Barnabas and Saul—Recognizing Potential: Acts 9:19-31

               

The story of Saul, turned Paul, is one of the most amazing transformations in the Bible. Saul starts off a Jesus hater and persecutor of the early church, first watching over the clothes of Saul as they drag Stephen out of Jerusalem and stone him because he testified about Jesus as the “Son of Man standing at the right hand of God,” identifying Jesus as the promised Messiah and Son of God. Saul is there, “giving approval to his death.” Luke then tells us, “Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.” Saul then goes to the high priest to ask for permission to go to Damascus and go after the Jesus followers and believers there too.

Then Jesus steps in, stopping Saul on the way to Damascus, revealing himself to Saul, claiming Saul as “his instrument to carry his name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.” Jesus reveals that Saul will suffer deeply for his name. Saul is blinded in his encounter with Jesus, and when he arrives in Damascus, a man Ananias is sent to Saul and when he lays hands on him, the Holy Spirit heals his physical and spiritual blindness, showing Saul that Jesus truly is the Son of God, the Messiah.

Now we learn later in Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia that he doesn’t hang around Damascus, instead he goes to Arabia to study how Jesus fulfills the Old Testament, Galatians 1:17–18, “I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus. Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days.” Luke skips over that and gets into how Saul begins to preach in Damascus that Jesus is the Son of God. A church is planted here and grows so quickly that news of it reaches Jerusalem and the apostles.

When Saul tries to join the disciples, it doesn’t go well because they haven’t forgotten how he persecuted the church. This is where Barnabas enters the story. Barnabas is a good man, full of the Spirit, and as Luke tells us a couple of chapters later, he had been sent to Antioch to look for Saul. Because of Barnabas’ generosity and character; he had sold a field he owned and gave all the money to the church to help the poor, he was deeply trusted by the leaders of the church.

Barnabas takes Saul and brings him to the apostles and tells them Saul’s story of how he met Jesus on the road to Damascus and now preaches Jesus fearlessly, even though it placed him in danger and the Jews there even tried to kill Saul. Barnabas sees the potential in Saul and he puts his own reputation on the line with the leaders of the church so that Saul has the opportunity to fulfill Jesus’ call and claim on his life. Barnabas becomes an advocate for Saul and helps the apostles to deal with their anxiety and fear of Saul.

Anxiety and fear can keep us from seeing how God is working in and among the faith community. Fear and anxiety are powerful, as we’ve seen over the past few years, and each of us had to deal with fear and anxiety, whether it was from the virus, fear of the government, fear of losing friendships over different ways of understanding what was happening, fear of the unknown, and much more. Many youths and children deal with anxiety because of the conflict all around them, especially when it happens in the church and their families, places they hope are safe places from fear. Fear and anxiety either cause us to retreat and become suspicious and even more fearful, or it leads to fighting against what your fear has determined is an enemy and enemies need to be defeated, leading to breaking of relationship and almost constant distrust of the other. Not healthy.

We live in a time when so many live in a state of fear and anxiety, especially many of our youth and young adults. As our youth and young people transition into adulthood, there’s anxiety about the future, can I find a job, can I find a spouse, how will we support ourselves in such turbulent times, fear that we might not be able to have a family. Then there’s all the conflict they see around them, too many families are feeling the pressures of the past few years. Our health workers and law enforcement workers are seeing more family violence and breakdowns, then there’s been the conflict within the churches and if the place where they are learning about Jesus is fighting, where do they find the joy and peace in faith, then there’s the political world which has an increasing hold on many people and it’s becoming more polarized and harsher and unforgiving all the time. How do we as followers of Jesus model his love for all people, his grace and forgiveness, and his call to go sin and no more but embrace his call to repent and believe in ways that bring healing and hope?

Fear and anxiety can stop us from acting, can lead us to see others who are different in “them and us” terms which seemingly gives us permission to reject that person. This is what is happening with Saul and the apostles, as Luke writes, “When Saul came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple,” “him and us” thinking and acting. This is why what Barnabas does is so powerful, he steps up for Saul and stands by him and affirming both that he is a follower of Jesus and that Jesus is using Saul in powerful ways to reach the Gentiles for Jesus. The church was still having a hard time accepting that Jesus came for all people, that he went to the cross for those so different from themselves.

How do we relate to those who have hard backgrounds and have been changed by Jesus, do we even really believe that people can change? Do we really believe that Jesus can come into someone’s life and completely change them? Do we give up too quickly on people, even though we know that their only hope lies in Jesus rather than whatever they are looking to right now? Change and transformation can take a long time. If you’ve been going in one direction a long time, you may begin to change direction, but in most cases, it’s going to be a long curving turn with many trips down side roads. Change happens best when someone walks alongside you, or you walk alongside someone else: mentoring.

We can often have a hard time seeing the change or wanting to see the change in others because we then have to change how we see the other person and how we see Jesus and his Spirit working in our world. It takes away all our excuses for not reaching out with the gospel news to everyone in our lives; it means embracing more deeply Jesus’ call to truly love our neighbours as ourselves because Jesus can change their hearts!

Barnabas goes another step forward; he goes with Paul on his first missionary journey to the Gentiles; bringing the good news of Jesus to the Greeks and Romans. Saul spends a lot of time with Barnabas, being encouraged by Barnabas’ belief in him, learning in his own life the important of having someone come alongside of us; someone of character who shows us through their own life what it means to be a follower of Jesus, sharing what they’ve learned. Even the greatest people need someone to invest in them, to believe in them, to help us on the life journey of becoming who Jesus is calling us to be, offering second chances in life, not giving up on us. Barnabas is willing to believe in Saul even after Saul had been so wrong and so far from Jesus.

Barnabas and Saul have a successful journey. On the second journey, Barnabas wants to take along John Mark, but Paul doesn’t since John Mark had bailed the first time. Saul, whose name now changes to Paul takes Silas while Barnabas takes John Mark, giving him a second chance. Later on, Paul asks for John Mark to come to him; both Paul and John Mark are given second chances by Barnabas because he sees the potential in them, just like Jesus never gives up on us, giving us one opportunity after another to come back to him; giving us his Spirit to guide us back to him.

Whose life can you make a difference in by believing in them, by walking with them? You may be part of Jesus’ plan to grow his kingdom in unexpected and amazing ways. C.S Lewis wrote, “God became man to turn creatures into sons; not simply to produce better men of the old kind but to produce a new kind of man.” He uses us to be part of their change!

 

 

 

 

Elijah and Elisha—Walking Together 2 Kings 2:1-15

                   

This morning we’re beginning a series on mentoring, beginning with Elijah and Elisha. Elijah first meets Elisha soon after defeating Jezebel’s prophets on Mount Carmel. Elijah, in fear of Jezebel, runs away, depressed and afraid, thinking he’s the only one still following God. God comes to Elijah, builds him up and encourages him, and then tells Elijah in 1 Kings 19, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha, son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah, to succeed you as prophet. Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.” Elijah leaves his hiding place and finds Elisha, placing his cloak over Elisha as a sign that he’s chosen Elisha as his mentee.

A Taizé website talks about Moses and Elijah and their successors, “Among the different figures that people the Bible, two have a special place—Moses and Elijah. The fact that both appear beside Jesus when he is transfigured on the mountaintop says a lot about their importance…. True co-workers with God, they were able to inspire other witnesses and, in that way, open ways forward for their entire nation. For that reason, the stories about the end of their lives also occupy an important place: Joshua continues the work of Moses and Elisha that of Elijah…. God’s compassionate activity does not change the world only through isolated witnesses, but through a kind of fabric woven from witness to witness, by which men and women ceaselessly inspire one another.”

Our passage this morning gives us a glimpse into how close Elijah and Elisha have become. Elijah knows that his time on earth was coming to an end and he takes a journey and visits two of the schools of prophets that he had likely planted after the battle with Jezebel’ prophets. Elijah did a lot in bringing back God’s visible presence in the land of Israel and he now tries to quietly slip away to be alone when God takes him. He tells Elisha to stay behind, but Elisha answers, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” I’ve often wondered if Elisha senses something is going on with Elijah and he knows how important it is to stay close to him. they get to Bethel and the company of prophets show up and it becomes real clear what’s going on, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?” and Elisha says, “Yes, I know, so be quiet.” Elisha is committed to being with Elijah to the end. The same thing happens again at Jericho and then at the Jordan River, prophets show up and Elijah keeps telling Elisha to stay and Elisha replies the same way each time, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.”

After they cross the Jordan River in a scene that echoes back to Moses dividing the Red Sea and Joshua dividing the Jordan River, Elijah finally realizes that there’s something Elisha still needs from him, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” Elisha, knowing that his mentor is leaving him, asks, “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit.” Elisha sees Elijah as his spiritual father and his request for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit also shows us that Elisha wants to carry on the work Elijah has been doing for the Lord, to carry on Elijah’s legacy of making God more present in the land.

This is what mentoring in the church is all about, investing in each other, walking alongside someone to help them grow their gifts and talents to carry on the work of God; making Jesus more present in our communities and land. We want the children of our church, the youth, and the young adults to grow deep in their faith, to come to know Jesus as their Lord and the guide of their lives. Mentoring is the strongest relationship outside of parents, to help them develop deep lasting faith. What happens in a mentoring relationship is that the person being mentored sees faith being lived out in real life; they’re able to see how what they’ve been taught in church, school, and at home works out in life. Mentors don’t need to have all the answers, they simply need to love Jesus, and to regret their sin, and commit themselves to following Jesus, to trusting in Jesus and his teaching and life, and being willing to share what they’ve learned while being open and curious with the person they’re mentoring in what that might look like in their life. A time ago someone called faith mentoring “God-centered friendship,” a beautiful picture of what mentoring’s all about!

Elijah tells Elisha that a double portion of his spirit is something that can only be given by God, but if Elisha sees Elijah when he’s taken away, then Elisha can be confident that God will give him what he asks for. I love how the writer to Kings tells what happens next, “As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.” Elijah goes to heaven while walking and talking with Elisha, their friendship and relationship the central focus right up to the end of Elijah’s time with Elisha. Elisha is also allowed to see Elijah go to heaven on the chariot of fire, Elisha takes his garment and tears it in two, an act of grief, he then picks up Elijah’s cloak and strikes the water of the Jordan with it and it divides in two, just as it had with Elijah, affirming that God has given him his spirit to continue on with the work that Elijah has been mentoring him in to make God more present in the land.

Jesus mentored and invested in 12 disciples to carry on the work he came here to do, calling us to repentance and belief, to make disciples of all nations. Jesus practices God-centered friendship, calling his disciples friends in John 15, then saying, “everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go bear fruit—fruit that will last.” Jesus passed on what he knew and what the disciples need to carry on his work by spending time with them, getting to know them deeply, and allowing them to get to know him as their rabbi and teacher, but also as a friend.

I’ve had many teachers in my life, but the ones who’ve made a lasting impact on who I am as a person became more than teachers, they showed genuine interest in who I was, searching for any potential in me; some had to look pretty hard at times, I’ll admit. One of the earliest mentors in my life was a lieutenant in Air Cadets. I came to Air Cadets looking for a place to belong, hoping to find some real friends. This young lieutenant took an early interest in me, offering me solid life advice that I still listen to today. He didn’t say anything much different from people in church or school, but he offered it out of a different kind of relationship, one where he took time to learn who I was. He really cared about this lonely kid who might have some potential, he believed in me when I didn’t always believe in myself. He kept me from drifting too far off the tracks.

Pastor Gerrit Haagsma was another mentor, taking time to listen to my story and my heart for broken hurting people. He tried to understand this rather rough young husband, father, and doubter of church, and even faith at times because of all the brokenness I’d already seen. He helped me begin to see Jesus and the Holy Spirit in hard places, helped me to offer hope, even in difficult situations. He did it with a compassionate heart and patience. This became a holy friendship that I still cherish today, a holy friendship that helped me stay in the church.

Professor Ellen Davis of Duke Divinity School writes, “Holy friendship addresses the basic human need to draw close to God…. nurturing that desire and meeting that need is the sole reason for the church’s existence. We may provide a few valuable social services and something we rather vaguely call “community,” but the purpose of the church is to enable people to grow toward God in Christ.” Worship is a big part of coming close to God, mentoring, or holy friendships, is another part of this picture, especially for youth and young adults.

Jesus walked with his disciples, listening to their questions, fears, and confusions. Jesus helped them to see themselves and the world through his eyes. Jesus saw the potential in people and modeled trust in God which gave him the courage to face the cross and the grave. This is what we offer when we, as individuals and as a church, embrace mentoring and holy friendships.

The Goodness of Work: Genesis 1:26-31; James 2:14-19

This weekend we are celebrating Labour Day, a day to celebrate the advances made in workers’ rights. Labour Day can be traced back to April 15, 1872, when the Toronto Trades Assembly organized a demonstration for worker's rights. They were advocating for the release of 24 leaders of the Toronto Typographical Union who were put in jail for striking to campaign for a nine-hour working day. Unions were illegal then, and striking was seen as a criminal conspiracy. Late that year, the government backed down and made unions legal. My father was a union negotiator and fought hard for his work mates.

My father believed that work is a good thing. He knew that we’re created to work, to take care of God’s creation, his good and very good creation. Genesis 1 tells us who we are, “Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” Our World Belongs to God confesses in Article 10 who we’re called to be as image bearers of God; we are “made in God’s image to live in loving communion with our Maker, we are appointed earth keepers and caretakers to tend the earth, enjoy it, and love our neighbors. God uses our skills for the unfolding and well-being of his world so that creation and all who live in it may flourish.”

The Bible shows us that creation is rooted in God’s creative power, but also that God has only begun the process of creation and we’re to care for it and to develop the potential that lies within creation. Creation is not a one-time event; we are called to continue the creative process that God has begun; this is part of what it is to be created in the image of God. Robert Kruschwitz reminds us that the Bible is a middle-eastern Jewish book and the reference to us being created in God’s image and being in his likeness refers to the role of kings and the “statues that monarchs erect to remind their subjects of who is in power. So, our role is to be living reminders of the Creator who is the King of the universe. To understand “dominion” (from radah, “to tread down”), remember that Israel’s king had covenantal responsibilities to care for those over whom he ruled. “Dominion, therefore, does not mean to exploit or destroy,” Butkus suggests, “but to exercise care and responsibility for God’s domain particularly in the interest of those who are poor and marginalized.”

Being in a province like Alberta, being in an agricultural area like Central Alberta, creation care is part of living here. I’ve appreciated seeing the concern our farmers have over animal care and land use; there is a recognition that wise use and careful care of both animals and land leads to better yields and better quality. It’s no different from business owners who recognize that respecting and treating their employees well leads to better workers and better-quality work being done. Work is good and even very good when it’s happening in an environment that respects and honours creation and people.

Our passage from Genesis sets our work in the context of Sabbath. Humanity doesn’t go straight to work right after being created, the first day after creation is a sabbath day, a day where God rests and enjoys what he’s made with his image bearers. According to D. J. Reed, “Sabbath forces us to put aside our own ambition and trust that our work is sufficient and that what needs to be completed will be finished in due time. In essence, Sabbaths force us to trust in God, the maker of the world, who owns the world. And when we can admit that this world is God’s, we begin to let go and take our work less seriously. We begin trusting less in our own efforts and instead trust in God’s.”

Work flows out of our relationship and time spent with God, a weekly reminder that ultimately everything we do is for God. The sabbath rest helps to remind us that our identity is not in our work or careers, it’s found in God and Jesus. Sabbath reminds us as Our World Belongs to God tells us in Article 12, that “even now, as history unfolds in ways we know only in part, we are assured that God is with us in our world, holding all things in tender embrace and bending them to his purpose. The confidence that the Lord is faithful gives meaning to our days and hope to our years. The future is secure, for our world belongs to God.” Growing up, my uncles who were farmers would always keep Sunday for worship and family, even if the weather was good on Sunday and the forecast was rain for Monday. They both said that God provides and that they never had to leave crops standing in the fields. they were able to get as much done in 6 days as others did in 7 days. Our work is important as it contributes to our community and to God’s purposes no matter what our work is or how others see the value in our work. Our work is all part of the whole of the work of others in shaping our community, meaning all our work has meaning, from being a care-giver to a janitor, farmer, business owner, police officer, nurse, or whatever else we may do to support ourselves and our families. Most work happens out of sight, yet it all comes together to build up our communities.

Our work isn’t just about what we do for a paycheque, work is so much more, Our World Belongs to God, Article 11 reminds us, “Together, male and female, single and married, young and old—every hue and variety of humanity—we are called to represent God, for the Lord God made us all. Life is God’s gift to us, and we are called to foster the well-being of all the living, protecting from harm the unborn and the weak, the poor and the vulnerable.” This leads us to James, where James is concerned that faith has become about saying the right words but not following through on what they say they believe, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds?”

Part of being created in the image of God is caring, not only for creation, but for everyone, who are also created in the image of God. When God tells Adam and Eve to be fruitful, he means more than just having a pile of kids and then all their kids have a pile of kids. When Jesus talks about being fruitful, he’s talking about life and growing in our faith, in our character, and in our relationships with each other and God our Father. I think about how often political leaders will offer prayers and thoughts after disasters, but then do nothing afterwards to ensure that similar tragedies don’t happen again. What weight do your prayers carry and what kind of a faith do they reveal if you’re not part of the solution and your only role is to sound as if you care? James is hard on us here, reminding us that our work and deeds matter to God.

Robert B. Kruschwitz writes, “Order is central to the creation. God brings order, moral as well as physical, out of primordial chaos. Moral behavior is required to maintain the harmonious working of creation.” He echoes Our World Belongs to God, “God uses our skills for the unfolding and well-being of his world so that creation and all who live in it may flourish.” Jesus taught the importance of our responses to the injustices and hard times in life, of walking and working together to show our world a glimpse of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus takes the journey to the cross for us to take our sin on himself, but to also bring in the kingdom of heaven, a kingdom shaped by justice and mercy, by love for God and neighbour lived out in word and deeds. James heard Jesus’ challenge that our faith is more than just right beliefs, it also has to include right actions and work so the entire community can flourish.

James throws in this provocative statement, “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.” James is emphasizing in a more provocative way that belief in Jesus is not enough; Satan is very aware of who Jesus is and what Jesus is all about. Satan is distinguished by his work against Jesus; our work is for Jesus; “everything you do, do it for the Lord,” as Paul tells the church in Colossae.

On Labour Day, it’s good to honour work, to embrace that work is good and necessary and that we’re created for work, but let’s not minimize work to being only what’s done for a paycheque. Work embraces so much more than money, it’s the volunteers who work in places like church, school, non-profits; it’s those who help out their neighbours during snowstorms, with repairs around their homes; it’s the visiting of those who are in prison, in the hospital and care homes; it’s the persons who do all the little quiet things that make life and our community better in a thousand different ways, it’s about investing in others and helping them reach the potential God has placed in them, it’s about exploring the creation and developing it in God honouring ways that reveal its wonder and potential; and in living in this way, it all points us to Jesus.

 

 

Esther—The Clever Queen--Esther 7

                           

Esther is an incredible story of an orphan, making her one of the least powerful people among the Jews, she’s a woman and so seen as less important or valuable in her society, and she belongs to a nation that’s been enslaved by the most powerful empire of its time. Esther is not your typical hero, not the first person you would expect God to use; and yet the Bible continually reveals that God often uses the unexpected persons to lead his plans forward. Her story fascinates me.

Esther becomes the queen of the powerful King Xerxes because he’s made to look like a drunken fool by his Queen Vashti who refuses to parade herself in front of his drunken nobles after they’ve been drinking for 7 days. The king is then manipulated by his advisors who tell him to get rid of her because other wives might refuse to obey their husbands. They then hold a contest to find the most beautiful woman in the land to be the next queen and obedient. They also make it a law that wives must obey their husbands. After a year long contest where the women are all properly trained, Esther wins and becomes queen.

However, she never tells them that she’s Jewish. This becomes important later on because one of King Xerxes’ chief advisors is Haman, descendant of Agag, king of the Amorites who was defeated by King Saul generations before this. King Saul spared Agag’s life against God’s command, so the prophet Samuel showed up and put Agag to death by hacking him to pieces. Haman’s carrying around a multi-generational hatred and grudge against Israel; looking for ways to humiliate or exterminate them. Finally, Haman has his chance and manipulates King Xerxes to sign an order to kill all the Jews.

Why are we here, does God have a purpose for us, is it alright to try to ignore the hard stuff around us and only focus on our own faith journey? One person asked, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” meaning, am I responsible for other people? The Bible consistently calls us to look outside the very narrow lanes of our lives to consider the lives of others. Mordecai, Esther’s uncle challenges her when she’s afraid to risk herself, “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?” I’m reminded of what Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor, said as he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize: “I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must take sides... Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant.”

Rabbi Yossi Marcus writes in the Jewish Journal that even though God is not mentioned at all in the book of Esther, we see his influence all over the place. When Esther is called on to risk her life for her people, she steps up and leads, calling her uncle to gather all the Jews in Susa together to fast and pray for three days before she approaches the king. As Esther formulates a plan for protecting her people, she also humbles herself before God for three days, seeking his guidance and will. Only then does Esther approach the king uninvited, potentially a death sentence. Remember, this is the same king who put aside Queen Vashti for disobeying his command. Esther’s willing to sacrifice herself for her people.

Esther invites King Xerxes and his chief advisor Haman to a private banquet. This is where you begin to see that Esther has thought about and planned her strategy at a deep level, understanding the heart and personality of the king, but also the heart and personality of Haman. The food’s ready and the king and Haman go to Esther’s place where they enjoy a meal together. Now the king knows Esther wants something that only he can give her, but when he asks her what she wants, Esther asks them to come together again the next day and she will tell him what she would like from him.

We know that the king’s prone to excessive emotional responses, so when the king sees his queen inviting Haman to her private banquet again, a seed of questioning and jealousy is planted, “Why is she inviting Haman again?” which may be the reason the king has a hard time sleeping that night and spends the time in his library where he discovers that Mordecai foiled a plot to kill him. Jealousy and a bit of paranoia begins to eat away at the king. Haman meanwhile, is filled with both pride and rage and filled with a pompous sense of importance which keeps him from questioning why he would be invited to a private meal with the queen and king a second time. Esther embraces the same tactics that the king’s advisors use to manipulate him for their own ends.

The king and Haman arrive at Queen Esther’s banquet the next day, and while they’re enjoying wine, the king asks again, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even up to half the king, it will be granted.” Professor Cameron B. Howard explains what happens next, “Upon hearing Esther’s account of Haman’s plot, the king is enraged (again), and Haman is terrified… the king stomps out to the garden, while Haman “stayed to beg his life from Queen Esther.” When the king comes back inside, he sees Haman prostrate on Esther’s couch, and we notice once again that the king does not understand how to read a situation. He believes Haman is trying to sexually assault Esther, and it is for that reason he condemns Haman, not for his plot against the Jews. While the defeat of Haman is the “correct” outcome, the king reaches that outcome erroneously.” Esther has set everything up perfectly for Haman’s destruction. She makes sure that Haman is there when the king goes explodes in rage so that Haman’s fall comes quickly, before he can change the easily manipulated king’s mind.

Haman’s impaled on the gallows he had built to hang Mordecai on as the first step in his plan to rid the empire of Jews. There is clear irony here, especially as Mordecai is then chosen as the king’s new advisor. Through this entire story of Esther, one thing shines through: Esther’s most important attribute is faith. She realizes that God runs the world, not Xerxes or Haman. There’s a deep trust that God does not abandon his people, that even though they’re in exile, God is still watching over them. Esther uses the ways of the culture in the palace of manipulation and cleverness, yet it is done with the knowledge that God is the one in control. I’m reminded of Jesus’ parable where he commends the wisdom of the servant who is about to get fired, but then lowers the debts of all those who owe his master so he will have a chance to find a new grateful boss after he’s fired. He uses the ways of the world.

Jesus calls us to place our trust in God and himself, especially when things seem dark and confusing. In John 14, Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me,” also often translated as, “You trust in God; trust also in me.” There are so many times in our lives when we find ourselves in situations where we cannot feel or see Jesus’ presence, even though we’re looking for him. We remember that Jesus promises in Matthew 28 “to be with us always,” but we find that it’s going to mean moving forward in faith and trust, doing the best we can, trusting that Jesus is always true to his word and promises to us.

 Trusting in Jesus happens at a number of different levels, in different ways. We trust in Jesus, believing in Him for salvation as John reminds us, “whoever believes in Jesus shall not perish but have eternal life.” We believe and trust that Jesus is God in human form and came to save us from our sin, died for our sins, and rose from the dead, so that we can have new life in him and with God our Father. Trust and belief in Jesus gives us hope when times are hard. Elliot Clark writes, “Hope for the Christian isn’t just confidence in a certain, glorious future. It’s hope in a present providence. It’s hope that God’s plans can’t be thwarted by local authorities or irate mobs, by unfriendly bosses or unbelieving husbands, by Supreme Court rulings or the next election. The Christian hope is that God’s purposes are so unassailable that a great thunderstorm of events can’t drive them off course. Even when we’re wave-tossed and lost at sea, Jesus remains the captain of the ship and the commander of the storm.”

Esther sees God’s face behind the powers in her world and so is able to fearlessly and strategically pursue what’s right and good no matter what is happening. In the same way, faith gives us the strength and courage to focus on building Jesus’ kingdom without fear of the kingdoms of this world.