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Christian Leadership - Biblical story of Esther The story of Esther tells of an egotistical Persian King named Xerxes who held a 180-day banquet to show off his wealth and power. (The story is in fact held together by a series of banquets or feasts).
During this banquet, King Xerxes wanting to impress people with the beauty of his wife ordered Vashti to make an appearance before him and his guests wearing her crown. But she refused to come. Furious, the king on the advice of his wise men replaced her as queen. The wise men argued that there had to be consequences for such audacity or who knows all the wives in Persia might follow her example and this would cause no end of problems in the kingdom! So Xerxes decreed that all beautiful young women from every province of his kingdom be assembled for a kind of beauty pageant from which he would choose his new queen. His choice and his favour unexpectedly fell on the highly intelligent and very beautiful Esther, a Jewish orphan who had been raised by her older cousin Mordecai. Shortly afterwards, Mordecai, overheard a plot to kill the king. He promptly told Esther of it, and she in turn warned her husband thus averting an assassination attempt on his life. An account of Mordecai’s good deed was recorded in the official archives. No sooner had this happened then the king granted Haman, a promising high flying prince of the realm, a dream job. He was given supreme authority over the kingdom. Haman’s promotion went straight to his head and he behaved like a man drunk and in charge. He decreed that all the people to bow down to him when he rode his horse through the streets. All complied except for Mordecai, who bravely declared that he would bow to no one but his God. This enraged Haman, who, hatched a plot to kill Mordecai and the Jews. On hearing this news Mordecai turned to Esther for help for the Jewish people. She was the one person who potentially had enough influence over the king to save them. “Who knows Esther but that you have been given royal status for just such a time as this.” Esther was in an invidious position. Harem protocol directed that Esther was on pain of death, not permitted to see the king unless he had asked for her. The situation was further complicated by the fact that the king seemed to be going off Esther. He had not summoned her into his presence for more than 30 days. Needless to say all this made her quake with fear when Mordecai asked her to seek an audience with the king. She must have thought, Are you mad Mordecai, don’t rock the boat, I am a beauty queen, I am a Jew, I was not made for this kind of thing. Give me the easy life, keep me safe, I have had a hard life, I am an orphan, let me enjoy my good fortune after all I deserve a break! But Mordecai prodded her conscience and having initially resisting she relented but not before she and all the Jews of Persia had prayed and fasted earnestly for three days. Then she approached the matter with masterful timing and cunning strategy. She entered the king's presence and waited with her heart in her mouth. Oh happy day, the King held out his scepter to her, showing that he accepted her visit. Esther then requested a banquet with the king and Haman. During the banquet she won over both Haman and the Xerxes and had them eating out of her hand. Then she skillfully requested a second banquet with the king and Haman the following day. All this time Haman continued to progress his plan to destroy Mordecai and the Jews. He ordered a gallows constructed, on which he planned to execute Mordecai. Meanwhile, the king suffering from insomnia, decided that the best way to while away the long hours of the night was to have his attendants read to him. Being truly egotistical the book he chose was one about himself and the history of his reign. When the reader came to the part where Mordecai’s quick action had saved the king from an assassination attempt, he remembered that Mordecai had received no reward for his good deed. Early the next morning, Haman came to the king and the king asked him, "What should be done for the man whom the king delights to honour?" Haman, rather full of himself and thinking that the king was meaning him, said that such a man should be given a royal robe and one of the king’s horses which would be led through the city streets by an attendant proclaiming, "This is what is done for the man the king delights to honour!" Imagine how gob-smacked Haman was when the king then decreed that Haman should be the man to lead Mordecai through the streets in this way. He had no option other than to oblige the king and then he slunk home feeling absolutely gutted. That night in Haman’s very presence, during the second banquet, Esther told the king, of Haman's plan to massacre all the Jews in the Empire. She then owned up to her own Jewish ethnicity. The king was horrified at Haman’s behaviour and ordered that he be hanged on the very gallows he had built for Mordecai. The king then appointed Mordecai as his prime minister, and Esther inherited Haman’s estate. Even though, there is no direct mention of God in the Book of Esther, God is clearly at work in the DNA of this story. Scripture portrays Esther as a woman of deep faith, strong leadership and courage and someone who was used by God for a massive ministry even though she came from humble origins. She is remembered as one of the great Biblical leaders who was willing to risk her life for her people. So what does this story teach us? Last week we explored the nature of ambition and found that there is a kingdom difference between being successful and being significant. Jesus is calling us to a life of significance, ‘Those who wish to be first must be last and servant of all’. Today I would like to build on last week’s sermon by talking about the nature and purpose of Christian leadership. Many people have said to me, “I do not have the gift of leadership.” This is simply not true. God calls each and every one of us to be leaders in one way or another so that we can make a significant difference for good in the lives of others by extending God’s grace to them and Christ’s love. We are called to lead those around us into the ways and teachings of Christ and into relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Because we are all different, our styles of leadership will vary.
No matter who you are, you are called to lead from where you are! The story of Esther is an inspiring story of Godly leadership. In this story Esther is given a mission, to serve her people by saving them from destruction. She is faced with a choice, to lead a successful life as Xerxes’ showpiece queen, or to lead a significant life as the saviour of her people. 1. Mercifully we learn she chose the latter, to be significant. To do this she had to courageously take up the mantle of leadership, step up to the plate, use the intelligence and beauty God had given her and be prepared to set aside her personal ambitions for the greater good of her people. Thus she demonstrated the first of a series of traits that characterise Christian leadership: A selfless willingness to be a significant force for good in the lives of others. 2. In agreeing to seek an audience with the king, she effectively puts her personal wellbeing and her own life at risk. Here we see the second trait of Christian leadership: It is a willingness to make sacrifices that are costly, sometimes so costly they may even mean that we must sacrifice our own life. We see this modelled for us most perfectly in the passion and death of our Saviour Jesus Christ. 3. Now it is interesting that before she embarked on her mission she and the people went into a three day period of prayer and fasting. We learn from this that she was careful to take direction from God before she acted. This is the third trait of Christian leadership: to take direction from God before we act. Jesus too was careful to follow the, vision, lead or course that was in line with the will of God. “If it is your will take this cup from me.” 4. Esther was a fortunate woman. She had many blessings and God had given her many gifts but perhaps the greatest gift she had been given was her cousin, Mordecai. He had an important part to play in her leadership. He was her wise mentor, her brave truth teller, the one who was not afraid to tell her those things she needed to hear and to speak those truths she was reluctant to hear. He challenged her to do what God was calling her to do, “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape ….” We all need a Mordecai in our lives; Someone who loves us enough to expose for us the truth about ourselves; Someone who will ensure that we remain true to our calling and will hold up the mirror for us to reflect on our motives and our behaviour; Someone who truly has our best interests at heart. Who is the Mordecai in your life I wonder? We all are from time to time prone to drift from our goals, our true mission to be significant leaders and our true ministry to serve others. We all have feet of clay. None of us is perfect and so it is that from time to time we may drift along a trajectory that initially looks to be not too different from our mission, but if left unchecked takes us away from our calling. We call this our shadow mission. Esther was in danger of drifting into selfish self protection. She was okay why should she put herself on the line for others? Let someone else do that.So it is that Mordecai calls her back with those chilling words: “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish”. Haman could have done with a Mordecai. His expertise in serving his people by governing well was squandered on his shadow mission which was to expand his own already inflated ego. We all need a Mordecai to save us from drifting, to save us from our shadow mission. Esther demonstrated true Christian leadership. She proved to be profoundly significant in saving her people’s lives. She demonstrated a willingness to make great sacrifices in the service of her people. She was careful to hear from God before she acted. She listened to her Mordecai and courageously heard what she was reluctant to hear. What a woman, what a Godly leader, what a role-model for us all! Last Friday was a year since Austin Hemmings died in Mills Lane doing what is probably the most significant thing anyone can do for another human being, saving their life. Here was a man who demonstrated true Christian leadership. He was a successful man who was true to Jesus’ calling to be something significant in people’s life. He was prepared to make the sacrifices needed to do this. He was a prayerful man who listened out for God’s direction and I am quite sure he will have had a Mordecai in his life. I was privileged to go with Jenny and the family and close friends, to lay flowers on the spot where he fell and then to go to the newly erected building for the company at which he worked. We were taken into the board room which has been named the Hemmings Room in his honour, a tribute to his leadership and significance. On the glass wall is an engraving which struck a chord with me as I was thinking about this sermon today. It says: Management is doing things right, Leadership is doing the right things. Austin took this call seriously, Let us pray that you and I do likewise in the choices we make in our lives. |
