Today I want to begin a new sermon series about the Great Women of the Bible with the sermon entitled, "Esther: Crowned in Crisis"
There was a teenage boy who said to his father, "I hate this dull town, I want action, I want to make real money and I want to meet beautiful women. I can't do it here, so I'm leaving." He left out of the house and before he could get down the street his father called to him, the boy shouted back, "don't try to stop me, my minds made up". The father shouted, "I'm not trying to stop you, I want to join you."
The national beauty pageant in Esther 4 leads to a marriage and high adventure. A pair of honeymooners checked into the Watergate Hotel in Washington D.C. and that night as the husband was about to turn off the light the bride said, "Do you think this room is bugged?" He said, "Don't worry, Watergate was a long time ago." The wife said, "But if there is a microphone somewhere I'd be so embarrassed" So the submitted groom got up and began searching under the table, behind the mirrors, turned back the rug and sure enough there was a funny looking gizmo in the floor. He took out all the screws, threw the hardware away and turned out the light. The next morning the newlyweds were awakened by the hotel manager. He said, "Did you people sleep well last night?" They said, "Yes we did. Why do you ask?" He said, "Because the people in the room immediately beneath you had a chandelier fall on them in the middle of the night."
This beauty pageant leads to a wedding. A murder plots develops, it ends in the hanging of politicians. Ester 4 and 16 read it with me please, ""Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!"" (Est 4:16)
Esther, Crowned in Crisis. Let us pray. Father, in Jesus name, let us see the nobility in the soul of this woman, who was willing to give her life to save her nation. In Jesus name we pray, and all of God's children said, Praise the Lord.
There is an exciting story here of how God's secret agent won a beauty contest and saved her nation. Esther was not born to royalty. She was not a Persian. She was a Jewish girl. She was a member of a conquered people, for at this point in history, all of the Jews in the world were under the authority of Persia, which we now know as Iran.
She was an orphan as well and she was adopted by a cousin, Mordecai (Mord-a- kay-i), who was a godly and righteous Jew. This story is the Cinderella story of the Old Testament. She came from absolute obscurity to the glaring lights of Persia, the most powerful nation on the face of the Earth. There's a point in this story that demands our instant examination. Don't let any man, woman, boy, girl, ever look at their station in life and say, "My surroundings have been so humble that I dare not reach for greatness." That's absolute nonsense.
If you are a child of God, the royal blood of heaven is flowing thru your veins. You are loved. You are special. You are unique and when you were born the genius of heaven exploded. Nothing is impossible to you. Consider the life of Moses. Born to parents who were slaves in Egypt. Living in a mud hut. Working in a mud hole making bricks for Pharaoh. His future by government decree, he was suppose to be drowned in the river Nile when he was born. That's not a lot to shout about.
What did he accomplish? At 80 years of age he is seen leading 5 or 6 million people out of Egypt bondage. He wrote the first 5 books of the Bible, called the Penatute, including the 10 Commandments. He is the law giver. He is the prophet. He is the poet. He was the first king of Israel. At the age of 120 he walked to his own funeral. That is from the son of a slave.
Now, what's your problem? Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Look at His resume. He was born in a manger and not a mansion. A smelly place filled with the gut wrenching odor of cattle and donkeys and sheep. His resume read like this. He was a member of a hated minority of people, the Jewish people, living every day of His life in political repression, under the iron boot of the Roman government. The legimacy of His birth was questioned every day, in the First Church of the Frozen Chosen, where the name of Mary was always mentioned with hushed tones of sarcasm by the toxic tongues of grace killers.
He lived every day of His life in political oppression. The main line church called Him a heretic, a drunk and a demonized mad man. How would you like to have a pastor like that? The politically correct crowd called Him the enemy of the state. At the age of 33 He carried His blood soaked cross to the crest of Calvary, bled and died for the sins of the world. And because of that one single, solitary life, I can stand in the room, filled with people, and tell you that because of the life of Jesus Christ, our sins are forgiven and we are on our way to heaven.
We can sing, "Oh hail the power of Jesus name, let angels prostrate fall, bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all." By His blood our sins have been forgiven. He is the conqueror of death, hell and the grave.
Look at the accomplishments of Moses, Jesus and Esther. And then let me ask you, what are you doing with your God given talents? The Bible says, "of whom much is given, much is required." When you stand before God on the day of judgment -- He's going to ask you what you did with your opportunities and judge you for the gap that exists between where you are and where you could have been. It is impossible to fail if you keep on trying. Never let a problem become an excuse. Give up every thought of quitting in the day of crisis.
Some of you need to dream a new dream. Some of you need to get out of the rut, which is nothing more the a grave with both ends kicked out, and reach for greatness. Little is much when God is in it.
Now here is the drama behind the events that led to the original Miss World beauty contest. King A-haz-ar-us, known as the king of Persia and better known as Zerts-seas, is the ruler of 127 provinces which cover the known world. He was a capricious nitwit. We get the insight into his character when in history we see him decorating a tree with jewels, just because it gave him shade. In America, today, we would call him politically correct. Especially if the jewels had been paid for with taxpayer's money.
As our story opens, Zerts-seas, is giving a feast for his 127 princes and their female escorts. This party lasted for 6 months. It was a royal orgy. Here's the scene. It's midnight. King A-haz-ar-us sits at the corner, at the center of the royal table in the great Persian banquet hall, flanked right and left by 127 admiring princes and their escorts. For the last 7 days they have been eating and drinking non-stop. The marble floor of various imported colors, the drapes, the candelabra, gold and silver everywhere. It was a thing of splendor and beauty when it came to material things.
Drunk and obnoxious, Zerts-seas(sp) calls for his wife, Vish-tie(sp), to come to the banquet hall. I know this sermon is about Esther. But today you get a bargain. Two great women in one sermon. When she was called at an unreasonable time, to do an unreasonable and unspeakable thing, she shook Zerts-seas and the government to its feet by saying no. It was one of the great God inspired no's of all history. It was a no that shook the Roman empire to its roots. She could have had her head cut off immediately for rejecting the king. You've come a long way baby.
She lost her crown but she kept her honor. No. When she said it Zerts-seas went into a macho fit. 127 drunks reached for another shot of Jack Daniel's. And the holy angels jumped to their feet and said, "That a girl Vish-tie. Do you have the moral courage to say no.
In the hour of temptation when surrounded by your peers. When your honor and your integrity and your future is on the line. No is the shortest word in human speech and it has the loudest echo. The Bible says, resist the devil and he will flee from you. You must say no to sin before you can say yes to Jesus.
The cure for AIDs is not condoms and safe sex. Condoms will not save America, only Christ will save America. The God given power to say NO, will stop AIDs dead in its tracks.
The beauty pageant that brought Esther to the throne was born by Vish-tie's historic, earth shaking NO. The purpose of the contest was to chose a queen to take Vish-tie's place. Women were brought from all over the known world. Some of the most beautiful women to ever live. Mordecai entered Esther in this contest. She was to keep the fact that she was Jewish, a deep secret. Esther was selected. She was to be for God a healing force in a hurting world.
I want you to hear this. It is God's intention, that the Church of Jesus Christ, is to be a healing force in a hurting world. It is the business of the church to bring in those who have broken live, broken dreams, broken marriages, and say, "Let us introduce you to Jesus, who is the Way the Truth and the Life, who can heal you and restore you and give you a new beginning. That's our mission in life.
God and one good woman turn history around. We will skip some of the particulars, but listen to the results. The king made Mordecai the secretary of state, the number 2 man in all the world and gave him all the wealth of Haman's estate. And then he ask his wife again, "Is there any thing else I can do for you honey?" He should have known better than to ask. She said, "Yes. Haman has 10 sons and they also want to hurt us." She said, "Hang them" She is on a roll.
He says, "Is there anything else, buttercup?" She said, "Yes. We Jews have enemies all over Persia who are going to kill us on the 12th of the month." He said, "You know the law between the Meades and the Persians, I can't break it. But I can write a new one. I can arm the Jews so that on that day there will be a fair fight." And on that day there was a vicious fight, in which the seed of Abraham fought like the lions of Judah and when the sun went down there was 175,000 dead enemies and not one dead Jew. When the story was over the enemy was dead.
The story comes to an end. Haman is dead. His Jew hating sons are dead. A 175,000 Jew haters are dead. Esther the Jewist is the queen of the world. Mordecai, a Jew, is secretary of state for the known world, with Haman's wealth. Nothing is IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD. Nothing is impossible with God. Whom the Son sets free is free indeed.
If you are in this place today and you are up to your chins in alligators and you don't see the answer, jump up and shout hallelujah --- GOD'S IN CHARGE and I've got a feeling everything is going to be alright.
Bless the Lord. Bless the Lord. Glory to the Lamb of God. Please stand. Many of you are going thru a great trial and you can't see the answer. It's darker than it's been ever before. And you need a miracle from God. I want to tell you that God is God and He cannot fail you. He will not fail you.
Close. We are going to sing there's room at the cross for you #645, chorus only. Come. Come.
