Esther 9:4-5

Esther 9:4-5 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  If Esther had ended with Mordecai and Esther saving the people and Haman punished for what he did and everyone living happily ever after, it would have been the perfect ending that needed no further explanation.
  But life's not perfect, is it?  And the real world doesn't always leave everything perfectly.  My life certainly isn't perfect.  I'm willing to be yours isn't, either.  And so what I love about the Bible is that it's real -- these are real people who sometimes do things that make us ask big questions, that make us think.  Moses says no to God.  Jonah runs in the opposite direction.  Job demands an audience with God.  Peter denies Jesus.  Martha remands Jesus for not being present for Lazarus.  The Jews rise up and kill their enemies, doing as they please to those that hated them. 
  The Jews had been threatened and saw Mordecai's rise to power as a chance to strike back at their enemies.  Later in this chapter it says that the Jews killed 75,000 of their enemies.  I don't really know what to do with that.  The Old Testament world was a violent place, and in many times and places the Jews could attack or be attacked.  I understand that, even if I don't like it.  This leaves a very different impression than the command to love your enemies and do good to those who persecute you.  When Jesus came, he raised the bar for what it means to follow God.
  So I don't have a neat answer to everything in the Bible, and being a Christian doesn't mean turning your brain off -- it means you should think, you should ask how God is at work here.  Personally, I think God is making it possible for God's chosen people to survive in turbulent times, to create a safe place where they can continue to worship.  You may not agree.  That's ok -- we can disagree and still be in the same church, and we can both faithfully follow Jesus, even if we disagree on things like how to interpret some of the parts of the Bible. 
  It's ok not to have all the answers.  I don't.  But I trust that even in my uncertainty, Jesus is still Lord of all.

Esther 8:15-17

Esther 8:15-17 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  Dusty Baker, a previous manager for the Cincinnati Reds, used to say that you're never as good as they say you are, and you're never as bad as they say you are.  In other words, if you base your opinion of yourself on what others are saying about you, it's easy to swing from high to low and never be certain of exactly who you are.
  Mordecai was once the target of Haman's rage that was intended to have every single Jew killed.  Now, he enjoys time in the presence of the King and wears royal robes.  He enjoys power and prestige.  It would be easy for this to go to his head and forget the low times.
  In our worst times, may we cling to the reality that God can and will accompany us through the valley of the shadow of death.  God knows pain and mourning, and God will not abandon us in those times.  God will redeem, rescue and save, although not always in the ways we understand.
  In the best times, let us remember that they happen because of God's power to redeem, rescue and save.  Here, God has worked through the incredible bravery and courage of Esther to save the Jewish people from destruction.  Others are now pretending to be Jewish because they want to be associated with the Jews.  The Jews are vindicated.
  Our identity lies in the hands of our true rescuer.  We are saved because of the love of Christ, and we are worthy because of what Christ has done for us.  The entirety of the world's hatred cannot take away our status as a redeemed child of God, and we should not forget that when the world's favor is poured out upon us.  We always need God, and defining ourselves first and foremost as God's beloved children helps root us and our identity in the truest thing that can be said about us.

Esther 7:7-10

Esther 7:7-10 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  When we last left the story, Esther had just revealed to the King that there was a plot to kill all of her people, the Jews.  The King was incredulous, as he had issued the order under the influence of Haman, but the King only cared about it once he cared about Esther.  Now, Haman, who had been climbing the rungs of societal power, finds himself on the receiving end of the wrath of the King due to the King's sudden change in how he feels about the Jews.  Haman had been reading the winds, adjusting his personal sails to race ahead, but God was at work through Esther and Mordecai, using these humble servants to transform the future, and the winds have radically shifted.
  Friends, do not invest your life's work in seeking political power and influence for yourselves.  Societal influence is a fickle friend, and if your sense of identity comes from who you know and how often you rub shoulders with 'important' people, it's very likely that shifting cultural and political winds will sweep you off whatever mountain you're trying to climb.  When your identity is defined by where you are in the societal pecking order, you're always striving ahead, and like Haman, the temptation will be to think little of people who stand in your way.  When you keep score like this, you'll never be comfortable.
  When I think of God as my shepherd, God teaches me how to rest.  To rest is to place your confidence in the one who cares for you, who leads you, who protects you.  The people around you right now are the most important people in your life -- how can you encourage them?  How can you use your resources, whatever they are, to help heal the brokenness in their lives?  View the people around you as treasured in the eyes of God, and it'll transform your heart from trying to get ahead into being grateful for the opportunity to love and serve where you are.  Besides, the eternal Son of God has already told you that he wants to come into your life and dine with you, to have an eternal relationship based on love with you -- what more could society give you that could possibly be better than that?

Loved

John 17:20-26

Romans 8:26-39

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It’s graduation season, a wonderful time to stop and celebrate a momentous achievement.  I looked back, and I’ve celebrated five graduations – 8^th grade, high school, college, and then two master’s degrees.  I’d really like to figure out what I’m supposed to be doing with my life so I can stop.  While graduation is fun, all of the tuition beforehand isn’t nearly as enjoyable.  My kids will likely have more graduations – not necessarily because they’ll be in school for as long, but rather because they now have graduations for everything.  I’ve been to preschool graduations and kindergarten graduations already.  I won’t be that surprised when I get an invitation to graduation from 2^nd grade.  My kids may hit five ceremonies by the time they turn 10.

What’s great about graduation is that it’s something no one can take away from you.  You have a piece of paper that validates your experience – you knew exactly what you needed to do to succeed, you did it, and it’s a permanent validation of your achievement.  Even if you lose your actual diploma, you can call the school and they’ll likely have a record they can produce of your graduation.  No one can go back and un-graduate me from 8^th grade, even if I were to ever forget that lofty achievement.

If you’re like me, you’re looking for a similar scorecard or marker when it comes to faith.  I think all of us, in some way, shape or form, want to find a marker that validates our life in faith.  We want, deep inside of us, to know that our salvation is secure.  We want to know that we’re doing enough, that we’re doing it right.  We want something that affirms our security in Christ, that speaks to the anxiety we often live with at three in the morning when we wonder if the love and grace of God that often seems to transform others is really at work in our lives.  We want a graduation, but instead it can feel like we’re still in the admission office, working on the application, wondering if we’re good enough.

And the world around us leads us to ask other questions about God’s presence or absence in our lives.  On Friday, there was yet another shooting, and I was horrified to see that this was the largest American workplace shooting since only February, when someone else took their anger out in violence on their coworkers, wrecking lives and breaking hearts.  We know that Virginia Beach and all those who live there will never be the same due to this horrific act.  As soon as we read of these awful events, our hearts break not only for those affected but also because we know this is not how the world is supposed to be.

 It feels wrong because this is not how we were designed.  The feeling that things are wrong can only be there if there is a sense of what it means for things to be right, and that can only be true if the universe was designed on purpose, with a purpose.  Right and wrong have to come from somewhere, and we believe that God has planted them in the human heart.  Even when humans first chose sin in the Garden of Eden, God has been sending prophets and kings to remind us of what right is, what it looks like, and how to restore the relationship with God that was broken by sin.  When those messages fell on deaf ears, God sent his own Son, Jesus Christ, to show us the fullness of love and restore, once and forever, the relationship between humans and their God.

And so here, standing at the intersection of these two huge questions, what about the world and what about me, is where we dive into the two texts.  In the Gospel reading from the 17^th chapter of John, we’re going to focus on God, and then we’ll use that to turn our attention to how God is at work. 

John 17 is Jesus’ priestly prayer.  It delves into God’s relationship with Jesus, relating to what gifts are given from God to Jesus and how Jesus then passes these gifts on to believers.  Starting in verse 20, Jesus transitions from prayer for himself and the disciples into praying for those who will believe in Jesus.  That’s right – two thousand years ago, Jesus was praying for you, and he was praying for you to be united with all the saints and believers throughout the ages.  While you have been individually knit together in your mother’s womb, you are also part of a collective whole – Jesus is praying for the unity of the church.  The entire purpose of salvation is displayed in this passage.  In verse 24, Jesus prays that the church will be with Jesus, and he prays that they will see his glory, glory that was given to Jesus before the foundations of the world were laid. 

What Jesus is telling us is that the co-eternal relationship that Jesus has with God was formed before the world existed.  Before the sun hung in the sky, there was a relationship, and it was based on love, it was based on God sharing his glory with Jesus Christ.  They are co-eternal, and the world was created based on that.  Now, if what existed before the universe was a mutual sharing of glory, then we can surmise that the universe was created out of that love and a desire that the glory of God be shared – that those who were created would share in that future glory. 

Now, we know that humans brought sin into the picture and messed everything up, but Jesus knows about the problem of sin and is  still praying that the world may believe in God and be united with him forever.  Jesus is praying in verse 26 that the love of God may be in the church, and he is praying that the glory of God will be made known through Jesus Christ.  While Jesus certainly displayed it in his life, he did so even more fully in his death and resurrection, which is historically supported.  So we know that this is true and can trust that God’s will is to bring the church, as one body, into an eternal relationship with Jesus.

So that’s true about God’s will for the broken world, that joy and hope and peace will overcome sin and brokenness.  So what about us as individuals?

This, I believe, is what makes Romans 8 so powerful.  To get a full understanding of the context of this, we’d have to start at Romans 1, but in the interest of time, let’s focus on what Paul is saying here. 

Starting in verse 26, we acknowledge our weakness.  Immediately, I feel better.  I can come to God as I am, not as I want to be, and God knows that.  We don’t have to pretend – God is prepared to help us in our weakness.  The Holy Spirit is ready to intercede at a level I cannot describe.  And then who is weaving things for good?  It is God who is at work, calling and conforming and justifying and glorifying.  Notice who is acting here – it is God who is at active and at work. 

In verse 31, Paul puts it powerfully – the reason we cannot be defeated is not because we are brilliant or cunning, but because God is for us.  It is God who defeated death and evil – not us.  We cannot kill them on a global scale, and we cannot defeat them in our own lives – only the name and power of God can make them scamper.  It is God who justifies and it is God who intercedes for us and it is God who ensures that nothing can separate us from God’s love. 

While we are conquerors, it is not because of how adept we are with the sword or how accurate with the bow, it is because we are loved by God.  You, friend, are beloved, and it is not because of what you have done, but it is because of whom has made you, crafted you, placed you here and called you by name.  It is Jesus Christ who knocks, and it is Christ who enters and breaks bread with us.  You are treasured and held forever because of the love of the Father, and it is the Father’s will that you will be gathered, individually and as one body, into the eternal arms that are secure and strong and gentle and loving.  

Grace upon grace is yours to receive not to earn, and our diploma is not something we earn to secure ourselves, but rather it is a hill, 2000 years ago, where we point to see the fullness of God’s love and the glory that the empty tomb that demonstrated the glory of God, that helped us understand that the promises of Jesus were trustworthy and true.  When Jesus promised to gather us together, we know that we can rely upon those promises because we have seen him break the bonds of death.  Our fate is in his trustworthy hands because Jesus has chosen and come to us.  You cannot earn this the way you earn your way to graduation – so fret not, my friends, over your qualifications.  This is not yours by effort, but yours by gift, and we are welcomed into eternity by a King whose will it is to share his glory.  That is what we celebrate around this table.