February 10, 2008
Rev. Terry D. Campbell

A Portrait of Bravery
Esther 4:12-17

“When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, ¹³he sent back this answer: ‘Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. ¹⁴For 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?’

¹⁵Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: ¹⁶’Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.’

¹⁷So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther’s instructions.”

Being queen could be dangerous!  Xerxes’ previous queen had been banished for disobeying the king and not following royal protocol.  Now Esther, the replacement queen was being asked by her people, the Jews, to go speak to the king and try to save them from all being slaughtered.  Up until now, Esther has kept her Jewish identity a secret.  But more importantly, no one was to go before the king without being summoned.  With time running out, this is exactly what Esther was asked to do to intervene for her captive people.

Esther had to choose between trying to save her people from extinction or playing it safe by keeping silent and hope nobody found out that she, too, was a Jew.  What should she do?

Mordecai, the man who had raised Esther, sent her word in the palace that God was calling her to go before the king and try to make a difference.  The unfolding of Esther’s struggle is a portrait of bravery from which we can learn.

I.  Don’t miss your opportunity to stand for God.

“’¹³he sent back this answer: ‘Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape.’”

We each have times to take a stand for God—to say a word God wants said, or do a deed God wants done.  You need to realize that in that moment, God chose you.  YOU are God’s person, God’s minister for that situation.

What might the opportunities be?  The “God and Me” award means something.  You’re not ignorant anymore—Now you’re responsible!  You learned, “God cares about me.  I am to care about others.” 

• Befriend the new kid in school or the unpopular student who has no friends.  Even if others make fun of you.  Don’t miss your opportunity to stand for God!
• We can return when you are given too much change or call attention to the mis-added bill when you could have paid less.
• There are pastors in our annual conference who grew-up in the South and as they were preaching in the south had to decide whether to go with the status quo or to speak out for racial equality.  It didn’t go over well—but they were faithful to God.
• Even not listening to the dirty joke or the passing gossip—that can be your place to stand for God.

Keep looking.  The opportunities to stand for God are all around us.  God is calling YOU!

II.  I lose if I always chose safety.

“’¹⁴For 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?’”

Beware of the influence of “fear.”  It can be a killer!  It can set us up for self-destruction.  When you give into fear and don’t try, something dies!

Earlier in this story, Queen Vashti had been hosting a party when the king ordered her to come to his party.  The king and his guests had been having a good time with plenty of food and drink and the king wanted to show off Vashti’s beauty.  Vashti refused to be used as a trophy wife—a thing for the entertainment of the king and his cronies so she said, “No.”  She chose self-respect, self-value of her personhood over being the king’s plaything.  She may have lost the crown but she kept her value and sense of worthy self.

Now Esther had an even more momentous decision to make—one that impacted not only herself, but her exiled people, the Jews.  Esther was scared at the thought of risking her life.

John Wayne-“Bravery is being scared and saddling up anyway.”

Eddie Rickenbacker-“Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you’re scared.”^[i]

We may not have such big things at stake, but we do lose if we always choose safety rather than doing what it right.  We lose expanding our experience and our comfort zones.  We fail to learn new skills.  We don’t grow or develop our potential.  More than that, we damage our self-respect and sense of self-value.  We will have trouble sleeping peacefully.  Others we would have helped lose.  God’s love also loses.

Jesus said in Mark 8:35-“’For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.’”  Jesus was reminding us that there are more important things than safety and pleasure.  We each need to remember the lesson that “I lose if I always chose safety.”

III.  Fast and pray before I go.

“’¹⁶’Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law.’”

We can and should use the spiritual power available to us through the Spirit of Christ.  One time even Jesus said that there are some spiritual issues that can’t be overcome without prayer and fasting.

Every Christian has the ability to live with the sense of God’s presence.  His presence can drive away fear—He is like your parents with you, or Your big brother or sister.  Tap into the power of God and power of God using other people to help you.

Get others praying with you and for you.  Rehearse in your head what God is calling you to do and God helping you be victorious.  Bolster your faith by reciting Bible verses on faith.  Be spiritually prepared when you tackle your challenge.

IV.  Go, trusting God for the outcome.

4:16b-“’And if I perish, I perish.’”

The time comes when you have to stop taking and start moving.  Esther said that she was going do this and if she perished, so be it—she was in God’s hand.  That’s living by faith!  If you have to have everything under YOUR control, you’re not trusting God.  Until we start to move—we really aren’t LIVING by faith.

My hero, David Crockett’s, motto was, “Be always sure you’re right, then go ahead.”

Don’t expect God to take care of you if you are not doing His will.  God will never support sinful behavior.  Even if it looks like sin succeeds initially—it is not God supporting it.  And even if godly behavior initially looks like it didn’t “pay off,” God WILL ultimately enable it to blossom in victory.  Go, trusting God for the outcome.

What will you do now?

May God use the story of courageous Esther to teach boys and girls, women and men what it means to live courageously.   Through her example, may we develop our lives to be a portrait of bravery.  Amen.

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