IN BUT OUT 07 PRIDE AND PREJUDICE PART 1.

Pride is a funny thing. It happens at all levels to all people. No matter what you do there is a pecking order. Sea gulls on a post fight for the top post. Boys on the playground. Men in the board rooms. And when there is a slight or insult then pride rises up. Sound systems and music ministers are often the source of great conflict in churches. Ours was no exception. The music guy was small and wiry and feisty. Hes the kind of guy that would stomp his foot and says he couldnt work with those people. He would come in and threaten to quit periodically. I would tell him that if he didnt quit that foolishness I wasnt going to let him have his bullet. A reference to Barney fife. I loved him. He was good at what he did. But man, he had a temper. One day he called in some sound experts to completely rework our system. He met with them for a couple of days and they testes mikes, and made things just right. Our little church was on the local cable access for television so we had to route the sound up to the TV guys. This was always a big ordeal. The TV guys complained that they didnt have enough control over volume etc. . . The music man said, Our priority is this sanctuary! If they want to hear it they can come here! He had a point. Anyway, after working for a couple of days to fix up the sound system, that Saturday the TV people and some of the guys that run the sound came to hook up their links. They invited the music guy to come to make sure they did it right, but he was busy. The next Sunday morning we get ready for worship and there is NO SOUND at all in the sanctuary. Come to find out the TV guys had routed all of the sound from the system to their booth. The speakers were cut off. Our music guy was livid. It took a hectic thirty minutes or so to get things to a tolerable working order. But he was hot. We had our contemporary service first then SS then the traditional service. He would meet with the choir before the traditional. He stormed into the choir room and said, Well, I spent all week with an expert getting the sound system just right and our stupid sound people ruined it all in about 30 minutes! Unfortunately, what he failed to realize is that most of the sound people were either married to, or birthed by, the choir. Everyone was now mad. The choir was mad. The sound people were mad. The choir director was mad. Pride was having a heyday. So I called a meeting. I told the music man to come and be ready to apologize to the sound people. I

told the sound people they needed to be gracious and forgive and forget. So here comes the music guy, OK, if what I said hurt your feelings then Im sorry. And then he left. The sound guys looked at me, That was NOT an apology! Yes it was. I insisted. NO. He apologized for hurting our feelings but he didnt apologize for saying it. He apologized. Forget it. I wont forget it. He didnt apologize. Guys, Im telling you, its done. He apologized. Then when I saw him, That wasnt much of an apology. That thing rocked on for months after that. Im not sure some of them ever got over it. Why? Because one guy got prideful and mad and said some things he shouldnt have said and some other guys got offended and prideful and that made them permanently bitter. I can laugh about it now. Not then. William Law said, Pride must die in you if anything of God is to live in you. To deal with pride you must first expose it. Thats what happens to Mordecai in Esther 3. Remember this is the story of a man that lived in the world. Hed gotten a little success. Esther his surrogate daughter is the queen. Hes sitting at the gate. A man of authority. Fully immersed in the worlds system. Easy to do. We live in the world and we can become consumed with it.

I. Expectations create disappointment

Mordecais good turn. 21 In those days, while Mordecai was sitting at the kings gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the kings officials from those who guarded the door, became angry and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. This is not unheard of. In fact, Xerxes made many enemies because of his sexual appetite. He would often have affairs with the wives of his generals. 22 But the plot became known to Mordecai and he told Queen Esther, and Esther informed the king in Mordecais name. Mordecai is the hero. He exposed the plot and saved the king. I think this also says how tight Mordecai had gotten to the king. Im sure that he had learned to look the other way on just about everything the king did. 23 Now when the plot was investigated and found to be so, they were both hanged on a gallows; and it was

written in the Book of the Chronicles in the kings presence. Sadly, these men might have been doing Persia a favor. Although this sort of rebellion rarely improves the situation. Mordecai is thinking, this is my big day. Ive just saved the king. Surely there will be a hefty reward. He waits for the phone call. Checks the mail. No text messages. No official delegation. In those days whenever someone did something worthwhile particularly to save the king then the king would reward him and usually that reward was a promotion. Mordecai is a man that enjoys promotions. His cousin Esther is queen. Hes sitting at the gate. He is in on the latest comings and goings. This is his day! Nobody knows Esther is a Jew. Remember, Verse 20 they were quite clear. 20 Esther had not yet made known her kindred or her people, even as Mordecai had commanded her; for Esther did what Mordecai told her as she had done when under his care. This was a repeat to remind us that these were secret saints. They valued position and promotion over heritage and faith. Best to keep this Jew thing to ourselves. The day might come when it becomes a detriment. So Mordecai waits. And waits. And waits. But his act is forgotten. No reward. No position. Has that ever happened to you. You did something that was overlooked. Passed by. Get a little resentful? Expectations do that to us. Now we start chapter 3. Notice the way its worded. This was deliberate.

Haman got the promotion. In reality the events of verse one occurred 5 years later. Esther 2:16 So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus to his royal palace in the tenth month which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. Esther 3:7 In the first month, which is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, Pur, that is the lot, was cast before Haman from day to day and from month to month, until the twelfth month, that is the month Adar. Why did the writer leave off the five years? This was a deliberate way of showing the connection between these two events. Mordecai foiled a plot to kill the king and he should have been rewarded. 2:23 tells how Mordecai was written up in the Kings chronicle. That reward should have been a promotion from the gate to the palace. But Haman got the promotion instead. After these events . . . Haman was promoted. It is likely in this context to assume that Haman got the promotion that Mordecai expected. Maybe there was an ongoing cold war between the two. Haman grew steadily more powerful, while Mordecai languished in obscurity. Then Haman gets the coup de tat. The writer pieced these together for effect.

III. Resentment reveals our pride

Esther 3:2 All the kings servants who were at the kings gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman; for so the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage. The word for paid homage shachah. It meant to prostrate or worship when used of a god, or respect and reverence when used of royalty. Much has been written to try to understand why Mordecai didnt bow. Was it out of respect for YHWH? Was it because Haman had some idolatrous image on his person? Many take this to mean that Haman was trying to get Mordecai to worship him. This is where Mordecai is often lionized. He refused to bow. Before you cast him alongside the greats like Daniel and Shadrack, Meshack and company consider this. Maybe he refused to

II. Disappointment can create resentment

Hamans promotion. Esther 3:1 After these events King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him and established his authority over all the princes who were with him. After these things. What things? Mordecais good deed. The context seems to imply that this happened immediately after the foiled After this

bow out of pride. Mordecai was father of the queen. He was sitting at the gate . . . a man of considerable clout. He no doubt, knew Haman and probably disliked him. He would not bow. There is one other consideration. Whenever a character is introduced the first thing you learn is important because it sets the scene for his or her role in the story. Mordecai is introduced as a Jew from the tribe of Benjamin. I think its interesting that Mordecai was not described as a righteous man. Or a man that walked with God. There is no spiritual connotation to him at all. He was a Jewish national. A Benjamite. Thats it. Haman is introduced as an Agagite. The Agagites derive their name from Agag, king of the Amalekites. Amalekites were the first people to attack the Jews. As a result, God swore their destruction and on several occasions he told his people to utterly destroy them. Israels first king, Saul, defeated the Amalekites but kept some of the sheep for himself. He also spared the life of Agag. Eventually the Amalekites were destroyed. But the descendents of Agag were always listed as enemies of the Jews. It was a bitter, ongoing conflict. In fact, over time, the Jews came to refer to anyone that hated them as Agagites. It was a generic term for enemy of Israel. He might or might not even be related to Agag. But he was an Agagites. So the first thing we learn is that Mordecai was pure Jew and Haman was pure hatred. The conflict is inevitable. Jewish readers would have known this instantly. 3 Then the kings servants who were at the kings gate said to Mordecai, "Why are you transgressing the kings command?" Mordecais associates did not understand this. Why violate the command and put yourself in jeopardy. They reminded him that this was a command from the king. 4 Now it was when they had spoken daily to him and he would not listen to them, that they told Haman to see whether Mordecais reason would stand; for he had told them that he was a Jew. They gave him multiple opportunities to bow to Haman. Every day Hamans entourage moves through the streets and every day the mass of humanity hits the deck. Except one conspicuous Jew. Standing there. Defiantly refusing to bow. He must have stuck out like an oak tree on a bald prairie.

Interesting line. Might mean something here. When they daily encouraged Mordecai to bow, He would not listen to them. The word means harkens or obey. Was he standing on conviction, or stubborn pride? Why didnt Hamans bunch pull out the whips and force him into submission? Anybody else that refused to bow to the Haman parade surely got the back side of some soldiers glove. Whats up with Mordecai? How could he pull this off? I think the fact that he wasnt beaten says something of his position. Mordecai had some clout. Some might have known of his connection to the queen. Im sure anybody that spent five minutes with Mordecai knew it. Verse fours says they wanted to know if Mordecais reason for not bowing would stand. He probably told them he was a Jew. Up until this point, they never recognized him as such. He had become such a chameleon that his true identity is hidden. Did he use this as an excuse not to bow? Anyway, I cant bow because Im a Jew and Jews bow to no one but YHWH. Thats not completely true. Jews were not allowed to bow to other gods, but they often bowed to men of importance. Exodus 18:7 Moses bowed down to his father in law. Genesis 33:3 Jacob bowed down to Esau. 1 Samuel 24:8 David bowed to Saul. Bowing to authority was not the same as bowing to a god. Sometimes people hide their personal reasons in a disguise of religion. This may or may not be the case. Heres the irony. If you want Mordecai to refrain from bowing as a stance for YHWH then why didnt he stand for YHWH when the king wanted to turn his surrogate daughter into a concubine? Thats all Im saying. Our motives are sometimes revealed in through the broader context of our behavior.

Here are two quick insights:

1. God wants to expose and cleanse us of pride.

Have you ever had a boil? During my football days boils ran through the locker room. I once got one on the side of my face. As if adolescence isnt hard enough. Mom put a piece of bacon on it to draw it out. Now you have a boil with a piece of bacan tied to it on the side of your face. Talk about tough to get a date.

God uses people like bacon on a boil. He wants to draw it out. And he will do that. Did you ever think that one of the reasons you are dealing with someone is for God to work on your pride?

2. God will have his way and at times he can even use pride to do it
5 When Haman saw that Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage to him, Haman was filled with rage. Conflict is inevitable once pride gets involved. Hamans rage would create a firestorm of crisis in the land that would threaten not only Mordecai, but Esther and the entire Jewish nation. See how great a fire has begun by one small spark of pride. Pride must die in you if anything of God is to live in you.