June 16, 2024
Today is Father’s Day! So, we’re talking about a man in the Scripture, Mordecai, who’s not a father. He’s a cousin. But his cousin, Esther’s, parents die, and he becomes her adopted father. Mordecai turns out to be a great dad!
He raises Esther. When she is grown, the king of Persia, king Xerxes, is looking for a queen, and Esther is picked. Mordecai doesn’t say, my cousin is grown and out of the house, now I’m done being a father. No, because parents are never finished. Mordecai stays connected, as hard as it is, with Esther. He has to have her maid or eunuch take a message to her. Mordecai makes sure Esther is doing ok. He hangs out at the king’s gate to know what is going on. One day he discovers these two guys, Bigthana and Teres, they sound like gang members, don’t they? They are plotting to kill King Xerxes. So, Mordecai tells Esther what they’re planning, then she tells the king. Mordecai and Esther save the king’s life. They are a pretty great team!
They live in Persia, and when Esther becomes queen, Mordecai tells her to keep secret that they are Jewish. Their ancestors were forced to come to Babylon during the exile many decades ago. When the Babylonian captivity finally came to an end, many Jewish people returned to Jerusalem. But some did not go back, like Mordecai and Esther. Mordecai decides it is best for Esther not to say anything to the king or anyone in the palace about her being Jewish. So, she doesn’t.
The King gives a certain man, Haman, a high seat of honor. Everyone is ordered to kneel down and pay honor to Haman whenever they see him. But Mordecai doesn’t believe in bowing to anyone but God, so he doesn’t bow. Haman gets angry that Mordecai won’t honor him. He hears that Mordecai is Jewish, and Haman decides he’s gonna destroy all the Jewish people in the kingdom of Persia. So, he asks the king to issue an order. The king does, that on a certain day, all the Jews: young and old and women and children will be killed.
Esther finds this out from Mordecai. He sends word to her, urging her to go to the king, beg for mercy and plead for her people, the Jews.
Esther might be queen, but she isn’t allowed to see the King very often. She hasn’t seen him in a month! She says, if I go to him, instead of him calling me to come, I could be killed! The only exception is if the king would hold out his gold scepter to me. Then I would be able to live.
Esther is afraid she’ll be killed if she goes to the king. Mordecai sends her this answer: “Don’t think you are safe if you do nothing! You will be killed for being a Jew!” But Mordecai doesn’t stop there. Esther is scared! Mordecai has just told her she could die if she doesn’t go to the king, and she knows she could die if she does! Mordecai is angry that Esther lives in the palace, she is the queen! But she is afraid to speak to the king!
Let me take a moment and say that at times we all get angry at others, and at our children. It’s easy to be angry when your kid draws on the wall with markers. It’s easy to be angry at the person who cuts you off in traffic. It’s easy to be angry at your dog for peeing on your couch! Mordecai is angry at Esther for worrying more about her own life than about the thousands of people who could die if she does nothing. The thing is when we dwell on our anger, it doesn’t save the day. The Jewish people need someone, they need Esther, to save the day.
She’s not feeling brave. Mordecai needs to encourage and uplift Esther, he needs to inspire her, so she believes in herself and in what God can do through her.
This is where we see what an awesome Dad Mordecai is! He gets past his anger at her. He probably takes a deep breath and reminds himself, this is Esther, my awesome adopted daughter, who teamed with me to tell the king that Bigthana and Teres were out to kill him! She saved the day! Mordecai sees beyond her behavior and her fear and remembers how amazing she is.
So, Mordecai is angry, but he turns from his anger. Now we hear that famous verse where Mordecai calls Esther to greatness and to God’s purpose: I love this verse, in Esther 4:14: He says to her, “And who knows but that you have come to be queen for such a time as this!” Mordecai gives Esther the gift of believing in her greatness! This is her time to shine and save her people by the power of God! God put her where she is on purpose, for this moment, in order to save her people.
Mordecai reminds his daughter of her greatness and gives her a vision of God’s purpose for her.
So how does she respond? She says, tell all the Jews to fast for me for three days. I and my maids will fast too. After these three days, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish. She has found her courage!
On the third day, she goes and stands in front of the king’s hall. The king sees her and holds out his gold scepter to her. The king does not order her to die! He is happy to see Esther and asks her what she wants. She asks the king to come to a banquet she has prepared, and to bring Haman (the guy who wanted all the Jews killed). She’s going to have the king eat first, so he will be in a good mood! They eat, and the king asks her, what is your request? She says, come tomorrow to another banquet I will prepare, and I will answer your question.
The next day, the King and Haman come to the 2nd banquet. The king says to Queen Esther for the third time, what is your request? I will give it to you. And Esther finally says, Grant me my life and spare my people! She tells him she is Jewish. Because she asks, the king saves the Jews!
Mordecai teaches us how to bring the best out of a person. When we are angry, we have a choice. We don’t have to remain in our anger. We can believe that, deep down, this person, our kid, our friend, our spouse, or whoever we’re mad at, is an amazing person! If we can see the best in them, the chances are so much greater that they will be their best.
On Easter I brought home some tulips from church and planted them. I went back and looked at them later. The tulips were all out of the ground, bulbs band all. There were two tulip stems that were cut off in the middle of the stem. The each had a flower. The stems were put back in the ground. I thought it must have been kids who did this. A while later, I was digging a hole to plant my azalea bush. Three little girls came up and told me they wanted to help. One of the girls said to me, “I picked your flowers.” I asked, what did you say? She said, “I picked your flowers.” Her friends said, “I think she meant to say she saw a butterfly. I was a little angry about my flowers. It was good the girl confessed. I didn’t know these girls so I didn’t say anything about the flowers. They really wanted to help so I let them move piles of stones and pull some weeds, That was more fun than giving them a lecture about respecting property. They were helpful! I was glad I looked beyond their behavior! It was easy to see they were amazing people.
Later my friend, Pam, heard me tell the story of my picked flowers. She gave me some garden decoaration pinwheels, that I could put in my yard, and maybe the little girls would pick those “flowers” instead of the real flowers I planted!
Today we say thanks to all the dads, and all the men who care for us, protect us, help us grow. Thanks for seeing beyond our behavior, and remembering our greatness!
We are all sinners and children of God at the same time. God created you to do amazing things in God’s name! Whenever someone disappoints you, remember God’s love for them. Be that encourager who brings out the best in them to the glory of God! Amen.
Maureen Duffy-Guy's blog 