(Note: It has been over three months since my last post. I just got busy last spring, and then I got out of the habit of writing. I really hope to be more consistent.)
When Hitler decided, in the summer of 1941, to attack Britain, he began bombing London. This prompted Prime Minister Winston Churchill to exclaim: "This is England's darkest hour." It wasn't just England's darkest hour, Hitler was working overtime to exterminate the Jews as well. We call it the Holocaust for a good reason. As bad as the Holocaust was, it was not the first time in Jewish history when someone tried to wipe them out. We have been looking at the book of Esther in the last few posts. Today I wanted to look at chapter four. If you have been reading the earlier posts, you'll remember that Haman set a plan in motion to annihilate all the Jews. Take note of how Mordecai reacted when he learned of Haman's plot. He tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes and went out into the city wailing loudly. In other words, he made a public display. Now compare this to Esther's reaction. When she heard about Mordecai she tried to get him to stop. Even after Mordecai explained the cause of his outcry she made excuses. To her credit, she ultimately came to do the right thing, but it took her awhile to get there.
What we learn from this is how we should respond when God's people are being threatened. (If you'd like a few statistics about current persecution against Christians, see my last post.) We need to speak up and we need to step up. Theologian B.B. Warfield said: "It would be impossible…for a moral being to stand in the presence of perceived wrong indifferent and unmoved." We see all of that in Mordecai. He "spoke up." He reacted immediately and publicly. He exhorted Esther to do what she could to talk to the king. His words to her are powerful: "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 royal position for such a time as this?" Today we might not have the kind of access Esther had, but we do have a voice. We can write letters, we can use the internet, we can vote (Nov 4th). Mordecai's question "Who knows…?" addresses the fact that we only have "now" (ie. 'such a time as this'). Every appropriate action, every righteous deed, every good work is going to happen now, in the present: "The eternal now."
But there is more. Note that Esther finally gets it. She says: "I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish." She "stepped up." In my next post we will look at chapter five to see exactly what Esther did, but for now it's enough to say that she quit making excuses. Esther came to that place we all need to be where she saw that her personal comfort/safety was less important than doing the right thing. There is incredible power and clarity in doing the right thing. All other decisions are, or should be, a subset of the decision to do what's right. I think most of our excuses tend to revolve around two issues: time and money (at least they do for me). You know how it goes: "I don't have enough time," "I don't have enough money." But is there no wiggle room? Stop and ask yourself, "Are all the things I spend my time and money on really necessary?" Our lives need to be governed by principles, not by circumstances. If you don't speak up/step up the Lord will probably use someone else to accomplish his purposes. But he wants to use you! Serving God is your best, greatest thing. Just do it.
No comments:
Post a Comment