The Reluctant Convert

Father, your word is going to take us into some hard places for Christians and non-Christians today.

But Father, we know that every word that you say to us in your holy word,

it's not meant to terrify us or belittle us or push us away,

but every word that you write, you've had written in your word, Father,

is meant to draw us to yourself.

That even when you confront us, you confront so that we will connect with you.

So we ask, Father, that the Holy Spirit would gently but deeply come into our hearts

to quiet and still our hearts and fan into flame a great longing and yearning

to know you and to trust you, to find our identity and our purpose in you.

And we ask all these things in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Please be seated.

So we're going to be looking at Esther 4, if you want to try to start to find that in your Bible.

But I have to give you all a bit of a warning this morning, especially if you're a guest here.

The text today is going to force us to talk about divine judgment.

And that's the text is going to talk about the fact that human beings are under God's judgment.

And let me tell you, all of the experts on church growth tell you not to talk about things like this

on a Sunday morning in a church in Canada,

because nobody anymore becomes a Christian as a result of being reminded about the judgment of God,

a judgment of God that goes on beyond death.

But one of the things that we do at this church,

and if you're here today as a guest or as a seeker or as a skeptic,

you should be actually very happy that one of the things that we do here

is that we preach through whole books of the Bible.

We do that mainly because they're written as books,

not as a series of quotes, but it's a book.

And the other thing is, you don't have to worry that if you're considering the Christian faith,

or even if you're mocking the Christian faith,

or if you weren't interested in the Christian faith before,

but you're here and so you're curious to see what I'm going to say,

we're not like a salesman who tries to get you to buy something

and then hopes you don't read the fine print.

Like we want you to read the fine print.

And that's why we go through books of the Bible.

There's not going to be any surprises to you if you end up becoming a Christian,

and I hope you will become a Christian.

And for us who are Christians, it's good to know the fine print.

And so we're going to look at Esther 4.

And we've been going through the book of Esther.

So this is, in a sense, episode 5.

If you think of the, even though it's chapter 4, it's episode 5.

It's the middle episode of a nine-episode series on Netflix, so to speak.

And what's just happened in the previous episode,

and I'll catch up with some of the other elements as we go along,

what's just happened in the previous episode,

is that a man by the name of Haman has reached the pinnacle of power in the Persian Empire.

Under King Xerxes, the emperor,

he is the next most important and powerful person in the entire emperor,

just underneath him.

And it turns out that Haman is an anti-Semite.

He hates Jewish people.

And he's triggered by something that happens to give him an excuse to unleash his rage against the Jewish people

to come up with a plan of genocide.

And he comes up with a plan to make sure that every Jewish person in the empire,

every man and woman, every old and young, even the children and babies,

that every single one of them will be killed.

And he's come up with a plan that's going to do two types of things.

He's going to both mobilize the power of the state so that the governors and the military

and whatever they have, like the police and the judges,

that the entire apparatus of the state is going to be geared on a particular day

in 11 months' time to kill every Jew.

And the other thing that he's done is that he's mobilized the population.

He's basically said,

And everybody who's not Jewish in Persia has permission to kill a Jewish person on that day,

that we encourage you to do that.

And not only should you kill them,

after you've killed them, take what they own that you like.

And it's a very, very telling moment.

You know, it's one of those things which is just psychologically so true

that after Haman has convinced the king to do this,

and after he's approved the plan,

and after he's had all the plan, because he's a good bureaucrat,

I'm not putting down bureaucrats, I'm not,

good business person as well, whatever,

I'll just be equal here about all that,

and he makes sure all the paperwork's right.

And after he's got all the paperwork right,

he puts his stamp on it,

and after he gets the last stamp on all of the paperwork

so that the whole thing can begin,

he says to the king,

Boy, it's time to have a beer, don't you think?

Yeah, I'd love to have a beer.

And that's how it ends.

The order to kill all the Jews goes out.

And Haman and the king go off to have some beer,

or wine, or scotch, or whatever it is that they drink.

I don't know what they would have drank back then.

And then what happens next?

Well, that's where our story keeps up.

The next day.

Verse 1.

Then Mordecai learned all that had been done.

And Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes

and went out into the midst of the city,

and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry.

I'm just sort of paused there for a second.

One of the things to catch up on is that the story begins when we meet Mordecai,

we discover that he's a Jewish man who's not living as a Jewish man,

but living as a Persian.

Mordecai actually means worshipper of Marduk,

which was a Babylonian deity.

And so he had a Persian name or like a pagan name.

He lived like a pagan, dressed like a pagan,

ate like a pagan, looked like a pagan.

He was a pagan.

And several episodes ago, we see the conversion of Mordecai,

who goes from being a man who lives like a pagan,

a pagan, to saying, I am now part of God's covenant people.

It's his conversion.

And here we see, so he is a Jewish man,

even though he doesn't have, I mean, now people think of it as a Jewish name,

but at the time it wasn't a Jewish name.

And he hears of what's going on,

and he just reacts with the deepest grief.

He's just been told that the power of the state

and all of his neighbors have been turned against him

and that 11 months they have permission to kill him

and steal everything that he has.

And so, you know, one of the things which is so wonderful about the Bible,

sometimes I have to talk to couples about this

because there's a tragedy.

I remember there was a couple quite a few years ago,

and they, very tragic, they lost a child.

And the husband and the wife mourned and grieved very differently.

The woman, everything that was going on inside of her was outside.

She would cry and sob and just be as public as possible about it.

And the guy, I mean, this is almost like a bit of a stereotype,

but the guy was a stoic guy.

He was a very, very, very introverted man,

and he dealt with it all introvertedly.

He hardly ever seemed to cry.

And she kept worrying that he wasn't grieving the right way.

And I had to tell her, you know,

the Bible doesn't tell us one way to grieve.

We all grieve differently.

And I had no reason to doubt that he was grieving.

And it's a neat thing here.

The Bible's not saying that if you have something terrible happen to you,

what you need to do is tear your clothes, wear sackcloth,

put on ashes on your head, and go screaming out into the street

and scream and scream and scream.

It's not telling you that, but, you know,

if that's how you grieve, that's fine.

And that was a very, that's, for that time,

that's how people grieved, actually.

Whether you're Jewish or pagan,

that was how people grieved.

And they would have all known,

everybody in the town would have known.

By now they would have known that Mordecai was Jewish.

They would have known why he was grieving.

And he was grieving.

Verse 2.

So he went up to the entrance of the king's gate,

just the entrance,

for no one was allowed to enter the king's gate clothed in sackcloth.

And just a little bit of a thing here.

The king's gate is actually like a building.

It's not like a gate that you just walk,

like that you think,

why, why, he doesn't want to open the gate and go through?

Like, it's not a garden gate.

It's actually the name of a very large building,

probably around this size, actually,

where the king's business was done.

So it would be just as if,

if one of you happened to grieve by yelling and screaming,

they probably wouldn't want you to show up at office doing that.

Like, it just wouldn't do.

And that's what's going on here.

So verse 3.

And in every province,

wherever the king's command and his decree reached,

there was great mourning among the Jews

with fasting and weeping and lamenting,

and many of them lay in sackcloth and ashes.

When Esther, and now you meet Esther,

when Esther's young women and her eunuchs

came and told her about Mordecai,

the queen was greatly distressed.

She sent garments to clothe Mordecai

so that he might take off his sackcloth,

but he would not accept them.

Just sort of pause.

Just if you're not familiar with the story,

Mordecai, Esther's parents died when she was young,

and Mordecai, who's related to her,

adopted her as his daughter,

and he's been, so he's Esther's dad.

And in the second episode,

we see how Esther becomes one,

not the only, but one of King Xerxes' wives.

And so she's a queen.

And, you know, this story as well,

it's such a very powerful thing

if you think about it, isn't it?

She doesn't know what's going on.

Like, we'll see that in a moment,

but she doesn't know what's going on.

But isn't that so often the case?

I mean, we, like, even in this digital world,

we might not know if there's some great persecution

going on in China

or some great massacre going on

in some part of the world.

We know about it if certain, you know,

reporters go there

or if it's somehow trendy.

But, and in fact,

even in our own lives,

there could be a terrible thing going on

amongst our neighbors,

and we just don't know.

And that's what's going on here.

Esther doesn't know.

She lives in the palace.

And Esther is also living

like the way Mordecai lived before.

She's not living as a Jewish person.

She uses her name.

She has a Hebrew name,

but nobody, she doesn't go by it.

She's named after the goddess Ishtar.

And so she eats like a Persian,

worships like a Persian,

looks like a Persian,

has a name that's Persian.

Nobody knows she's Jewish,

and she's the queen.

And the other thing

which is so interesting about this story,

look at it again here.

Just think about it.

She sends garments.

You can imagine if she sends garments,

I mean, that Persian king is rich.

Okay.

Like, he didn't send a cost,

she didn't go to Costco

to buy a few things

that are in the discount pile

to clothe Mordecai.

I don't even know where expensive,

I should have come up with preparation

as to where the expensive suits come from.

I don't know.

Some of you know,

or talk to somebody,

not me afterwards.

But this is expensive stuff

that she's giving Mordecai.

And this is the thing,

it's really interesting,

just before we go on,

I want you to notice it.

You know, it's so interesting.

So much of our life

is caught up with material stuff.

And so many,

so often we think,

if I could just get that suit,

if I could just have that sunglasses,

if I could just have that car,

if I could just have,

you know,

that t-shirt,

you know,

if I could just have that.

And so much of what we want

is connected with material things.

But we see right here,

when it actually comes down

to a life and death situation

and Mordecai's dying,

material stuff means zip.

Like, if you're going to die

a horrible death in 11 months,

having a $5,000 suit

doesn't do much for you.

Or a $5,000 handbag.

Like,

at the end of the day,

having more stuff

and having money

doesn't help you

at the moment of death.

And you know,

and this is really important

when we start talking about judgment,

if it doesn't mean anything

at the moment of death,

why does it mean so much

to us when we live?

I'm not saying

we all have to dress like dowdy.

I'm not saying,

it's not against money.

It's about money

and possessions and all

becoming the thing

by which we get our identity,

we put our hope in,

we satisfy ourselves with.

And at the end,

this story here

shows in a very,

very way

that he won't,

Mordecai doesn't accept it.

So,

verse 5.

So,

you know,

they go back,

they tell Esther

that he won't take it.

So,

verse 5,

then Esther called for Hathak,

one of the king's eunuchs.

By the way,

just if you don't know that,

a eunuch is a man,

this is one of the cruel things

of the empire.

He's a man who,

the king

cut away his testicles.

That's what a eunuch is.

You want to make sure

you have obedience

and you want to have him

working around

certain types of things,

they cut off his testicles.

So,

Esther called for,

verse 5,

Hathak,

and one of the king's eunuchs

who had been appointed

to attend her,

that's Esther,

that was,

and that was why it was.

Sorry,

sorry,

I skipped a line

when I was reading.

He'd been appointed

to attend her

and ordered him,

Esther orders him

to go to Mordecai

to learn what this was

and why it was.

Because Esther doesn't know.

So,

Hathak went out

to Mordecai

in the open square

of the city

in front of the king's gate

and Mordecai told him

all that had happened

to him

and the exact sum

of money

that Haman had promised

to pay

into the king's treasuries

for the destruction

of the Jews.

Mordecai also gave him

a copy

of the written decree

issued in Susa

for their destruction

that he might show it

to Esther

and explain it to her

and notice this,

and command her

to go to the king

to beg his favor

and plead with him

on behalf

of her people.

Now,

just sort of pause

there for a second.

Mordecai just outed her.

He just outed her.

He gives her

a copy

of the decree

from her husband

to kill all the Jews

and he told the eunuch

that Esther's a Jew.

He just outed her.

And

doesn't tell you

how she reacts.

But he goes

to verse,

it's going to be important

for the rest of the story

that he outed her.

And,

you know,

maybe you can tell me

different.

I don't know,

but I have a feeling

that in bureaucracies

there can be gossip.

I don't know,

has that ever happened

in like your office

at work?

Or maybe

if you're in the free market,

you know,

the private sector,

is there ever gossip?

If one knows

before you know it,

I'm only going to tell you

nobody else,

okay?

Esther's Jewish.

Next verse.

I'm going to tell you

and you,

Esther's Jewish.

Before you know it,

everybody will know.

Verse,

so what happened?

So,

well,

where am I?

Verse 8.

Verse 9.

So Hathak

went and told Esther

what Mordecai had said,

probably including that

Hathak said,

I didn't know

you were Jewish.

Verse 10,

and then Esther spoke

to Hathak

and commanded him

to go to Mordecai

and say,

because Mordecai,

so Mordecai said,

you got to go speak

to the king,

okay?

So there's a bit of edge

to her answer here.

All the kings,

verse 11,

all the king's servants

and the people

of the king's provinces,

in other words,

duh,

Mordecai,

duh,

like,

even the servant guys,

Mordecai,

and you're a bureaucrat,

middle to upper level bureaucrat,

they all know,

verse 11,

so that if any man

or woman goes to the king

inside the inner court

without being called,

there is but one law

to be put to death.

Except the one

to whom the king

holds out the golden scepter

so that he may live.

But as for me,

I have not been called

to come into the king

these 30 days.

Now just sort of pause here

for a second.

Interestingly enough,

there's an ancient historian

called Herodotus

who in fact says

in his history

of this time period

that that in fact

is the law.

That if you tried

to go in

to see the emperor

where he was,

the king where he was

in his private sanctum,

if you tried to go in there

without getting an invitation,

the penalty was instant death.

Remember,

this is a man

who if you want to serve him

in certain positions,

not all the positions,

but many servants,

if you're a guy

and want to serve me,

cuts out your testicles.

This is a guy

who went and twice now

at least

has just rounded up women

to satisfy him

for one night

of sexual pleasure.

This is a man

who has many wives

and isn't at all

opposed to just

getting rid of one

if she does something

that doesn't please him

and at the same time

goes ahead and penalizes

every woman

in the entire land.

And this is a man

who has no problem

with saying,

I'm going to kill

every Jew

in my entire kingdom

and I'm going to

encourage people

to kill him

so you can understand

this is a brutal age,

this is the rule,

this is the law.

And this king

has more than one wife,

it's not maybe surprising

that he hasn't had

seen this particular wife

for 30 days.

And Esther is by implication

saying,

I have no idea

how long it will be.

And you know a thing

that must be really

rubbing Mordecai

very hard,

it must even be hard

as Esther is saying this,

and this we learn

not from the text

but from Herodotus,

is that the seven

top bureaucrats

in the entire land

had constant easy access

back and forth

to the king

and Haman was the top

of that seven.

And so it must have been

driving Mordecai wild

to know

that the man

plotting his destruction

could go in

and talk to the king

whenever he felt like it.

And Mordecai is helpless.

The only way he knows

to deal with it

is for Esther.

He's the only person

who's close,

she's the only person

close enough

to maybe go talk

to the king.

And now Esther

just tells Mordecai

this thing,

that if she goes there

and takes this risk,

if the king isn't

in a particular

like Esther-friendly mood,

and who knows,

you know,

maybe for all Esther knows,

two or three

of the other wives

have been telling

the king

how terrible Esther is

and how she's fat

and ugly

and says mean things

about him

and who knows

how often

they've been

poisoning his mind

about her.

And so you know

what we would tell,

what would we tell Esther?

We'd say,

Esther,

that's outrageous,

you have to go to that.

Like,

why don't you just wait?

You have 11 months,

like,

just wait.

Like,

I'm sure eventually

he'll want to see

and then you can deal

with it.

But we all know

if you get the whole

bureaucracy

of an entire nation

pointing one way,

it can be pretty hard

to turn it another way.

Mordecai knows

you don't have 11 months.

So she says this

to Mordecai.

So how's Mordecai

going to respond?

Well,

verse 12,

and by the way,

in the next couple

of verses,

the entire meaning

of the book

and the crux

and the center

of the book

is in the next few verses.

And we're going to talk

a little bit about it

today and in some ways

the rest of the episodes

or the parts of the book

will keep coming back

to this because it's

the center of the book.

It's the turning point

of the book.

Mordecai's answer

and Esther's response.

Verse 12,

Mordecai's answer

to Esther

that she's going to die.

And so Mordecai,

they told,

verse 12,

they told Mordecai

what Esther had said.

And Mordecai

would have known

that she risked death.

He wouldn't have known

maybe that she hadn't

been there in 30 days,

but he'd know

that it risked death.

So verse 13,

then Mordecai told them

to reply to Esther,

listen to this,

do you not think

to yourself

that in the king's palace

you will escape

any more

than all the other Jews?

He's sealed

her death warrant

by outing her.

She has to sort of

think about that

and think,

do I trust

all the people

around me?

I mean,

I have some

expensive stuff

and the king's

pretty bloodthirsty.

Do I even trust

these other wives

not to strangle me

in my sleep

or just put a dagger

in me

and take my dresses

and my emeralds

and my gold?

I'll say that again then.

Do not think

to yourself

that in the king's palace

you will escape

any more

than all the other Jews.

For if you keep

silent at this time,

relief and deliverance

will rise for the Jews

from another place.

This is a profound

act of faith.

Mordecai is showing

that he believes

that God is present,

powerful,

and active

even if he is hidden

and that he will

keep his word

to protect

his covenant people

and that he has

no idea

how it will happen.

He's not talking

about a miracle

although he'd be open

to a miracle.

He's just saying

to her,

God is going

to deliver us.

Will it be through you

or somebody else?

But he will deliver us.

And look at how it goes on.

Here's where we have

to talk about it.

But you,

I'll say that again,

verse 14,

for if you keep silent

at this time,

relief and deliverance

will rise for the Jews

from another place.

But you

and your father's house

will perish.

And this is a word

of perishing.

It's sort of like

a word of ongoing perishing.

It's actually

an image for hell.

It's an image for hell.

And who knows

whether you have not,

here's look

this beautiful one.

Many of us,

the only thing we know

about Esther

is this next bit.

And who knows

whether you have not

come to the kingdom

for such a time

as this.

I haven't talked

about providence

at all throughout

the entire book.

In the next few weeks,

we'll talk about it a lot.

In other words,

what he is saying

is at the same time,

the king is being

bloodthirsty.

So Vashti is just

being a B,

da-da-da-da-da-da,

and the king

is being a J

with some other

letters after it,

and he's bloodthirsty

and he's powerful,

and Haman is scheming,

and Mordecai is doing this,

and everybody's

exercising their free will,

and everybody's

responsible for what

they do,

but at the same time,

God is still king.

He has never relinquished it,

and he has brought

Esther

to this place

for such a time

as this.

This book teaches us

the doctrine of providence,

not by statements,

but by story.

So verse 15,

and Esther told them

to reply to Mordecai,

go gather all the Jews

to be found in Susa

and hold a fast

on my behalf,

and do not eat or drink

for three days,

night or day.

I and my young women

will also fast as you do.

Then I will go to the king,

though it is against the law,

and if I perish,

I perish.

Mordecai then went away

and did everything

as Esther had ordered him.

This is the conversion

of Esther.

Why is it a conversion

of Esther?

It has everything

about a conversion.

There's a reversal.

Up until this moment,

she's looked like a Persian,

eaten like a Persian,

worshipped like a Persian,

everything Persian.

At this moment,

so her entire life

is as if it's going

this direction,

and at this moment,

they call the sermon

a reluctant convert.

She didn't wake up

that morning thinking

that she was going

to find out

that she was in danger

of dying.

She didn't wake up

that morning thinking

that she would be outed

in such a threat.

She did not wake up

that morning thinking

that she would have

to consider whether

or not she would

take the risk

of dying at the king's hand

to go and intercede

for the Jewish people,

and situation

has moved her

to this point.

She's probably been aware

of Mordecai's conversion.

She's probably been aware

of his growing faith

in Yahweh,

the Lord,

the God of the coming,

but her life

has been in this direction,

and by external circumstances,

she has stopped

in her tracks.

And it is put before her,

you have a choice.

You can continue

in this path,

and if you continue

in this path,

you will die.

You will perish.

Or,

you can turn

and walk

towards Yahweh,

the one who delivered

his people from slavery

in Egypt

and made a covenant

with them

that he would be

their king,

that he would care

for them,

they would be

his people,

and they were to live,

now that he had

redeemed them,

they were to learn

how to live

as his redeemed people.

And she turns,

and by calling

for a fast,

it means she's calling

for three days

of intensive prayer.

And at the end of it,

she will choose

to live

under God's hand

and under his authority,

even if it means

she dies.

And let me tell you,

generally,

if somebody says,

I guess I'll be

a Christian,

even if it kills me,

they're a reluctant

convert.

convert.

You know,

in many ways,

just as an aside,

when I,

just before,

I came to the point

where I knew

that I was going

to become a Christian,

and I was

a reluctant convert.

It was like,

oh, dang,

I guess I'm going

to become a Christian.

Sort of inconvenient.

Like I wasn't

doing dancing.

If you have a conversion

that makes you dance,

praise God.

But some of us don't.

Some of us

are reluctant converts.

She's a reluctant convert.

So what's going on here

in this whole story

to try to sort of

bring some points

home to us?

And there's some

very, very challenging

things here.

There's this idea

that she's under

God's judgment,

that if she's not under,

if she doesn't do,

she's going to have

a type of judgment

under God

that will mean

that she will perish forever.

And so if you could

just point,

and by the way,

I'm not saying

these things

because if you're

a guest here today,

you know,

listen,

I'm a Canadian,

eh?

And,

I was supposed

to be a joke,

eh?

And if it was up

for me,

I'd never talk

about hell

because Canadians

don't talk about hell.

And if it was up to me,

I would never talk

about God's judgment

because Canadians

don't talk about

God's judgment.

I'm very Canadian.

I'd rather talk

about the senators

or NFL football

or politics

or anything

other than this.

But the text

forces us

to grapple with this.

So if you could

put up the first point,

Andrew,

that would be very good.

This text

puts before us

that you can live

and die

under God's judgment

or you can live

and die

under God's covenant.

You can live

and die

under God's judgment

or you can live

and die

under God's covenant.

You see,

one of the myths,

we have a whole

pile of myths

that we live under

us secular Canadians

and we Christian Canadians

start to breathe

in the air.

It's as if,

don't do this

because if you do this,

it might cause you

to die.

Like,

that's what we would

say to Esther.

But here's the thing,

here's the myth.

It's as if,

don't do this

because if you do this,

you might die,

but it's implying

that there's a way

to live

that means you'll

never die.

But that doesn't,

that's not an option

to any of us.

Everybody's going to die.

It's not if you live

a certain way

you won't die.

You're going to die.

Like you will.

It's very un-Canadian

to tell people,

do you know

you're going to die?

That's very un-Canadian.

But it's,

and you know,

is that really,

why is that un-Canadian

to tell people,

remind them,

why is it viewed

as impolite

to tell you

that you're going to die?

I mean,

like what fact

is more certain?

Like what does that say

about us as Canadians

that it's a terrible,

impolite thing

to say that to people?

And if you think

about it for a second,

you see,

what's said before Esther

is that no matter

what she does,

she's going to die,

right?

So some of you might say,

well,

if she's going to die anyway,

like why bother that?

Why doesn't she choose

to live a little bit longer?

Well,

I mean,

that's generally speaking

the type of way

that you find people

who aren't going to have courage

and other types of things

which we view

as actually very admirable

in the human life.

But some of you might say,

well,

if he's going to die earlier,

why bother?

And why bother

even doing anything

for a God

who's so mean

and spoils our fun

and wants to judge us

and all of that?

But,

you know,

because we as Canadians

don't ever want to talk

about death,

it means we also

don't want to ask

what death means.

Just think about it

for a second.

I mean,

I haven't had the courage

to talk about this lately.

I have talked about it

occasionally at St. Arbux,

but generally it doesn't come up.

But if it does,

I try to have the courage

to press in.

Like,

what does death mean?

Like,

why is it that Canadians

don't want to ever,

why is it that we don't even

want to look at philosophies

or theologies

and spiritualities

that actually say,

well,

here we have a great fact

of existence

and,

like,

let's ask the question,

what does it mean?

Like,

what does it mean?

And when you ask

what does it mean,

why is it that we view it,

everybody views death

as not natural?

But it is natural,

isn't it?

But why is it that we think

that there's something

not really natural about death?

That there's something

wrong about death?

Why is it that we think

that there's something

right about life

but wrong about death?

Why is it

that we think,

why is it that

we human beings

can't not do

what is wrong?

Why is it that

if we,

if we found

some psychologist

or some spiritual practice

that said that

if you follow

these spiritual practices

or follow this psychology,

you'll never do

another wrong thing

for the rest of your life?

Like,

why is it that

virtually all sane people

wouldn't believe that?

Like,

why is it that we don't

believe that?

Why is it that we know

that there's something wrong,

that there's something

about us

that keeps doing wrong things?

And why do we call it

wrong and not right?

Like,

why is there something

wrong about wrong?

So why is it

that there's something

wrong about death?

Why is it that there's

something wrong

about what is wrong?

Why is it that

there's something

right about goodness?

Why is it that

there's something

right about love?

Why is it that

there's something

right about life?

Only Christianity

explains this.

Only Christianity

explains it.

You see, death signifies that human beings who cannot fix themselves or do right,

that death signifies that you and I are under God's judgment,

that every human being is under God's judgment.

But if that's all that the Bible said, it would be unbelievably depressing.

But the Bible says something different.

It says, and this is what the text says,

Esther, you can continue to live, but if you're living, you're going to live under God's judgment.

And when you die, you're going to die under God's judgment.

But you have an option.

There's something before you, a choice before you today.

You can choose to live the next three days,

and we don't know whether in three and a half days you will die,

or if you won't die and you'll live longer,

but you can live under God's covenant with Yahweh as your Lord,

who will care for you and provide you because he has redeemed you and he loves you.

And you can live under God's covenant and die under God's covenant.

So for many Canadians, the very natural thing when something like this is brought before us

is to say, okay, in fact, the last time I actually had a conversation in a St. Arbux about this with a person.

It was actually one of those awkward times where she asked me,

George, do you think I'm going to hell?

I hadn't woken up that day thinking somebody in a public place was going to ask me if I thought they were going to hell.

I say this.

I have no idea whether I give a good answer or a bad answer.

I probably look like a deer caught in the headlights moments before the car gets hit.

But here's the wonderful thing.

You know, just bear witness to Jesus.

You don't have to do a perfect job.

Just be open to being used by him.

That's all I can say.

Just be open to being used by him.

And God will redeem your mistakes.

And he'll teach you.

And everything doesn't depend upon you doing a perfect job.

So just do it.

Okay?

And then in this particular conversation,

she went on because she'd learned from another barista about this.

And her response was,

and she said this to me.

It was sort of a compliment to me.

And I'm not telling you because it was a compliment.

She said,

I don't think you think you're better than me.

But he thinks he's better than me.

The guy who told her about hell.

He thinks he's better than me.

And she said,

but he's not.

And she said a few catty things about him.

And I don't think you think you're better than me.

But do you think I'm going to hell?

By the way,

I told her that I did tell her that,

even though I probably blah, blah, blah, blah.

But I did get to the point.

I said that he and I agree.

But what I did say is this.

God takes no delight in the death of a sinner.

But rather,

every sinner would turn and live.

And that God so loved the world that he did not,

God so loved the world that he did not send his son to condemn the world.

But that by believing and trusting in Jesus that we will live.

And in particular,

I said,

any Christian who communicates that they will not go to hell because they're good,

doesn't understand the vaguest thing about the Bible.

It's all about grace.

If you could put up the next point.

And those of you who know Tim Keller,

shameless borrowing from Keller.

Just Jesus is the true and greater Esther.

You see,

Esther is forced.

Jesus chooses.

Esther,

by her actions,

might not die.

Jesus knows that he will die.

Esther does this partially for herself to go to speak to the king so that she will not die in the genocidal purge.

Jesus doesn't do it for himself,

but he does it for others.

Esther takes a risk.

Jesus takes your doom and mine.

Esther risks death to intercede.

Jesus dies and intercedes.

If Esther dies,

she can't intercede.

But when Jesus dies,

he does intercede.

Esther's death means she fails.

Jesus' death ends by saying,

it is accomplished.

Esther's death

means that God finds another way.

Jesus' death is the only way.

Esther does this for the Jews.

Jesus died for Esther and Mordecai

and King Xerxes and Haman

and me and you.

Esther needs to see the king of Persia.

Esther is the king of all creation.

Esther means that as a Jew,

she will have to continue to follow the law

to be part of the government people.

But Jesus' death

would be followed by resurrection

and the free offer of grace.

Esther is part of the old covenant people.

Jesus' death and resurrection

bring in the new covenant.

Jesus is the true and greater

Esther.

and his death

is a death

that ushers in a new covenant

that means

that Jesus has done

all that has to be done

to make us justified,

to make us right,

to make us righteous

so that we will one day stand

in the new heaven

and the new earth

walking in the garden

in the cool of the day

with our heavenly father,

the creator and sustainer

of all things.

And we will be fully transparent

and unashamed.

And it's all

because of Jesus

and nothing

because of me

and nothing

because of you.

If you could put up

the next point,

if you live under God's judgment,

you will perish.

If you live under God's covenant,

you will grow

into blessedness.

the Bible says

that we are being

prepared

for an eternal

weight

of glory.

And in the first John text,

which we opened with,

one day we will see him

and when we see him,

we will

be like him

with a resurrected body

that can no longer die,

that is fit

to commune

with the Father

and the Son

and the Holy Spirit

for all eternity

in the new heaven

and the new earth.

And only God

can do

that.

And when we put

our faith

and trust

in Jesus

as weak

and reluctant

as we might be,

that is our identity,

that is our destiny,

and nothing

can take us

from his hands

even if we die

a gruesome death,

even if our obedience

means

that we perish.

And if you could

put up the final point,

Andrew,

the gospel

shapes you and me

to see each day

from the perspective

of

for such

a time

as this.

In Jesus,

your life

is not meaningless.

In Jesus,

even if you've lived

a terrible life

by the earthly standards,

unbelievably

like

if the big,

if from the eyes

of the world

everything about you

has been failure,

failure,

failure,

failure,

failure,

or if your life

has been success,

success,

success,

success,

when you put your hands

in Jesus

and he takes you

as his own,

he redeems your past.

And he means

that you're present

in your future

for every situation

you are in,

you can think

I am here

for such a time

as this.

I am here

for such a time

as this.

You have been placed

in your apartment

for such a time

as this.

You've been placed

there to pray

for your neighbors.

The place,

your dentist,

you see that dentist

for such a time

as this.

If you are sick,

from the eyes

of the world,

that's a terrible thing,

you can't accomplish

anything,

but you know what?

On your bed of sickness,

on your bed of death,

you can do things

that bring God glory

because you are there

for such a time

as this.

If you have to make

a stand for the gospel

or for righteousness

in Canada

that leads you

to lose your job

and get 150,000

or 150 million

angry tweets,

you did that

in such a way

and you are completely

publicly humiliated

where you are,

God can use that

because you are there

for such a time

as this

and that can be

a place

where God's glory

is spoken of

and his grace

is revealed

because in God

there are no little people

and he will use you.

Our day

is for such a time

as this.

Just close.

I've told you before,

I'm going to get emotional,

I don't mean to get emotional,

but when I was first ordained,

young 28-year-old guy,

I can tell you theology,

I can't tell you about life,

and I was forced

by my boss

to go visit somebody

at the Brier Center

and I hated visiting Diane,

that was her name.

She had,

I can't remember her disease,

but she had come

to the point in time

her family had abandoned her,

her husband,

her kids,

nobody saw her.

The only person

who came to visit her

was me

and I would go reluctantly

once a month

and I hated going

to visit her

because I couldn't

make her well.

All she could do,

she had a little thing

that came here

and she had to use

that to speak.

All she could do

was whisper.

She couldn't move

a single move body,

a muscle in her body.

I hated visiting her.

But she loved Jesus.

She ministered to me

in a very powerful way.

I went to visit her,

but she really visited with me.

You see,

for every day,

even in,

from what a point of view,

from a husband

and kids in the world,

her life was a waste.

Now we would say,

you should have killed her,

the doctor should have killed her

years earlier.

That's what Canadians would say.

She should have died years ago.

She didn't want to die.

And she knew that she was there

for such a time

as this.

Please stand.

You know,

if you have never given

your life to Christ,

you are here

for such a time

as this.

The Lord has brought you

to this time,

to this place,

to give your life

to Christ.

And I'm not going to tell you

words that you have to think

are magic.

You just say,

Jesus,

be my Savior

and my Lord.

I want to be like Esther.

I'm walking one way.

I want to now walk towards you

and thank you

that you never let me go.

Use your own words

and maybe even just physically,

if you're a physical,

you know,

like more,

like that type of person,

maybe you just even wanted

to stand there

and turn the other way

as a way of enacting

that you've given your life

to Jesus,

but there is no better time

than now you are here

for such a time as this.

And for each one of us,

we are here

for such a time as this.

That God will bless us

and use us

in our lives

where we are.

It doesn't mean

we can't have ambition

and want to go

different places,

but wherever you are

right now,

in whatever situation

or station of life,

you can ask God,

God,

why have you put me here

for such a time as this?

How can I bring glory

and meaning to my life?

Glory to you

and meaning to my life

right here,

right now,

where I am,

whatever it is I do.

Let's bow our heads

in prayer.

Father,

thank you so much

for Jesus.

Thank you,

Father,

so much

that he died

on the cross for us.

Thank you,

Father,

that he is the true

and greater Esther.

Thank you,

Father,

that in him

our lives

can have meaning

and purpose,

that you will use us

in ways that bring you

honor and glory,

that our repentance

can bring you glory,

our success

in living a good life

can bring you glory,

our generosity

can bring you.

Father,

that you use us,

whether we're rich

or poor,

smart,

or low IQ,

well-educated,

not well-educated.

Father,

that you can use us,

that you have called us

to be your people,

that you can use us

to bring you glory.

Father,

help us to be so gripped

by the gospel

and so gripped

by who Jesus is

and what he did for us

on the cross

that day by day

we understand

that you are shaping us

to bring you glory

where we are.

And we ask

and thank this

all in the name of Jesus,

your Son

and our Savior.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.