August 7, 2016 - Esther 3 - Recognizing the Spiritual Battle

Lord, thank You for our time together – for being outside today – the picnic last night – all those who served – thank You for them – help us to focus our attention on You – speak to us today.
We’ve been going through Esther – today we begin chapter 3:
Esther 3: After these events King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the Agagite, and advanced him and established his authority over all the princes who were with him. 2 All the king's servants who were at the king's gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman; for so the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage. 3 Then the king's servants who were at the king's gate said to Mordecai, "Why are you transgressing the king's command?"
One nice thing today - There is no clock for me to look at… - Haman is the villain. He is the bad guy in the story. He is a descendant of Agag – the king of the Amalekites. Mordecai is the descendant of Saul. At one time Saul was commanded to kill all of the Amalekites – and he didn’t do it. And so there are these long-standing bitter rivalries – and it has reared its ugly head again.
Think about when the Iron Curtain fell – think about the Eastern Bloc – the Serbians and Croatians – and all these enemies that were held down – the people who hated the Jews were being held in check by this empire – and then this comes up and the battle begins again. We see how LONG such hatred can exist. You see the same thing in Iraq and Syria – and we need to understand this to understand racial issues in our country. Things don’t end quickly.
The king makes this law that everyone has to bow down to Haman. Not to worship him – but a respectful way of greeting this person and Mordecai refuses to bow down – and others sit in the gate of the king – and do business – and Mordecai was an official in the government – and some noticed that he was not bowing down – so they told Haman –
4 Now it was when they had spoken daily to him and he would not listen to them, that they told Haman to see whether Mordecai's reason would stand; for he had told them that he was a Jew. 5 When Haman saw that Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage to him, Haman was filled with rage. 6 But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him who the people of Mordecai were; therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.
So what we have – Haman – it is really the first genocide of the Jews – Haman is trying to figure out a way to destroy all of them. Looking at this conflict – remember, we are in a spiritual battle. That is not what this is talking about here – but it leads us to that. We are not going against races or nations or countries, but our battle is a spiritual battle – and too many of us do not recognize the battle – or we attach it to things that are not important. We think of social or political issues, and think that is where the battle is being fought. But there is something bigger than all of that – those things are just symptoms. There is a battle for the souls of people – a battle to destroy peoples’ lives. We need to be challenged to zero in on the battle to win peoples’ souls. Methodists – the Wesleys – would gather together – and ask – How is your soul? And the reality is – many souls are filled with cancer and disease – and we all need to learn to engage in the battle for our own souls – and then to engage in the battle for others.
Some of the ways this comes across – broken relationships. Especially family relationships. In doing so, the enemy gains a foothold. It can be husband/wife – parent/children/ siblings. The enemy is attacking that. I’m not just talking about the institution of the family – and marriage – but OUR FAMILIES. Peoples’ families are being destroyed – and here is where we can become a help and make change in our world. We always hear about young people leaving the church. 16% go to church in the 18-29 age group. It is the least amount. We think it is because of what professors say in college – but it really comes from the attack on what is going on in their families. These broken relationships enter churches – and you don’t just all of a sudden change – it takes reparenting – in one sense – retraining. So many relationships are that way – where there has never been an example of what a good relationship is like – we live around people like that – who have never seen a good relationship. And this should motivate us to become people of passion.
The second area of brokenness – the world using the term addiction – some say – besetting sins – I would call it sick souls. This battle takes place in souls that are enslaved, trapped, in something that is ruining its life. We know the obvious ones – sexual addiction – substance abuse. But there are others – approval addiction. Shopping! Do you know how many people are addicted to shopping? Not just shopping – but do you know how many families are ruined by financial pressure? It is the number one cause of divorce. And people tend to shove these things under the rug.
The obvious ones are obvious – so we address them.
What this world needs are for broken people to be healed. As sick souls are made well and transformed by God and His grace and His power – not by us shouting…
8 Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, "There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of all other people and they do not observe the king's laws, so it is not in the king's interest to let them remain.
Haman has this plot – this is my opportunity to get rid of the Jews once and for all! When it talks about the Jews in the Persian empire – they are scattered and dispersed. Aliens and strangers in the land of Persia – and in many ways – they are so much like the words of Jesus to His disciples – in the world but not of it. They have different laws – and yet they remain there. They are a minority – underprivileged – have no power – but one is a Queen – and another, Mordecai – is an official – and you have at other times – Daniel – one of the highest in the kingdom – but this people group seems to have no power – and I am reminded of the Church – as a people – we seem to have no power – but there are those of us who have places of responsibility to make a difference. Daniel didn’t work and strive to get where he was – God did it.
The rulers of the Gentiles lord it over you – it is not to be that way among you. You are not to gain access the same way the world gains access. Don’t use the world’s system to gain power and effectiveness.
How did they do it? When the Babylonians came in – and destroyed Jerusalem – Jeremiah was the prophet – Jer. 29 – do not go to Egypt – go to Babylon – build houses, plant gardens – pray for peace – marry and give in marriage – and God is calling us – be separate as a people but get fully involved. We are called aliens and strangers – separate from the world – but also salt and light – and salt can only work when it makes contact. Light only works when it enters into the darkness.
Jesus was called a friend of sinners – so it is hard to work out – we need to be fully engaged – but not as the world engages – but salt and light in our neighborhoods and schools.
Cindy said – I am so glad the Olympics are on – so I don’t have to look at any more news!
The Benedictine option – Saint Benedict founded monasteries – it would be cool to get away from it all – what was going on in their society – things were falling apart to such a degree that everything was being lost – so they went off – in order to PRESERVE society. Their plan was to preserve all of civilization that was being lost. I don’t think that is what God has called us to.
God calls us to get involved. There are some ways that we will need to separate ourselves – but there are ways we need to become fully engaged.
I was listening to a podcast – a black pastor married to a white woman – talking about some of the issues there. Talking about the Benedict Option – this guy was saying – All our kids go to Christian schools – but we think that if, once a month – we serve in a soup kitchen – we think we are engaged. But you are not. His example is this – what their family decided to do – they moved into the worst neighborhood in the city – that is not everyone’s calling. But we are called to engage fully in some people group – where we move in fully. 100% in. It can be different for all of us. I think that is what Christians in the Bible did. I think that is what Jesus did – He engaged completely with the sick souls of this world. Paul and Peter did that too.
One thing – in our church – our desire is to build a culture – where each of us is equipped and inspired to lead others to Christ. I challenge all of us – are you inspired – motivated – is it on your heart – to train others to become followers of Christ.
You cannot do that if you are not developing intentional relationsihps with those who are not following Christ. It is good to ask – how many real relationships do we have with those who are not followers of Christ? With the broken?
Ask God to give you a community – it might be your workplace. It might be – if your children are in sports or where they go to school – that is where you engage. It could be your neighborhood. It is imperative to be salt and light – we don’t do it by staying away. This guy was talking about going to Ohio from Tennessee for vacation – to Amish country – and talked about how attractive it all looked. I know there is STUFF there – you see television shows – BUT – they were shopping down in Holmes County – and he found a book about the 100 year history of the Amish. In 100 year – the Amish had fewer than 100 converts.

But we – in our situation – in closing – can’t be our testimony. There are too many people who need Christ – we can’t hide under a bushel.