If I Perish, I Perish
Text: Esther 4:12-17
Core Idea: Jesus Christ made it possible for us to be in this world but not of this world. In fact, God has sovereignly placed us in certain positions and times so that His purpose would be fulfilled. Knowing this, let’s make every effort to bring glory to Him as we courageously echo the words of Esther who said, “If I perish, I perish.”
INTRODUCTION
Good morning, Lighthouse. I am delighted to see you. Tugboat and Anchor, I’m so thankful that you can be here to worship with us as we celebrate this special Sunday. When I heard that we were given the green light to meet at 11 a.m. at the gym, I was incredibly grateful knowing that this was another evidence of God’s grace for our community. But more importantly, I felt like God was actually telling us to seize this opportunity to be the light that we were meant to be. I believe that God allowed this to happen not just for our own convenience but for us to be able to better carry out the call that He has given us. So, for example, I pray that this will strengthen our evangelism since meeting at an earlier time and a bigger venue could make it easier for us to invite our non-believing friends to the church. I pray that this will strengthen our fellowship since it could lead to more opportunities for people to connect with others right after the service. And I pray that this will also strengthen our local missions as there will be more ways to serve the city through our partnership with Gibson. So, all this to say, I pray that this transition won’t just be a time change or a location change but that it’ll help us to shine the light of Christ more intentionally and effectively.
Well, today, we’ll take a break from the Book of James, and we’ll look at the Book of Esther – following the curriculum that the Tugboat ministry is going through. Now, as you know, we’ve been brainstorming different ways to help our children feel more engaged during our joint services – which is why we’ve been showing videos, having someone from Tugboat or Anchor read the passage, providing an activity sheet, and preaching from the passage that they might be familiar with. And today, we’ll add one more to that list as Pastor Cindy will come up and share a message for our children. I’m so thankful for this because I have no doubt that she’ll be so much better than me at connecting with our children – so, we’re really blessed to have her do this. Then with that in mind, please turn your Bibles to Esther 4:12-17. And I will invite Nate to the front – and he will read the passage for us. And after, Pastor Cindy will come up and share the message for our children.
12 When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, 13 he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” 15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.” 17 So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther’s instructions.
Thank you, Nate, for reading the passage for us. And thank you, Pastor Cindy, for teaching us the power of prayer and the importance of community in times of need. Now, to better understand this story, we need to know the context. The story is set in Persia. If you remember, Babylon conquered Judah and many of the Israelites were forced to settle down in this new nation. But their glory didn’t last long as Babylon was conquered by Persia. Now, interestingly, the King of Persia, Cyrus the Great, authorized the Israelites to go back to their own land and restart their lives there. In fact, if you want to know more about that, read the book of Ezra and Nehemiah as they tell the story of those who went back to rebuild the temple. But history tells us that many of the Israelites actually chose to stay back in Persia simply because their livelihood was there. Their jobs, families, and friends were all in Persia. So, in one sense, they had no reason to go back.
Esther was one of those people. She was born into exile – and she was most likely out of touch with her Jewish culture. All she knew was her life in Persia. She spoke their language, ate their food, read their literature, and dressed like them. In fact, Esther 2:7 shares that she even had two names – Esther (a Persian name) and Hadassah (a Hebrew name). On a side note, isn’t it interesting that the book is called “Esther” not “Hadassah”? Some speculate that it was meant to show us that Esther wanted to embrace her Persian identity more than her Jewish identity. In fact, that’s exactly what we read in this book – we see her constantly trying to hide her Jewish identity. No one except her cousin, Mordecai, knew that she was a Jew. It’s almost like she didn’t want to embrace her Jewish identity.
Now, this might be very different from the way you thought of Esther. Many of you may have viewed her as a pillar of faith who won the heart of the king through her beauty, humility, and character – who courageously stood up for the Jewish people to rescue them from a massacre planned by Haman. Now, I’m not saying that this isn’t true, but I just want us to know that she wasn’t always like that. In many ways, she was compromised just like many of us. But throughout the story, we’ll see God transforming her to be the person that we know today – we’ll see her facing fears and overcoming fears with the help of God. Then I pray that God will do the same for us as we study this passage so that we too will break out of our life of compromise and live a life worthy of the gospel. Then with that in mind, let me share three things from this book:
· THE WORLD WE LIVE IN
· THE SOVEREIGN GRACE OF GOD
· THE PROPER RESPONSE
1) THE WORLD WE LIVE IN
The story begins with the introduction of King Xerxes of Persia. He was a powerful king who ruled over 127 provinces which stretched from modern-day Ethiopia to Pakistan. And this book recounts an event that happened in the third year of his reign in the city of Susa. At that time, King Xerxes invited the nobles, princes, and military leaders to host a great party that went on for 180 days – a six-month-long party (imagine that). But as if that wasn’t enough, he held another party for seven more days and invited everyone in the city (from the least to the greatest) – they were all welcomed to the palace. And just to get a glimpse of this scene, listen to what Esther 1:6-8 says, “The garden had hangings of white and blue linen, fastened with cords of white linen and purple material to silver rings on marble pillars. There were couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and other costly stones. Wine was served in goblets of gold, each one different from the other, and the royal wine was abundant, in keeping with the king’s liberality. By the king’s command, each guest was allowed to drink with no restrictions, for the king instructed all the wine stewards to serve each man what he wished.” The world that Esther lived in was no different from ours – there was this obsession with wealth, power, and pleasure.
Now, it says that the king got drunk and started bragging about Queen Vashti who was known for her beauty. In fact, he called her to come and display her beauty to the people because he wanted them to ultimately admire him for having the means to marry her. In other words, it really was all about him. He wanted to be recognized. But Vashti refused to come. Now, this would’ve been considered a great crime because she wasn’t just disobeying the king but also humiliating him. So, the king decided that she would be stripped of her crown and banished.
This, of course, meant that he had to find a new queen. And this plan included three stages. First, the search. He conducted a nationwide search for possible candidates in all 127 provinces. They had to be beautiful, young, and virgins. Now, many of us think of this as a beauty pageant – but it wasn’t like that at all. These young women must have been ages between 13 to 18 at most. And in many cases, they were stripped from their homes and families, against their will, which meant that many of them must have been scared and helpless. The second stage was the beauty treatment. The girls received beauty treatments to make them attractive for the king’s enjoyment – which by the way took an entire year (Est. 2:12). And the last stage was the king’s evaluation. Without going into too much detail, the king had the final say in who would be crowned the new queen. Then considering all of these things, we must recognize that nothing about this would’ve been exciting for these girls – they must have been anxiously waiting to see if they were good enough for the king. One of those girls was Esther – and to make a long story short, the king ultimately favored her more than anyone else. And she became the queen of the greatest empire on the face of the earth at the time.
Now, when we read this story, we can’t help but see that Esther lived in a world that was very much like our own. Just like her world, we live in a world that cares more about what we eat than what we’re feeding our minds, a world that cares more about success than how we achieve that success, a world that cares more about what we have than who we really are. Just like her world, we live in a world that praises and values the things that are radically different from what God cherishes – a world where we’re told that if we don’t have those things, we must undergo this rigorous beauty treatment to get them because, without them, we’ll be considered worthless.
Brothers and sisters, this is the world we’re living in – but the sad reality is that many of us are deeply immersed in it. We may say with our lips that God is all that we need (how He alone satisfies us) but our hearts may say otherwise. So, we end up living a double life – we have two identities, and we’re making every effort so that these two worlds never collide. Of course, I’m not generalizing this for all of us – I know that many of us are still faithfully fighting the good fight. So, if this is you, I want to encourage you to continue to devote yourself to the Lord. But if that’s not you, let this message lead you to repent and reorient yourself to God. Now, please don’t misunderstand – I don’t say this as someone who has it all together. In fact, I’m guilty of this as well – which is why I’m not saying this to burden you or crush you but rather to renew you and revive your soul, to bring you back to Him so that you may live a life that you were meant to live as a child of God. Then my prayer for you is that you’ll find the courage and strength to run the race again. It’s never too late. You’re never too far from God’s reach. In fact, be encouraged, because, in many ways, Esther was a lot like us. And yet God patiently and graciously walked with her so that she would be ready to carry out the call that He had prepared for her. Then brothers and sisters, remember that God is ministering to us with the same grace and patience – preparing us to faithfully and courageously live out the purpose that He has in store for us. No matter how much we’ve been compromised in our lives, no matter how much we’ve sinned against God, let’s not give up knowing that our God hasn’t given up on us. He’ll continue to give us the power and motivation we need to be in the world but not of the world.
2) THE SOVEREIGN GRACE OF GOD
In chapter 3, we’re introduced to a new character, Haman. We read that the king elevated him to the highest position in the kingdom and everyone had to kneel and pay honor to him, but Mordecai (Esther’s cousin) refused to do so because he was a Jew – he didn’t want to bow before another human being. Now, this enraged Haman. Listen to what Esther 3:6 says, “Having learned who Mordecai’s people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead, Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes.” So, he falsely accused them of treason – and somehow persuaded the king that it was good for Persia to eliminate all the Jews. Now, when Mordecai heard this, he was devastated knowing that there was nothing he could do to save his people. So, he sent a message to Esther asking her to do something about it – to plead with the king to change his mind. But this was her response (paraphrasing): “Mordecai, the problem is that I haven’t seen the king for 30 days and I’m not scheduled to see him anytime soon. And you know that if you go to the king without being invited, you’ll die – unless the king offers mercy. In fact, you know how I got here – it was because the last queen was too bold. Do you want me to be reckless and throw everything away? How can you ask me to do that? I could lose everything” (Est. 4:11). Then hearing this, Mordecai pointed out two very important truths in verse 13.
The first truth: even if Esther remains silent, relief and deliverance for the Jews will come from another place. Mordecai was certain that God would preserve the Jewish people. No matter how hopeless and dark the situation may have been, no matter how much it seemed like the world was spinning out of control, he was certain that God was in control – he firmly believed that God would save them. This of course is something that we read in other parts of the Bible as well. Philippians 1:6 says, “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” And Jude 1:24 says, “[He] is able to keep you from stumbling and [He will] present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy.” Both of these passages affirm that what God promises, what God starts in our lives, He will finish it. Do you know what this means? It means that we are secure in Christ. In all circumstances, we can be confident that He will work all things for our good (Rom. 8:28). His will will always be done. But that’s not all.
The second truth: it’s no coincidence that Esther became the queen. Listen to what Mordecai said in verse 14, “Who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” The word “come” is a Hebrew word that has a passive meaning – which means that it might be more accurate to translate it something like this: “Who knows but that you’ve been brought to your royal position for such a time as this?” In other words, Mordecai was saying, “Esther, do you think you got there on your own? Don’t you see that you got there by grace alone? Your beauty wasn’t something you earned – it was something that was given to you. It’s no coincidence that you’ve been chosen to be the queen of Persia at this time. Don’t you see that God in His sovereignty placed you there to save His people?” Pastor David Platt describes the story of Esther like this, “A divine drama with cosmic ‘coincidences’ at every turn.” In other words, the banquet, the banishment of Vashti, the favor shown to Esther, and all the other events in their lives weren’t just coincidences, but they were all orchestrated perfectly by God Himself.
Then the truth that I want to point out is this: God is the sovereign King who puts His people in certain positions and in certain times to fulfill His purpose. Do you know what this means? It means that where you are in your life right now is a complete work of God’s sovereign grace and wisdom. Then think with me. Who knows but that you’ve become a teacher at that school, a student at that school, an accountant at that bank, a nurse at that hospital, an engineer at that company, a receptionist at that office, a manager at that store for such a time as this? It’s not an accident that you married the person beside you, that you were gifted with those children in your life, and that you befriended those people. It’s not an accident that you lost your job, that you’re battling a certain illness, that you were blessed financially, that you were gifted in certain ways, that you’re living in that neighborhood, that you’re playing hockey in that league, and that you’re here at this church today. God has deliberately allowed all these small and big “coincidences” to take place in our lives so that they will shape us to be the people we are today, so that we may be equipped to do the work that He has in store for us. You see, if you believe this truth, your story will be different because you’ll have a new appetite, a new attitude, and a new ambition for life. You’ll no longer follow the trends and values of this world knowing that you were created for a greater purpose – to do great things for the Lord. Then brothers and sisters, are you aware of God’s sovereign grace over your life today?
3) THE PROPER RESPONSE
When Mordecai pleaded with Esther, she had to make a choice. It’s true that she could’ve remained silent – she could’ve ignored the problem and just went on with her life. In fact, if she wanted to, she could’ve easily silenced Mordecai in order to stay hidden since the only person who knew of her Jewish identity was Mordecai. She could’ve used her power and connections to make Mordecai disappear. To be honest, I’m sure that this must have been a real temptation for Esther. This was the moment that she was desperately trying to avoid – the moment when her two identities were colliding. Then here, she had two choices: death or death. She knew that if she stood up for the Jews and entered the king’s presence uninvited, revealing her Jewish identity, she could die. But she also knew that if she didn’t do anything, she would be considered dead to God. Either way, she had to face death. Then listen to what she says in verse 16, “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.” In other words, she responded with an act of faith – knowing that it was better to perish as one of God’s people than to live as an enemy of God. So, she decided to go see the king – and that’s how Chapter 4 ends. I strongly encourage you to read the rest of the story on your own because the way God saves His people is quite amazing.
Anyways, what does this mean for us? It means that we all have a choice to make as well. We could remain the way we are – blending in with the world. We could continue to talk like them, act like them, pursue after the things that they’re after, be driven by the values that they uphold because we don’t want to stand out, because we don’t want things to change, because we don’t want to lose everything we’ve worked for. Or we could echo the words of Esther and say, “If I perish, I perish.” We could choose to break out of our hiding place and surrender our lives to Christ even if it means that we could lose everything. We could choose to be kind with our words, compassionate with our actions, generous with our finances, diligent in the way we work, selfless in the way we serve the church, intentional in fighting for justice, intentional in protecting the weak, intentional in pursuing holiness, and intentional in making disciples of all nations – simply because we’re choosing to die to ourselves and live for the glory of the One who gave us life. Listen to what Jesus says in Mark 8:34-36, “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” And John 12:24 says, “Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” Then brothers and sisters, how will you die today?
Now, this is not an easy decision. We may know and agree with everything that has been said but the reality is that we continue to find ourselves compromising. We want to choose Christ, but we often find ourselves choosing comfort and pleasure. This is why our hearts must be gripped and captivated by the gospel every single day. Jesus Christ, just like Esther, lived in the ultimate palace – the heaven itself. And being in very nature God, He had all the right to remain in His glory. But the gospel tells us that He didn’t consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage – rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and entered the presence of God, bearing the sins of all people, knowing that He will be condemned and banished. He didn’t just say, “If I perish, I perish,” but He said, “I will perish” by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross. He didn’t do this at the risk of His life but at the cost of His life. But unlike Esther, who wasn’t sure what kind of result her action would bring, Jesus was sure what would result from His death. He knew that He would make a complete and perfect atonement for our sins – and as a result, our salvation would be made secure in Him (Phil. 2:5-11). Then brothers and sisters, if we want to joyfully die to ourselves, we must first see what Christ has done for us and be transformed by His love. Only then will we be able to reject self-centeredness to embrace God-centeredness, live generously instead of being greedy, live diligently instead of being lazy, and live to cultivate the fruit of the Spirit instead of compromising in the acts of the flesh.
CONCLUSION
Lighthouse family, Jesus Christ made it possible for us to be in this world but not of this world. In fact, the story of Esther reminds us that God has sovereignly placed us in certain positions, in certain times so that His purpose would be fulfilled. Then knowing this, let’s make every effort to bring glory to Him as we courageously echo the words of Esther who said, “If I perish, I perish.”
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1) If time allows, read Esther 1-4. What stood out to you? Discuss the ways Esther’s world resembles the world that we live in today.
2) Read Esther 4:14. Although God was not mentioned here, how is God’s sovereign grace being revealed through Mordecai’s speech? How does this truth empower us to live faithfully without being compromised in this world? How will this truth change the way you perceive your vocation, relationships, or circumstances that you are in?
3) Read Mark 8:34-36. How can you deny yourself (die to yourself), take up your cross, and follow Christ today? How will being gripped, controlled, and captivated by the gospel help us live this way? Share and pray for each other.