The Company You Keep will Dictate Your Life - Patrosky Anderson

Welcome to week 2 of our sermon series on Esther: "Queen's Gambit." In today's episode we dive deep into chapter 2.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hey everyone, welcome to the Brick by Brick podcast from Renovation Church, where faith gets built one truth at a time. In this sermon episode, you'll listen to our most recent Sunday morning message. So whether you're new to faith or have been walking with Jesus for years, there's something here for you. So kick back, hit play, and let's build this thing together.

SPEAKER_01 0:23

This young lady who um was an exile, uh living in a land that was not her own, she becomes queen. And so um it is through divine appointment, it is through divine move of God that this happens. Um but we talked about how the God is not even mentioned in the book of Esther, and so the book is really meant for us to read and and make the connection. And so I want to just before we even start, and and this is probably how I get off track, but I it's it's who you hired. No. No takebacks. Um, I think sometimes we read scripture and we scripture is far off, right? It's in this time period, and what we can make of it and what we can take from it and bring it into today, we'll do that, and the rest will leave behind. Can I just tell you that you should not view scripture that way? Number one. But number two, you definitely should not view the book of Esther that way. Because the book of Esther is meant for you to make direct correlations between today and what was happening then. Does that make sense? If you truly believe that the word of God is inspired, inspired for what? Inspired for what? Is it not inspired for you to correct us, to teach us? And so for us to look at the book of Esther and to see certain things and gloss over them simply because they don't make us feel good, simply because we don't want to look at that part of ugly society, well then you are not allowing the scriptures to do what the scriptures are meant to do. Amen. And so, as believers, as followers of Christ, let's look at the book of Esther and let's make these connections. I think sometimes we don't want to make connections because if we're truly honest, we are kind of on the wrong side of the fence. And everybody's like, Yeah, he ain't talking to me. But for everyone who's humble here this morning, myself included, sometimes we're on the wrong side of the fence and we're spending more time trying to make our side of the fence look good instead of just climbing the fence. Because, whatever reason, fill in the blank. We feel like if we climb that fence once we get over there, all the people who are over there are gonna be like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever. But is it more important that you be on that side of the fence and deal with the ridicule of that side of the fence than being over here trying to make this side right? This side will never be right if it's wrong. Does that make sense? And the book of Esther says, look at these things, see these things for what they are. Look at the life, look at the culture you're in. And if it exists, make sure that you line up with Scripture and the ways in which God dealt with these things. Because you will get no credit for trying to make the wrong side of the fence right. Amen. Oh, here we go. So I just challenge you to read the book of Esther that way. Again, as this woman who was who was exiled is brought back into the fold. And we spent all last week talking about the most unsung character of the book, right? Queen Veshti, who who I said last week, she's really the only honorable one in the story, right? And and we like, what? Growing up, I read this book on Esther, and I'm doing Esther, yeah, yeah. Queen Vashti is the only one honorable in the story. And it like if you have daughters, you wouldn't tell your daughter to go off and be like Esther. You wouldn't. You wouldn't. And now some of you are like, oh, let's read. Read the story, right? But here's the beauty of it. God never promised us that Esther and Mordecai, God never promised us to that, that, that, that, like, or God never meant for them to be lifted up as examples of morality. And so that in and of itself should make us wonder, like, wow, what's going on? Right? So let's really dive into this. I think I lost some of you with the with the Esther thing. But Queen Vashti, last week, we looked at how the king has this six-month party, and then he has a seven-day after party, and then he invites all of the people from the least to the greatest, it says, in the citadel to this after party. And while at this after party, he asked for his queen to be brought out and paraded around these drunken men. And the Bible says that Queen Vashti said, No, I'm not doing that. I'm not gonna compromise who I am and the dignity that I have. I'm not gonna compromise that and come and subject myself to what's happening over there. She knew the culture, she knew Persian culture, she knew who she married, and she knew how things were going down, and she says, I'm not going to subject myself to that. And what we see is we see these two key points emerge from this point in the book, and they will be there through the entire rest of the book. And the two points are this: that number one, not all sacrifices you're losing. Because she sacrificed, and on the surface, you would think that she lost. She lost her kingdom, she lost the fact that she was now queen, but not all sacrifice is losing. And we've got to do a much better job as people, myself included, of looking in the mirror and being comfortable with the things that you have to let go of to hold to the dignity that God has given you on the inside. We've got to become comfortable with that. And can I just say that the more of us that do that and the more of us that are honest when we do it, it gives more of us the power to do the very same thing. Because not all sacrifice is losing. And number two, the company that you keep will dictate your life. A lot of people think that they're hanging out with the wrong people and they're making a difference. They are not. You're not. Nine times out of ten, they are affecting you. That's why God tells us to go go into the world but not be of the world. Why? Because that's not wise, right? To think that you're just gonna go there in the afternoon hours and the party, and I'm not gonna participate, I'm gonna witness. No, you're not. You're not. You're not. The company you keep will dictate your life. And though the queen loses her place in the kingdom and her status throughout this entire story, I think it cannot be said about her that she lost her dignity. And church, can I just tell you there's some things more important than status? Do we believe that in 2026? In in hustle culture, do we believe that there are some things that are more important than status? There are some things more important than being popular and gaining prestige. There's some things that are more important in this life, right, than those things. Because, like we said last week, there will always be things, there will always be people in this life who will desire you, who will tempt you, who will ask of you to compromise so that you can gain something, but you have to be willing and ready to sacrifice that thing, to let that thing go, because not all sacrifice is you losing. And for the queen, this was her sacrifice. And I respect her for that. You can be like, oh, she was this. No, no, no, no. I respect her for that. Because not all sacrifice is losing. Turn your Bibles to 2 Chronicles. I want to make a detour from Esther for a little bit, okay? Because I think it's important that we understand the context because it'll help, it will help us better understand. I always say, man, we got to breathe in the entire breath of scripture, and this is us doing that. Turn your Bibles to 2 Chronicles chapter 33. I'm gonna do my best to paraphrase this. We're gonna go from uh 2 Chronicles to 2 Kings. Like we're gonna be out here, we're gonna be all through the Old Testament today. Um, because we're gonna connect some of the dots. Because the point that I want to make to you is that you are the culture. You are the culture. And a lot of times we think that God judges leaders only. No, no, no, no, no. God judges leaders and he judges the culture, and we are the culture. Okay? And so in 2 Chronicles chapter 33, starting in verse 1, you see this king by the name of Manasseh. It says that he was 12 years old when he became king. 12 years old, and he reigned for 55 years. He's known as one of the most evil kings, the most long-standing kings of uh the Jewish people, but the most evil. It says in verse 2, it says that he did evil in the eyes of the Lord. Right? Following the detestable practices of the nations that the Lord had driven out before uh Israel. So the Lord drove out these nations because he says they're doing things that that are just evil. And then this king comes behind them and he starts doing those things. It says he built up the high places that his father had demolished, all of these places of worship. It says that he erects uh the altar of Baal, he erects all of these things. Like he he is bowing down, it says, uh to the stars. He he's worshiping the stars. I think sometimes, as not sometimes, all the time, like we we have to be careful as Christians, right? When we're like, oh, I'm just I'm I'm following the stars. No, you're not. No, you're not. Can we look at the word of God here? Oh, I'm a Pisces and Pisces. I don't know what I am because that stuff is ghibbly garb to me. But it's like, oh, I'm this and we do this. No, no, no, no, no. It says that this king did evil in the eyes of the Lord. And it says that he worshiped the stars. What do you think that is? He built up altars, right? Like, like, don't, don't, don't look over this. It says that even to the point, like where he had gotten to the point that where he was sacrificing children. It says that he did divination and witchcraft, and he sought omens and he consulted with mediums and spiritualists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger. And in verse 7, it says he took images and he made them and he put them in God's temple. He did all of these things, all of these things. And in verse 8, or actually, let's skip down to verse 9 here. And in verse 9, it says this. It says, But Manasseh, it says that he led Judah and who? And who? All of the people astray. So that who? They. Not he. They did evil. They did more evil than the nations that the Lord destroyed before them. Not him. He did it too. But they. They. And it says in verse 10, it says that the Lord spoke to the king and who? And the people. I want to make sure that you you see that. That the Lord spoke to the king and his people, but who? They, not he, they, all of them. They paid no attention. And then if you keep reading, it says that the Lord brought about an army, that they captured him, the Babylonian army, they took him captive. But it says in verse 12, in his distress, in his distress, he sought favor, favor of his God. He humbled himself greatly before God and his ancestors. He prayed to God, and the Lord moved with grace upon him, heard his plea, and the Lord brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. And it says, From then Manasseh knew the Lord was his God. And so Manasseh repents, does he not? He repents, the Lord hears his cry and brings him back. It's a powerful display of God's grace. Right? King Manasseh dies, and then several kings later take the throne. But king after king after king. Now turn your Bibles to 2 Kings chapter 24. And we'll fly through this as well. 2 Kings chapter 24. Starting at verse 1, it says, um, and I love their names. During Joachim, through his reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded the land, and he took him and made him his vassal or his slave for three years. He occupied, right? Kept him on the throne, but made him his slave. But then he turned against King Nebuchadnezzar because kings don't like being slaves, obviously, and he tried to rebel. Okay? Are you with me so far? From there it says, the Lord, that's important to know, that the Lord is orchestrating all of this. And he sends these people to raid against uh uh Judah in accordance with the word that the Lord had proclaimed by his servant the prophet. Don't miss this. That surely these things of Judah, according to the Lord's command, in order to remove who not the king, but them from his presence, because of the sin that of who? Manasseh, right? And all that he had done. The Lord forgave King Manasseh. We just read that. He he forgave him, right? He says, uh, but but the Lord was still angry because of all that had been done, including the shedding of innocent blood. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord was not willing to forgive. Whoa, wait a minute, Pastor. You we just read that he he forgave Manasseh, but now we're saying that the that the Lord wasn't willing to forgive. Think about it. Many years later, the Lord desires to remove Judah, right? The lower part of Israel, he desires to remove them from his presence, even though he had forgave Manasseh. Seems to me that one thing is true that even though Manasseh did it, the people allowed it, and the people participated in it. And because they participated in it, they got evil king after evil king after evil king after evil king. Read it, it's all right there. And the Lord finally has enough. He seeks to remove them all. Why? Because culture matters. We are the culture. And I think it's way too easy for us to look at our leaders and say, no, no, no, it's the leaders who did it, right? If I abuse somebody in this church and you allow me to stay, did you not participate? Ah, nobody wants to say yes to that. But you know it's true in your heart, right? And if I can stand up here, if I can be up here in boldness and say it, you ought to be able to say it too. It's just true. You are the culture, we are the culture, and the company you keep will dictate your lives. Though Manasseh cried out, the people continued the cycle. Right? And then if you go down to verse eight, Joachin, not to be mistaken by Joachim, was 18 years old when he became king. And his reign in Jerusalem was three months, and then from there, it lists his his his mother, right? It lists his daughters, and it says that in verse 9 that he was an evil, that he did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his what? His father did. And it says from there in verse 10, at the time the the officers of Nebuchadnezzar's king of Babylon, he advanced on Jerusalem, he seized it. Nebuchadnezzar himself came down to the city. That's very rare. Nebuchadnezzar himself came down to the city while his officers were beseeching it, right? And it says that the king and his mothers and the nobles and all the officials that they surrendered surrendered. And in the eighth year of the reign of King Babylon, it says that he took him as prisoner. And then from there it says that as the Lord decreed, these things are not happening without the gaze of God and the power of God. As the Lord decreed, Nebuchadnezzar, he removed all the treasures from the temple and of the royal palace and all the articles, right? And then he carried off, verse 14, it says that he carried off all of Jerusalem into exile. All of the officers, all of the fighting men, all of the skilled workers, the artisans, a total of 10,000. And the only people that he left were who? The poorest people. They have nothing to offer, they just would have been huge liabilities. And so he left them. And so all of Jerusalem is carried off in exile, except for the poor people. Eventually, some people would return. You know, the book of Nehemiah, that's why he goes back. He's helping them rebuild the wall, but not everybody goes back. They they scatter, they're all over the place. This actually talks to some of our modern times, but but we're not gonna go there. And and so some of them made their way to places like Susa, where a young woman lived, right? Over time, generations passed, grew up a woman by the name of Esther. Now turn to Esther chapter two. These were fighting people, these were warriors, these were skilled people, these were artisans, these were wealthy people, these were nobles. Right? And in Esther chapter two, starting at verse one, it says, When King Xerxes' fury had subsided, he remembered Veshti, what she had done, and what he had decreed about her. And then the king's personal attendant proposed, let us let a search be made for beautiful women, uh, beautiful young virgins uh for the king. Let the kings let him appoint commissioners to every providence of all the realm uh of Citadel. And let's bring these women in. I'm paraphrasing, let's bring these women in, let's put them in the citadel of Susa in the harem, and then um put them under the care of the king's eunuch, right, who was in charge of all of the women, right? Let's give them beauty treatments, it says, and let the young women who let the young woman who pleases the king be the queen instead of Vashti. And this advice appealed to the king, and he followed it. So, in a moment of clarity, the king wakes up, the hangover's gone, and he's like, wow, I really did that. Yeah, you did. And then he thinks about his wife. And the mistake that he made. And before the remorse can even set in, the company that he keeps said, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, king, king, king, king, king. We ain't gotta go backwards. We're going forward. Here's what you should do, king. Send a decree out, gather all of the young women in the land, and let's bring them in. Let's put them in the ham. Let's give them beauty treatment. Let's do all of these things. Let's grease the wheels. And let's let you pick another queen. And the king said, Oh, I like that. In a moment of clarity, when he should have had people around him who would say, King, yeah, you were out of pocket. You were. And now that you're in your right mind, let's try to figure out a way to make this right. But church, the company you keep will dictate your life. And in verse 5, it says that there was in the city of, in the citadel of Susa, it says, a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin named Mordecai, and it lists all of his people, Jar, the son of uh Simei and the son of Kish. Kish, his great grandfather, would have been the one that was carried off by King Nebuchadnezzar. You see? Because it says that he was carried off to Jerusalem by King Nebuchadnezzar. He was taken captive, right? Mordecai had a cousin whose name was Hadassah, who um that was in who, like she was Jewish, so that would have been her name, but she had taken on a new name, and we'll see that this is all because of Mordecai is encouraging her to do this, that she takes on a new name, and in that new name she was also known. As Esther. The Bible says that she was, uh she had a lovely figure and she was beautiful, and Mordecai had taken her in as his own daughter because her mother and her father had passed away. Are you with me? If you go down to verse 10, this is after the king has made this foolish decree. Esther has now been brought into the palace. It says that Esther had not revealed her nationality, her family background, because Mordecai had forbidden her to do so. Man, imagine having to smother wet blanket, who you are, just so you can fit in. Horrible. But that's what she had to do. And it says every day he being Mordecai walked back and forth, right, near the courtyard of the harem to find out how Esther was and how and what was happening to her. Now, if you if you skip down, because we're going to skip all the way down to 17, because if you've ever read Esther, this is some crazy things that are happening here. We got kids in here. You know what I'm saying? It's a family show. But but I encourage you to go back and read it because this is not, this is not a good thing. And I see some of you, you're like, oh, I better read this now. Pay attention. They're grabbing these young ladies and they're bringing them into harems and they're buttering them up for a year so that they can entertain the king so that the king can choose one to replace the woman who chose not to subject herself to such practices. And if we look at this and we pretend that we don't live in a culture where things like this still happen, then we're not allowing scripture to cut to the very core of who we are as a human society. And in verse uh 17 it says, now the king was attracted to Esther more than any other woman. She had won favor, she approved, or she had won his favor, and he approved of her more than any of the other virgins. So he set the royal crown on her head, he made her uh queen instead of Vashti. Then the king gave a banquet, called it the Esther's banquet, for all the nobles and all the officials, and he proclaimed a holiday throughout the providences, and he distributed gifts, right, with um royal liberty. Church, have you ever made a mistake? Instead of just saying, I'm sorry, you double down on your behavior to try to prove that you were right from the very beginning. No? No one in here? You're like, nah, I would never do that. King Xerxes would. That's what he was doing. He brings her in, he throws her banquet, he tells everybody, oh man, look, look, look. The fool that I made of myself. Way back when, well, I was no fool at all. Look at what I got. And it almost got him killed. In verse 10, it says that when the don't miss this, that when the virgins assembled a second time. Wait a minute, a second time? I thought Esther won. I thought this massive beauty pageant that dehumanized women was over. No, not at all. Not at all. They went on to round two. You see, and I believe that's what Queen Vashti understood. That it was not just about the kings, that it was not just about the nobles that night. Remember, last week we talked about how that the after party was actually for all of the lowest, right? The least to the greatest in the kingdom. The after party was for the culture. Was it not? The six-month party was for the nobles, the after party was for the culture. The after party was for the cooks, the after party was for the workers, the after party was for the for the people in the cheap seats. I made that joke last week. The after party was for the culture. It was for all of the common folks that represent the culture. And I think she understood that the culture is powerful. And when the culture begins to participate in evil, where does it end? How does it end? And it says that Mordecai was sitting at the gate. And again, it tells us that the Esther she kept um secret about her family background, about her nationality, just that Mordecai had told her to do. She continued to follow his instructions because he had instructed her in this. Even as she was being brought up, he told her how to live, he told her how to code switch, he told her how to conform, he told her how to do certain things so that she would fit in because it was dangerous if she ever stood out. And so here she is. And in verse 21, it says, during the time that Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate, at least these two people here, Bigdana and Tesha, it says two of the king's officials, uh, the officers, they who they guarded the doorway, they became angry and they conspired an assassination against King Xerxes. But it says Mordecai, he found out about this plot. He tells it to his cousin, who is now the queen. The queen reports it to the king. She gives Mordecai all of the credit, and when they find out that this is actually true, the king takes care of the two officers who were plotting to kill him. And this is all recorded in the book of Animals in the presence of the king. He wanted to make sure they put it in there. Now we don't know. This is how I want to end. We don't know why these two officers wanted to kill the king. I just want to say that. This is me. We don't know why they wanted to kill the king. But I'll tell you what. If I'm working nine to five, my feet are hurting, my dogs are barking, my back is hurting. And I got a king who's gonna throw me a seven-day party. I ain't mad at him. Would you? Would you? No. You be sitting around, man, this king's the only one that gets us. He threw a six-month party for the nobles, and then we gotta sit here. No, no, no, oh no, he threw a party for us too. Why would they hate him? Here's what I honestly believe. And again, this is just me, I want to be clear. But the Bible says that they're standing at the doorway. It's their job to guard the doorway. And as people come in, they would protect it. Would they not? As people leave, they would see it. And I'm thinking, what would set these two men off to make them want to go against a king who has no problem throwing parties and letting them participate? I think they saw somebody that they knew going through that door. I do. I think they saw a sister. I think they saw an aunt. I think they saw a daughter. I think they saw somebody they knew when the king decided to send it all out, right? And the Bible says that even after the king found Esther, he still went on and participated in round two. And if I'm standing at that door, I don't care how many parties you throw in my honor. If I see somebody I love walk through that door knowing what's about to happen, oh you bet your life. I'm gonna try to take yours. That's what I that's what I think. I I again I want to be clear, that's me. But what why else? Why else would they get so upset at a king who is so favorable and loves to throw so many parties and would let them participate? I want to end with this. The seven-day party was meant for all of the workers in the citadel. What were these two men? Were they not officers? Would they not have been at that party? Would that party not have been for them? Would they not have got to witness the king's generosity? I speak to you now as the culture. Understand this. If you watch them come for somebody else, they'll soon come for you. We don't like that, but that's the truth. The Bible says that these men were officers, they were at the party. I didn't read in my Bible that they stood up and said anything. When Esther or when Queen Vashti lost her crown, they didn't have anything to do with them. But something set them off that they now want to kill the king. I think when it got too close to home, they said, we gotta take this guy out. I believe it in my heart. And what that tells us, I'm telling you, if you will let them do to your neighbor, if you will let evil destroy your neighbor, evil will come for you next. And that's why God tells us that we are to love one another. That we are to stand shoulder to shoulder in the grace and love of God. So that when evil comes for my neighbor, it has to, it has to, it has to go through me first.

unknown 33:06

Why?

SPEAKER_01 33:06

Because I'm on my knees, I'm praying for them, I'm checking on them, I'm seeing how they're doing. I'm in the trenches. I want to know how that. I want, come on, man. I know of people who are like, I got a divorce in my small group, they don't even know. If you let evil come for your neighbor, it will come for you. It just will. See the story of Esther and don't remove yourself from it. Put yourself smack dab in it. And I think that's where the work of the Lord happens. Let's pray.

SPEAKER_00 33:49

Thanks for tuning in to the Brick by Brick Podcast. We're so glad you've joined us on our journey to build faith, one truth at a time. Be sure to follow us so you never miss another episode. We've got plenty more coming your way.