, turn in them to Esther 5.

I know the text will be up there in the screen as well, for those of you who don't have Bibles,

but it's just a really great thing to have a Bible with you,

and get familiar with your book, or however it is that you read the Bible,

and sometimes be able to make notes in it as different things speak to you.

I know you can do that electronically as well.

So, we're going to be looking at Esther 5.

And, you know, this is a very...

One of the things that keeps us from being a Christian,

or gets in the way of us being a Christian,

is we're aware of the fact that often it'll mean that we have to be a bit weaker,

and nobody likes to be weak.

And this text sort of speaks into that in a very, very interesting way in the context of a story.

So, let's just plunge in.

If you're just trying to remember where we are in this story,

it's a story set in Persia, ancient Persia,

when King Xerxes was the king, the emperor of the Persian Empire,

the greatest empire in the world at that time.

And it's all about how a plan has now developed from this fellow by the name of Haman

to kill all of the Jews in the empire, like everyone,

whether you're young or whether you're old, male or female,

to kill every Jewish person and to steal and plunder their property.

And the king has given permission for this.

And even as the events in this story transpire,

the wheels, so to speak, of the state, the bureaucracy, the military, the police, the judiciary,

and even the citizens as individuals are starting to prepare for this great day,

about ten, ten and a half months hence, when every Jew will be killed.

And central to this whole story have been two Jewish people.

One of them is a man by the name of Mordecai,

whom I've said week after week, I know it gets a bit boring for some of you,

who's lived as a Persian.

He's lived as some combination between being a pagan and being a Zoroastrian.

He has a name that says, I worship Marduk, the god of Babylon.

And he has raised an adopted daughter by the name of Esther.

That's her Persian name.

She had a Jewish name, but he tells her to use her Persian name,

which is she's named after the goddess Ishtar.

And Esther, through a series of circumstances,

has become one of King Xerxes' queens.

But she has lived like a Persian, looks like a Persian,

eats like a Persian, worships like a Persian.

Nobody knows that she's Jewish.

And so we see in the story as it unfolds this conversion moment for Mordecai,

where he's just brought to that point where he returns to the Lord of Israel

who cares for his covenant people.

And he says, I am a Jew.

I am one who's going to live under the Lord's hand and under his covenant.

But Esther hasn't done that.

And after this decree is made to use the power of the state to kill every Jewish person,

what we looked at last week is that Mordecai outs his adopted daughter, Esther.

He outs her.

And he outs her because he's come to confront her and say,

you know, through an intermediary that you need to go in and speak to the king

and appeal for your people.

And Esther gives Mordecai a very, very, very, very, very, very reasonable reason

as to why she shouldn't do something like that.

Because basically she has a very high likelihood of being put to death

because there's a rule, which is also, by the way, reported in other secular historians

or pagan historians, I should say,

that if you come into the king's inner sanctum to speak to him

and he hasn't invited you,

unless when he sees you, you come in.

And if he doesn't give you, extend his royal scepter to give you permission,

the only other option is to have you killed.

And Esther says, it's pretty foolish of you, really, Mordecai,

to ask me to go and appear before the king.

I haven't seen him in 30 days.

Who knows how long it'll be.

And so there's this, the whole story turns in this last interchange

of what we just looked at last week,

where Mordecai, his faith in the Lord's providence comes out.

He says, listen, the Lord is going to deliver his people

because that's what he's promised he does.

And don't think that you can hide while Mordecai goes through his,

Haman goes through his plan

and that you won't come under this judgment

and you won't die and suffer.

But here's the thing.

I know that the Lord is going to deliver.

And maybe the Lord has put you in this position for such a time as this,

that you are the one here right now to take this message to the king.

And if you don't, you'll perish.

And as we looked at a little bit last week,

it's the language of a type of eternal perishing

within the context of the Hebrew.

And you'll fall under God's judgment.

So this is like a conversion moment for Esther

as to whether she's going to trust the Lord or trust herself.

And Mordecai's words pierce her heart.

And she becomes a reluctant convert.

She doesn't start saying yes and jumping up and down

because she's all pumped.

She says,

I will spend the next day,

three days fasting without food or water.

And I will reveal who I am to my young women.

And I will ask them to join me in fasting and prayer

for three days to the Lord.

And I ask you, Mordecai,

if you would gather all of the Jewish people that you know

and you would ask them to fast and to pray for me for three days.

And at the end of the three days,

I will go unto the king.

And if I perish, I perish.

I mean, when you say, if I perish, I perish,

that's not a sign that you're just,

that you're filled with the joy of the Lord.

It's not despairing.

It's not cynical.

It's very realistic.

And it's very, very courageous.

And really, for those,

everything that happens in the rest of the book of Esther

has to be understood from that perspective

that the Lord has going to deliver his people,

whether Esther is the one who is there for such a time as this,

and whether her faith and obedience to the Lord

will lead her to end up being, to perishing,

because she might die in this whole process.

And so that's where we begin this story today.

It's verse one.

On the third day,

Esther put on her royal robes

and stood in the inner court of the king's palace

in front of the king's quarters

while the king was sitting on his royal throne

inside the throne room opposite the entrance to the palace.

And just pause.

One of the things which is hard for some people

as this sermon series has been going on

is because I'm sort of bringing out things in the story

which make it obvious that

the way you've normally heard the story talked about isn't right.

Like, I know after I shared where Esther gets introduced

and the fact that she's a compromised person

who doesn't live like a Jew,

who goes under the name of the goddess of Ishtar,

and the way she becomes queen,

literally the way she becomes queen,

is her sexual performance with the emperor

and her conversation with him makes him choose her,

which doesn't usually get talked about in Sunday school.

And here in this story,

it's often said that what Esther does

is she makes herself beautiful to appear before the king.

And that's wrong.

The text has made clear

that she's just spent the last three days

fasting without food or water.

One of the things which I'm prey to

is I can get so busy with work

that I don't drink fluids.

I go from one thing to another to another to another

and I don't drink enough fluids.

And I'll be home and I'll say to my wife,

you know, I finally get home and I say to Louise,

I say, gosh, I'm really feeling just tired and draggy.

And, you know, and then like I'm dumb, right?

So it doesn't dawn on me at first that I'm dehydrated.

And then I sort of think to myself,

maybe I'm just dehydrated.

And before I know it,

like I've had three glasses or four glasses of something

and half an hour later,

the world looks better.

I have energy.

I'm not tired.

I was just dehydrated.

And that's just after an afternoon.

I'm not a doctor.

I did a little bit of looking on the Internet

to see what happens

if you go three days without food and water.

But at the end of three days without water,

you can still live.

By the way, the text isn't recommending you do this.

And whether it was a full 72 hours or a little bit less,

the text is a bit silent on it,

but she's gone a while without food and without water.

And after this length of time without water,

her brain would feel tired and heavy.

She wouldn't have energy.

It's very possible that her joints would be aching

because regular fluid's important for your joints

to be able to work well.

And the body's ability to control its temperature

would be way out of whack.

And she might be going through periods

where she's literally shivering with cold.

And then within a few moments,

she could be heavily sweating.

And if one of us was brought into the hospital

because we'd gone three days without fluid,

they wouldn't say,

okay, now you're in the exact right state of affairs

to go do an important interview.

They'd say, we're putting you in the hospital.

We're not letting you out.

We're going to give you intravenous.

We're going to pump some fluids into you

and we're going to fix you.

That's what they'd say.

And so she would look either sweaty or clammy.

She would be maybe shivering,

sweating and shivering.

And she might be walking with pain.

And her lack of energy would be apparent.

So now it isn't as if she goes in.

It says here she puts on her royal robe

and that many people will just jump to the thing

that she spent her time working on her makeup.

But this is,

the whole thing is a very, very interesting thing

in this story, you see.

And it's a puzzling story, right?

Because the fact of the matter is,

let's be honest.

If one of you came up to me and said,

George, I have a really, really, really important meeting

in three, you know, next week

or in three days,

like on Wednesday, George, or Thursday,

I have this really, really, really important interview

that I have to go through.

What should I do?

And I have to confess,

I probably wouldn't tell you to fast for three days

and take no water and pray.

I'd probably,

I'd tell you you should pray,

but I'd probably say,

you know what you can do is

you can visualize success.

You know, send me a copy of your words,

your speech,

and we can make it punchy.

You've got to work on your elevator talk.

You know, those first 30 seconds or 90 seconds,

it's key.

You want to say something at the beginning

that's going to really grab the person,

hook them and bring them in.

And in other words,

basically what I would be telling them

is I would be telling them

all of the different ways.

And, you know, maybe I'd be saying,

of course, you know,

you're going to, you know,

don't come to me for fashion advice,

which is obvious.

Some of you ask me occasionally

why it is that I always wear

a clergy shirt at church.

I don't wear it throughout the week.

It's very simple.

I am such a non-clothes person

that if I actually tried to not dress

in a clergy shirt and pants,

you'd start to say,

he's wearing the same pants like every week.

And look at the socks with the sandals.

And the socks don't match his shirt

or his tie or whatever it's supposed to match.

I wouldn't even know

what it's supposed to match.

Like, I'm the opposite of a clothes person.

I can wear black,

like, dress, it's like a uniform.

I'm allowed to wear it every week

and nobody comments on it,

which is one of the reasons,

the main reason why I do it.

I can just get by like this every week.

I don't have to think about my clothes.

So I would say to you,

don't come to me about advice about clothes.

You know, go to Victor

or, you know, or some other person,

and they'll tell you how to be well put together

so you look spectacular for your meeting.

And, but you know,

what I'd be doing is

all of my advice would be how to get strong.

That's what we'd all do.

All of our advice would be how to get strong,

how to get pumped,

how to visualize your success,

work on your talk,

you know, work all of these types of,

pray and work and work and work.

And you come to a text like this

and it's a very, very, very counterintuitive text

is that she makes herself weak.

And when she stands to come into the king's presence

to see whether she's going to live and die,

maybe she's had some fluid now,

but she won't have had enough

to have been rehydrated.

And she's put on her royal robes

to show that she's the queen.

And I'm sure she did her hair

and whatever makeup her would have been back then.

But she comes in a weak,

in a weakened state.

Now, just to be clear,

the Bible here isn't saying

that there's something virtuous

about weakness per se.

And it's not saying

that you have to be weak

to speak before the king.

What you see here

is something which is really

counterintuitive to our flesh

and to the world,

but very, very, very, very,

very important to understand.

She humbles herself

not before the king,

not before power of the world,

not before the people

who want to kill her people.

She's not humbling herself

and making her weak before them.

She becomes weak

and humbles herself

before her God

that she can stand

before the king.

It's not saying

that the world would be better

if everybody was weaker.

It's not saying anything

other than the fact

that this is a profound story

of conversion.

And with her conversion,

and she knows

the power of the court

and the power of the empire,

and if she is going

to trust in the Lord,

she's going to have to trust

in the Lord

all of the way.

Unless the Lord does this,

she is doomed.

And she has this profound sense.

The text never explains it.

It may be as just

the memory she's had

of her upbringing

and of the stories

of God's deliverance,

but the fact of the matter

is it's going to have to be

the Lord who will deliver

his people,

the Lord who will act

in the midst

of all these other things.

And the way that she

is to do this

is if she is going to be able

to stand before the king

and look him in the eye,

if she is going to be able

to stand before Haman,

the one who wants

to murder her

and all her people,

if she is to stand

before her enemies

and her kings,

she needs to humble herself

before the Lord

so she may stand.

And that's what she does.

And so we come to see

how it is that the king

is going to respond.

Verse 2.

Now remember,

when she comes in,

she's looking more frail.

She's not walking

with the usual spring

in her step.

She doesn't look well.

But she's come

and stood

in the place

where within the next few moments,

the king will either

ignore her,

and that means

the guards will come

and take her away

and kill her,

or he will look at her

and he will beckon her

to come

and she will live

at least for that moment.

So in verse 2,

and when the king

saw Queen Esther

standing in the court,

she won favor

in his sight

and he held out

to Esther

the golden scepter

that was in his hand.

Then Esther approached

and touched

the tip of the scepter.

That's one of those

little aspects

of the story

for those of you

who have visual imaginations

that just help you

to understand

what's happening.

It's a sign

that she's acknowledged

that he's letting her live.

And she comes close

to him.

She touches

the symbol

of his authority

as acknowledgement

that she can be

in his presence

and that she can live.

And

the king must have noticed

how she looks.

So he says to her,

what is it,

Queen Esther?

What is your request?

Shall be given you

even half of my kingdom.

Now just sort of

pause here again.

He doesn't mean this literally.

He's just

having good manners.

If she'd said,

well actually,

I'd like,

I have a map

of the kingdom.

I've drawn a line

right here.

I'd like you to have,

I'd like to have this half

and you can have that half.

But you know,

at the end of the day,

it doesn't matter.

You can have the other half

and I'll have this half.

If she'd said that,

she'd be dead.

It's just good manners.

By the way,

here's a really important thing.

When you read the Gospels,

when you read something like,

for God so loved the world

that he gave his only begotten son

to the end

that all who believe in him

shall not perish

but have eternal life,

it's not good manners.

It's literal.

It's literal.

He really will

stop you from perishing.

He really will give you

eternal life.

But this

is just good manners.

And so,

how is she going to respond?

She says,

and Esther said,

verse 4,

if it please the king,

let the king and Haman

come today to a feast

that I have prepared

for the king.

And pause again.

Now,

this would have puzzled the king

because he would

say to himself,

she didn't risk her life

just to ask

to have some

hummus and tabouli

and lamb and goat

and wine with me.

He wouldn't know what it is,

but he'd know

that there's something else

going on.

And it's really puzzling.

The text never explains

why it is

that the queen asks

not only to see the king

but also the king and Haman.

Part of the reason

that she asked for the meal

is maybe clear to all of us

if we just sort of picture

what happens

is that this isn't as if,

this isn't like

what it's like

probably in most offices

where if you can make it

through all of the security guards

and all of the,

and the receptionists

and the personal assistant,

you eventually get into

the office of the cabinet minister

or the prime minister

who's there by himself.

What happens in the inner court

is the advisors

of the king

would be around

and there's soldiers

who are around

and there's people

with other type of business

who'd made the proper appointments

and they're all around.

There'd be many people

who are all around.

And so it is sort of,

if you sort of understand

that that's what it looks like,

it's not like our being able

to go see the prime minister.

It would sort of really be more

like you get to see

the prime minister of Canada

but while he's there,

half of his cabinet is there

and half of his aides are there

and his chief of staff is there

and there's security guards

and police there

and it's a big crowd

and you can well imagine

that it's going to be

a very intimidating thing

to try to make your request

to the prime minister

in front of so many people.

It'd be very intimidating.

And so you can understand

why she asked for the meal

but the puzzling thing

is that she asked for Haman

and the text doesn't tell you

why she asked for Haman

but she does.

So we can be free to differ.

I mean, that's one of those things

we can talk about over coffee.

Why did she ask for Haman

to be present?

I think it's maybe

for at least two reasons.

Part of it is I think

just the courage

that God has given her

even in her weakened state

because I don't know

how many of you

have been profoundly wronged

but I know that there are

some of you here

who have been profoundly wronged

that maybe have been

even beaten

or treated very, very unjustly

and this is a sign

of great courage

that when the time comes

for her to actually speak

about this

that she will be able

to look

the man

in the eye

be in his presence

unintimidated

and unashamed

and look him in the eye

and reveal what he has done

and call him out

on his evil.

This is great courage.

She has humbled herself

before the Lord

so that she might stand

in front of the emperor

of the empire

and stand

and speak clearly

about the evil

of his top advisor

and confront him.

The other thing

might be a little bit practical

is that

you could well imagine

let's say you had

a big request

of the prime minister

and you got him privately

and you asked the prime minister

to do something

and then you leave

and the first thing

the prime minister does

is go and talk

to his advisors

including the ones

who are giving him

all the bad advice

and you're stuck out there.

You can't come back

into the king's presence

without risking his death again

and now all of a sudden

you know

and the prime minister

might be sort of favorable

when he sees you

but he goes back

and he talks to Gerald Butts

and he talks to some

of his key cabinet ministers

and say don't

that's crazy

don't do that

like get another queen

like get over it

you already have lots

so just get another one

like so maybe it is

that she wants to be able

to have it out

with Haman

and the king

in private

just the three of them

but the text is silent

but this is the surprising thing

she wants a feast

and she wants it

with the king

and she wants it

with Haman

so in verse 5

the king responds

by saying bring Haman quickly

so that we may do

as Esther has asked

so the king

and Haman

came to the feast

that Esther had prepared

and as they were drinking wine

after the feast

the king said to Esther

what is your wish

it shall be granted you

and what is your request

even to the half

of my kingdom

it shall be fulfilled

then Esther answered

and we expect her to say

this terrible Haman

wants to kill me

you need to protect me

I'm Jewish

he's evil

you think that she's going to say that

but she doesn't

this is a very helpful feature

of the story

the thing that's so helpful

about this story

is

because each one of us

is fallible

none of us is perfect

and sometimes we screw up

and sometimes when it comes

right to the opportunity

and the time to do it

we lose a bit of our nerve

but we don't complete

I mean sometimes we completely

lose our nerve

but sometimes we just like

we're in two minds

and you want to

but you can't

and she stumbles here

a little bit

she has the opportunity

but she doesn't

just completely

walk away from the opportunity

but she wants an extra day

to work on it

and as we're going to see

in a moment

that waiting a day

might have horrific consequences

for a man that she loves deeply

but when it comes time

to do the ask

see this is so helpful

because this is like

how we live

isn't it

this is how each of us lives

not perfect lives

that are straightforward

in our obedience

but

with zigs and zags

and

times when we go home

and

afterwards

and say to our friends

and say to our God

I just

Lord I'm really sorry

I messed that one up

you gave me this

spectacular opportunity

and you saved my life

and I just didn't do it

the way I should

because that's what happens

verse 7

then Esther answered

my wish and my request

is

if I have found favor

in the sight of the king

and if it please the king

to grant my wish

and fulfill my request

let the king and Haman

come to the feast

that I will prepare for them

and tomorrow

tomorrow

I will do as the king has said

now

here's another thing

which is so interesting

about this story

and you know

it's one of the reasons

that these stories

are so important

is you can have a doctrine

I can tell you about a doctrine

but

it doesn't necessarily

have any place in us

but

when we actually get the story

the story helps us to feel

and sort of visualize it

and

and

the

the person who writes this book

doesn't now say

and the Lord was angry with Esther

for having screwed up

doesn't say anything like that

it's going to take a really

really bad turn

but

the reader is to remember

the Lord will deliver his people

is Esther here for such a time as this

and Esther's line

if I perish

I perish

she's willing to put herself

available to the Lord

even if it means she dies

and her greater confidence

isn't in her own success

she has no particular confidence

or view or that

her greater confidence

is that the Lord is the Lord

and that the Lord will keep his promises

and the Lord will deliver his people

even when they are in exile

in the empire of Persia

he will keep his promises

because he is still the Lord

but verse 9

she doesn't have her opportunity

and verse 9

it's really interesting

Haman

verse 9

he went out that day

joyful and glad of heart

the man who is plotting to kill

every Jew in the empire

leaves joyful and glad of heart

but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate

that he neither rose nor trembled before him

Haman was filled with wrath against Mordecai

nevertheless

Haman restrained himself and went home

and he sought and brought his friends and his wife Zeresh

and Haman recounted to them

the splendor of his riches

literally the glory of his riches

the number of his sons

and all of his daughters

no the daughters are omitted

sucks to be a daughter

in this particular family

the number of his sons

and all the promotions

with which the king had honored him

and how he advanced him above

the officials and the servants of the king

then Haman said

even Queen Esther

let no one but me

come with the king

to the feast she prepared

and tomorrow

also

I am invited by her

together with the king

now look at this

this next line is so

so psychologically true

you know

it's interesting

because in

in our flesh

and in the world

and in our culture

what gives us meaning to life

what do we

like many people

will wreck their marriages

so they can get promotions

many people will wreck their marriages

so they can have more money

many people think

that if they just had

this certain number of children

that their life would be

completely and utterly meaningful

or that they could just be married

or

but it

we

we can set our

the bible isn't saying

there's nothing wrong with children

it's not saying it's

sad to have

not be able to have children

it's not saying anything like that

it's

not saying it's bad to have money

it's not saying it's bad to have a job

but it's

we

we all know

that some of these things

can become like an idol to us

where we get our meaning

where we get our identity

where we get our sense of worth

where we

we feel justified

and that somehow or another

if I could just have that amount of money

if I could just have this promotion

if I could just have this

if I could just have that

then somehow or another

my life would be complete

my life would be full

and yet

the fact of the matter is

is that those things

don't satisfy us

and it's so perfectly captured here

in verse 13

so he's just said

he has

he has this access to the king

he has this access to the queen

I have all this wealth

I have this spectacular family

I have all these promotions

yet

all this is worth nothing to me

so long as I see Mordecai the Jew

sitting at the king's gate

now I'm going to make a small little political comment here

I'm really sorry

but I'm still going to do it

maybe afterwards I think I shouldn't

sometimes

the way the discourse goes

is

by the way

I have four daughters

I

I love my daughters

I love my wife

and I have nine granddaughters

and

I'm going to be happy

if one of them is prime minister

or something like that

there's not a negative thing

about any of that

but sometimes the way the discourse goes

is that

you need to have a woman present

because

well you know

women are nurturing

women are peaceable

you know

women try to bring people together

and you know

we never think about it

when we have talk like that

it actually demeans women

as if somehow all women are like that

really

every single one

like they're not individuals

and so it's really interesting

so his wife says

he just confessed all things

and so what's the advice his wife gives him

is it to be nurturing

no

verse 14

and his wife Zeresh

and all his friends

but Zeresh is the leader

she says

let a gallows

50 cubits high

that's 75 feet

be made

and

and in the morning

tell the king

to have Mordecai

hanged upon it

it's sort of neat eh

like it's funny

the

we

trade in stereotypes

when it helps us

but the Bible never trades

in stereotypes

in fact

often

part of the problem

we have in reading the Bible

is that the Bible

is too realistic for us

we wish it was religious

we wish it was spiritual

we wish it wasn't

just so earthy

and it's why

it's the great

tendency

and problem

for Bible teachers

to want to make

to downplay

what Esther has done

and make it look

as if she's made herself

beautiful

or as if

the reason she became

queen was because

she was so charming

rather than

the sheer

blood and guts

earthiness

of the text

but here we get

the blood and guts

earthiness

of the text

look at it again

verse 14

let a gallows

and the literal word

as you see

in some of your things

is it just

it literally means

a stake

okay

and if you're wondering

how it is

that they could make

something 75 feet tall

in a day

the actual language

just means

that the top

of the stake

has to be 75 feet high

so if Mordecai

is already in a house

that's

50

65 feet high

he just has to put

a 10 foot stake

on the top of it

the point is

that it's going to be

very very public

and prominent

and the odds are

that they're not going

to hang him on it

the odds are

that what they're going

to do is

they're going to

they're going to

drop Mordecai on it

so that he's impaled

so that the whole city

or that whole neighborhood

can look up

and see Mordecai

impaled

dying slowly

and gruesomely

for all to see

that's his wife's advice

and

so she says

let a gallows

or a stake

50 cubits high

be made

and in the morning

tell the king

to have Mordecai

hanged upon it

then

go joyfully

with the king

to the feast

and this idea

pleased Haman

and he had

the gallows made

so

just a couple

of things

about

about this text

sort of

to

to

you know

to bring it

to collect

why is something

like this

even in the Bible

and

why is all of this

bloodthirstiness

and

and all this stuff

why is it in the Bible

well you know

part of

part of the reason

it's in the Bible

is because

when we just have

all of these stuff

the spiritual talk

and religious talk

it ends up

very easily

becoming like

hallmark cards

or just platitudes

and our own lives

are

full of

of pain

and drama

and tragedy

and

hard times

and stuff like that

and

in a very

very powerful way

when we read

texts like this

it helps us

to understand

that the Bible

is communicating

truths to us

that fit with

how the world is

it's real

for how our lives

are real

and

in that way

it trains us

when our lives

are really having

very very hard

times

it trains us

to call out

to the Lord

because the Lord

knows about this

it's not

foreign to him

and it's not

strange to him

we live in a world

where somebody

can just take

a dislike

to us

and because

they take

a dislike

to us

they tell

lies about us

and because

they take

a dislike

to us

they stop

us from

getting promotions

or they get

us in trouble

with the police

or they get

us in trouble

with our wives

or our families

or our husbands

and we live

in a world

where that happens

we live in a world

where somebody

can just be mean

to us

day after day

after day

some of us

have grown up

with parents

like that

some of us

have had bosses

like that

some of us

have been

in a neighborhood

with that

and if all

of the talk

in the Bible

is just all

about love

love love

love love

love

good good

good

well

that might

motivate us

a little bit

but in the blood

and guts

of our world

it just doesn't

cut it

and so

when texts

like this

just communicate

what life

is like

it helps us

to see

that this Bible

the text

doesn't talk

about God

delivering his people

in the abstract

but in a life

and death

situation

with a real

woman

at a real

time

and so

on one hand

the reason

texts like this

are important

is it prepares

our hearts

to pour out

our hearts

to the Lord

but the other

thing which is

very very important

about the text

there's a really

wonderful line

in 2nd Corinthians

where it says

my grace

is sufficient

for you

my power

is made

perfect

or complete

in weakness

and

texts like this

show us

this

you see

the fundamental

human problem

is the problem

of

it's identified

right in the very

beginning of the Bible

in Genesis chapter 3

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

where Adam and Eve

desire to be like God

they want to be like God

and

because

when they choose

that they're no longer

going to sort of

just trust the God

who really does exist

and they're going to

live with him

is that the Lord

saying amen

no it's just

planes flying over

it's also him

saying amen

but

the fundamental

human problem

is the human problem

of our desire

to be like God's

to exalt ourselves

against God

to turn our back

on God

to be

as great as God

and that's in a sense

the fundamental

human problem

it's something

which is deeply

ingrained in every

human being

and when we can do

when we can sort of

pretend that we're

having all this power

and all the success

we're filled with pride

and

at the same time

when we're not

successful at this

we can be filled

with despondency

and despair

because

we're still

having our hearts

sit on this

and that's why

you see

it's so

most of us think

that if God

was going to really

deliver us

the way that he's

going to have to

deliver us

is by having

this profound

act of powers

if he can just

overwhelm us

because you see

at the end of the day

we only want to

respect God

if he can sort of

show himself

to be really

really powerful

and that his power

is used in the way

that we think

it should be used

because what we

really want to do

is to be like God

but the fact of the

matter is

is that our

fundamental problem

is that we have

to be pulled back

from that

it's as if

everything that we

are like

is straining

and bending

this way

and when we're

successful

we're proud

and when we're

not successful

we feel despair

and so for the

Lord to save us

in a sense

he has to want

all of that back

because you see

part of what

the story of

Jesus is

is that Jesus

becomes the man

that we

the person

that we could

never be

he becomes

the person

that we could

never be

so that when we

put our faith

and trust

in him

we're not only

acknowledging

that what he

did

in a sense

to turn away

God's judgment

on us

in a sense

to deal with

all the karma

that we deserve

to use modern

language

but at the same

time he stands

for us

and by standing

for us

it means that

we trust him

to that the

life that he

lives will now

stand for us

and so

the way the

Bible describes

Jesus'

ministry

is that he

humbles himself

he empties

himself

he humbles

himself

to be born

of a virgin

he humbles

himself

to live a

normal human

life

he humbles

himself

to only receive

the knowledge

and the wisdom

that he needs

when his father

chooses to give

him

he's dependent

upon God

giving him the

wisdom or the

knowledge

because all of

those things

his power

in a sense

is veiled

it's curtailed

he humbles

himself

to save us

he becomes

weak

to save us

every breath

he depends

upon God

to save us

and he even

continues to

humble himself

to the point

of death

upon the cross

and his death

upon the cross

being a shameful

death

and tasting

all there is

to taste

of death

and it's all

a descent

it's all

a humility

and a humility

which is completely

and utterly

dependent upon

God

and so when it

is is that

when we put

our faith

and trust

in Jesus

not only

to deal

with our

sin

which is

just one

aspect

of salvation

but also

to stand

for us

to be the

one for us

on one hand

we can trust

him

he doesn't

just go

by whims

he's not

all about

his power

he's not

all about

him

that he

humbles

himself

out of

love and

obedience

to God

and out

of love

for us

he humbles

himself

and his

perfect life

of humility

is the

antidote

of our

addiction

to pride

and our

desire

to be

like God

and so

he can

stand

for us

and at

the same

time

if he

humbled

himself

to save

me

then that

starts to

shape me

to understand

that I

need to

humble

myself

before him

to live

that it's

not that

the Lord

calls me

to be

weak

but the

Lord

calls me

to come

to him

which is a

sign of

weakness

in the

world

to humble

myself

before him

which is a

sign of

insanity

and weakness

to the

world

but to

humble

myself

before him

knowing that

he has

called me

to do

things

of

courage

and bravery

today

that I

can only

do in

his

strength

when I

humble

myself

before him

he will

give me

the strength

and the

confidence

to deal

with the

things I

need to

deal with

today

please

stand

let's

bow our

heads in

prayer

father we

thank you

that Jesus

humbled himself

to save

us

we thank

you father

that

we thank

you father

that you

just

invite us

to humble

ourselves

and turn

from our

pride

and our

sense of

self-sufficiency

to acknowledge

our great

need

of you

to provide

the way

by which

we can be

made right

again with

you and we

thank you

that you

provided that

in Jesus

we thank

you that

he humbled

himself

that he

humbled

himself

to save

us

and we

ask father

that this

great truth

of him

humbling

himself

to save

us

that that

might

shape

us

that that

might

that that

story might

captivate

our imagination

that it

might

captivate

the affections

of our

hearts

that it

might

captivate

how we

plan

and how

we

understand

who we

are

and where

our

confidence

comes

from

we ask

father

that our

confidence

in our

identity

might be

in the

one

who

saved

us

who

died

to save

us

who humbled

himself

to save

us

that that

might be

father

the source

of our

identity

the source

of our

hope

the source

of our

joy

and the

source

of the

confidence

that you

give

those

who

humble

themselves

before you

help

help us

to do

that

by the

power

of your

Holy

Spirit

and

father

help us

to see

how it

is

that you

are

using

us

and

shaping

us

and

preparing

us

to bring

you

glory

in our

day-to-day

lives

and we

ask all

of this

in the

name

of

Jesus

your

son

and

our

savior

amen

for

to

have

an

who

are