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Influence in Such a Time

Words of Faith Final

Influence in Such a Time
Words of Faith 6-16-2021
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2008, 2021
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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CONTEXT:  Queen Esther was in a rare position to help the Jewish people.  Haman had conspired to kill all the Jews in Persia.  Esther's cousin Mordecai had appealed to Queen Esther to use her influence and make a plea to King Xerxes.  After a three-day fast Esther went before the King and requested a banquet meeting with the King and Haman present.

Esther 5  
     [9] Haman went out that day happy and in high spirits. But when he saw Mordecai at the king's gate and observed that he neither rose nor showed fear in his presence, he was filled with rage against Mordecai. [10] Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home.  Calling together his friends and Zeresh, his wife, [11] Haman boasted to them about his vast wealth, his many sons, and all the ways the king had honored him and how he had elevated him above the other nobles and officials. [12] "And that's not all," Haman added. "I'm the only person Queen Esther invited to accompany the king to the banquet she gave. And she has invited me along with the king tomorrow. [13] But all this gives me no satisfaction as long as I see that Jew Mordecai sitting at the king's gate."  [14] His wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, "Have a gallows built, seventy-five feet high, and ask the king in the morning to have Mordecai hanged on it. Then go with the king to the dinner and be happy." This suggestion delighted Haman, and he had the gallows built.     

     In Haman, we have a snapshot of a human heart gone awry.  What makes Haman happy?   An invitation to be among royals.   What makes Haman angry?  A single man who refuses to bow to him.  What makes Haman fall?  His pride and arrogance.
      Haman is on a “high."  Full of himself.  And as is often the case with people filled with pride, all of his accomplishments and riches are not enough.  The one thing stuck in Haman's craw is the one thing that he cannot control.  The one thing that irritates a heart filled with arrogance is the one thing that they cannot dominate.  Mordecai has now become an obsession to Haman.  Haman has everything that the world has to offer in terms of wealth and honor-- sons, riches, and access to the royals-- but Haman can't get past the gate without facing the one set of knees that will not bow to him. Out of obsession, a plot is hatched.
      The text says it was Haman’s wife and friends who suggested a gallows of ridiculous proportion be built for his nemesis.  It leaves us to wonder if they were even serious about the suggestion.  Perhaps they had grown so tired of the boasting and ranting of Haman they said-- “Why don’t you just build a 75 foot high gallows so everyone can see Mordecai hanged?"  But to Haman, the suggestion was no joke.  It was just the sort of thing that pride-filled rage feeds upon.         The heart of Haman is that of an extreme villain.  In his extreme, Haman represents the sort of insanity and obsession usually reserved for war crime trials.   But we would do well to ponder this heart and realize that one need not be as villainous as Haman to have the same disease.
       We, too, can grow arrogant and prideful if in much smaller ways.   We can be seduced by the vanity of rubbing elbows with the rich and famous.  We can become impressed with our accomplishments or accumulations.   We can become boastful even in things that are religious or spiritual.  We can also find our pride tweaked when someone fails to honor us.  Pride can get out of control and we can become obsessed with control.  Sound familiar?  There are even some within the circles of churches who operate with their own scorched earth policy-- obsessing over what they cannot control-- enraged when they are not honored-- and outrageous in their acts of vengeance.  Haman just reveals to us a grotesque extreme.  He really is not a complete stranger to us.
        Jesus offered a different way.  Wash feet.  Be the last in line.  Honor others as more important than yourself.  Give stuff away.  Jesus even suggested that a heart surrendered to God will come in from the hard work of the field not expecting gratitude or honor-- but expecting simply to serve the Master of the house without so much as a word of gratitude.  Why?  Because to serve Him is our privilege and our duty (Luke 17:7-10).   The heart of Haman is fully opposite the heart of our Lord and His Kingdom.  Even a little bit of Haman is too much.
         How is your heart today?  Has your pride been tweaked?  Have your accomplishments gone unrecognized?  Are you irritated by that one person at the gate that you cannot control-- the one who will not bend their will to yours?  There is a better way.  The way of Jesus.

          Lord, I surrender to You.  Make me a servant-- to You-- for You.  Give me the grace to continue serving with particular joy when I am weary and feel unrecognized.  In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2008, 2021
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)        
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2010 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.