Be Responsible

Scripture Reading - Esther 4:12-17

Be Responsible

Last week in Esther chapter 3 we learned that a man named Haman was made head of security for the King after Mordecai discovered a plot by some officers to kill the King. Everyone was to bow down and pay honor to Haman, but Mordecai would not.

Some of the other security guards saw that Mordecai was not bowing down to Haman and they repeatedly came and asked Mordecai why he would not bow down. Mordecai simply responded that he would not bow because he was a Jew.

Now we don’t know for sure if Mordecai was standing on the principle of the second commandment, which is idol worship, or if he was referring to the long running feud between his ancestors and Haman’s.

Either way, Haman becomes filled with fury. He is extremely upset and mad. But rather than punishing Mordecai for his actions, Haman decides to have the King destroy all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews.

The King signs the decree to destroy all the Jews on a certain day. This is where our scripture picks up this morning in chapter 4. Mordecai heard about the King’s decree and was filled with sorrow.

He tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and went out to the city gate wailing in grief and sorrow. Putting on sackcloth and ashes was an outward sign of an internal distress, shame, or sadness. Mordecai realized that he had prompted this genocidal retaliation by Haman.

Some of Queen Esther’s maids and eunuchs saw Mordecai weeping and wailing so they came to inform her of the situation. Esther immediately sent Mordecai some clothes so he could enter the king’s gate and talk with her directly, but he refused.

Instead Mordecai and Esther communicate through a trusted servant. Mordecai tells Esther to go to the King and plead for the mercy of her people.

At first, Esther reminded Mordecai of Kingly protocol. In other words, you didn’t approach the King unless he summoned you or else you could lose your life. It appears as though for whatever reason, the King had not contacted Esther for about a month.

Esther was obviously concerned for her life by being rejected by the King. Mordecai responds by saying that she too was a Jew and she would not survive the massacre either. Mordecai also believed that if Esther did not step up so to speak, that God would still find a way to deliver them from this trouble.

Mordecai had faith in God. He believed in God’s sovereignty and power to protect His people. He believed that God had a plan and would see that plan through. No doubt, he remembered God’s promise to Abraham.

In Genesis 12:2-3, God tells Abram “I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing, and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

Finally, Mordecai appeals to Esther’s faith by simply asking the question, who knows if this is what God would have you do? Maybe God put you in this position for this reason, so do what you need to do, not only for yourself and your people, but for God.

Esther then agrees to visit the King, but only after she and her servants fast for three days and also Mordecai and the Jews he gathers together fast as well. Now the scripture here does not explicitly state that they prayed during this time, but I think it can be implied. Praying was and is usually a part of fasting.

And so they did according to the plan.

What an interesting turn in our story. Here we see a young girl struggle to do what was right. Think about it, we all have had to make tough decisions, but for Esther it was truly a matter of life and death.

Her decision really shows her character. She was willing to risk her life for her people. She knew the right thing to do, she had a moral responsibility to do what was right. And she did, but only after three days of prayer and fasting, gaining strength from God to do what he wanted her to do.

Jesus tells us to take up our cross and follow Him. The story of Esther occurred about 400 to 500 years before Christ and here she is, taking up her cross and carrying out God’s will.

She trusted in God’s plan and she believed and listened to Mordecai once again. I think this goes to show you that we all need that personal role model in our lives. That person that we can trust. We can always trust God and sometimes God uses others to convey His message to us.

She had a problem and consulted with her trusted friend, but more importantly she took the matter to God through prayer and fasting.

How about you? Is that what you do? Fasting doesn’t seem to be a popular method of communing with God these days. Maybe we fast for medical or health reasons but rarely for God these days.

I think part of that is because we all live in a busy, noisy society. But it is important to take our troubles and worries to God.

And I don’t mean just knock on His door and drop them off and go about our business. I mean really focus on talking to and more importantly listening to God.

We need to remember that He has much more knowledge of the situation than we do. In fact, He has the big picture of it all. He also has more power, in fact ultimate power over the situation and He has an infinite amount of resources available to use.

The next time you are struggling with something, take it to the Lord and I mean really take it to Him fully. Focus your life on Him and He will respond. He may not tell you what you want to hear, but trust Him and He will take care of you.

We have a responsibility to ourselves, to others, especially the body of Christ, but most importantly we have a responsibility to God. We need to do what is right and what He wants us to do.

Closing Prayer

Lord, we thank You for helping us in our times of need. Help us to be responsible and to do the right thing in all situations. Help us to do what you want us to do. We are so thankful that you do not turn our backs on us, even when we fail you.

Give us the knowledge and wisdom to know and do what it is that you would have us to do and give us the courage to do it.

AMEN