WEBVTT 00:00:00.140 --> 00:00:02.100 I'm going to invite you to Esther chapter 9. 00:00:02.120 --> 00:00:03.380 Esther chapter 9 is where we are today. 00:00:03.380 --> 00:00:06.180 We're going to look at the last few verses of the Book of Esther. 00:00:06.200 --> 00:00:09.280 We're going to pick up in Esther chapter 9, verse 20. 00:00:09.340 --> 00:00:12.120 So this is it for us in the Book of Esther today. 00:00:12.120 --> 00:00:19.600 We've been in this story together, and we've seen the purpose of the Book of Esther is ultimately to explain to the people, 00:00:19.800 --> 00:00:25.490 not just what God did in their lives, but to also identify a particular holiday that they celebrate called Purim. 00:00:25.740 --> 00:00:32.780 And when you think about this holiday, and for many of you, it's probably, you may have not heard of Purim before, but it's 00:00:32.780 --> 00:00:34.520 to mark the story of Esther. 00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:41.720 And as we've read this story together, we have found that the Jews have gone through a very difficult, hard time, especially through the leadership 00:00:41.720 --> 00:00:44.280 of Xerxes and Haman. 00:00:44.600 --> 00:00:47.240 You remember, Xerxes was a king, all about his glory. 00:00:47.260 --> 00:00:50.740 His glory led to really the destruction of others. 00:00:51.300 --> 00:00:54.290 As he focused on himself, it was harmful to other people. 00:00:54.800 --> 00:00:57.600 And through his leadership, there comes one into power named Haman. 00:00:58.020 --> 00:01:03.060 Haman coerces Xerxes to writing a law to annihilate all the Jewish people. 00:01:03.060 --> 00:01:08.420 So the Jews are facing extermination, very difficult time for them. 00:01:08.660 --> 00:01:16.020 In the midst of that, the adversity of that moment, they could have gotten fixated on it, they could have gotten stuck there, 00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:22.540 but they found a way forward by finding hope in the Lord and their identity and him. 00:01:22.580 --> 00:01:29.580 And that's where the book really changes and pivots for us in Esther Chapter 4, when Mordecai and Esther, 00:01:29.580 --> 00:01:35.710 two of the main characters within the book, recognize God's hand of favor had been on them in the midst of adversity. 00:01:36.500 --> 00:01:43.740 And even more important than that, I said, and I've made this argument in this book that I think God's hand was upon the Jewish 00:01:43.740 --> 00:01:47.800 people even when the Jewish people weren't looking for the Lord. 00:01:48.580 --> 00:01:55.980 God was merciful and God was gracious to them and they found a way forward by putting their faith in 00:01:55.980 --> 00:01:56.560 God. 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:05.580 And in that, they created this Jewish holiday of Purim to commemorate how God had rescued them from the evil hands 00:02:05.580 --> 00:02:06.400 of Haman. 00:02:06.460 --> 00:02:11.340 In fact, last week on Thursday, was the Jewish celebration of Purim. 00:02:11.900 --> 00:02:17.640 And probably the best way to explain it in modern day, the way that it's celebrated today, it's kind of like Jewish Halloween. 00:02:18.220 --> 00:02:25.240 It's sort of taken on a form of its own, but it's a time where the Jewish people celebrate, they celebrate by dressing up in 00:02:25.240 --> 00:02:26.120 Purim. 00:02:26.260 --> 00:02:31.930 And they wear all kinds of costumes today, but a part of it is to mark how the Lord led... 00:02:32.160 --> 00:02:39.480 It's a picture of how the Lord led their people through a place of despair to a place of hope, and a place of shame 00:02:39.480 --> 00:02:43.020 and suffering to a place of rescue and identity in him. 00:02:43.100 --> 00:02:50.140 If you remember in the story, Mordecai, when he finds out that the Jews are facing extermination, he goes into the public square and he's in sack cloth and 00:02:50.140 --> 00:02:50.640 ashes. 00:02:50.740 --> 00:02:54.220 He's just pouring his heart out and weeping and crying. 00:02:54.660 --> 00:03:01.860 And then all of a sudden God's hand of favor comes upon them and now he finds himself in a royal robe that the Lord 00:03:01.860 --> 00:03:03.000 had delivered them. 00:03:03.000 --> 00:03:07.900 And he gets recognized before the king and he's elevated before King Xerxes. 00:03:07.940 --> 00:03:13.420 And so they go from sack cloth and ashes to really wearing royal robes. 00:03:13.660 --> 00:03:20.720 And so the Jews dress up to commemorate that, how they took on a new identity in God, and God turned their 00:03:20.720 --> 00:03:21.380 lives around. 00:03:21.440 --> 00:03:24.100 And they reflect that in the celebration of Purim. 00:03:24.100 --> 00:03:27.550 There's more to why they dress up but that's just one idea. 00:03:27.640 --> 00:03:35.100 And when I look at this story of the Jewish people, it reminds me of something important for all 00:03:35.100 --> 00:03:35.360 of us. 00:03:36.840 --> 00:03:45.940 You don't always have control of the hand you're dealt in life, but 00:03:45.940 --> 00:03:48.830 you do get to choose how you go through it. 00:03:50.640 --> 00:03:57.940 You don't always get to dictate your circumstances in life, but you do get to dictate how you choose to respond to those moments. 00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:01.520 And that's really what the Book of Esther is about. 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:10.520 In adversity, rather than get getting stuck in that adversity, rather than find their identity there, rather than refusing to move forward, they continued 00:04:10.520 --> 00:04:15.530 to press, but when they press, they look to the Lord for their answer. 00:04:15.660 --> 00:04:18.300 God was their ultimate source. 00:04:18.399 --> 00:04:21.459 And so that's what I'm going to talk about today, is four reasons to celebrate. 00:04:21.540 --> 00:04:28.700 Because at the end of this book, as they bring about this holiday called Purim, they find four reasons, or more than that really, 00:04:28.700 --> 00:04:33.740 to celebrate, but we're going to talk about four reasons to celebrate and make the applications to our lives. 00:04:33.800 --> 00:04:36.000 So this isn't exhausting... 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:38.040 exhaustive, and it's exhausting. 00:04:38.160 --> 00:04:45.400 We're going to celebrate till we're exhausted, but this is not exhaustive in its presentation, but I want to find four reasons for us to celebrate, and 00:04:45.400 --> 00:04:49.200 four reasons the Jews threw a party really, and four reasons why you should too. 00:04:49.640 --> 00:04:54.520 And number one is this, in your notes, celebration is fitting for salvation. 00:04:54.600 --> 00:05:01.720 And there's no better reason to celebrate as when your life is coming to an end and all of a sudden it turns a corner and you get 00:05:01.720 --> 00:05:03.320 the opportunity to celebrate. 00:05:03.580 --> 00:05:08.860 And that's what the Jews find, is this place of death now come to life. 00:05:08.860 --> 00:05:12.720 And Esther Chapter 9, verse 20, it goes like this. 00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:19.780 It says, "Mordecai recorded these events and he sent letters to all the Jews who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuersus," 00:05:19.780 --> 00:05:27.180 or King Xerxes, as some translations will say, "Both near and far, this letter goes out, obliging them to celebrate 00:05:27.180 --> 00:05:31.660 the 14th day of the month of Adar and the 15th day of the same month annually. 00:05:32.860 --> 00:05:40.320 Because on those days, the Jews rid themselves other enemies, and it was a month which was turned for them from sorrow 00:05:40.320 --> 00:05:47.660 into gladness and from mourning into a holiday, that they should make them 00:05:47.660 --> 00:05:54.800 days of feasting and rejoicing and sending portions of food to one another and gifts to the poor." I think that 00:05:54.800 --> 00:06:01.820 in this description of what's happened for the Jewish people, Haman wants to kill them and all of a sudden they come before the king and 00:06:01.820 --> 00:06:03.220 the king decides to spare them. 00:06:03.280 --> 00:06:08.220 Not only does he spare them, it leads to the execution of Haman, who was against the Jewish people. 00:06:08.820 --> 00:06:12.620 And now they find this physical salvation in the Lord. 00:06:12.620 --> 00:06:19.760 But more than just physical salvation, I think they find an ultimate hope that extends just beyond the physicality of life, 00:06:19.860 --> 00:06:22.180 but eternally in God. 00:06:22.200 --> 00:06:29.320 Because through this story, as they find themselves physically spared in God, they see a God who is with them, a God who is for them, a God who brings them 00:06:29.320 --> 00:06:30.480 a future and a hope. 00:06:31.800 --> 00:06:39.160 And in this hope, they ultimately discover a salvation that, yes, it's about physical life, but deeper than that, it's about spiritual 00:06:39.160 --> 00:06:41.560 life that they've discovered in God. 00:06:41.620 --> 00:06:48.680 And I think that one of the most beautiful phrases in the passage that encapsulates that is this idea of sorrow into 00:06:48.680 --> 00:06:49.480 gladness. 00:06:52.080 --> 00:06:59.080 I think for us, in Jesus, it's a beautiful description of what happens in the life of 00:06:59.080 --> 00:07:01.360 a believer that comes to Christ. 00:07:03.660 --> 00:07:07.760 And celebrating; we talk about celebrating this morning. 00:07:08.600 --> 00:07:15.720 It's not to the forgetfulness or the exclusion of adversity, but it puts into perspective what 00:07:15.720 --> 00:07:19.800 we ultimately have in the Lord through adversity that we face. 00:07:21.780 --> 00:07:28.420 And what I mean, is when we talk about celebrating, it's not to say, look, ignore all the bad things that you've had happen to you in your life and just focus on the good things, right? 00:07:28.600 --> 00:07:32.280 That's not a very healthy picture at all for us to go through. 00:07:32.660 --> 00:07:39.840 I think it's important to understand and walk through the whole experience of the human life and to be honest with the adversity that we face, 00:07:40.200 --> 00:07:45.180 but to not do so at the despair of hope that we ultimately receive in Jesus. 00:07:45.340 --> 00:07:52.520 And so this is what we're talking about here, is recognizing there is sorrow, but greater than that in Christ, there is a gladness, and that gladness is worth celebrating because as long 00:07:52.520 --> 00:07:58.100 as you have God, you have ultimate victory, because Jesus brings that ultimate salvation for us. 00:07:58.160 --> 00:08:06.480 Now, when you think in terms of Christianity, I recognize in walking this Christian life that some people are really good at 00:08:06.480 --> 00:08:09.520 sorrow and horrible at celebration. 00:08:10.920 --> 00:08:17.940 And some people are really good at celebration and at completely ignoring the adversity that 00:08:17.940 --> 00:08:22.740 they face in life, but the thought of Purim is about walking in both. 00:08:25.260 --> 00:08:29.440 Ultimate celebration in the Lord's deliverance and a God who is near. 00:08:31.320 --> 00:08:38.440 Celebration is a time certainly worthy in salvation, but even Esther, she says this in verse 31, wanting the Jews to have a proper 00:08:38.440 --> 00:08:45.640 perspective, not just of celebration in Purim, but also to realize what God had brought them through. 00:08:45.880 --> 00:08:53.000 Verse 31, she says this, Esther says, "To establish these days of Purim at their appointed times, just as Mordecai the Jew and the Queen 00:08:53.000 --> 00:09:00.120 Esther had established them for them and just as they had established for themselves and for the descendants with instructions for their times 00:09:00.120 --> 00:09:02.420 of fasting and their lamentations. 00:09:03.040 --> 00:09:10.080 The command of Esther established these customs for Purim, and it was written in the book." You might be wondering why in the world that little 00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:12.840 picture is there at the bottom, but let me explain. 00:09:12.840 --> 00:09:19.640 When the Jews would celebrate Purim and even to today, the way the celebration begins is actually with fasting. 00:09:20.100 --> 00:09:22.920 They have a day of fasting and then two days of celebration. 00:09:24.800 --> 00:09:28.970 And at the day of fasting, they would gather together and they would read the Book of Esther. 00:09:29.260 --> 00:09:36.400 And when they would read the Book of Esther, anytime the name Haman's mentioned they hiss and boo at the thought of Haman, 00:09:36.560 --> 00:09:38.860 because he represents destruction of God's people. 00:09:39.320 --> 00:09:46.520 And young children, they actually hand to them a rattle and the kids will swing this rattle and it makes this rattle noise whenever Haman's name is 00:09:46.520 --> 00:09:47.120 mentioned. 00:09:48.380 --> 00:09:55.660 But in this time of Purim, one of the things that Esther says to the people here as they're laying out in Chapter 9 how this celebration 00:09:55.660 --> 00:09:56.420 is to go. 00:09:56.900 --> 00:10:00.520 She says, I want it to begin with a place of fasting. 00:10:02.260 --> 00:10:09.380 And you remember in the story where the Jews entered into this position of fasting, it was right when they got the law written by 00:10:09.380 --> 00:10:11.520 Haman that led to their extermination. 00:10:13.460 --> 00:10:19.820 And this place of fasting was to recognize for them this place of desperation that they had apart from God. 00:10:21.980 --> 00:10:29.120 Whenever we think about the Christian life and who we are in Jesus, I think it's important for us to begin 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:31.020 with who we are apart from Jesus. 00:10:31.100 --> 00:10:38.260 In fact, there's none of us that truly turn to God for salvation without first recognizing why it's important we even call 00:10:38.260 --> 00:10:39.000 Jesus savior. 00:10:40.580 --> 00:10:47.880 Jesus didn't simply come to this world to present a good idea for us, or to help us follow a good pattern in our life, Jesus came 00:10:47.880 --> 00:10:54.340 into this world as the sole rescuer, only capable of bringing your soul from darkness into light in him. 00:10:54.400 --> 00:10:56.880 He is the only way forward in life. 00:10:56.880 --> 00:10:59.200 Apart from Jesus, there is no path. 00:11:03.060 --> 00:11:04.100 We're in a place of desperation. 00:11:06.900 --> 00:11:12.260 We're in a place of brokenness, a place of sinfulness. 00:11:16.200 --> 00:11:23.280 When I think about hardship in life, I don't want to intentionally pursue a 00:11:23.280 --> 00:11:30.500 life of adversity, but the obstacles that we face are 00:11:30.500 --> 00:11:37.500 oftentimes a great reminder of the good things that we will have in Jesus one day when he eradicates 00:11:37.500 --> 00:11:38.670 all sin. 00:11:40.280 --> 00:11:48.540 And I think that's what Esther is doing with this festival of Purim, she's saying, look, you know what makes this holiday so sweet is 00:11:48.540 --> 00:11:55.840 for us to really recognize how gracious God's hand has been to us, and the way that we do that is to remind us of 00:11:55.900 --> 00:12:03.330 where we've come from, and the thing that brings us to that place to remind us of where we've come from is to fast. 00:12:04.200 --> 00:12:08.990 Biblically speaking, fasting is a practice done throughout the Old and New Testament. 00:12:09.260 --> 00:12:16.260 And when you think about what fasting represents, from the garden of Eden, we see in Adam and Eve's life that 00:12:16.260 --> 00:12:18.560 Adam and Eve were created to eat. 00:12:20.290 --> 00:12:23.460 There's the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and God tells them not to eat from it. 00:12:23.460 --> 00:12:27.240 And the very beginning of creation, they're designed to eat. 00:12:27.520 --> 00:12:33.060 And in that garden, God was seen as the one who would supply what they needed in order to provide for their life. 00:12:33.060 --> 00:12:40.340 And so anytime someone fasts it's this innate recognition within the depth of the soul that we're created 00:12:40.340 --> 00:12:46.100 to be made whole by something outside of ourselves, and it's our creator who does that. 00:12:46.180 --> 00:12:53.160 So physical fasting, because this reminder to our lives in a spiritual sense that God is the supplier of all things that we need. 00:12:53.180 --> 00:13:00.340 And so they began the feast of Purim to recognize the lack and inadequacies of what they had within themselves as 00:13:00.380 --> 00:13:07.620 human beings, apart from a God who revealed themselves to him and showed favor to them and rescued their lives. 00:13:09.020 --> 00:13:13.480 And it's oftentimes as a pastor I get phone calls throughout the week, people going through difficult things. 00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:20.520 And I know a lot of times we go through difficult things we will just want to immediately figure out how we can not feel that experience again. 00:13:20.540 --> 00:13:20.660 Right? 00:13:20.900 --> 00:13:21.780 How can I get out of this? 00:13:21.780 --> 00:13:28.940 I don't like how this makes me feel in this place that I'm in, and I want to know what the right answer is so I can quickly ignore this 00:13:28.940 --> 00:13:29.810 and get on with life. 00:13:29.840 --> 00:13:33.060 How do I move past this to all the happy celebration things? 00:13:33.280 --> 00:13:40.320 But there's an important component of the adversity we face in life just in that moment, especially 00:13:40.320 --> 00:13:48.080 if it's self-inflicted, to recognize what really got us here, so 00:13:48.080 --> 00:13:55.230 that we can see the evidence of God's grace more brightly in our lives as we look towards that solution. 00:13:56.860 --> 00:14:02.140 And that's how this day of Purim began, that celebration is fitting for salvation. 00:14:02.620 --> 00:14:09.720 And Esther wanted her people to have that moment in the midst of holidays to truly appreciate how 00:14:09.940 --> 00:14:12.720 God had intervened within their lives. 00:14:12.800 --> 00:14:18.980 In fact, one of my favorite people in history of Christianity is a man by the name of Charles Spurgeon. 00:14:19.620 --> 00:14:22.000 And Charles Spurgeon, he's considered the prince of preachers. 00:14:22.860 --> 00:14:25.200 He was in England in the 1800s. 00:14:25.260 --> 00:14:29.170 He had I guess what we would refer today as a mega church. 00:14:29.780 --> 00:14:32.680 And in his church, thousands of people would gather together. 00:14:33.340 --> 00:14:40.340 And this was before you had microphones, so you can imagine how hard it would be to project when you're teaching thousands of people at one 00:14:40.340 --> 00:14:41.040 time. 00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:48.440 And his ministry was considered so popular that the local newspapers every Sunday would show up to the church just 00:14:48.440 --> 00:14:54.980 to figure out what they could write about for the week for the town, because whatever Spurgeon said kind of led the way for the community. 00:14:55.000 --> 00:15:00.460 And so on Monday morning you would get Spurgeon's lectures in the local newspapers because it was such a place of influence. 00:15:01.080 --> 00:15:04.260 This is before stadiums would gather large groups like this. 00:15:04.280 --> 00:15:06.840 It was initially began here in the church. 00:15:06.840 --> 00:15:09.380 And so Spurgeon's place was the place. 00:15:09.380 --> 00:15:12.440 If you wanted to know what was happening in town, that's where you went. 00:15:12.740 --> 00:15:19.740 But one of the things that made Spurgeon such a powerful figure in England is that Spurgeon struggled with depression 00:15:19.740 --> 00:15:23.280 deeply, and said through his ministry... 00:15:23.280 --> 00:15:28.560 There was 70 other ministries that were born and just a place of heavy influence. 00:15:28.580 --> 00:15:35.700 And one of the things I think that made him so attractional as a leader, why people loved to hear him and gather around him and listen to how 00:15:35.700 --> 00:15:42.840 he taught God's word, was that he connected at such a depth in his soul as he communicated that people could relate to it 00:15:42.940 --> 00:15:43.900 very easily. 00:15:44.500 --> 00:15:51.660 Spurgeon in his own struggles and his personal life learned to see the beauty of Jesus in all of it. 00:15:52.140 --> 00:15:53.840 And it came out in the way that he taught. 00:15:53.960 --> 00:16:01.340 In fact, he encouraged, knowing that he was a person that struggled with depression, he said this: "My dear friends, when grief presses you 00:16:01.340 --> 00:16:06.980 to the dust, worship there." Worship there. 00:16:07.320 --> 00:16:10.100 And this is exactly what happened to the Jews. 00:16:10.440 --> 00:16:12.380 This is Spurgeon's encouragement to us. 00:16:12.400 --> 00:16:19.740 And the reason Spurgeon says this, the reason Esther wrote about this in verse 31, that we would fast, 00:16:19.920 --> 00:16:27.160 is because both of them had learned experientially and through the truth of God's word that is where you meet the Lord 00:16:27.160 --> 00:16:28.560 and the Lord is faithful. 00:16:31.400 --> 00:16:34.700 And he turns our mourning to a place of celebration. 00:16:34.700 --> 00:16:42.720 Psalm 30, verse 5 says this, "Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning." Now, 00:16:42.760 --> 00:16:50.140 I even think in America, our popular holidays are rooted in a similar idea of the thought of Purim, that in 00:16:50.140 --> 00:16:53.640 Purim there's this place of weeping, but in weeping it turns to rejoicing. 00:16:53.720 --> 00:17:00.020 And our biggest holidays in America, if I talk about maybe the big four holidays, it's a place of finding freedom. 00:17:00.020 --> 00:17:04.280 When you think of Easter, it's this place of darkness in the life, in Christ. 00:17:04.280 --> 00:17:07.220 Or 4th of July, it's a place of freedom. 00:17:07.220 --> 00:17:10.800 Or Thanksgiving, we don't have enough food and now we have food and the Lord provided. 00:17:11.540 --> 00:17:18.859 It's finding God's hand of graciousness, or Christmas is the same thing, this idea of a 00:17:18.940 --> 00:17:23.180 place of great need and ultimately turned to great celebration. 00:17:25.020 --> 00:17:32.440 And in Christ, there is a place that in ourselves, we mourn in brokenness, but 00:17:32.440 --> 00:17:35.750 in Jesus, we end in victory. 00:17:38.240 --> 00:17:42.860 For the Jews, the idea of Purim became this place of ultimate victory for us. 00:17:42.900 --> 00:17:49.880 And it's a reminder to us that no matter how dark the day is, that in Jesus, there is always a way forward. 00:17:50.120 --> 00:17:52.400 There is always hope to come in him. 00:17:52.640 --> 00:17:54.820 Point number one, celebration is fitting for salvation. 00:17:55.340 --> 00:17:59.360 Point number two, genuine celebration shapes you. 00:17:59.580 --> 00:18:07.360 And in verse 22, genuine celebration shapes you, and verse 22, it reminds us not only does it turn sorrow into gladness, but 00:18:07.360 --> 00:18:10.500 also mourning into a holiday. 00:18:10.520 --> 00:18:11.760 Mourning into a holiday. 00:18:12.920 --> 00:18:18.560 Anything that takes us from mourning to a holiday requires a celebration. 00:18:18.960 --> 00:18:22.720 But most importantly, this idea of holiday is significant here. 00:18:24.180 --> 00:18:31.960 Things that we are about, things that feel important to us as people, we tend to put 00:18:31.960 --> 00:18:38.700 them on a pedestal and we honor them and they start to shape us. 00:18:39.740 --> 00:18:46.600 As we look at that object or that event, maybe; maybe it's not just something physical, but it's something experiential that happened to us. 00:18:46.620 --> 00:18:52.920 As we think about that thing, that's important to us we sort of elevate it in our lives and we continue to come back to it and look to it. 00:18:52.980 --> 00:18:58.700 And it sort of marks us or shapes us in the way that we think and how we act as people. 00:18:58.700 --> 00:19:04.360 It becomes that monumental moment that we find a lot of our identity in. 00:19:04.860 --> 00:19:08.950 And the idea of holiday carries that same perspective. 00:19:10.060 --> 00:19:17.100 And you can learn a lot about a person by what they celebrate, because what you celebrate is a revelation of what really 00:19:17.100 --> 00:19:18.140 is in your heart. 00:19:19.620 --> 00:19:23.610 And when I say celebration, we're talking about a genuine celebration. 00:19:23.800 --> 00:19:30.780 We can go through holidays and go through the motion of holidays and it really has no effect on us, it's just, we kind of show up because that's what you're supposed to do for holidays. 00:19:31.800 --> 00:19:38.840 In some instances, maybe, you might think of a holiday that you really don't enjoy so you just go through the practices of family tradition because 00:19:38.840 --> 00:19:39.920 that's just what you do. 00:19:40.220 --> 00:19:47.420 But I'm talking about a genuine celebration, what your heart really is inclined to, what you appreciate the most and look forward to in 00:19:47.420 --> 00:19:47.800 life. 00:19:47.840 --> 00:19:55.180 Whatever calls your heart to well up inside and you're so excited about it, and you want to express it, that is the intention behind what 00:19:55.680 --> 00:19:59.500 holiday is intended to mean for us. 00:19:59.540 --> 00:20:04.100 The idea of holiday, it really gets its root from holy day. 00:20:05.500 --> 00:20:12.700 Another way of saying holiday is holy day, and holy day is this thought of setting it apart. 00:20:14.240 --> 00:20:19.240 And the reason that we want to set it apart is because it should shape us. 00:20:19.560 --> 00:20:26.560 And so therefore when we come to that, we should be genuine in the approach to it because of how monumental it is intended to be 00:20:26.560 --> 00:20:27.440 for our lives. 00:20:30.720 --> 00:20:38.930 And so when you think about holidays that we celebrate as a country, that is the purpose behind it that is intended to shape a people. 00:20:40.120 --> 00:20:47.360 In fact, I would even say in a very practical sense as Christians, if we don't desire holiness in our faith with 00:20:47.360 --> 00:20:50.010 Christ, we shouldn't call ourselves Christians. 00:20:52.660 --> 00:20:55.320 Holiness carries this idea of being set apart. 00:20:55.620 --> 00:21:03.780 If you don't desire holiness in Jesus, you shouldn't be following Jesus, because 00:21:03.780 --> 00:21:11.280 the whole point of following Jesus is for Jesus to shape you and to mold you, as 00:21:11.280 --> 00:21:13.370 you look at the sacredness of who he is. 00:21:13.760 --> 00:21:19.640 You elevate him and as you gaze upon him, he transforms your life. 00:21:20.660 --> 00:21:27.880 Verse 23 to 25 it goes on from there, "Thus the Jews undertook what they had started to do and what Mordecai had written to them. 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:35.100 For Haman, the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the adversary of all the Jews had schemed against the Jews to destroy them and 00:21:35.100 --> 00:21:39.860 had cast Pur, that is the lot, to disturb them and destroy them. 00:21:40.180 --> 00:21:47.520 But when it came to the King's attention, he commanded by letter that his wicked scheme which he had devised against the Jews should return 00:21:47.520 --> 00:21:54.600 on his own head so that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows." So Haman comes in 00:21:54.600 --> 00:21:56.380 to kill the Jews. 00:21:56.460 --> 00:21:58.970 You know how the story goes if you've been a part of the series together. 00:21:59.600 --> 00:22:06.170 The way that Haman decides to kill the Jews is he casts lots, he literally rolls the dice. 00:22:07.020 --> 00:22:12.560 And so when the Jews came to this particular day, they said, we've seen God's hand and the way that he has preserved us. 00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:14.040 What shall we call this day? 00:22:15.300 --> 00:22:17.240 And they decided to call it the day of the dice. 00:22:18.800 --> 00:22:25.960 And it was to remind them of the desperate place that they were when Haman had cast the dice to land 00:22:25.960 --> 00:22:28.240 on a particular day to kill the Jews. 00:22:29.640 --> 00:22:37.460 But it was a reminder to the Jews in calling it the day of the dice that though Haman may have cast the dice, God 00:22:37.460 --> 00:22:39.860 was in control of the way that they landed. 00:22:41.820 --> 00:22:48.840 And it was a picture for them in moving forward in life, and it's a reminder for all of us that wherever you walk in this world 00:22:48.840 --> 00:22:56.100 and no matter how difficult things may seem, the Lord is there and the Lord is with you, 00:22:56.620 --> 00:22:58.030 and he goes before you. 00:22:59.040 --> 00:23:06.300 And though others may try to cast dice against you, God is in control of how they ultimately land. 00:23:07.060 --> 00:23:09.900 Genuine celebration shapes you. 00:23:10.040 --> 00:23:14.580 Point number three, celebration also connects you. 00:23:16.140 --> 00:23:17.360 Celebration also connects you. 00:23:17.380 --> 00:23:24.400 In verse 26 to 28, they also recognize this, that "Therefore they called these days Purim after the name of Pur, and because the 00:23:24.400 --> 00:23:31.800 instructions in this letter, both what they had seen in this regard and what had happened to them, the Jews established and made it custom for themselves and 00:23:31.800 --> 00:23:38.820 for their descendants and for all of those who of those who allied themselves with them, so they would not fail to celebrate 00:23:38.820 --> 00:23:44.640 these two days according to the regulation and according to their appointed time annually. 00:23:44.640 --> 00:23:51.720 So these days were to be remembered and celebrated through every generation and every family, every province and 00:23:51.720 --> 00:23:58.800 every city, and these days of Purim were not to fail from among the Jews or their memory fade from 00:23:58.800 --> 00:24:05.180 their descendants." Celebration connects you. 00:24:05.180 --> 00:24:12.310 And you see this here in verse 28, they're saying, look, this event was so important we want it to shape not only our identity today, 00:24:12.440 --> 00:24:17.780 but for all generations, because it's a reminder of a God who is for us in the midst of adversity. 00:24:17.780 --> 00:24:24.800 And as long as you have a God who is for you always have reason to celebrate because in the end, God always wins. 00:24:24.800 --> 00:24:31.560 And through this victory, as God's people, it connects all of us throughout all generations, among all people groups through throughout this world. 00:24:33.320 --> 00:24:40.460 And so they wanted this holiday to transpire and to move forth for all 00:24:40.460 --> 00:24:47.480 of God's people to continue to find this moment as important in a way to mark their identity in God's presence as 00:24:47.640 --> 00:24:47.860 his people. 00:24:49.600 --> 00:24:56.800 Because I recognize in the Christian faith, it's not even just about a holiday that this has to happen, that there are moments in 00:24:56.800 --> 00:25:04.100 your specific life that as you follow Jesus, that you can look back upon and continue to celebrate, have your own little party about what 00:25:04.100 --> 00:25:11.120 God has done in your life and it becomes important because there are places that you continue to remind yourself of who you are now in Christ, especially 00:25:11.120 --> 00:25:19.020 as you face adversity in this life, you go back to these markers and they continue to play over and over in your mind as to why, in 00:25:19.020 --> 00:25:22.860 Jesus, your position matters because of what he's done for you. 00:25:23.360 --> 00:25:30.560 In fact, after second service, I know I'm going to talk about baptism with some people and why that's important as a marker 00:25:30.580 --> 00:25:31.850 in your Christian life. 00:25:31.880 --> 00:25:39.390 But one of the things I love about talking about baptism is in Christian history, especially for the first three centuries, 00:25:39.940 --> 00:25:42.980 Christians were heavily persecuted for their faith. 00:25:44.380 --> 00:25:51.540 And they got to a place where they begin to recognize if I'm going to die for my faith, I really want to articulate what it is I'm going 00:25:51.540 --> 00:25:52.040 to die for. 00:25:53.660 --> 00:25:58.660 And when they were baptized in the early church, they would recite creeds. 00:26:00.640 --> 00:26:04.080 In Jerusalem, they would recite what's called the Old Jerusalem creed. 00:26:04.100 --> 00:26:06.650 In Rome, they would recite what was the Old Roman creed. 00:26:07.060 --> 00:26:14.220 And both of those creeds, they came later to be known as the Apostles' Creed, and the Apostles' Creed became this place 00:26:14.220 --> 00:26:18.710 where they found an identity of what they represent in Jesus. 00:26:19.200 --> 00:26:26.580 And it not only became something that represented them individually as they were baptized and proclaiming their faith in Christ, but this creed 00:26:26.580 --> 00:26:29.260 became something that connected Christians throughout all generations. 00:26:30.720 --> 00:26:33.300 "I believe in God, the father, almighty maker of heaven and maker of earth. 00:26:33.840 --> 00:26:41.520 Jesus Christ his only begotten." It's this anthem that God's people 00:26:41.520 --> 00:26:48.660 have resonated with and found identity, not only personally in the Lord, but corporately, connected to one another throughout all 00:26:48.660 --> 00:26:51.640 generations because of what God has done. 00:26:53.260 --> 00:26:57.860 That celebration of God's salvation connecting us in him. 00:26:59.760 --> 00:27:05.920 And number four, and I think this is probably the most important, at least for me and maybe for you. 00:27:08.020 --> 00:27:13.500 But godly celebration promotes peace and truth. 00:27:14.380 --> 00:27:22.420 I think it's important to remark here, we're not just talking about celebration for the sake of celebration, but 00:27:22.480 --> 00:27:24.480 this celebration rooted in the Lord. 00:27:26.860 --> 00:27:32.960 Godly celebration promotes peace and truth. 00:27:33.040 --> 00:27:41.400 And most of our celebrations, I find, especially maybe in America, becomes self-absorbed. 00:27:43.260 --> 00:27:44.420 It becomes very me-centric. 00:27:46.340 --> 00:27:53.620 It becomes an idolatrous excuse for greed and things that are toxic to the soul rather than beneficial 00:27:53.620 --> 00:27:54.640 for the soul. 00:27:57.660 --> 00:28:03.620 But I don't think God intends celebration to be that way, especially when we caveat it with the idea of godly celebration. 00:28:05.460 --> 00:28:09.680 You remember how the Book of Esther starts; it starts with a celebration. 00:28:11.000 --> 00:28:17.080 Kings Xerxes, Chapter 1, verse 5 wants the children of Israel to gather together and... 00:28:17.520 --> 00:28:21.740 Or excuse me, not just Israel but the people of Persia to gather together and celebrate, really, his glory. 00:28:23.040 --> 00:28:30.120 And his glory is all about his selfishness and it's built on lies that we discover later, that Haman, there's 00:28:30.120 --> 00:28:37.220 another celebration that happens in the life of Haman, and Haman wants that celebration selfishly in his favor and the Jews won't bow 00:28:37.220 --> 00:28:37.940 to him. 00:28:37.960 --> 00:28:44.250 And so he gets mad at Mordecai and in order to destroy Mordecai, he starts to lie about the Jewish people. 00:28:45.960 --> 00:28:53.200 When we make celebration about self it becomes destructive to our soul 00:28:53.200 --> 00:28:54.820 and really to others. 00:28:56.360 --> 00:29:05.880 But godly celebration, godly celebration promotes peace, and 00:29:05.880 --> 00:29:06.560 it promotes truth. 00:29:07.880 --> 00:29:15.000 Verse 29 to 32, it says like this "Then Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail, with 00:29:15.040 --> 00:29:19.800 Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm the second letter about Purim. 00:29:20.660 --> 00:29:28.380 He sent letters to all the Jews to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Xerxes, namely words 00:29:28.380 --> 00:29:35.860 of peace and truth." When God's presence has 00:29:35.860 --> 00:29:43.340 been made known to his people, it's a mark of peace and 00:29:43.340 --> 00:29:44.460 truth that comes with it. 00:29:46.440 --> 00:29:52.260 Because God's hand, acting on his people's behalf, becomes a place of deliverance and blessing. 00:29:55.580 --> 00:30:02.800 Jesus, when he walked this earth, his declaration to us 00:30:02.800 --> 00:30:04.120 is peace. 00:30:06.380 --> 00:30:15.900 "Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest." When 00:30:15.900 --> 00:30:22.940 you think about the way Esther starts with a party and the way Esther ends, it's a beautiful 00:30:22.940 --> 00:30:24.310 contrasting in the story. 00:30:24.520 --> 00:30:31.420 Esther Chapter 1, verse 5, they celebrate selfishly to honor the king. 00:30:31.620 --> 00:30:33.200 The king's all about boasting in himself. 00:30:33.320 --> 00:30:36.090 It leads to the destruction of the Jews. 00:30:36.440 --> 00:30:43.660 But in Esther Chapter 10, after God's people turn back to him after, after Esther and Mordecai turn back and they lead the children of Israel to 00:30:43.660 --> 00:30:50.660 the Lord, Esther Chapter 10, "Now King Xerxes laid a tribute on the land and on the coastlands of the sea and all the 00:30:50.660 --> 00:30:58.350 accomplishment of his authority and strength and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, 00:30:58.460 --> 00:31:03.900 and are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia? 00:31:04.320 --> 00:31:11.600 For Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Xerxes and great among the Jews and in favor with 00:31:11.600 --> 00:31:18.740 his many kinsmen, one who sought the good of his people and one who spoke for the welfare of 00:31:18.740 --> 00:31:25.740 his whole nation." In the beginning, you see a man all 00:31:25.740 --> 00:31:28.340 about himself, the destruction of others. 00:31:29.440 --> 00:31:34.620 But in the end you see a picture of a different man, who's given his life over to the Lord. 00:31:35.640 --> 00:31:42.760 And in giving his life over to the Lord, he's discovered peace and the truth of God, and discovering peace and the truth of God, 00:31:43.280 --> 00:31:50.320 he now uses his life to celebrate the presence of that God, and to present that same peace and truth 00:31:50.320 --> 00:31:51.690 to others as well. 00:31:51.800 --> 00:31:55.280 And through him, others become blessed. 00:31:58.220 --> 00:31:59.140 Godly celebration. 00:32:01.020 --> 00:32:07.100 Godly celebration promotes peace and truth. 00:32:07.780 --> 00:32:14.200 When I think about the importance of celebration in our lives, it reminds me of this story. 00:32:17.820 --> 00:32:24.780 When 2020 hit, I had just finished a book on church history. 00:32:24.980 --> 00:32:29.080 And I wrote in my notes on my phone, just one word: Blandina. 00:32:30.100 --> 00:32:36.020 Blandina, I wrote, because I had just read about her story. 00:32:36.200 --> 00:32:41.560 And Blandina is for me, she's a picture of really an Esther type of life. 00:32:43.030 --> 00:32:44.940 Blandina, she grew up as a... 00:32:45.320 --> 00:32:49.000 Born in slavery, grew up as a slave girl in France. 00:32:49.420 --> 00:32:57.260 And she had physical struggles in her life, but she grew up as a slave in France and she grew as a believer who 00:32:57.260 --> 00:32:58.700 was a slave in France. 00:32:58.700 --> 00:33:04.570 And the way Blandina became a believer is a man by the name of Polycarp sent Christians... 00:33:04.880 --> 00:33:11.920 Polycarp was a minister in Smyrna in the west of Turkey and he sent missionaries in 00:33:11.920 --> 00:33:14.180 the middle of the second century to France. 00:33:15.100 --> 00:33:18.820 And some of you may read that and say that's lion with a Y, but it's pronounced Lyon. 00:33:19.780 --> 00:33:26.840 So in Lyon, France, this Polycarp sent missionaries into this town, and in 00:33:26.840 --> 00:33:30.020 177 AD the town turned on Christians. 00:33:31.480 --> 00:33:38.060 And they brought them into this coliseum and they started to persecute them. 00:33:38.220 --> 00:33:45.420 In fact, they brought them out in front of the lions, they stuck them on poles and they lit them on fire, and the city 00:33:45.420 --> 00:33:48.440 gathered and they were entertained by the destruction of these Christians. 00:33:48.940 --> 00:33:50.040 They hated the Christians. 00:33:52.240 --> 00:33:59.300 But in the midst of this group, there was a pastor by the name of Pothinus, who at 92 years old, 00:34:00.380 --> 00:34:03.180 he was drug before people, he was burned. 00:34:03.320 --> 00:34:08.840 They would heat up metal grates and they would attach it to your body and just sear your body to torture you. 00:34:09.400 --> 00:34:14.850 And after they tortured him, they threw him into a prison cell that's about the size of a modern-day dishwasher. 00:34:15.900 --> 00:34:22.480 And there he died, and as he died in that prison cell, they also brought a young lady named Blandina. 00:34:25.060 --> 00:34:29.510 And she was brought before the people, and she was tied to a pole and the wild animals were released. 00:34:31.300 --> 00:34:35.880 And when the wild animals gathered around her, it's said that they refused to eat her. 00:34:37.620 --> 00:34:41.480 But she stood there faithfully, praising the Lord. 00:34:43.100 --> 00:34:46.949 And the crowd became angry that the animals refused to eat her. 00:34:47.620 --> 00:34:55.060 But the Christians who were all set to die that day looked out at Blandina as she continued to worship the Lord on the pole and 00:34:55.060 --> 00:34:57.780 they remarked that she was just like Jesus. 00:35:00.720 --> 00:35:07.800 As Jesus hung on a cross to die for us and in complete faithfulness and praise to the Lord, he says 00:35:07.800 --> 00:35:14.590 he despised the shame, he endured the cross for the greater hope that was to come; that's what Hebrews tells us. 00:35:16.260 --> 00:35:23.340 And they looked at Blandina, and here she was on this pole, this cross, with all these animals gathered around her to 00:35:23.340 --> 00:35:24.460 destroy her body. 00:35:24.800 --> 00:35:29.820 And she continued to praise and worshiped the Lord in the midst of that difficult moment. 00:35:30.420 --> 00:35:38.960 And they said because of her faithfulness, as the other Christians were brought into this arena, they now had hope, that 00:35:38.960 --> 00:35:40.780 her life became an example to him. 00:35:40.840 --> 00:35:43.960 And they actually removed her from this pole and they took her out. 00:35:43.960 --> 00:35:51.100 And each day they had this festivity at this coliseum and persecuted Christians, they brought Blandina before them to watch the death of her 00:35:51.100 --> 00:35:51.520 friends. 00:35:52.360 --> 00:35:59.400 And finally, on the last day, they brought her back out again and they tortured her and they burned her body 00:36:00.020 --> 00:36:01.730 and they fed her to the wild animals again. 00:36:02.260 --> 00:36:09.600 And still she was alive and so they wrapped her body in nets and they threw her before a bull and the bull gored 00:36:09.600 --> 00:36:14.440 her, and eventually, still alive, she met the end of her life by dagger. 00:36:16.880 --> 00:36:24.660 But what was remarked about Blandina, they say this in history, "She faced her death rejoicing, 00:36:26.200 --> 00:36:34.900 as if being called to a marriage feast rather than wild beasts." I 00:36:34.920 --> 00:36:42.120 think the idea of these holidays, what's important for God's people to recognize is that while in this moment in Purim, 00:36:42.120 --> 00:36:49.640 the Jews faced a freedom from the physical harm that was to come to them, it's 00:36:49.640 --> 00:36:56.760 a picture of what we ultimately get in Christ, no matter what, that at the end of the day, all of us will meet 00:36:56.760 --> 00:37:01.800 an end, but in Jesus, there is absolute victory to come. 00:37:03.100 --> 00:37:10.360 You don't always get to choose what you go through, but you do get to choose how you 00:37:10.360 --> 00:37:11.120 go through it. 00:37:13.780 --> 00:37:20.920 Esther's faith encouraged her people, as she celebrated the presence of 00:37:21.040 --> 00:37:23.300 God that God brought freedom for them. 00:37:23.580 --> 00:37:25.380 And the same is true for Blandina. 00:37:27.980 --> 00:37:34.890 "Though in the midst of adversity, she continued to celebrate the presence of God and it gave her people hope. 00:37:35.580 --> 00:37:42.740 And in this world, as they were taken from this world, they found ultimate freedom in Jesus and what was to 00:37:42.740 --> 00:37:48.360 come." Celebration is an important part of the Christian journey. 00:37:50.140 --> 00:37:57.180 It doesn't mean we act disingenuous to the adversity that we face in life, but it does remind us that no matter 00:37:57.180 --> 00:38:04.420 what we face, we have ultimate hope in Jesus because of what Jesus has done for us.