Esther 2:1-23: Caught Between Two Worlds

Let me give you two quotes and then we'll go to the text.

The first from C.S. Lewis who says, "We live in enemy-occupied territory.

That is what the world is.

Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage." I like that picture.

This is enemy-occupied territory.

It was literally there in, uh, Persia, Medo-Persia, and it is for us today.

Jesus would say that we are to, listen, we are to be wise as serpents and what? Harmless as doves.

Wise as serpents and harmless as doves.

We feel that tension in the mission that God's called us to.

James David Hunter says this: "To be Christian is to be obliged to engage the world, pursuing God's restorative purposes all over.

Christians are called to be fully present and committed in their spheres of social influence, whatever they might be." We can't retreat.

We are to be salt that preserves the society in which we live.

We are to be light that exposes errors and illumines the truth of the gospel.

We must have what this author calls a faithful presence.

Faithful presence.

This is why we're just so committed here to making disciples, because people who just passively, uh, give acquiescence to, you know, I'm a, I'm a Christian, they're not on a mission of sabotage.

They're on a mission that tends to be more passive.

They're not on a mission that engages the spheres that God has put them.

They tend to be a bit more passive.

They're not giving a faithful presence, presence.

Now listen, Mordecai and Esther, they must have felt these tensions.

As the story unfolds, we're gonna see their faithful presence in Persia.

And, uh, uh, j- there's just much to enjoy in this story and much to learn, so let's dive in.

I've called this chapter Caught Between Two Worlds.

I think that captures that spirit of tension between being wise as serpents and harmless as doves.