Responding to the Call

Two Scriptures have been in my mind all day--one from the book of Esther and the other from the Gospel of Matthew. The more I thought about their messages, the more I realized they share a deep connection to a lesson God has been trying to teach me these past few months. 

{Esther 4:13-14}

Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the Jews. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”

The question Mordecai asks Queen Esther has always struck me as one of the most important questions in the Bible. Those I most often place at the center of the Bible are "What do you think of Jesus?", "Whom do men say that I am?", "Am I my brother's keeper?", and "Did God really say?". The first asks about an individual relationship with Jesus, the second asks about the social understanding of Jesus, the third asks about an individual's responsibility for his fellow man, and the fourth asks about an individual's responsibility to the truth of God. But Mordecai's question is different because it asks about an individual's response to the call of God. 

The circumstances of Esther's life have been ordained by a sovereign God. Mordecai is simply reminding Esther of the behind-the-scenes work of God in her life. Essentially he says, Why do you think God brought you here? Do you think this is an accident? And if God wants to use you and you don't listen, don't you think He will find someone who will? Take a look at verse 13 again: If you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews (God's people) from another place. 

Esther is a young woman who has been catapulted from a low position as an orphan in her uncle's house to the second highest position in a heathen kingdom. The potential for her heart to be swayed away from the God of Israel and from her uncle's lessons is enormous. But her response to the calling God placed on her life changed the course of history and saved her people. She listened to God and to the people He placed in her life to care for her. Her honorable character and beauty captivated the heart of a heathen king and brought glory to God.

The other verse I was thinking of is in Matthew, at the beginning of the gospel narrative:

{Matthew 3:7-10}

But when [John] saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

At first read, Mordecai's question and John the Baptist's stern warning seem unrelated. While Mordecai is speaking to Esther and reminding her of God's sovereignty, John is speaking to the hypocritical religious leaders and reminding them of God's holiness. However, both men are clearly identifying our responsibility as individuals to answer the call of God. 

For Esther, as a follower of the Lord, her response needs to be courageous. Her fear of the king's scepter must bow to her reverence for God and her love for her people. For the Pharisees and Sadducees, as only false followers of God and hypocrites in need of God's salvation, their response needs to be contrite. They must repent of their evil attitudes and actions and obey the commands of God in sincerity.

Both calls are applicable in my life (and I think, in all of our lives). When we find ourselves riddled by sin and failure, entangled in the lies of the world around us, and continuously comparing ourselves to others for the sake of our own pride, that is when God is calling us to repent and bear fruit--to turn from what offends Him and willingly offer what pleases Him most. On the other hand, when we find ourselves struggling to keep our heads above water in trials--when we are afraid of the future and worry about whether obeying God's calling to service will cost us too much--that is when God is calling us to trust Him. He arranged our circumstances and He has a mission for us in exactly the place He has put us RIGHT NOW. 

How will I respond? How will we respond?..