Sermon Preached at Stouffville United Church
Rev. Capt. Dr. John Niles
Series on Esther: “For Such A Time As This”
Esther 3
Mother’s Day
Suggested Video:
A family was having dinner on Mother’s Day but the mother was unusually quiet. Finally, her husband asked what was wrong.
“Nothing,” said the woman.
Not believing her, he asked again. “No seriously, what’s wrong?”
Finally she said, “Do you really want to know? Well, I’ll tell you. I have cooked and cleaned and fed the kids for 15 years and on Mother’s Day, you don’t even tell me so much as ‘Thank you.’”
“Why should I?” he said. “Not once in 15 years have I had a Father’s Day gift.”
“Yes,” she said, “but I’m their real mother.”
Daughter: Mum, what’s it like to have the greatest daughter in the world?
Mum: I don’t know dear, you’d have to ask Grandma.
Life can be complicated. And sometimes it is made more complicated by the games we play.
Life can be complicated. And sometimes it is made more complicated by the games we play.
During a conversation I had with General Hillier while he was still the Chief of Staff; he told of how he was a maple leaf fan and how he was delighted to bring the Stanley Cup to Kandahar for the troops. The troops took pictures with it pointing to their favorite player or showing them hugging it in their bunk. Just before it left Kandahar, a soldier snaked up to General Hillier and said, “General, you know, we are closer to the Stanley Cup in Kandahar then the Maple Leafs will ever be.”
People love to play games; whether that is with hockey pucks for Stanley Cups, or with courage against combatants who misuse their power. Esther – we saw last week – was a Jewish woman of strength and courage who found herself in the right place at the right time after being in the wrong place at the wrong time. To give context to her story, this is set 37 years before Nehemiah – who we studied not long ago – Nehemiah who would lead the return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city walls. Had Esther not been there to save the exiled people of Israel, Nehemiah would not of been able to give them a home to return to. And so, we see in these events a glimpse of how God works in and through individuals and their situations to bring about His intended purpose for all people. The writer of Esther’s story began by telling about a party that King Xerxes (Ahasuerus) threw for the elitist and oligarchs from 127 provinces ruled by him. Toward the end of their binge drinking the king ordered Queen Vashti to appear before all the men to show off her beauty. The queen refused, so the king dethroned her and ordered her out of his sight forever replacing her with Esther.
Now, at the end of Chapter 2, 4 years have passed and we see in Chapter 3, King Xerxes, having returned defeated and weakened in his authority by the failed invasion of Greece. This resulted in his need to make sure those that might seek to overthrow him be paid off with promotions and power. Which he did with Haman.
I
The games people play often involve a use or abuse of power. And we see power without compassion is distorted. 3:1 After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him and giving him a seat of honor higher than that of all the other nobles. 2 All the royal officials at the king’s gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him. But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor. 3 Then the royal officials at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s command?” 4 Day after day they spoke to him but he refused to comply. Therefore they told Haman about it to see whether Mordecai’s behavior would be tolerated, for he had told them he was a Jew. (Est 3:1-4)
Like most power-hungry people, Haman confused the power with his position with the power he wanted personally. Power to him was about recognition, respect and reward. Even though Haman’s power was entrusted to him; he spent his time trying to consolidate more power and getting people to give him praise and perks. As a result, when Mordecai refused to acquiesce to his demands he became, like most people who define themselves by their position offended and outraged.
Power is a responsibility, not a right. And if used wisely can benefit many; if used ill-advisedly can harm more. The question a person ought to asked when given a position of influence is; would you still be the same person without the office and the opportunity? Haman wanted people to serve his interests; instead of serving the people’s best interest. T.S. Eliot referred to this, when he coined the phrase; “Thunder without rain.” Every one of us, has been outside when we heard thunder in the distance, yet no rain had come. Thunder can be a frightening thing. It can seem menacing to a little child in the dark, and even an adult in the light. The crack of thunder can send shivers up and down your spine. Eliot, was suggesting that the phrase, “thunder without rain”, signifies the threat from the heavens without any blessing to soften its severity. It is judgment without mercy. It is legalism without liberty. I once found one of my boys when he was very young, huddled in a corner one night after he went to bed with his legs and knees up to his chin crying. Each time, it thundered the tears would stream down his cheeks. His cheeks were burned by the salt from the tears. And through the tears the words came. “Daddy, why doesn’t it rain? I like the rain–because if the thunder and lighting start a fire the rain will put it out.”
Too much of life is thunder without rain–brutality without mercy – power without responsibility. We need to remember to tread softly.
W.B. Yeats wrote it this way
Had I the heaven’s embroidered cloths
Inwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and half light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under you feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
II
The games people play often involve a use or abuse of power. And we see power without compassion is distorted and secondly, power without control is dangerous. “5 When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged. 6 Yet 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.” (Est 3:5-6)
When Haman knew about Mordecai’s actions, he was enraged. But he didn’t just want to harm Mordecai but all his people as well. A powerful person with a short fuse and a long memory is a dangerous person.
Self-control–that is something we need more of today, isn’t it. When Jesus was using the word meek He was referring to having a proper balance in life. When we loose control or loose our balance, all sorts of things can go wrong.
We have all heard of “road rage” and now there is “air rage” where people are being put in prison for violence while on the airplane.
Eric Zorn wrote in the Chicago Tribune of a tragic accident that occurred because of a lack of self control. According to the article, a man and woman were driving a van in the far left lane of Chicago’s Northwest Toll way. In the back were their two children. A white Cadillac pulled up behind them, tailgating them. The man driving the van slowed down. The Cadillac driver pulled into the right lane, passed the van, and then swerved suddenly back in front of the van. The van had to swerve to avoid a collision. The white Cadillac sped away. That could have been the end of it. But the van driver gave chase. He eventually pulled alongside the white Cadillac and began yelling and screaming. According to a witness, the two men gestured angrily at each other. The driver of the Cadillac pulled a gun and fired. The bullet entered the side of the van and hit the little girl in the head. The girl lived, but she was blind and partially deaf, and has severe disabilities as a result. The man who fired the bullet is in jail. The parents of the girl must live with the terrible regret. A few years ago a Toronto lawyer was convicted of conspiring to possess counterfeit United States Money. It all started when he began to gamble to pay off his mounting debts. Soon it became compulsive and he would sit with two radios and two television sets going at the same time to keep track of the sporting events on which he had wagered. Then he found himself in the hands of loan sharks who made threats on his life as well as on the lives of his wife and children. His last desperate attempt to pay them off was to turn to counterfeit money–only to be caught, to be fined, jailed and lose his license to practice law. Here was a man trapped in a flow, a flow of troubles, each one leading to something worse.
Sow a thought, reap an act
Sow an act, reap a habit
Sow a habit, reap a character,
Sow a character, reap a destiny
III
The games people play often involve a use or abuse of power. And we see power without compassion is distorted and power without control is dangerous. And finally, power without conscience is destructive. “7 In the twelfth year of King Xerxes, in the first month, the month of Nisan, they cast the pur (that is, the lot) in the presence of Haman to select a day and month. And the lot fell on the twelfth month, the month of Adar. 8 Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a certain people dispersed and scattered among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom whose customs are different from those of all other people and who do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. 9 If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will put ten thousand talents of silver into the royal treasury for the men who carry out this business.” 10 So the king took his signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. 11 “Keep the money,” the king said to Haman, “and do with the people as you please.” (Est 3:-7-11) Haman told Xerxes that the people like Mordecai broke the law or decree. But the truth was he broke a command not a law. His was misleading and manipulating Xerxes to do his bidding. It was being done without conscience but fully aware of the consequences.
In Imaginary Homelands, the author Salman Rushdie writes of one of the family traditions of his home:
“In our house, whenever anyone dropped a book, it was required to be not only picked up but also kissed, by way of apology for the act of clumsy disrespect. I was as careless and butterfingered as any child, and accordingly I kissed a large number of books. Devout households in India still contain persons in the habit of kissing holy books. But we kissed everything. We kissed dictionaries, and atlases. We kissed novels and Superman comics. If I’d ever dropped the telephone directory, I’d probably have kissed that too.”
Is it any surprise that Salman Rushdie grew up to become an author? What we honor defines us.
Too many people honor the wrong thing.
St. Augustine was a man who lived many years as a drunk to deaden the pain. He became vastly overweight to fill the emptiness. He went to prostitutes to find a substitute for love. And when he finally discovered the none of this worked he turned to God. He hit bottom. And he found as we all do, that God was there. He said “we are restless, until we rest in God” When Augustine discovered that, we began to gain control of his life, for he had give control over to God. A few years ago, I was watching David Letterman, and he was broadcasting his show from Las Vegas. He was doing his opening monologue and he told this joke. He said that he was standing in front of one of the casinos, and a man came up to him looking desperate. “Please!” the man begged frantically. “Could you possibly spare $500. My wife is very sick, and I really need the money to take her to the doctor and to buy her the medicine she needs.” Dave looked at the guy suspiciously, and he asked the man, “Wait a minute! If I give you $500, how do I know you won’t just go into one of the casinos here and gamble it all away?’ The man quickly responded, “Oh no, I wouldn’t do that! I’ve got gambling money!”
He had the power within his grasp to help his wife. But he didn’t have the conscience. Emerson said. “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well. You think about that. Amen.