Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

When i first heard about Purim, it came as a bit of a surprise.

I remembered Sunday school lessons and sermons on Queen Esther.

But I don’t think I had ever heard of Purim.

It was a strange affair listening about people dressing in Costume for the reading of the Scroll of Esther, shouting with disapproval when Haman’s name was heard, and yelling with joy at the mention of Mordecai.

Even stranger to me was learning that one ancient rabbi recommended that on Purim Jews drink wine until they cannot tell the difference between “Cursed by Haman” and “Blessed be Mordecai.”

No wonder the Sunday school teachers neglected to tell us about Purim!

But Memorial are a great idea.

Our calendar is dotted with dates dedicated to remembering defining moments in our nation’s history, and memorials honor war veterans, Holocaust victims, and great presidents.

These monuments give our past due significance and ultimately provide better perspective on our present.

They remind us that some things are worth remembering.

Esther 9:20-10:3

Secular Celebration

When we read about some of the merry making in the book of Esther many of us cringe.

H. A. Ironside criticizes the celebration of Purim as “a season of godless merry-making” that is “more patriotic than devotional in character.”

But Mordecai wrote these things to establish a celebration on Adar 14 & 15 (February/March) to remember and remind the Jews of how their sorrow had turned to joy when they defeated their enemies.

Although not stated dearly, the text implies that Mordecai’s earlier effort to establish Purim had not been completely successful.

Perhaps some Jews resented his imperious attitude.

This time, however, he wrote in a more irenic fashion.

Verse 31 again brings in the dual authority of “Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther” in support for the founding of Purim.

They weren’t going to let their deliverance go unnoticed by future generations and so they established a memorial that Jews are still, 2,500 years later are still celebrating.

This celebration is about their deliverance.

It’s interesting that during World War II the Nazis hated any mention of the Book of Esther.

In fact, one historian recorded that if a Jew arrived at one of the concentration camps with the Book of Esther in his or her possession, that Jew was immediately put to death.

The Nazis wanted no message of hope or deliverance whispered inside the barracks of the death camps.

Still, many of the inmates of Auschwitz, Dachau, and Treblinka produced written copies of the Book of Esther from memory and then huddled together, reading them quietly to each other in secret during the Feast days of Purim.

The memorial still gave them hope … even inside a camp that had marked them for death.

Secular celebration in a secular world

Designed to celebrate the liberation of a people group Saved by a courageous

woman allowing God to work through her, going before a king who stretched out his golden scepter and in wisdom they saved a nation

The concluding epilogue of Esther begins, as did the prologue in chapter 1, by noting the wealth and power of King Ahasuerus, who levied taxes on land and sea (v. 1) and whose “acts of his power and his might” were recorded in “the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia” (v. 2).

We do not know whether this book actually existed as one of the sources used by the author of Esther, or whether he in vented the book as part of his literary fiction.

No historical record by this name has been found to date.

Unlike the prologue of Esther, however, in this epilogue another man shares the spotlight with the king.

The royal records also include “the account of the greatness of Mordecai” (v. 2).

Verse 3 summarizes his stature: he was second only to the king; he was great and well-liked among the Jews; and he sought good for his people, both in deed and in word.

Probably the closest most American (non-Jewish) Christians will come to celebrating Purim is the Fourth of July, when once a year we become unabashedly patriotic.

We celebrate our national freedom and independence much as the Jews celebrate their deliverance from the evil plot of Haman.

God does not approve of sinful behavior though some made Purim about sin.

We know that we are not to engage in “filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting” (Eph.

5:4).

Paul urges his Ephesian readers not to “be drunk with wine,” but to “be filled with the Spirit” (Eph.

5:18).

And to the Romans he advises: “Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy” (Rom.

13:13).

Christians walk a fine line when it comes to the world.

On the one hand, John charges: “Do not love the world or the things in the world” (1 John 2:15).

Similarly, Paul calls us not to be “conformed to this world” (Rom 12:2).

On the other hand, Jesus sends His disciples into the world as His representatives (John 17:15–18).

Jesus himself confounded His Jewish critics by living in a way they considered too worldly.

His association with questionable people in questionable contexts led them to complain: “Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!” (Matt.

11:19).

According to his critics, Jesus compromised His holiness by touching a leper (Mark 1:40–41) and by allowing Himself to be touched by a prostitute

Sometimes we need to be a bit more secular in our thinking.

Trapped behind bible studies not in groups in the secular civic arena.

We look down upon ourselves when we do.

We we work outside of the church we see am I less then say the pastor but instead we are in position to do the most good where we can point others to the King.

As we have our minds transformed we cannot think like the world yet we need to engage the world.

Not God helping us in this world but God working through us.

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The Gospel According to Esther

When we read about the celebration of God’s work we remember that we are common sinners alienated from God.

But then God allows us to be adopted as sons and daughters into His royal family, where we’re given full rights and privileges as though we were part of his biological family all along (Ephesians 1:5).

And if that isn’t enough, He will also crown us as His bride and let us reign with Him in His future eternal kingdom (2 Timothy 2:12; Revelation 22:5).

From commoner to royalty … talk about a great reversal.

•You’ll trade the common clothes of mortality for the royal robes of immortality.

•You’ll trade the body of failure and imperfection for a glorified body that is sinless and perfected in holiness.

•You’ll trade the sorrow and sadness of earth for the joy and pleasure of heaven.

•You’ll trade the fear and uncertainty of speaking to an invisible God for the thrill and wonder of speaking to God … face-to-face.

How is this possible?

Because the King of kings has chosen you, a commoner, to be His bride.

Saved as a King stretched out his golden scepter shaped like a cross

Martin Luther wrote these profound words about this parallel between Esther and Christ:

On the third day after judgment transpired on the cross, Jesus Christ arose, guaranteeing safety to enter God’s presence to all who reach out in faith to touch the scepter which is in the shape of a cross.

- Martin Luther

It’s true, isn’t it?

The Father gladly receives the petition of the Son and welcomes all those who come through Him.

Jesus, our Intercessor, says, “[N]o one comes to the Father, but through Me” (John 14:6b).

In the last chapter of Esther, we’re told that Mordecai is second only to the king himself, and he used that power to promote the good of his people and seek the welfare of his whole nation (Esther 10:3).

That phrase literally reads he spoke shalom, which means he spoke peace.

What a great way to summarize the interceding work of both Esther and Mordecai on behalf of their people.

That word says it all: shalom … peace.

The only place you’ll find real peace on this planet is in the heart of someone who has been redeemed by Christ and reconciled to God.

It’s not a state of never-ending ecstasy or a happy thrill every day you climb out of bed;

Next Steps

What is your next steps?

Gospel

Need the king to reach out the septer

To heavenly to be any earthly good.

— Bibliography--

Jobes, Karen H. NIV Application Commentary: Esther.

Zondervan, 1999.

Roberts, Mark, and Lloyd J. Ogilvie.

Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther.

Vol.

11.

The Preacher’s Commentary Series.

Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1993.

Harris, W. Hall, III, Elliot Ritzema, Rick Brannan, Douglas Mangum, John Dunham, Jeffrey A. Reimer, and Micah Wierenga, eds.

The Lexham English Bible.

Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012.

Davey, Stephen.

Esther.

Wisdom Commentary Series.