Rich, Pretty People

...who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”

15Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16“Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”

Esther 4:14b-16 (NIV)

Last night, I was sitting by a dear friend at a wonderful concert.  She looked at one of the performers and said, "I'd like to hear her story."  Here this woman was, beautiful!  Talented!  She was one of the "pretty people".  

Let me put it to you straight this morning.  There are no pretty people.  Just like we put concealer on our facial blemishes or hair weaves over our thinning hair, much of our energy in "first world countries" goes to concealing our imperfections and hiding our pain.  We may look like movie stars or live like the saintliest of saints.  Don't ever look at another and think, "He has it all together." Even if he or she is a Christian, there is always some measure of conflict or pain. 

The Bible makes it clear that, even Jesus struggled with the burden of living the life of a human being.  In the Garden of Eden, His agony was so great that He sweat drops of blood!  Besides Him (as if we needed more examples), there is not one biblical figure I can think of who comes off as "Mr. or Ms. All That".  All are flawed.  All have challenges.  Most make terrible decisions at some point.

This is why it is so important for the Body of Christ to live radically, love radically, as The Body of Christ.  So that, from our "royal position", we can serve our fellow man and tell him the good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because although all flounder, flop and sometimes fail, there IS a difference between living this earthly life with Jesus Christ or without Him.  Regardless of the obvious issue of going to Heaven or Hell after physical death, there is the issue of the abundant life.

What does it mean to be rich?  It has nothing to do with money.  It has everything to do with abundance, with peace.  It is a wealth only found in the everlasting riches of Jesus Christ, that Prince of Peace, born a lowly Babe in a manger.  It is finding all our needs met by being accepted, forgiven and set free.  This past week, a well-known figure in my home county took his own life.  By all outward appearances, by all worldly standards he was successful and happy; he was "rich". Heartbreakingly, his pain was so great that he saw no other release from it than to remove his soul from this mortal world, in the most violent way.  Such tremendous suffering!

Oh people of God!  Treat every, single person as a bleeding soul.  Even the people of God are often "walking wounded", as opposed to the unsaved, who are the true "walking dead".  We, God's very own beloved, MUST be the bridge between the dying and the King - - whether our brothers or sisters in Christ or those who are still "on the outside of the gates to the kingdom".

In the past I have bought clothes for my sons - - - beautiful, expensive, trendy clothes!  And, I have taken them to a charity with the tags still attached.  They would not wear them.  Beautiful gifts, wasted.  How similar our Savior must feel, to see us wasting our gifts - - hoarding our physical and especially spiritual wealth - - when all around us are suffering people? 

"The poor in spirit are blessed, for the kingdom of Heaven is theirs."  

Matthew 5:3 (HCSB)

 Most of the time, being attuned to the needs of others (I started to say "the needy", but we are ALL "the needy") does not call for us to lay down our lives, at least not in the physical sense, as was the case with Mordecai and Esther.  Some have often wondered if they would be willing to make a similarly extreme sacrifice for someone else, what they would do in a "If I perish, I perish" moment.  I have the answer for you:  if you are tight-fisted in the small things, you will most likely be hard-hearted and selfish in the bigger things. If giving yourself away, being others-focused, is not the way you "roll" on a regular basis, your heart will be so hard when confronted with a major sacrifice that its muscle will not be able to respond as Jesus would.  

And, how DID He respond?  By laying down His very life, after living a life of magnanimous giving to others.  May we, His own, do the same.  Because, "for such a time as this..."

Father, open our eyes to the needs of those around us.  May we not stop with the seeing, but move on to the giving of our riches in Your Son, our Savior.  In this way, Lord, we celebrate Christmas, all year long, all our lives long.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Source:

Voskamp, Ann. The Greatest Gift: Unwrapping the Full Love Story of Christmas.