Clothed in Sackcloth – Finding a Place for Lament in the King’s House

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?

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)

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

Before Haman Was - What to Remember When Problems Seem Big

A Series of Musings on the Book of Esther - Part Four

Tears streamed down his face. Matching the expression that was so wholly marked by sorrow. As he ran into my arms, he choked back another sob and then began to tell of his woe. I had expected to be shown a scraped knee or to hear of some unfair play, but when the little hands opened to reveal the object that was cupped inside them, I couldn’t help but smile. Not at his sadness, not at the problem, but rather that it could be so easily fixed.

 A new toy had broken in two, after just moments of use – delivering disappointment instead of the anticipated fun. But the damage wasn’t as serious as the little mind had feared and the model didn’t remain long in its broken state. For, in less time than it took to dry his tears, the toy was repaired. Then a bright smile replaced the furrowed brow.

Watching as he ran off to play, I recalled how often I had come to my Lord in a similar state.

How often I still come in such a manner - worried, fretful, and afraid; overwhelmed by a problem before I’ve even asked for help. When problems seem big, it is easy to forget that God is bigger; that He has every trial well in hand.

In the book of Esther, we learn that Mordecai and all of the Jews with him faced a problem. A problem that was big; much bigger than a broken toy and bigger even than the problems that most of us are facing. But God was bigger still. He knew Haman’s plot to have the Jews annihilated; He also knew just how to save them.

Before Haman had begun to conspire against the Jews, Esther had been placed in a position of influence, a position where she would be able to intercede. Is this just a coincidence? Perhaps. Or perhaps, as Mordecai said, she had come to the kingdom for just such a time as this - perhaps God had placed her there intentionally.

I think the Lord must smile on occasion knowing how easily my troubles truly are to amend. I think He must long at times to lift my head, dry my tears, and say, “oh child, don’t be one of little faith.”

He tells me to have faith in Him. To keep my eyes on His expression. He is never worried, never fretful, nor surprised.

I call Him ‘Provider’ but in the midst of a problem I often forget what that name really means. It means He makes the rain to fall, the crops to grow, and gives my every breath. But as provider He does much more than this. The word provider is the description of someone who is giving provision. Provision is defined both as ‘the act or process of meeting a need’ and as ‘the fact or state of being prepared beforehand.’ So, when we call our God ‘Provider’, we should remember that He not only meets our needs but does so even before they come.

He is never caught by surprise. Jesus said, “your Father knows what you need before you ask him,” (Matthew vi.8, ESV) and again and again the Father has proven that statement true. Meeting every need with such perfect faithfulness. Preceding trouble with provision.

 Another Example from the Life of Mordecai

We find another illustration of God’s sovereignty in Mordecai’s personal peril.

The approaching annihilation of the Jews wasn’t coming soon enough to satisfy Haman's frustration, so, in order to keep from spoiling his enjoyment of Queen Esther’s second banquet– to which only he and the king had been invited - Haman planned a special execution for Mordecai.

As morning dawned, he had only to get King Ahasuarus to agree to his plot and his satisfaction would be secured, for he had already commissioned a gallows to be constructed in his front yard just for the occasion. Approaching the king’s door, Haman feared little. The king had condemned an entire people to death at his last request, so what could possibly stand in his way now?  

Truly, God alone could. Mordecai and Esther didn’t even know of Haman’s newest scheme but the God of Mordecai and Esther did. He had been at work on it all the night before. King Ahasuarus was robbed of his sleep and, while listening to the chronicles of his life read aloud, he recalled a deed that Mordecai had done. A deed that had saved his life. God had prepared that deed before the rivalry between Haman and Mordecai even commenced; before Haman had even risen to power.

God, in His sovereignty, had prepared the perfect method of Mordecai’s rescue. He did so long before Mordecai was in need of rescue. Thus, when it was needed the provision was ready; made ready by the pre- vision of God.

It is possible that Mordecai believed that deed to have been forgotten, overlooked by the king, and of little use. But the King of all had not forgotten it. Rather He had prepared it for just such a time as this.

Our God is sovereign, and He cares for us with the same all-knowing power that we see demonstrated in the book of Esther.

Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” (John viii.58, ESV)

He said this as a statement of His divinity. As a testimony that He was greater than Abraham onto whom the eyes of the people were turned. We need to hear that statement too. We need to be reminded that He is divine and that He is greater than the things onto which we have turned our eyes.

So, when problems seem big, let us remind ourselves that no need has arisen that He did not know before it came and the trials which threaten to shatter our joy are easily made into something useful in His hands. So, let’s pray to see as David saw. To focus not on the giant of a man who towers above all the congregation of Israel, but on the giant of a God who towers high over him.

Let’s pray to be reminded that before Haman was, He is. That before our troubles were, He is and was and forever more will be.

In Christ

quiana

All and Well - The God Given Pattern of Obedience

A Series of Musings on the Book of Esther - Part Three

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” (Ephesians vi.1, nkjv)

Such a small and simple statement. A command that I have read again and again. But do I understand it? Do I believe it to be true?  Do I apply it? These are questions that the Lord has been laying before me repeatedly in the last few weeks.

I live in the midst of a society that widely believes that punishing children is wrong – that correcting them is unkind. I live in the midst of a culture where disobedience and disrespect are commonplace and even expected in the home and I realize that I too have unwittingly accepted something less than that which He has described as ‘right’. I have made excuses and adopted justifications that He never gave.

So how does my, and our, perspective need to change in this area to come into alignment with God’s? Well, the first thing that God placed His finger on in my life was a couple of excuses that I had come up with, or at least adopted, as to why I didn’t need to obey my parents.

Excuse #1 – No Longer a Child

By using the very first word in the verse I was justifying myself in disregarding the rest of the command. For the verse said ‘children’. I agree that kids should obey their parents but I am an adult. Society told me that at eighteen I had become free to make my own decisions. I still listened to the counsel of my parents, of course, but I viewed it more as suggestions than as authority that I was bound to obey. I was an adult and surely God knew that adults have to make certain decisions for themselves.

Well, to my surprise, I found out that the Greek word Teknon that is translated to say children in Ephesians vi.1 and other verses like it, doesn’t specify parameters of age at all. The description of ‘children’ wasn’t those under eighteen, twenty-one, or twenty-five. Rather in the context of this verse the word Teknon simply means offspring, descendants, dependants, or those who have been nurtured and moulded by wisdom. In other words, I wasn’t freed from responsibility to the God given authorities in my life just because I had turned eighteen.

In addition to defining of the word children, I found that God’s word also undermined my excuse through the example of Esther.

“Now Esther had not revealed her family and her people, just as Mordecai had charged her, for Esther obeyed the command of Mordecai as when she was brought up by him.” (Esther ii. 20, nkjv)

Esther was a full-grown woman and, at this point, a married woman and even the Queen. Yet she obeyed Mordecai ‘as when she was brought up by him’ or as when she was a child. Esther obeyed Mordecai willingly - she was no longer under his roof or in his presence; there was no way that Mordecai could make her obey him or punish her if she did not. But still she obeyed. Why?

Because it was right.

Excuse #2 -The Percentage Principal

Now we come to my second excuse - what qualifies as obedience?

I obeyed my parents in most things. In the big things. In the important things. I obeyed ninety-five percent of the time. Surely, that meant that I was obedient. The few times when I felt like I needed to decide something for myself, when I disagreed with what I had been told to do, or when my mom had only ‘suggested’ what I should do didn’t count. Did they? What did God expect of me? What was ‘good enough’ for Him?

 “Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.” (Colossians iii.20)

I read this verse and two words seemed to be instantly highlighted in my mind. Two, little words that added a whole lot of emphasis and clarity to that command. Two, little words that completely tore away my justification and brought a search light upon my motivation. Those words were ‘all’ and ‘well’. ‘Children, obey your parents in all things.’ All is a very simple and very clear word and in this context it clearly and simply told me that there were no exceptions, no suggestions, and no ‘good enough’- God expected me to obey all the time and in everything.

 Then there was well. “For this is well pleasing to the Lord.” Another small and simple word. That simply told me that when I obey my parents it pleases Him. My reason for obeying needed to change from an attempt to be ‘good enough’ into a desire to please Him. If that was my reason for obeying, no reason to disobey could be greater.

The Consequence for the Disobedient Son

God’s standard for obedience is in all things and this pleases Him. Alternately, when we are disobedient it displeases Him.

In both Romans i.30 and 2 Timothy iii.2 we find disobedience to parents included in lists of sins - sins that Paul says in Romans i.28 are symptoms of a debased mind and are not fitting. In addition to these New Testament references, we find clear commands in the Old Testament of how such behaviour was to be dealt with. For example, we read in Exodus xxi.17 that “he who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.”

This is a rather shocking punishment especially when we think of it in the context of our culture as it moves towards outlawing physical discipline of any kind. If we define the word for curse, Qalal in the Hebrew, it only serves to make the matter more difficult. Qalal means to treat with contempt, to dishonour, to slight, to lightly esteem, or to treat as being of little account. Thus, we could say that he who treats his father or his mother with contempt shall surely be put to death which is an even more shocking and convicting statement.

These are behaviours that are commonplace in our society and in many of our lives. However, despite the fact that we have come to deem these attitudes and responses as harmless and normal the God in heaven and Judge of all deems those who are guilty of them to be worthy of death.

The Reward for the Obedient Son

The God given consequences for disobeying and disrespecting our parents are pretty hard to swallow. But then, the God given consequences for disobeying in general are hard to swallow. For it is not only because we have shown disrespect to our parents that we are worthy of death, but because of every way that we have disrespected and disobeyed God.

In contrast, however, to the punishment of disobedience we find in Exodus xx.12 that there is a reward for those who are obedient:

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.”

A similar promise is repeated in Proverbs iii.1-2,

“My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands;

 for length of days and long life and peace they will add to you.”

There is only one son who has ever kept the law of honouring father and mother. Who has obeyed in all things and proven well pleasing to the Lord. Whose heart has kept his father’s commands - that is Christ Himself.

We have been disobedient and received the consequences and likewise the Son who was obedient has received the reward. His days will be everlasting and He has a peace that transcends all understanding. The good news is, that He has chosen to share both His peace and His length of days with us.

“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.”

If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?  For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews xii. 5-11, nkjv)

In Christ

quiana