When Power is Your Idol

Father, sometimes your word shocks us by saying shocking things.

And Father, we know that everything that you write, you cause to be written in your word.

You had it written there so that it would reveal our heart in your presence and would draw us to Jesus.

So Father, we ask that the Holy Spirit would come with gentle but very, very deep power as we open your word.

Father, write the gospel on our heart and we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Please be seated.

Tape's going. It is sounding a bit weird, right?

It sounds good to you folks? Okay, well, I'm just going to be there.

It's just, this is like a thorn in the flesh for me because I hear a bit of an echo as I speak.

So some of you know, maybe all of you know, I was raised in a Christian home.

And I don't know if what I'm going to say about the churches that I grew up in, if that's a very fair thing about how I was raised.

But when I was raised, the churches I was raised in and the Sunday schools and the youth groups that I went to,

when they did talk about what we call the Old Testament, the books in the Bible that were written before the coming of Jesus,

whenever we read those in the church, it always seemed as if there was a very obvious hero in the story that we should copy

or some very powerful moral in the story that we should learn.

And that's how I was raised.

And then I get ordained and I have to start preaching on the Old Testament, the Tanakh sometimes.

And it terrified me.

Time after time, it terrified me because I'd look at it and it didn't make any, like,

I just couldn't find those lessons that I grew up with.

Some of you, if you know the story of Samson, when I, it seemed to me, my memory is that when I was growing up,

that Samson was just like a Baptist deacon, only very strong.

And then I read the story and he's, sorry, he's screwing around with lots of women.

He's getting drunk.

Let me tell you, that's not what Baptist deacons are supposed to do.

And I wasn't sure how I was going to preach a story like that, but it used to worry me.

So we're looking at a story, we're beginning a brand new series today called The Hidden God in a Broken World.

And it's a story of the book of Esther.

And let me tell you, I mean, this is a story that has terrible things in it.

And some of you, in fact, as we read the story, as we read this first episode in the story,

you might even wonder why we would read something like this in church.

But it's part of, well, let's see what, let's see.

I'm going to open the story to you because I want to encourage you to read the Old Testament.

I want to encourage you to try to dive into it, even if it doesn't says things which are very,

very shocking.

It really is Jesus told us to read it.

And so if he told us to read it, we should learn how to do it.

So we're looking at the book of Esther, chapter one, verse one, and let's get into it.

And here's how it begins.

What we're going to do is the text is going to be here.

I'll pause occasionally just to bring out the significance or a cultural thing so you

can enter into the story more powerfully.

And then we'll sort of talk a bit more generally about what's sort of going on and we can take

away from the text.

Now, in the days of, and I have a hard time pronouncing this name, Ahusuerus, the Ahusuerus

who reigned from Ethiopia, India to Ethiopia, over 127 provinces.

In those days when King Ahusuerus sat on his royal throne in Susa, the citadel, in the

third year of his reign, he gave a feast for all his officials and servants, the army of

Persia and Media and the nobles and governors of the provinces who were before him.

Now, just sort of pause here.

A couple of things.

First of all, there's a literary device that begins this story.

And the literary device is such that the writer is telling you that he's telling you a true

story.

That the story that follows is something that happened.

That's the claim made by the author.

Now, the second thing is this guy with the weird name.

So, in Hebrew, in ancient Hebrew, when this name was said out loud, it's a pun.

Now, it's one of the things which is very interesting about this book.

This book is going to talk about very, very, very, very dark matters.

In this book, there is genocide or an attempt at genocide.

There is sex trafficking.

There is violence.

There is impaling.

Lots of impaling.

And lots of other things.

It's a very, very serious story.

But the Jewish writer of it also puts bits of humor into it.

So, for the ancient Jews, when they would have heard this story read, the word Ahusserus

sounds like headache.

So, basically, all the way through the story, they call him King Headache to make a bit of

fun of him.

So, in fact, what I'm going to do, because I can't pronounce it, I'm going to call him

King Headache, because that actually helps you to understand, and now I've just completely

vanished.

Have I?

He's working on it.

Okay.

So, he's called King Headache.

Now, here's another thing which is really important about this story.

Very, very important.

And I didn't know until I looked it up.

How many of you have watched the movie 300 about the Spartans?

There you go.

So, the guy the Spartans fight, this is him.

This is him.

This is King Xerxes.

That's how he's more better known.

He's known as the King of Kings.

And so, one of the things that the writer sets right off the bat, when the writer says,

this is happening three years after King Headache gets made king, the ancient readers would

go, oh.

Oh.

That means this is happening in the year 483 BC.

Oh.

Now, why would they say, oh?

If we were to watch a movie about the Civil War in the United States, and the movie was

to focus on the Southerns, the Confederates, and we were to see just after war is declared,

in fact, there's lots of Confederate movies that are like this, and it shows the white

people with all their wealth and the young guys, and we're going to defeat the North,

and we're filled with honor, and you'd see all the opulence.

When we watch that movie, what do we know?

We know they're going to lose.

We know they're going to lose.

Even though they dress well, they're well-spoken, they're all excited, they're very confident

in their power, we know they're going to lose.

And that's what the author of this story does for most of the ancient people when he

begins it by saying it starts third year of being king, 483, because in the year 480,

he faces the Spartans, and 300 Spartans are able to hold back a Persian army of tens to tens

to tens of thousands, and then shortly after that, the Greeks kick their butt, and King

Headache is going to return to Persia, having lost big time.

So that's how this story begins.

A bit of a caution, because you're going to see his power and his glory, and in some

ways, one of the things that goes all the way through the book of Esther is a meditation

upon power.

The claims of power, our desires for power, and how power actually works.

So this is who the story is.

If you're fans of the movie 300, the Spartans are going to really cause him lots of trouble.

They're going to lose, they're going to lose.

And he's King Xerxes, and we're going to call him King Headache.

So back to what happens next.

So verse 4, so the King Headache has caused all of the people, it's the biggest empire

in the world at the time, and he's brought all of his nobles, his army officers, all of

his wise men, all of the rich people.

He brought them all together to his capital.

He's probably, well, let's see what happens.

Verse 4, he brought them all before him while he showed the riches, verse 4, of his royal

glory and the splendor and pomp of his greatness for many days, 180 days.

And when these days were completed, the king gave for all the people present in Susa, the

capital, both great and small, a feast lasting for seven days in the court of the garden of

the king's palace.

And so part of the thing that's going on here in the story is the king is solidifying his

support.

And he's building to his support.

He's saying, listen, I'm rich, I'm powerful, I'm strong.

Look at my armies.

Look at my power.

Look at my wealth.

Look at my glory.

I am a winner.

And you join with me.

You will be a winner too.

And we're going to go to Greece and we're going to kick Greek butt and we're going to

get lots of Greek pillage and you're going to even be richer because I'm a winner.

I'm powerful.

I'm mighty.

I'm the king of kings.

I'm rich.

Are you with me?

And at the end of a half a year of this propaganda and team building, I guess we'd call it nowadays,

and vision casting, it comes time to celebrate with seven days of partying.

And that's what sort of described next.

Verse six.

There were white cotton curtains and violet hangings fastened with cords of fine linen and

purple to silver rods and marble pillars and also couches of gold, couches of gold and

silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother of pearl, and precious stones.

Drinks were served in golden vessels, vessels of different kinds, and the royal wine was lavished

according to the bounty of the king.

And drinking was according to this edict.

There is no compulsion.

For the king had given orders to all the staff of his palace to do as each man desired, and

the queen Vashti also gave a feast for the women in the palace that belonged to king

headache.

Now, just pause here for a second.

What does it mean by no compulsion?

Well, it doesn't mean that they could drink Perrier water.

There was actually a custom in Persia.

Let's say I was the emperor, and you folks, I invited you to a party.

Whatever I drank, you had to drink.

So if I drank four bottles of wine, you have to drink four bottles of wine.

I drank one bottle, you drink one bottle.

I switched to whiskey, you switched to whiskey.

So the edict was, you don't have to drink what I'm drinking.

You just ask the waiter, and if you feel like some port, they'll bring you port.

You want bourbon, you'll bring you bourbon.

You want whiskey, they'll bring you that.

You can drink whatever you want and drink to your heart's desire, and I'm sure they did.

Now, just sort of pause here for a second.

What they've done now is they've shown you his, like, I mean, they had furniture made

out of gold and furniture made out of silver.

And they had precious, the precious stones were so common, they put them right in the floor

so that people walked on them.

And you drank out of vessels that were made out of gold.

And so you see all this wealth, all this beauty, all this power, and the glory of the city,

because he was a builder.

And you think to yourself, who on earth could possibly stand against them?

Like, who on earth can possibly stand against them?

And now we meet his wife.

That's supposed to be a bit of a joke.

Who can stand against him?

Now we meet his wife.

Right off the bat, we're going to see there's a bit of a problem.

So what happens?

Verse 10 to 12.

On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehumen,

Bitstha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abaktha, Zathar, and Carcas, the seven eunuchs who served in

the presence of King Headache, to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown, in

order to show the peoples and the princes her beauty, for she was lovely to look at.

But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command delivered by the eunuchs.

At this, the king became enraged, and his anger burned within him.

Now, several things.

If you don't know what a eunuch is, a eunuch is a man who's had his testicles removed.

That's what a eunuch is.

So one of the things about this place, there's power, there's glory, and there's beauty, and

there's great cruelty.

Great, great cruelty and great suspicion.

Because if they wanted to trust a man to do anything to do with the women under the king's care,

the only way you could do that is if you agreed to have your testicles removed.

And what's a concubine?

A concubine isn't a lover.

A concubine is a woman that belongs to a man, not as a slave, but belongs to a man for sex.

But they have a lower status than a wife.

And no matter how many children might be produced by the concubine, they will not be considered part of the lineage.

So it's showing that on top of all of this beauty and all of this glory and all of this power,

there is a man who will castrate other men.

And he will not only have several wives, which is what's going on, but he also has many, many concubines,

different women he feels like having sex with on a regular basis that nobody else can have sex with.

But they're not going to have the status or the privileges of being a wife.

And he demands, after seven days of drinking, he demands that she come.

And it's not clear exactly what it is that he wants her to do,

but what we do know is that it was something sexual.

In fact, some commentators think that what he said is literally,

I want you to come wearing your crown and nothing else,

to stand naked in front of all of the men.

It might have been far more demeaning than that.

But it's something very demeaning.

And she refuses.

She says she's not going to come.

And the king gets very, very, very, very, very, very mad.

And one of the things as well that's very interesting throughout the rest of this story

is that we never find out why Queen Vashti said no.

We don't know if it's because she'd put on four or five pounds

and she wanted like a week's notice so she could get in good shape for the presentation.

We don't know if she's a proto-feminist who had been, you know,

pumping up the women in the other place and calling them girls,

G-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-L-S,

and they're saying no man's going to rule us.

We don't know what's going on.

But you see, this is part of the fact that the explanation

for why Queen Vashti never shows up

is actually a significant part of the story

because it tells us something about how power works.

You see, when you have power and you like having power

and you're dealing with an underling or your wife,

what excuses matter?

I show up to work at 8.30, you say to your personal assistant,

and every day at 10, I have my triple espresso

right here, hot, at 10.

If it's not here hot at 10,

I'm not interested in your explanation.

I'm not interested in your reasons.

They don't matter to me.

I want it at 10.

It's here at 10.

If it's not here at 10, you're in trouble.

Like, that's how power works.

When you have power, real power,

and you give yourself the power,

little people's explanations,

why would I even bother wasting my time listening to them?

I want what I want when I want it,

and it has to be here,

or you suffer the consequences.

Sucks to be you.

That's how power works.

That's one of the interesting things

about what the writer does here,

to not give Queen Vashti's reason.

So we don't know whether it's a good reason or a bad reason,

because from King Heddy's point of view,

it doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter.

Now, the next part is very, very odd.

So he's really, really angry.

He's drunk.

He's with a whole pile of drunk men,

and he's angry.

So he does what a lot of drunk men do

when they're angry.

They ask other drunk men for advice,

which isn't very smart,

in case you don't know, right?

So one of the things you have to understand

when you read stories like this

is just because it happens in the Bible

doesn't mean you're supposed to do it.

You know, you say,

dear, I've learned in the Bible

that when I get drunk,

I should get advice from other drunk men.

No, that's not the point of the story.

Like, sometimes, in fact, often,

the point of the story is not to do certain things.

We're going to talk a little bit in a moment

about why it is that something like this

would even be in the Bible.

But he's really, really, really mad,

and so he says,

remember at the end of verse 12,

at this the king's anger became,

the king became enraged,

and his anger burned within him.

So verse 13,

then the king said to the wise men

who knew the times,

for this was the king's procedure

towards all who were versed in law and judgment,

the men next to him being

Karshena, Shithar, Admantha, Tarshish,

Merez, Marcina, and Memucan,

the seven princes of Persia and Media,

who saw the king's face

and sat first in the kingdom.

According to the law,

what is to be done to queen Vashti

because she has not performed

the command of king headache

delivered by the eunuchs?

Now, just sort of pause here for a second.

A couple of things are going on.

First of all, the wise men,

we meet them,

not obviously the same guys,

but they're the magi

that show up in Matthew chapter 2.

Matthew 2 · chapter mention

The magi were Persian astrologers,

and that's what these guys are.

They're experts in astrology,

and they're experts in divination.

That's what it means in the text

when it says,

verse 13,

then the king said to the wise men,

the magi,

who knew the times,

and that means they understood

how to use divination,

how to get in touch with the spirit world,

they believed,

so they'd know when the gods

were calling for something,

the most chance of success

would happen according to the gods,

according to the spiritual powers.

In the case of the king,

who was, by the way,

not a pagan,

but a Zoroastrian,

who believed then

that there was just one god,

but he believed in spiritual powers

and spiritual forces.

And so,

you might say to yourself,

so just for instance,

just so you know,

if one of you are drunk,

and you call me up at night,

and you say with your slurred voice,

George, I need your advice.

I'm thinking of doing this.

Well, let me tell you,

what I'd say to you is,

are you driving?

And,

you're drunk.

I'd say,

don't make any decisions

when you're drunk.

Just so you know,

you don't have to bother

calling me up at two in the morning.

That'll be in my advice.

Make no decisions

when you're drunk.

Why do they think

they can make decisions

when they're drunk?

Well,

I didn't know this

until I did the research.

The ancient Persians

often made decisions twice

before they'd be final on it.

They'd first,

if they were drunk,

and they were going to be

making decisions,

it was one person's job

to be sober

and write it down.

And after they sobered up,

they'd ask the sober guy,

what decisions did we make

while we were drunk?

And they'd say,

well,

these are the decisions you made.

And they'd look at it,

and if it made sense

when they were sober,

they'd do it.

And they also did the opposite.

They would be sober,

and they'd make a decision,

but they often

wouldn't act on it.

They'd say,

well,

now we have to get drunk

and consider the issue

while we're drunk.

And if it makes sense to us

while we're drunk,

then we know

it's the right decision.

Sometimes they would just,

like in this case,

just make a decision

when they're drunk.

Now,

here's one of the things

about this

which is very,

very,

very,

very contemporary.

How many artists

in North America

and in the whole

first world

believe

they are more creative

when they are stoned

or drunk?

It's very,

very,

very,

very common.

I was just reading

a thing about

a comedian,

and whenever she travels,

she makes sure she has,

she doesn't like smoking marijuana

because she can't control

the amount

that she's taking,

so she likes to consume it

because she knows

the exact amount,

and she always has it with her

because it helps her

to think better.

It helps her to be more clear

and helps her to be more creative.

It's a very,

very common thing.

You see,

the ancient Persians

believed they were closer

to the spiritual world

when they were drunk,

just like most of the artists

of our world,

and who knows how many politicians

and even judges

think that being stoned

for a while

or drunk

will actually help them

to be wiser,

get them in touch

with their creativity

or whatever.

So the ancient Persians

being drunk

was actually maybe a sign

that they were closer

to the spiritual world,

so their decision

is going to be

a better decision.

And so the king,

king headache,

he's drunk,

he's really,

really mad,

he asks his seven drunk friends

for advice

about what they should do.

And here's the great advice

that they gave him.

Here's the great advice.

Actually, let's read

verse 15 again.

According to the law,

king asks,

what is to be done

to queen Vashti

because she has not

performed the command

of king headache

delivered by the eunuchs.

And here's the advice.

Then Menukam said

in the presence

of the king

and the officials,

not only against the king

has queen Vashti done wrong,

but also against

all the officials

and all the peoples

who are in all the provinces

of king headache.

For the queen's behavior

will be made known

to all women,

causing them to look

at their husbands

with contempt

since they will say

king headache

commanded queen Vashti

to be brought before him

and she did not come.

This very day,

the noble woman

of Persia and Media

who have heard

of the queen's behavior

will say the same

to all the king's officials

and there will be contempt

and wrath in plenty.

Now just pause.

Some of you are saying,

did I just read that right?

Are they using this

as an excuse

to shut down

and oppress

all the women

in the kingdom?

You did hear it right.

You know,

one of the interesting things,

and by the way,

I could go on

a long aside about this.

This is very contemporary.

He asked them

what does the law say

and they give them

a sociological theory

that he doesn't actually,

they don't actually say

what's in the law.

He gives them

a sociological theory

about,

and it's really

what they want to do.

And what they want to do

is horrible.

And so some of you

are saying,

George,

I came to church

on Thanksgiving Sunday

and I get to hear

a text about

a whole pile of drunken men

making a rule

that all women

have to serve them

and respect them.

Like I am so disappointed

I came to church

some of you

maybe came with a friend

and you're thinking

you're shriveling

into the seat

because this is

in the Bible?

Well,

I'm going to say

a couple of things

about it,

but let's get

all the gory details

out first.

I think we were

at verse 19.

So here's the advice,

verse 19.

If it please the king,

let a royal order

go out from him

and let it be written

among the laws

of the Persians

and the Medes

so that it may

not be repealed.

In other words,

it will be eternal.

That Vashti

is never again

to enter,

to come before

the king headache

and let the king

give her royal position

to another

who is better

than she.

So when the decree

made by the king

is proclaimed

throughout all his kingdom,

for it is vast,

all women

will give honor

to their husbands,

high and low alike.

This advice

pleased the king

and the princess

and the king

did as Menyakam

proposed.

He sent letters

to all the royal provinces,

to every province

in its own script

and every people

in its own language

that every man

be master

in his own household

and speak according

to the language

of his people.

So what's going on here?

Well, several things.

First of all,

some of you might say,

George,

do you believe this?

Is this what the Bible

is teaching?

Like,

is the Bible teaching that?

So just,

just pause for a second.

If you're here

as a skeptic

or a scoffer

or just as a curious friend

or you came in

because it's warm

or we're just,

we're really glad you're here,

just time out.

Just ask yourself,

do you think Christians

base their beliefs

on drunken

Zoroastrian rulers?

No.

They don't.

Just because

it's in a story

like this

doesn't mean

that we're to

say that it's

it's what we

should be doing.

In fact,

it's,

the story is showing

us quite radically

different things

than that.

I don't know why

my mic keeps

falling off my head.

Anyway,

so it's not,

so do I believe this?

I would not use

this text

as a basis

to talk about

anything to do

between husbands

and wives.

And in fact,

actually,

it's interesting.

It's all the way through.

He never refers

to the queen

as his wife.

He refers to the queen

as the queen.

It has to do

with power.

And,

but some of you

might say,

well,

George,

why on earth

would you even

have something

like this

in the Bible?

And,

well,

I'm going to talk

a little bit

in a moment

about why

Jesus would

have us

read texts

like this

because as I've

shared with Ruth,

and I'll say again,

if you go back

and you read

Luke chapter 24,

Luke 24 · chapter mention

the reason

that we should

read Old Testament

or Tanakh stories

like this

is because

Jesus tells us to.

And he tells us

that everything

that was written

before him

in some ways

prepares us

to understand

better who he is

and what he does

for us on the cross

and what it means

to follow him.

And because Jesus

tells us to,

we should do it.

But it always means

that we understand

that everything

in these stories,

it's not telling us

about how an empire

should work

or how a king

should work.

It's not,

you know,

it's not telling us,

you know,

it's not telling us

that Christians

should practice astrology

or they should

practice divination.

It's not telling us

we should make decisions

when we're drunk

and it's not telling us

that we should pass laws

telling women

they have to obey

and honor their husbands

and be content

with being a second-class citizen.

It's not telling us

any of these things.

It's telling us

very important things

but it's not telling us

because those things

don't prepare us

to understand who Jesus is

and what he does

for us on the cross.

But here's the other thing

which is so important

about reading stories

like this.

This is real life.

Like,

this is real life.

There's lots of places

you can go to

in the world

where women are treated

worse than this.

And there's all sorts

of things

and we live in a world

where people get drunk,

where artists think

they're more creative,

they get stoned,

where the government

thinks it's a good thing

to make being able

to be stoned illegal

things so we can do it legally

and there can be more of it.

And we live in a real world

and this is describing

the real world

and that's a very important thing

because you see

at the end of the day

the gospel is real.

Jesus actually enters

into history

and he lives

at a particular point in time

just like real human beings do

and he dies a real death

just outside of Jerusalem

in the spring of the year 30

or the spring of the year 33

depending on how you deal

with some historical questions

but one of those two times

he dies on a cross

outside of Jerusalem

and he's buried in a grave

and on the third day

the grave is empty

and he really does

in history

appear to people

to prove that he's alive.

And the gospel,

what Jesus does

is to make us right with God

and help us to live

in the real world,

in your world,

in my world,

in a world

where there might be

unemployment,

there might be prosperity,

there might be tornadoes,

there might be marital problems,

there might be a problem

of not being able

to be married,

you have conflicting desires,

you live in a real world.

You see,

all of these stories

like this

that communicate

the real world

are helping us

to understand

that Jesus wants

to be our Savior

and our Lord

in your real world

and mine.

It's very important

that it's not just

fairy tales

and magical types of things.

I think I've told this story

when I was going

to do my master's degree

in counseling,

I went through,

there was this one,

it's called a practicum,

it was in group therapy

and by coincidence,

everybody in it

except me

was a nun

in my group

and they had to do

this thing once

about how

they're trying to picture

a parent coming in

to try to deal

with two or three

children fighting

and they got the nuns

to act it out

and I watched it

and I,

at the end of it

I said,

time out,

that's not how

real children

actually talk

to each other

because they were

all polite,

they very quickly said,

oh, I'm wrong,

I did it.

No, that's not

what happens.

Kids don't just

naturally say,

yes, you caught me,

I'm wrong,

please, no, no,

I didn't do it,

nothing happened,

it was his fault,

like that's how it works

and it's just

not real life, right?

But the gospel

is going to be

for our real life,

that's why

it's very important.

So,

if that's the case

then, George,

well, why on earth

would we even read

a story like this?

Well, here's the thing,

let's put up a first point,

if you could put up

the first point,

Daniel,

that would be great.

One of the things

which is so wonderful

as we enter

into the story

of Esther,

which is going

to be ten chapters,

we're going to do it

over nine weeks,

is the first thing

is that power

is an idol

you are always

tempted to worship.

power is an idol

that you are always

tempted to worship.

In fact,

if you put up

the next point,

Daniel,

that would be great.

Without realizing it,

you and me

can easily become

a fully devoted

worshiper of power.

In other words,

what I'm saying is

that the idol

of power

is something

that we are always

tempted to.

Every single one

of us here

are tempted

to the idol

of power

to worship it.

But some of us

aren't tempted

to worship

the idol of power

because we don't

resist it.

We're full-fledged,

fully devoted,

proud

worshippers

of power.

And this is

a human problem.

It's not just

a religious

or a Christian problem,

it's a human problem.

And some of you

might say,

George,

I'm a Christian

or I'm a spiritual person

or I'm a Canadian.

I don't worship idols.

If you could put up

the next point.

Here's the thing.

You worship an idol

by believing it,

trusting it,

serving it,

being guided by it,

thinking by it,

deriving meaning

from it,

and getting your

identification from it.

So what happens

in this story,

for instance?

All King Headache

wants is more power.

The whole point

of the six months

of gathering

is to show

how powerful he is

and why they should

give him more power.

He gets his identity

from power.

He thinks in terms

of power.

When Queen Vashti

doesn't do what he wants,

he thinks by the dynamics

of power

because in the dynamics

of power,

it's always a matter of,

it's always a zero-sum game.

It's like those old things.

For those of us

who are really old,

then we remember

when there were

teeter-totters.

Young people don't know

that anymore

because it can hurt you,

but there's these

teeter-totters.

There used to be

these things that,

you know,

there was a thing

in the middle

and a big wooden board

or a metal board.

If you sat on one end,

it would go down,

and so somebody

got on the other side,

and they could make

it go down,

and you'd have fun

going back and forth,

or else you'd eventually

have a mean kid

who was heavier

who would just sit here

trapping his younger brother

or sister up on the top

while they screamed

for their mommy,

and that's probably

why they stopped

making teeter-totters.

Upper one's going down,

and it's the same thing

for power.

In terms of when he,

you know,

he's serving power,

so if he doesn't get

what he wants,

if he gives in

to Queen Vashti,

that means her power

is going up

and his is going down,

and that is unconscionable.

How could he ever

allow that to happen?

He gets his meaning

from being the most

powerful person.

He gets his identity

from it,

and that's what happens

for us,

and it's not just

with power.

That's how we can

understand how anything

can be an idol for us.

It, you know,

it can be money,

it can be our husband,

it can be our wife,

it can be our kid,

it can be our job,

it can be our reputation,

it can be our nationality,

it can be our political party,

it can be our political leader.

That we think by it,

we get our identity by it,

we seek more of it,

we organize our time around it,

that it becomes

more and more powerful,

it becomes functionally

something that we worship.

And, you know,

I can give you those

as ideas.

This is the powerful thing

about stories,

is that stories presents it

in a way that forms us

in a deeper level

to see that this is a man

who's made an idol of power.

In fact,

there's a couple of different

really important questions

for us.

is,

I mean,

we can ask,

is power an idol in your,

is power an idol in your life?

You know,

one of the signs

of idolatry,

one of the things

which indicates

what we've made an idol

in our life

is when we get angry.

Anger often reveals

an idol

that we worship.

And if you don't

get more power

and you get really angry,

is it possible

that you've made

an idol out of power?

Is your anger

rooted in an idol?

And just in general,

maybe it's not that,

but maybe your anger

is rooted in something else.

And just one other thing

about idols,

that most of us

have more than one idol.

In fact,

it makes us

even more miserable.

In fact,

it's very possible

that in a marriage

we have at least

three or four idols

going on.

We have an idol

for power.

We have an idol

around our spouse.

And maybe we have

an idol around money.

And they keep

bumping into each other

and contradicting

each other.

Because on one hand,

our whole identity

is around a person

to love.

our whole identity

is around that.

But at the same time,

we worship power.

And if the person

that we love

starts to have

a bit too much power

over us,

we get very anxious.

Very, very anxious.

And then maybe

they also do something,

our loved one

does something

that involves

spending a little bit

too much money.

And because money

is an idol in our lives,

that makes us

very anxious.

And we're just

very confused

because we have

several idols

that we're trying

to worship.

And each of them

wants our fully

devoted attention.

And we can't

fully devote ourselves

to three different

or four or five

different idols.

And it causes us

a lot of anxiety.

If you could put up

the next thing,

and this is what,

this is like,

just follows from that.

Like all idols,

the idol of power

deceives you

and does not deliver

what it promises.

Like all idols,

the power,

the idol of power

deceives you

and does not deliver

what it promises.

So you think about

this for a second.

In this story

that we've just read,

the king passes a law

and when I pass a law,

it never changes.

We should all laugh

at that.

He's been dead

for 2,500 years.

He got assassinated

by his bodyguard

15 years after this.

And it would be

very interesting

that the women's

study department

at Ottawa U,

if they think

that his rule

about women

following men

and honoring them

is still eternal

to the day.

No.

This is very,

very,

very important

pause here

for those of us

who are Christians.

there are many,

many things

in our culture,

especially around

the culture of death,

that our culture says

have been finally decided

and will last forever.

And just like

King Headache

thinking his decision

lasted forever

and it doesn't,

so it is

when the culture of death

or any politician

or any culturally

powerful person

says something's decided

will never change,

they're wrong.

They're just wrong.

They're wrong.

This is a profound

encouragement

for us to pray,

to not lose heart

in praying

that things

which are evil

in our society,

that the time

may come

when they would change.

In fact,

one of the things

we're going to see

as the book of Esther

plays itself out

is that,

in fact,

Esther,

a Jewish woman,

ends up

being the one

responsible

for saving her people

from genocide.

that's actually

one of the big messages

of the whole book.

So it's a profound

encouragement

for you and me

to pray.

The culture of death

does not have

the final word

and we should pray

against it.

Final point,

if you could put it up.

See,

here's one of the things

about how idols

deceive us.

You see,

if the idol of power

is where we're getting,

we think by the idol

of power,

we understand life

by the idol of power,

we want to serve

the idol of power,

we want to become

more and more powerful

and then our wife

does something

or, you know,

if Louise is serving

the idol of power

and I do something

and you start to think

about, you know,

she starts to think

about me

and I think about her

and I get anxious

about this

and I get worried

about this

and, you know,

from the idol of power

it either just seems

like you're winning

or you're losing,

you know,

and it doesn't seem

like there's any sort

of other type

of framework

to think about it

but this is where

the gospel is so powerful

because, you see,

only Jesus,

the crucified Messiah

who loves you

and died in your place

to save you,

only he reveals

the true

and living God.

Only Jesus,

the crucified Messiah

who loves you

and died in your place

to save you,

only he reveals

the true

and living God

and when we receive

the gospel

and the gospel

starts to grip us,

it begins to give us

a whole different way

to start to understand

how the world works

and this is, you see,

part of the huge significance

of the gospel

because, you know,

you read John's gospel

at the beginning

and it says,

in the beginning

was the Word

and the Word

was with God

and the Word

was God.

He was with God

in the beginning.

All things were made

through him

and without him

nothing was made

that was made.

So when we worship Jesus,

we're worshiping

the creator

of all things.

He understands

how the real world works

and in the story

of Jesus,

we see this story

of God,

the Son of God,

looking at ordinary

human beings,

not just emperors,

not just kings,

not people who think

they're king of kings

and lord of lords,

but ordinary people

like you and me

in our real life

and he looked down

from heaven

and he saw

that we could not

save ourselves

from death

and that we could not

deliver ourselves

from idols

and out of love

for you and me.

He sets aside

his glory,

he sets aside

his divine prerogative,

he sets aside

his appearance

of majesty,

but remaining fully God,

he takes into himself

our human nature

and he actually

stoops and lowers

himself to the womb

of the Virgin Mary

and lives an ordinary

human life,

suffering the trials

and temptations

that you and I do

only without sin

and teaching

and ultimately

his stooping

to save you and me

goes to the point

of dying

as an innocent man,

a criminal's death,

burying in his very

body and person

the sins and rebellion

and the shame

that you and I

have accomplished,

but he willingly

bears the punishment

that that deserves

upon himself

and he stoops

even lower

to save us

by entering

into death

and tasting

everything there is

to taste of death

with nothing left out

and Jesus

who is God,

the Son of God,

he stoops

and descends

to save you and me

and when we put

our faith and trust

in him,

we receive

the power

of God

for salvation,

the power

to give you

a new life,

to be born again,

to be regenerate.

We receive that power

effectually from God,

not because of my power,

not because of anything

in me,

but because God

acts with power

in our lives

to make us right

with him.

And so we see

in the cross

and in the gospel,

we see

perfect love,

perfect power,

perfect mercy,

perfect justice,

perfect grace,

all at one,

not at war

with each other,

but at one.

And as we receive

the gospel,

not only do we

now enter

into a relationship

with Jesus

to start to try

to deal with idols,

but as the gospel

grips us

and shapes us

and as we stand by it

and start to see it

and understand it

to unmask idols

and to think

differently

about the world

and about the options.

George,

if you're drunk

and you're mad

at your wife,

maybe you should

sober up

and maybe you should

love her

and serve her more.

And maybe it's

not about power.

A whole new universe

of thought and life

and of business

and of family

and of culture

opens up.

Please stand.

It's not just a matter

that the Lord

makes you feel guilty

about our idol worship

because Christians,

like other human beings,

can start to worship idols.

But that this is a call

for us to be gripped

by the gospel

and to ask the Lord

to reveal

whether the roots

of our anchor

are coming not out

of the fact

that we have a concern

for holiness

but that there's in fact

hidden idols

which are making us angry

and hidden idols

which are making us anxious

and a call

to be gripped

by the gospel.

To be gripped

and shaped

by the gospel

to call out to God

that he would

write the gospel

on our heart

and make the gospel

real to us

by the power

of his Holy Spirit.

And if you are here

and you've never

given your life

to Jesus,

there is no better

time than right now.

Jesus is not

like the king

of Persia

full of anger

and on a whim

he would hate you.

He died to save you.

He died to save you

because he loves you

and he will fit you

for heaven

and there is no better

time than now

to say I cannot

free myself

from idols,

I cannot free myself

from death,

I cannot free myself

from my sin.

But Jesus,

I know that you

can do that

and I give myself

to you

and I ask

that you would

be my savior

and my lord

and I know

you will never

let me go

and there is no time

better than right now

to call out to Jesus

and say that.

No time better

than right now

and he will hear.

Let's bow our heads

in prayer.

Father,

you know the idols

that we serve

and we don't even realize

we serve them.

You know the idols

that we're really

tempted to,

they really call out

to us.

Our flesh wants

to worship them

and we ask,

Father,

that your Holy Spirit

would move deeply

in our lives

to help us

to see the idols

that tempt us

for what they are

as idols

and we ask,

Father,

that you make us

disciples of Jesus

who are gripped

by the gospel,

who stand on the gospel,

who are shaped

by the gospel,

who are drawn

by the gospel

and not by idols,

that you would help us

to die to all idols

that we might live free

to bring you glory

and for the good

of others

and for the good

of this people

of Ottawa

and the good

of the world.

Father,

may your Holy Spirit

do that mighty work

and if there are any here

who have called out

to you,

Father,

or to Jesus

for the first time

to be yours,

may your Holy Spirit

flood into them

in a very deep way

and that they may know

your presence

and your power

and your love

and all these things

we ask in the name

of Jesus,

your Son and our Savior

and all God's people said,

Amen.