The Greatness of Mordecai
“King Xerxes imposed tribute throughout the empire, to its distant shores. And all his acts of power and might, together with a full account of the greatness of Mordecai, whom the king had promoted, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Media and Persia? Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews, and held in high esteem by his many fellow Jews, because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare of all the Jews.”
The old fairy tales that had been sanitized used to end with the words, “And they lived happily ever after.” Some of the original fairy tales were not that optimistic about life, but the thought is still a lovely one. Here the Esther story ends with wise discerning Mordecai as the second most powerful man in the entire Persian Empire of fifty million people and untold numbers of nationalities. Although these short sentences only mention Mordecai’s attention to his fellow Jews, it is more than likely that many other minority races also benefited greatly from Mordecai’s actions. Why?
Mordecai worshiped the God of Israel and was obviously a learned man. Mordecai probably knew the Torah well; that meant that Mordecai would care for widows and orphans and refugees and other disadvantaged groups, that he would handle slaves compassionately, and that he would not behave capriciously. Xerxes was a drinker and when drunk could make horrific decisions. With Mordecai in a position of prominence, it is likely that most if not all the Jews in the kingdom were copying him. Living justly according to the Law of Moses, the Jews would have had a major impact on their neighbors and would have comprised a force for righteousness, even though they were only one of thousands of nationalities in the empire.
APPLICATION: We never realize how many lives we may have touched or the people whom we have influenced. Last weekend my husband attended part of the funeral services for the son of one of our friends. This twenty – eight-year-old man had been killed tragically in a road traffic accident. But my husband and I were totally unprepared for the credit the parents gave me for saving him as a premature infant.
At the funeral, the parents mentioned that the man had been born prematurely and that his life had been saved because I taught them how to do “kangaroo mother care.” “Kangaroo mother care” is a simple method of keeping babies warm in which a person swaddles the infant next to his or her bare skin, using the body warmth of the adult to keep the baby warm. At the time this young man was born, there was no electricity in our area, making kangaroo care the best option for maintaining body heat for premature infants. I have personally done emergency kangaroo care for newborns until their body temperatures have come up to normal. On more than one occasion, I have poured hot water into a large glass bottle, swathed it in a towel, and placed that in a traditional basket with the baby, covering the basket and thus creating a simple incubator. (Now we have a NICU with an incubator.)
Not long ago, one of the young men who worked for us in our house while he was in school visited us. During that visit, it became obvious that this newly – minted teacher viewed us as a second set of parents. We were taken aback, for we felt we had done nothing extraordinary.
You never know who might be watching you or the influence you will have on those around you. You may be struggling with a grief so deep you feel as if you have fallen into a bottomless pit; meanwhile, your friends are taking courage from the fact that you are continuing to work and carry out your other duties for your family. You may have turned to volunteer work upon retirement simply as a means of maintaining your sanity, while those whom you are helping are taking enormous courage from your actions. Let me share an experience/suggestion.
During the one year I was doing an MPH program at Tulane University, I volunteered once a week for a reading program in an inner-city school. The program was quite organized; I worked with fourth grade students who would read selected texts to me. Then the students got to pick three children’s stories from a large collection. We would snuggle together on a couch while I read to the kids. I frequently worked with two or three students at a time, and one of the highlights of my week was cuddling with those cute little girls while I shared their delight in the stories. The teacher for that class also ran after – school programs for children at her church in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward, the area most devastated by Hurricane Katrina. I hope the few efforts I was able to make helped those kids so that they are now reading to their children.
That program was quite low – tech, but its effects were far – reaching. The coordinator of the program later told the volunteers that she could track major improvements in the children’s school work, simply because someone took one hour a week to read to the kids. Several studies have demonstrated that children who are read to make far better grades than those who do not have this experience. If you are looking for something to do, why not see if your local school would be willing to start such a program?
Mordecai didn’t start out to become the second most powerful man in the Persian Empire. Mordecai was simply following God and doing His Will. It was God who promoted Mordecai for his faithfulness and righteousness. Until we reach heaven, we will never know how many people Mordecai saved and blessed. Until you reach heaven, you may never know either. So take heart! Don’t stop doing good. Continue to be faithful. Your actions today may bless far more people than you realize.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, there are many of us who are becoming discouraged because we feel our actions are useless. Please strengthen and encourage all those who feel that way so that they will continue to fulfill Your perfect Will for their lives. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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