The morning after the night before

Last year 175,000 people visited the Glastonbury festival to enjoy an excellent line-up of acts from across the world spread across 100 stages, along with circus performers, comedians and other entertainers. It was a heck of a party. Now I wasn’t there, choosing instead to dip in to the TV coverage, and I accept that means I get a sanitised version of events. I didn’t get to see the state the farm was left in afterwards, which required a clean-up operation of nearly six weeks costing almost £1 million. That’s a lot of mess for just three days of partying.

In the second chapter of Esther King Xerxes wakes from a much bigger party with an even bigger headache. During a lavish and extended banquet to win the favour of his military leaders, he has managed to turn a drunken squabble with his wife into a national crisis by effectively banishing the queen; this PR crisis is a public embarrassment and amounts to a royal mess of epic proportions. Now  in chapter two he's sobered up and realised that in the aftermath of that terrible decision he’s got a clean-up operation of his own to carry out, and the same trusted advisors who encouraged him to alienate his wife come up with the perfect solution…a nationwide search for a new wife.

It’s into this aftermath that we’re introduced to Mordecai and Esther, who play their part in the bigger picture of this book: God leading his people into rest. If we left it there, you might be tempted to think that they did this by some superhuman feat, or perhaps, as this is an account we find in the Bible there might be a miracle or two involved. However, Esther is a story of how God works through ordinary people like you and me.

We have Mordecai, a Jew living in exile and caring for his orphaned cousin. He’s trying to be a good Jew living in a non-Jewish society. Even Esther herself, who appears to be the total package (brains and beauty) is part of a subjugated people living in a strange land. This takes us back to our studies in Ephesians, doesn’t it? God’s people are called to be set apart and live differently even now, while still engaging in the culture they live in.

Mordecai and Esther are ordinary people, doing what they need to survive, and in chapter two we see some strange decisions we perhaps don’t agree with. Mordecai doesn’t put up a fight to stop Esther being part of what was a pretty grubby state of affairs as a member of Xerxes’ harem; in fact he tells her to hide her identity. As for Esther, she doesn’t shy away from the process and plays to win. Yet when Mordecai overhears a plot to oust the king, he’s in the right place at the right time – and Esther’s speedy rise to royalty no longer seems like a simple ‘rags to riches’ tale of a very lucky girl with a pretty face. Esther is in the perfect position to protect her king and save her people.  

This book isn’t a parenting manual, or a guide for teenage girls on how to live for God. However, what it does show is how God works behind the scenes, not always with great drama, but in small ways, through ordinary people and their messy lives – our messy lives - for his glory and our good.

The epitome of control?

Hollywood taught me that King Xerxes, the Persian ruler who features so strongly in the story of Esther, was an eight-foot tall megalomaniac with an enormous all-conquering army who wore far too much jewellery to be practicable. It turns out that was only half true…


Accepting then, that my preconceptions of Xerxes were wrong, what do we know about him from the opening chapter of Esther?

He’s wealthy, famous, successful, and has a beautiful wife. He’d assembled the greatest army in the history of Persia, and plotted to secure their backing to commit to his war by wining and dining their leaders for six months, blinding them with bravado and the trappings of wealth and royalty, and blinding them with the beauty of his wife.  

This is one shrewd operator, and he’s in control. Or is he?

Ultimately, Xerxes controlled everyone around him, but he couldn’t control himself. After too much wine he gets flummoxed by his wife, who wasn’t happy to be ogled by his assembled guests, can’t make a decision for himself and accepts some strange advice that ultimately banishes her from the kingdom. Would he have acted so rashly if sober? Would he have been more in control?

Xerxes was proud and boastful, and here he's held up as a comparison to the real King. We’re deliberately shown the wow-factor of a flawed leader – Xerxes - in order to show the power of the almighty God and King.

Paul tells us that we have the Old Testament for our encouragement, endurance and hope, and ultimately to point us to Jesus – God’s anointed King, who is so majestic, and whose wow-factor is so great, that John can barely find words to describe him. Yes, Xerxes had awesome wealth which paid for a banquet lasting 180 days, but Paul tells us that pales into insignificance compared to Jesus’ riches in mercy and grace, wisdom and glory.

 

So for all of Xerxes’ displays of power he was a weak human just like us.  He thought he was in control, but he made mistakes and lived with the consequences in the same way we do.

Ultimately our efforts to take control of ourselves and our lives fail because of the self-destruct button we call ‘sin’. But God's blueprint is for us to live under his control and blessing. He knows that we get things wrong and reject him, but through Jesus he offers us true rest from our enemies of sin and Satan; he offers us forgiveness, and gives us the Holy Spirit to help us live a more controlled life.

So that’s our first impression of King Xerxes, but if we’re making comparisons, what’s your first impression of Jesus? He didn’t have the traditional trappings of a king but he had complete control over his life and death.

Remember the purpose of the author; this book is about how a covenant-keeping King brings rest to his people. Jesus is the king who will never lose control and he’s offering you rest today.

 

*That*, Detective, is the right question...

In the 2004 film I, Robot, Will Smith’s character Del Spooner becomes increasingly frustrated at the inability of robot Sonny to answer his questions. As he seeks to uncover the truth behind the apparent murder of a scientist, Sonny can simply reply “I’m sorry, my responses are limited. You must ask the right questions”.

We find ourselves in a similar predicament as we start to study the book of Esther. At first glance, it doesn’t appear to answer some of our most burning questions. We might like to know why God isn’t mentioned either by name, or as a noun. Alternatively we might seek greater insight into the motivations of the main characters. We might wonder why no-one prays, why there are no miracles, or why there’s nothing intrinsically Jewish about this book.

As we study, we need to ask the right questions.
Here are a few points to remember that should help to keep us on track as we work through the book together (both in our Sunday morning meetings and here on this blog):

·       The main purpose of the writer is to explain the origins of, and continue the celebration of the festival of Purim among the Jews (ch 9:28), which marked the start of a period of peace and is still celebrated today. Everything we find recorded here is to serve that purpose.

·       This book is a narrative recording real historical people in the context of a real culture and time period. At this point in history the Jews had been removed from Israel and taken into captivity in Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar. Although many had now taken advantage of the opportunity to return to their own land offered by the Persian King Cyrus after he conquered Babylon, some still remained.

·       We’re looking at a very active period in history – Pericles, Sophocles, Confucius, Socrates and Pythagoras were among the more prominent thinkers of the age.

·         It’s not a biography of Esther or Mordecai. Nor is it a detailed history of Persian culture. We only find out enough about the people and the place to demonstrate how they helped to shape the origins of the festival.

·       Our ‘why?’ questions were not the concern of the author. That can be really annoying. Remember that this  is a Hebrew narrative, where character is often revealed by what people do and say - we can try and work out their motives from that, but they are not explicitly stated here.

Paul instructed the Church in Rome that what was written and recorded  was to teach us, build our endurance, encourage us and give us hope in Christ, so we’re looking forward to learning how to ask the right questions and grow together as we study Esther.
 

Don’t forget you can find a short summary of Esther here

You should have seen the one that got away...

It was 2am on Saturday morning, and I sat huddled under a giant umbrella on Dungeness beach. I’d been awake for 20 hours, the flask of coffee was empty, and I was freezing. Still, I watched the tip of my fishing rod in anticipation of that tell-tale sign that I’d caught something. It didn’t come.
It was a pretty awful trip, and that might be how some of Jesus’ disciples felt early on in the account we read of their fishing in John 21:1-14.



They’d travelled to Galilee in the hope of once again seeing Jesus, who’d conquered sin and death, and had risen from the grave. It wasn’t a whim – Jesus told they would see him again in Galilee, but they didn’t know exactly when or where. It was probably a tough four-day journey for them and they had no idea what to do when they got there, but they travelled full of hope and expectation. Well, most of them did…

Seven disciples had made the trip, but four didn’t. We don’t know why, but at some point they’d chosen to do something else instead. What happened to their excitement to meet again with Jesus? What was more important?  Would I have been with the seven who after a disappointing night had breakfast prepared for them by their Lord, or the four that missed out? 

The Bible tells us that we're waiting to meet the risen Jesus too, just like the disciples were. Is the excitement in our hearts like it was theirs? When Jesus returns will he find me waiting expectantly, or so wrapped up in other things that I’ve forgotten he’s coming back?

That’s not meant to be critical of the disciples’ decision to go fishing – they had to eat and make a living. However, on that night, they caught nothing. Perhaps they started to reminisce. After all, it wasn’t the first time they’d been on unsuccessful fishing trips.

On that last occasion, Jesus joined them and they caught more than their nets could cope with. They must have been overwhelmed with joy when it happened again here. In fact, we can see what it meant to Simon Peter, who, when the penny finally dropped that it was Jesus instructing them to fish on the other side of the boat, leapt into the lake and swam to shore to meet him.

As the others arrive the scene is set for breakfast and they ate together.  Jesus cooks them breakfast. He provided for their eternal futures through his life, death and resurrection, and now provides their morning meal.
 
Jesus was exalted to the highest place, but didn’t become distant and unapproachable. He came to meet his disciples, dispel their doubts, and was with them through the day-to-day ordinariness of breakfast so that they could be sure that he was with them. He does that for us too.

So it wasn’t such a blow-out of a fishing trip after all (for the disciples that is, mine was still rubbish). They met Jesus, and it was worth every bit of the effort it took to get there. That’s an opportunity that’s extended to us too – make sure you don’t miss out.

New study Series - Esther

In April 2015 we'll be starting a new Sunday morning Bible study series of the book of Esther.

Each week we'll be blogging a summary of what we've been learning here, but to give you a head start, check out this short video.

Don't forget to follow us on Facebook or Twitter for the latest updates!

Final Greetings

If you knew death  was near and had the opportunity to write one last letter, who would you write to and what would you say?

 

Ephesians was written towards the end of Paul's life while he was in prison in Rome. He didn't know how long he had left and captured the most important things he felt he needed to say to the Church at Ephesus, inspired by the Holy Spirit, in one short letter.

As we’ve studied Ephesians together we've been reminded of God's overarching purpose - for everything to be united under Christ. That's God's bigger picture here.  He chose people to be holy and blameless and adopted them into his family from the very beginning. We have a great hope because God accepts Jesus taking the death we deserve and makes us alive. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection he built one united people - our differences have been made secondary, because our primary identity is in Christ and to be known as his.

With that in mind, Paul reminds us about how we are to live differently. To be play our part in the local church, to reflect Christ in our important relationships, and to fight every day in a spiritual war that Christ has already won, equipped by God with everything we need to enjoy that victory.

All that in one letter!

It's still a wonderfully personal letter from a man who had a deep love and concern for those he's writing to. He wants to encourage them, but also requires their support. So what were Paul’s final instructions regarding unity in the Church?

Paul wanted them to pray, in all situations, for God’s people. Prayer for each other was to be a constant in their lives but Paul also wanted them to pray for him. Here we don’t find the severe and harsh Paul, or the almost-divine Paul that opposing camps sometimes claim him to be. Yes, he’s been chosen to serve God in a particular way, but he’s just a man and is as dependent on the Holy Spirit as any of us. If Paul needed the prayers of others then so do we, and so do the leaders of our Churches.

He also knew that we don’t do well on our own, and that as Christians we’re better together. Paul recognises that in isolation we’re likely to grow cold to the good news of Jesus. That goes for all of us. But it’s not just about what we gain. We’re to be united to serve each other in the Church and to serve. Church isn’t a consumer product – we don’t take it or leave it as and when it suits our needs. We’re committed to being a part, and playing our part in the life of the Christian community.

Finally, Paul’s biggest ambition for the Church at Ephesus was that they might know peace and love, through grace. A deep-centred peace  - the removal of conflict between ourselves and God.  It's a gift through faith in Jesus, which God gave when he chose us before creation. A gift we accepted when we were adopted into God's family solely through his underserved kindness towards us - not because we earned it.

Ephesians reminds us of immense blessings in Christ. Let's use all that we've learnt from this letter to ensure that our lives and this church reflect God's love and peace. That we will be equipped to stand firm, and reflect our undying love for Christ.

Standing firm

So far in Ephesians 4-6 Paul has encouraged us to no longer live like the world, but what difference has it made to us studying here in Rochester, or to you, reading this blog?

Because there’s no doubt about it, the Christian life is tough. Of course, we’ve always known that haven’t we? Or have we been so comfortably living like the world that the challenge of Paul’s words and the reality of living differently haven’t caused us any trouble at all?

But Paul knows it’s tough. Here in Ephesians 6:10-18 he reminds us that we’re in a battle; every Christian is serving on the frontline – it’s not just for a select few - and we are to stand firm.

In the middle of a spiritual warzone, Paul wants us to remember where our strength comes from. Ever thought the Bible was a self-help book? Walk into a bookshop and find me another self-help book that tells you that you’re in a mess, heading for disaster, and can’t do anything to save yourself. Paul is clear here that the power and strength to support us in this battle isn’t from us. As we try to protect unity in the Church, live wisely, retain sexual purity, and do all of the things Paul tells us should be setting us apart from the world, we do it through a lifetime of reliance on the risen and victorious Jesus.

Yes - the victorious Jesus – because the enemy (and make no mistake, there is an enemy) has already been defeated. However, even though Satan has lost, he’s trying to cause as much collateral damage on God’s people as possible, and he won’t give up.

That’s why it’s important that we wear our armour and fight. The armour of God is an enduring picture that’s stayed with me since childhood, but I probably thought it was a bit pick-and-mix. No, says Paul – you need it all. You need to put things on – clothe yourself with a knowledge of the truth of God, an attitude to live differently and a readiness to make peace. You need to take up a certainty that you can’t be separated from God, and to fill your mind with God and what he’s achieved through Jesus. And don’t forget your only weapon: the word of God that gave Jesus the answers he needed to rebuff Satan, and can do the same for us.