William S. Epps, Sr. Pastor
Sunday, November 14, 2021
12And they told to Mordecai Esther’s words. 13Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews. 14For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? 15Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer, 16Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish. 17So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him. Esther 4:12-17
 
Introduction
 
Thursday November 11, is a federal holiday observed as Veterans Day. Veterans in our congregation are leading us in worship today. We are thankful for their service and grateful for their contribution.
 
The passage read in your hearing comes from the book of Esther. Esther is one of two books in the Bible named for a woman (the other one is Ruth). Esther is also one of two books in the Bible where God is not mentioned (the other one is Song of Solomon). However, Esther captures the imagination with its characters, drama, and plot.  
 
The story starts out with a 180-day feast to celebrate the wealth of king Ahasuerus (Xerxes) who ruled 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia. After that, there was a celebration in the capital city of Susa for another seven days. Well, something happens. On the seventh day the king commanded that the queen come to the king’s celebration so that everyone could see how beautiful she was. But the queen refused to come at the king’s command. The king was enraged, furious and insulted.  One of the king’s wise men saw it as a dangerous precedent being set and said, “Queen Vashti has done wrong, not only against the king, but also against all the nobles and the peoples of all the provinces of the king. For the Queen’s conduct will become known to all the women, and so they will despise their husbands.  The noble ladies of Persia have heard of this and will rebel against the king’s officials and there will be no end to the disrespect and discord. The example Queen Vashti has set must be dealt with harshly according to the advice that was given to the king by Memucan: Let’s find a new queen." 
 
A search is conducted and eligible persons are solicited and prepared for the king to choose. Esther is one of the candidates. She is told by Mordecai not to reveal her nationality. She spent a year in preparation to be presented to the king, six months with oil of myrrh and six months with perfumes and cosmetics. Esther becomes queen.

Consider what it means that circumstances beyond your control provide an opportunity for you to be positioned in a place to be helpful.  
Monday, November 15, 2021
Meanwhile, Mordecai discovers a plot to assassinate the king by two of his eunuchs (Bigthan and Teresh) who guarded the gate. Mordecai tells Esther and she tells this to the king giving Mordecai the credit. An investigation is conducted and found to be so. The two gate keepers were punished. The deed was recorded in the book of annals.

Haman is elevated to a position of authority and power second only to the king. All the king’s servants bowed down to Haman, however, Mordecai did not. This infuriated Haman. He planned how he could not only destroy Mordecai but his people also. He goes to the king and tells him that there are a certain people scattered through his provinces whose laws are different from those of every other people and they do not keep the king's laws so that it is inappropriate for the king to tolerate them. If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued for their destruction and I will pay ten thousand talents into the king’s treasury. The king consented and an edict was sent out by couriers granting permission to annihilate these people on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.  
 
Word came to Mordecai and he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes and went through the city wailing with a loud, bitter cry.  Esther received word about Mordecai and sent to him to inquire about what was happening. Mordecai sends a copy of the written decree to Esther. When she receives it, she reminds Mordecai that if anyone goes to the king inside the inner court without being called there is but one law – death. Only if the king holds out the golden scepter may the person live.  Esther further indicated that she has not been to called to see the king in thirty days.

Mordecai reminds Esther not to think that she would escape the outcome of this terrible decree just because she was in the palace. Then, he challenges her to consider whether or not she has been positioned where she is for such a time as this. Esther requested that they all hold a fast on her behalf and she would go to the king, though it was against the law. She stated, "If I perish, let me perish." 
 
Consider what it means that the opportunity you received which was beyond your control has put you in a unique position to help yourself and others.  
Tuesday, November 16, 2021
Firstly, it was a time of peril and possibility. 
 
13Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews. 14For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? 
Esther 4:13-14
 
Mordecai challenged Esther to consider who she is, why she is, and where she is. You cannot run from your identity. You are a Jew. You should consider why you are. You have a purpose for your life. You are positioned where you are to fulfill who you are and why you are.

There is a line from William Shakespeare's Macbeth, from Act 5, Scene 5: which says that, “Life is a tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury signifying nothing.” 
The obvious meaning is that life is like a bad play. Life at times appears to resemble a bad play. There is nothing but drama after drama after drama. There is always something. First one thing and then another someone said. Doesn’t it feel like we are in a bad play with bad actors? It looks like we are in a bad play right now with a pandemic, vaccination resistance, political gridlock, threatening violence to those with whom you disagree, voter suppression, election nullification, manufactured falsehoods, rewriting history, and living in denial. 
 
Another way to look at all of this is the opening line, “All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages,”
(William Shakespeare, from As You Like It).

Who knows whether you are positioned providentially where you are for such a time as this. What time is it? It is the time it always is. 


Esther was the daughter of Abihail (Esther 2:15), and the cousin and adopted daughter of Mordecai from the tribe of Benjamin. She was a Jew and was not exempt from what going to happen to all of the Jews. She would be found out to be a Jew and also if she goes to the King without being summoned she could be killed.  She was between a rock and a hard place. Doomed if you do and doomed if you don’t; she was doomed either way. 

She was where she was for such a time as this. It was a time of peril. Her people were in a precarious predicament because of the prejudice and egomaniacal person named Haman.  A person who was obsessively self-absorbed. Haman is elevated to a position of authority and power second only to the king. All the king’s servants bowed down to Haman. However, Mordecai did not. This infuriated Haman. He planned how he could not only destroy Haman but his people also. He goes to the king and tells him that there are a certain people scattered through his provinces whose laws are different from those of every other people; they do not keep the king’s laws so that it is inappropriate for the king to tolerate them. If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued for their destruction and I will pay ten thousand talents into the king’s treasury. The king consented and an edict was sent out by couriers granting permission to annihilate these people on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month which is the month of Adar.  

It was a time of possibilities. Esther was willing to do what she could. 

15Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer, 16Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish. Esther 4:15-16
 
Consider what it means that you are where you are, to be who you are,
to fulfill why you are.  
Wednesday, November 17, 2021
Secondly, it was a time of opposition and opportunity

Esther was strategic about how she did what she did. Since the king found favor in her and permitted her to come and see him, she drew near and touched the top of the scepter.

3Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou, queen Esther? and what is thy request? it shall be even given thee to the half of the kingdom. 4And Esther answered, If it seem good unto the king, let the king and Haman come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared for him. 5Then the king said, Cause Haman to make haste, that he may do as Esther hath said. So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared. 6And the king said unto Esther at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed. 7Then answered Esther, and said, My petition and my request is; 8If I have found favour in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition, and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I shall prepare for them, and I will do tomorrow as the king hath said.  9Then went Haman forth that day joyful and with a glad heart: but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, that he stood not up, nor moved for him, he was full of indignation against Mordecai. 10Nevertheless Haman refrained himself: and when he came home, he sent and called for his friends, and Zeresh his wife. 11And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king. 12Haman said moreover, Yea, Esther the queen did let no man come in with the king unto the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and tomorrow am I invited unto her also with the king. 13Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate. 14Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto him, let a gallows be made of fifty cubits high, and tomorrow speak thou unto the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon: then go thou in merrily with the king unto the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman; and he caused the gallows to be made. Esther 5:3-14

Haman was frustrated with the reality that Mordecai would not bow down to him. He was like a selfish child who has a temper tantrum. He was a megalomaniacal person who had delusions of grandeur and an obsession with power. His wife and friends told him to build a gallows and get the king’s permission to hang Mordecai. 
Be careful whose advice you take when you are venting angrily.  

Consider what it means to be so obsessed with power that you diminish the value of someone else’s life and liberty.
Thursday, November 18, 2021
As fate would have it, 1On that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king. 2And it was found written, that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s chamberlains, the keepers of the door, who sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.  3And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this? Then said the king’s servants that ministered unto him, there is nothing done for him. Esther 6:1-3

Haman heads to see the king to get permission to hang Mordecai. Haman entered the court, 4And the king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman was come into the outward court of the king’s house, to speak unto the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him. 5And the king’s servants said unto him, Behold, Haman standeth in the court. And the king said, Let him come in. 6So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour? Now Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself? 7And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the king delighteth to honour, 8Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head:  9And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that they may array the man withal whom the king delighteth to honour, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour. 10Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king’s gate: let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken. 11Then took Haman the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and brought him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour. Esther 6:4-11

How the tables turned. Haman is parading the person he wants to kill around the capital city as the one the king wants to honor. 

Consider what it means that the request you want to make gets preempted by what you are asked to do. 
Friday, November 19, 2021
Thirdly, it was a time of destruction and deliverance, ruin and release, life and death.
 
1So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen. 2And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition, queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? and it shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom. 3Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request: 4For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king’s damage. 5Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so? 6And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen. Esther 7:1-6
 
7Then the king Ahasuerus said unto Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows, because he laid his hand upon the Jews. 8Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s ring: for the writing which is written in the king’s name, and sealed with the king’s ring, may no man reverse. 9Then were the king’s scribes called at that time in the third month, that is, the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth day thereof; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded unto the Jews, and to the lieutenants, and the deputies and rulers of the provinces which are from India unto Ethiopia, an hundred twenty and seven provinces, unto every province according to the writing thereof, and unto every people after their language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their language. 10And he wrote in the king Ahasuerus’ name, and sealed it with the king’s ring, and sent letters by posts on horseback, and riders on mules, camels, and young dromedaries: 11Wherein the king granted the Jews which were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, both little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey, 12Upon one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, namely, upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar. 13The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published unto all people, and that the Jews should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their enemies. 14So the posts that rode upon mules and camels went out, being hastened and pressed on by the king’s commandment. And the decree was given at Shushan the palace.  Esther 8:7-14

15And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen and purple: and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad. 16The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour. 17And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them. Esther 8:15-17

Consider what it means that you are freed to defend your life and liberty from the impending doom and ruin of those who would destroy you.  
Saturday, November 20, 2021

29Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Agihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority, to confirm this second letter of Purim. 30And Mordecai sent the letters unto all the Jews, to the hundred twenty and seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth, 31To confirm these days of Purim in their times appointed, according as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had enjoined them, and as they had decreed for themselves and for their seed, the matters of the fastings and their cry.32And the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the book. Esther 9:29-32
 
The Jews celebrated the victory that was inspired from Esther who decided that she was where she was, to be who she was, to fulfill why she was. 
 
Consider what it means for you to be who you are, why you are, and where you are to address the peril with possibilities, the opposition with opportunities, and the deliverance from possible defeat. 

Oh, oh, oh, oh, what he’s done for me. I never shall forget what he’s done for me. Picked me up and turned me around. I never will forget what he’s done for me. Placed my feet on solid ground. 

Consider what the Lord had done for you individually and collectively.
Dramatic rendering of Queen Esther singing, "What Would I Give"
Gratitude Project

We are using this thanksgiving season to journey on our way through the month of November with scriptures and themes to lead us on a journey to thanksgiving with expectations of the Lord’s fulfillment of the Lord's intentional will in our lives. 
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