A Series of Musings on the Book of Esther - Part Five
“When Mordecai learned all that had happened, he
tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of
the city. He cried out with a loud and bitter cry. He went as far as the front
of the king’s gate, for no one might enter the king’s gate clothed with
sackcloth.” (Esther iv. 1-2)
As the fourth chapter of the book of Esther begins, we find Mordecai
mourning - clothed in sackcloth, covered in ashes, and crying bitterly. I will
leave you to discover why from the book of Esther itself. For right now, I want
to draw your attention to just one fact: Mordecai could not enter the king’s
gate because he was mourning.
It is easy to read this verse and think of it as merely a statement of
fact, a rule of King Ahasuarus’ house. A description of the setting - meant to
tell us what the time and the culture were like. But have you ever wondered
about that law? Wondered if the same rule applies to the house of our King?
If it affects the way we live?
Without realising it, many of us apply this rule to entering the church.
It has come to dictate the way we interact within God’s house and with His
people.
There seems to be an unspoken understanding that mourning, our
sufferings, and even the uncomfortable, burning conviction of unconfessed sin
should be left at the door. We have trained ourselves to be masters at entering
God’s house with smiles on our faces and songs of triumph on our lips. While
hiding what is truly taking place in our hearts. When we can’t, we may not come
at all. Some have come to avoid the church altogether; telling ourselves that we should wait
till easier times - after the difficulties, the guilt, or the sorrow have faded
away.
But is this a rule that God has made for His house, or one that we have inflicted upon ourselves?
But is this a rule that God has made for His house, or one that we have inflicted upon ourselves?
God’s Word on the Subject
God blessed the poor in spirit, promising them the kingdom of heaven
(Matthew v.3). He caused the Psalmist's pen to write, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart -
these, O God, You will not despise" (Psalm li.17). He said, “Is
anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.” (James v.13) and “Come to Me all you
who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” (Matthew xi.28)
Jesus was deeply troubled. He suffered, He wept, He sweat drops of
blood. He sympathizes with us in our weakness (Hebrews iv.15) and, to Paul, He
said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in
weakness.” (2 Corinthians xii.9)
If these are God’s feelings towards sorrow, struggle, and need, then
this tendency to hide those things - to keep them out of His house - clearly
isn’t God instilled. So, if the rule hasn’t come from Him, where has it come
from and why is it here?
It is a human propensity to amplify strengths and gloss over areas of
weakness. Few want their feebleness or shortcomings to be seen. Few also
are willing to see them - to risk being disillusioned, burdened, or hurt by the
struggles and the sins of others. So, the unspoken understanding is this: You
take care of your problems, I’ll take care of mine, and we’ll just meet to
fellowship together. But is this true fellowship? Was this God’s intent?
We find a pattern for the church in God’s Word. He instructs His people
to mourn with those who mourn (Romans xii.15), to bear one another’s burdens
(Galatians vi.2), to care for the orphan and the widow in their distress (James
i.27), to remember the mistreated and imprisoned (Hebrews xiii.3), to
strengthen feeble arms and weak knees (Hebrews xii.12).
We see in Esther that Mordecai wasn’t afraid to mourn. To cry out with a
loud and bitter cry. In fact, when Esther sent him clothes to exchange for his
sackcloth, he refused them. He mourned unashamedly and he mourned in company -
all of the Jews were weeping together.
The Importance of the Missing Lament
When brokenness, suffering, and repentance are so often disguised in the
context of the church, it is easy for the individual to be deceived into
believing that they alone face such trials. It is easy to count such things
strange when those around you don’t appear to suffer at all. And it is
hard to know how to walk through trials when the examples of others are hidden
away.
We have believed that sin and struggle, if revealed, will drive us
apart, separate us from the rest of the body, or bring their disapproval and
disdain. But what if dealing with these things would knit us together instead?
What if, when one member of the body suffers, we all suffer together?
In truth, we are all people with problems and the solution to every one
of those problems is the same. C.S. Lewis said, “Friendship ... is
born at the moment when one man says to another "What! You too? I thought
that no one but myself . . .” Nowhere
can greater similarity be found than in our need for the Savior. It is when we
kneel at the foot of the cross that we become tied to one another. For we find
that those we do life with are kneeling on either side of us.
We are not meant to commiserate in weakness - to bemoan ourselves; to
parade our struggles; to focus upon them - but that doesn’t mean they need to
be hidden. God makes it quite clear that our weakness is an opportunity to gain
His strength.
Our attempts to show our own strength cause us to neglect and even shy away from perfect strength - the strength He desires to give us. So, instead of masking sufferings and need, we should say, with Paul, “most gladly, I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians xii.9)
Our attempts to show our own strength cause us to neglect and even shy away from perfect strength - the strength He desires to give us. So, instead of masking sufferings and need, we should say, with Paul, “most gladly, I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians xii.9)
Lamenting and Joy
Joy, triumph, and encouragement are precious and needed in the church
but they need not exist only in the exclusion of sorrow, conviction, and
suffering. Rather, their contrast strengthens and authenticates one another.
Joy, for example, needs the context of suffering. It is gained through
difficulty. The joy of our salvation is tasted through the Savior's suffering
and through the suffering of sin that convinces the sinner of their need for Him.
When suffering then is hidden from sight, the onlooker will struggle to
understand where our joy comes from. Some see the people in the church as the
ones ‘who have it together’, whose lives work - they see victory but they do
not know why. If these aren’t allowed to see that we too have shared in the
sufferings they taste, that we share in sufferings still, then our joy looks to
be out of their reach. It brings them discouragement rather than hope.
The majority of our worship music speaks of victory, joy, and peace -
all of which are good and true of our life with the King. But while our focus
is committed to those, little place is made for conviction, sorrow, and suffering. Do we
realize that more than a third of the Psalms - from which our songs descend -
are songs of lament? That, in addition to numerous other passages that share
the same theme. Lamenting, mourning, weeping, and grieving are all very real
parts of life; they all play an important role in working out one’s salvation.
We note in the Psalms, however, that the lamentations end in triumph.
The triumph of a soul beholding a victorious God. Our Lord was despised and
rejected - He was a Man of sorrows, acquainted with grief (Isaiah liii.3) and
yet in His presence is the fullness of joy (Psalm xvi.11). He should be the
reminder to us that sorrow leads to joy when it is committed into God’s hands.
A Future Parallel
There is a time coming when there will be no more place for
lamenting among God’s people – there will be no tears within the gates of
heaven. But among those who are locked out there is going to be weeping and
gnashing of teeth. One day there will no longer be strength for those who find
themselves in weakness; nor joy to follow the mourner’s sorrow. Like Esau, the
condemned will find no place for repentance though they seek it diligently with
tears.
But that time has not yet come. God is mercifully waiting - giving place
for repentance. He is causing difficulty to bring strength. Conviction to lead
us to Him for forgiveness. Sorrow and suffering to meet the triumph of joy. So,
let’s not jump ahead and ban remorse while it is still of use. Let’s not
forsake the lament nor keep the mourners - be that ourselves or others - from
entering the King’s house, until He Himself deems it to be time.
Therefore, let us come boldly now to His throne, that we might find grace
to help in time of need!
In Christ
quiana