Who’s Zooming Who?
Esther 2:19-23
“But Mordecai found out about the plot and told Queen Esther,
who in turn reported it to the king…” vs. 22
Who Can You Trust?
I want to start by having a little fun today. I want to name a profession and I want you to tell me if you feel you can trust those people or if they are untrustworthy. Ready?
Lawyers, politicians, used car salesman, athletes, actors and actresses, pastors (how about if they are televangelists), teachers, bankers, real estate agents, firefighters
It seems to me we are living in a world where distrust is becoming more of the norm. So this morning let’s look at this issue of trust through the story of Esther and Mordecai from Esther 2:19-23.
Read Passage – Esther 2:19-23
When the virgins were assembled a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate. 20 But Esther had kept secret her family background and nationality just as Mordecai had told her to do, for she continued to follow Mordecai’s instructions as she had done when he was bringing her up. 21 During the time Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s officers who guarded the doorway, became angry and conspired to assassinate King Xerxes. 22 But Mordecai found out about the plot and told Queen Esther, who in turn reported it to the king, giving credit to Mordecai. 23 And when the report was investigated and found to be true, the two officials were hanged on a gallows. All this was recorded in the book of the annals in the presence of the king.
Persia Reaches It’s Pinnacle
The events recorded in the book of Esther take place when thePersian Empireis at it height. To kind of give you an idea of what has happened in the last 100 years, since the time at the end of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles, most of the Jews have been taken into captivity by the Babylonians for almost 70 of those years and then the Babylonians get taken over by the Persians and Medes. Interestingly, the Persians choose to be kind to the Jews and their king Zerubbabel declares that he Jews can go back to their land if they want to. Some went back with Zerubbabel and more with Ezra and finally more with Nehemiah. Some did choose to stay inPersiaand that’s where we pick up the story of Esther. In this book we learn quite a bit about the lifestyle of those who choose to stay under the monarch Xerxes.
I Need A Queen!
The setting of the book of Esther is one where Xerxes is married to a woman named Vashti. It’s Xerxes 3rd year in power and his kingdom is now the biggest it has ever been and he wants to show off his “stuff” and celebrate. He invites all the princes, nobles, and mucky mucks to party with him and he has decided to not only show off his kingdom. He shows off the fancy linens, gold and silver pillars and rings, relief mosaic’s, etc. He also brings out wine and drink in fancy goblets for everyone to drink out of. At the same time, Vashti is having a party for the woman. Xerxes decides to show off Vashti and wants her to dance around in front of the all the guys and show off her beauty. In other words, he wants all the guys to drool over her. She is not at all happy about this and refuses to come. She doesn’t want a bunch of guys ogling her and fantasizing about her and dance around in front of them so they can get their thrills. He gets really ticked. He consults his wise men, lawyers, and they recite the law to him that he is within his rights to banish her, which he does and then the search is on for a new queen.
Courage To Stand Up
So it takes a few years because there is a round up made of all the beautiful girls in the kingdom. They are put in the care of the eunuchs, men who have been physically altered so they cannot have relations with women, and give the special treatment to prepare them to spend some time with the king so he can choose one for a new queen. Eventually Esther is chosen, she is made queen, and now resides in the place. There is this guy named Mordecai. He is Esther’s cousin and he raised her. Esther trusts him completely and we are not told why but Mordecai tells Esther not to reveal her nationality to the king.
As Mordecai is hanging out at the city gate, he overhears two of the king’s officers plotting to kill the king. Mordecai goes to Esther’s and tells her about the plot. He had the courage to speak up. She goes to the kings and reveal it to him, it’s investigated and found to be true, the men are hanged and Ether makes sure the king knows it is Mordecai who should get the credit. I think it took a lot of courage for Mordecai’s to reveal the plot to assassinate the king.
Building Godly Integrity With…
Christians are getting more and more in the spotlight today and unfortunately, it’s not in a good light. In fact, Christians, in my opinion, have lost a lot of credibility in the worlds eyes and it would seem that maybe much of the world would say they don’t trust Christians. Our “work” is to do the will of God and to let the world know of God and His son Jesus Christ and that salvation is found in him. How can we do that if they don’t trust us? More and more Christians are made out to be radicals who can’t think logically and intelligently. We are portrayed as goofy, irrational, judgmental, and a little crazy. We are now a target for the world to laugh at and ridicule. In fact, in the Rome Reports (one of many sites that can be looked up on the internet) it states that Christianity is now the most persecuted religion in the world. It states that 7 of 10 people who claim to be Christian cannot love out their faith in full freedom. It also claims that 200 million Christians live in discrimination. We need to change that. We need to gain back our voice and to gain back the trust of others.
It seems to me that Mordecai was a man with high integrity and that we have a lot to learn from him. So let’s look a little closer at this man and how you and I can build Godly integrity and character into our lives.
- Good Character
First, Mordecai was a man of good character. In our story, there is no mention of Mordecai having a family; a wife, children, anyone. We might even assume he was a bachelor. His uncle and aunt have died (we are not told how) and his cousin is now in need of a home. Esther 2:7:
“Mordecai had a cousin named Hadassah, whom he had brought up because she had neither father nor mother. This girl, who was also known as Esther…” Esther 2:7
Esther has become an orphan and is need of someone to raise her. Mordecai steps up to the plate and takes on the responsibility. I wonder what that could have looked like?
Ex. Reminds me of the movie 3 men and a baby
Mordecai opens his life up and gives up some of his personal space to take in his cousin and raise her. This is a big deal. He gives of himself, his space, his time, his money, his lifestyle to take in someone in need. He lives a life of good character.
Isn’t his really what Christ encourages us to do? Remember when Christ had a bunch of people following him in Matthew 25 and he is explains about getting into the kingdom of heaven and he says those in the kingdom will be those that feed him when he was hungry, visited him when he was in prison, clothed when he was naked and gave him water when he was thirsty. They asked when they did that? He said they did that when they did that to others, to those in need, to those that were hurting. We are called to have that kind of character. Peter said in 1 Peter 2:12:
“Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” 1 Peter 2:12
The world needs to see us moving out of our comfort zone and to be God’s hands to the world.
Ex. The man I saw sitting outside a fast food restaurant this week and those that stop to help him, buy him a soda, a hamburger, etc.
- Courage
Another character trait of integrity that Mordecai shows us is that he had courage. In our story Mordecai is at the city gate and he hears a plot to kill the king. What would you do in a situation like this? This is how Mordecai handles it; verse 22:
“Mordecai found out about the plot and told Queen Esther, who in turn reported it to the king…” vs. 22
Mordecai had the courage to step up for what is right. He goes to Esther and tells her so she can warn the king. He could have justified keeping quiet because it would put he and Esther in danger if it was found out they were the ones who told the king. He is taking a big risk here. It takes courage to do what is right even when we are afraid and when we realize the outcome could endanger us. If these guys are successful in killing the king and they find out Mordecai and Esther had a part in warning the king, they are as good as dead.
Courage is mental and moral strength to stand up in the face of fear, danger or difficulty. I love the way Solomon wrote about it in Proverbs 24:26:
“An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.” Proverbs 24:26
If you have ever had a special someone in your life and you get that nice, sweet, meaningful, kiss that says “I love you” you have experienced that feeling of sweetness. So we are called to be people who stand up for what is right. We should actually be the ones leading the charge.
Ex. Here are just a few ideas of things we should be involved with because we are called to have that moral strength. Things like; abolishing human trafficking, stopping bullying, persecution of others, feeding the poor and homeless, etc.
When we have the courage to stand up for what is right we are taking on the heart of God because God loves all people and his desire is for everyone to come to him.
- Honesty and Trust
And third, we see the character trait of honesty and trust in Mordecai. When the king hears the report about the impending assassination attempt, he sends men out to investigate and they find it is a true report. He immediately hangs the guys who were going to try to kill him. But I think it is really significant to note that Mordecai’s report was true. Verse 23:
“And when the report was investigated and found to be true, the two officials were hanged on a gallows.” vs. 23
Part of gaining a voice with the world and of having integrity is that we can be trusted by being honest in what we say. Honesty builds trust. We have had too many Christians claim things that just aren’t true and when that happens we lose credibility.
Neg. Ex. Harold Camping and his prediction of Christ’s return. The world only took this as an opportunity to mock Christianity and to discredit Christians.
Pos. Ex. Billy Graham and his exemplary example of being a man of honesty, truth, and integrity. Never has had to worry about accusations.
It is important to remember that trust is earned. In Luke 16:10 Jesus tells us:\
“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much…”
One quick reminder about Mordecai and the plot to kill the king; Ether told the king that it was Mordecai who was the one who found out about it; but the king never recognizes his part in discovering it and doesn’t reward him or acknowledge him in any way.
Stamina and Endurance
One last thing about integrity; part of it is endurance. It doesn’t really count for much if it is short lived. Part of the character of it is that it is lasting.
Ex. My friend Roger
