We’re moving through Esther, a story of God’s protection for his people. To put a new queen in place to counteract the forces of evil, God had to first get rid of the old queen. Then the king’s counselors kick in again:

The king’s young attendants stepped in and got the ball rolling: “Let’s begin a search for beautiful young virgins for the king. Let the king appoint officials in every province of his kingdom to bring every beautiful young virgin to the palace complex of Susa and to the harem run by Hegai, the king’s eunuch who oversees the women; he will put them through their beauty treatments. Then let the girl who best pleases the king be made queen in place of Vashti.” The king liked this advice and took it. (Esther 2.2 – 4, MSG)

(It’s interesting that the advisors in chapter 1 were the oldest, wisest men in the kingdom. In chapter 2, it’s his “young attendants.”)

And so we meet the protagonists of our story: Esther and Mordecai:

Now there was a Jew who lived in the palace complex in Susa. His name was Mordecai…His ancestors had been taken from Jerusalem with the exiles and carried off with King Jehoiachin of Judah by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon into exile. Mordecai had reared his cousin Hadassah, otherwise known as Esther, since she had no father or mother. The girl had a good figure and a beautiful face. After her parents died, Mordecai had adopted her. When the king’s order had been publicly posted, many young girls were brought to the palace complex of Susa and given over to Hegai who was overseer of the women. Esther was among them. (Esther 2.5 – 8, MSG)

Again, God at work behind the scenes. She finds favor with Hegai, who was in charge of the harem:

Hegai liked Esther and took a special interest in her. Right off he started her beauty treatments, ordered special food, assigned her seven personal maids from the palace, and put her and her maids in the best rooms in the harem. Esther didn’t say anything about her family and racial background because Mordecai had told her not to. (Esther 2.9, 10, MSG)

It’s worth a pause here to talk about “purity.” We frequently read stories of Christians refusing to do this or that because it violates their beliefs “You can’t make me deliver mail on Sunday!” Do we ever stop to think about what Esther is being asked to do? Be part of the harem of a pagan king?! Instead of loudly proclaiming her Jewishness and obstinately refusing to have her virginity violated, she hides her Jewishness and submits to the process…and wins the contest:

When it was Esther’s turn to go to the king, … she asked for nothing other than what Hegai, the king’s eunuch in charge of the harem, had recommended. Esther, just as she was, won the admiration of everyone who saw her. She was taken to King Xerxes in the royal palace in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of the king’s reign. The king fell in love with Esther far more than with any of his other women or any of the other virgins—he was totally smitten by her. He placed a royal crown on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti. (Esther 2.15 – 17, MSG)

Chapter 2 ends with a seemingly irrelevant event which will become important later in the story:

On this day, with Mordecai sitting at the King’s Gate, Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who guarded the entrance, had it in for the king and were making plans to kill King Xerxes. But Mordecai learned of the plot and told Queen Esther, who then told King Xerxes, giving credit to Mordecai. When the thing was investigated and confirmed as true, the two men were hanged on a gallows. This was all written down in a logbook kept for the king’s use. (Esther 2.21 – 23, MSG)

God’s queen is in place. We meet the villain in chapter 3.

For exaltation comes neither from the east nor from the west nor from the south. But God is the Judge: He puts down one, And exalts another. (Psalm 75.6, 7, NKJV)

Wow! We’re into Esther, the last book of our journey through the 12 historical books. While our reading program is one chapter per day, five days per week, Esther is a book best read in one sitting – takes about 30 minutes. Even if you’re not following the reading program, I encourage you to read Esther.

Talking with an orthodox Jew way back in 1969, I told him that his scriptures were the same 39 books that were in our Bible. He said, “Even Esther?” I replied, “Yes, even Esther. Although it doesn’t mention God explicitly, no book better shows God working behind the scenes to protect his people.” He was incredulous: “How did you know that?” Simple answer: “I’ve read it!”

God at work behind the scenes…

Suppose there’s going to be a national plot against the Jews, supported by the king. How better to turn that plot around than to have a Jewish queen? But how can that happen? We already have a queen.

In chapter one, God uses a drunken king’s demand and fear of men not being “king of their castle” to depose Queen Vashti.

On the seventh day of the party, the king, high on the wine, ordered the seven eunuchs who were his personal servants … to bring him Queen Vashti resplendent in her royal crown. He wanted to show off her beauty to the guests and officials. She was extremely good-looking. But Queen Vashti refused to come, refused the summons delivered by the eunuchs. (Esther 1.10 – 12, MSG)

The king called his advisors. What to do? Their counsel was clear.

So, if the king agrees, let him pronounce a royal ruling and have it recorded in the laws of the Persians and Medes so that it cannot be revoked, that Vashti is permanently banned from King Xerxes’ presence. And then let the king give her royal position to a woman who knows her place. When the king’s ruling becomes public knowledge throughout the kingdom, extensive as it is, every woman, regardless of her social position, will show proper respect to her husband. (Esther 1.19, 20, MSG)

Step one is done. The queen’s spot is vacant. It’s worth a separate blog to see how Esther fills it.

The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will. (Proverbs 21.1, ESV)

I’ve been having trouble with my hearing aids lately. In short, they don’t seem to be amplifying sound. After much trial and error, fiddling with the settings, even taking them to a technician, I finally discovered the problem. The hearing aids are deaf!

While they transmit sound beautifully when it comes from my phone during a call or on a video clip, they don’t transmit sound that comes through the air. Why not? The microphones, the part of the hearing aids that pick up sound, don’t work. In short,

The hearing aids can’t amplify what they don’t hear!

After switching to a previous pair and sending the newer ones in for service, I was sharing this story with my son Matt. He said, “There’s a blog in that. You can’t transmit to others what not inside you.” And he followed up with a sentence from The Big Book:

Our book is meant to be suggestive only. We realize we know only a little. God will constantly disclose more to you and to us. Ask Him in your morning meditation what you can do each day for the man who is still sick. The answers will come, if your own house is in order. But obviously you cannot transmit something you haven’t got. (Page 164, emphasis mine)

It’s a biblical principle:

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. (1 John 1.1 – 3, NIV)

Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (James 1.21, 22, NIV)

First Presbyterian Church of Colorado Springs puts on an annual Christmas concert called Christmas Joy! (It’s possible this page will be taken down by the time the blog posts…) It has grown into a bodacious affair, held at the Pikes Peak Center, a 2500-seat auditorium downtown. We attended in 2022 and 2023 and hadn’t really planned to go this year, but our oldest son, Mark, wanted to go with his daughter, Kesley.

So I bought four tickets. Then June fell. While in the hospital, learning to get around with a walker, June said, “I’d sure like to go to Christmas Joy.” That was Monday, December 9. The concert was Sunday, December 15, and our tickets were in the balcony for the 1:30 performance.

I spent a frustrating hour on LiveChat with AXS, trying to exchange two tickets for handicap seating. Absolutely no success. That conversation ended with “Someone will get back to you in 3-5 days.” (At the time, the concert was in 4 days, and I still haven’t heard back from AXS.) In the meantime, Mark gave me the name and email address of the fellow in charge of ticketing for the Pikes Peak Center. He responded right away, explaining that there were no handicap seats available.

Fast-forward to Sunday. It’s 12:20p, and June and I are having lunch. Someone is coming to sit with June while I go to the concert. Text from Mark: “I have two handicap tickets for Christmas Joy. Can you get her there?” A neighbor was already on tap to walk the dog around 3p while I was to be gone. I called him, and he came over right away, walked the dog, and helped me get June into the car. (It’s 17 steps DOWN from our main level to the garage, and she hadn’t been out since coming home from the hospital the previous Monday.)

I had a fuzzy idea how we would coordinate with Mark at the Pikes Peak Center for dropping off June at the handicap entrance, parking the car, meeting inside, etc. But it all worked! Timing, seating, everything. It was a fabulous concert, very heartwarming, and I’m thankful June was able to go. A Christmas miracle! That she was already suitably dressed, that Mark found the tickets at the last minute on the AXS resale site, that our neighbor was available to help (loading and unloading). Praise God for small blessings. Here we are in the lobby after.

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! (2 Corinthians 9.15, NIV)

Last Saturday, Travis Hunter of the University of Colorado was awarded this year’s Heisman Trophy, given to the best college football player. Usually, the award goes to a quarterback, occasionally to a wide receiver or running back. Travis is a wide receiver AND a cornerback (a defensive player). That’s right, he played nearly every play.

Sean Keeler, writing for the Denver Post, sums it up:

Since 1980, no college football player at the FBS level had intercepted four passes in a season while also catching at least 90 passes and racking up at least 13 receiving touchdowns. Until Hunter.

And he is talented: watch this nonchalant one-handed catch in warmups.

What struck me, however, was his discipline:

Keeler writes:

Hunter told Fox Sports’ Big Noon Kickoff last month that his weekly routine includes “at least 10 hours” of film study. After being named an Academic All-American this past winter while sporting a 3.6 GPA, he switched majors from psychology to anthropology.

Hunter said in an interview recently:

I just have a different type of mindset where I don’t go out. I don’t drink, I don’t do none of that extra stuff. I go home, chill with my fiancé, play video games…I’m not going to do anything and keep my head in the right space. It’s going to be kind of hard (to repeat my career) because a lot of kids come in with different type of things on their mind. And so they’ve just got to be focused… But I definitely think some kids could do it. They’ve just got to be focused and ready to put all the hard work and the dedication for it.

He’s focused, he doesn’t drink, he works to keep his head “in the right space.” If another player wants to achieve, it’s focus, hard work, dedication.

That’ll preach:

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. (1 Corinthians 9.25, NIV)

…But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3.13, 14, NIV)

We left Nehemiah and Ezra in the middle of what we might call a revival service. Nehemiah 8 ended with their celebrating the feast of booths. Chapter 8 contains a well-known promise:

And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8.10, ESV)

And the commitment meeting picks up in chapter 9:

Then on the twenty-fourth day of this month, the People of Israel gathered for a fast, wearing burlap and faces smudged with dirt as signs of repentance. The Israelites broke off all relations with foreigners, stood up, and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their parents. While they stood there in their places, they read from the Book of The Revelation of GOD, their God, for a quarter of the day. For another quarter of the day they confessed and worshiped their GOD. (Nehemiah 9.1 – 3, MSG)

A half-day of prayer! Half devoted to reading the scripture and half devoted to confession and worship.

The confession recaps Israel’s history, starting with creation:

You’re the one, GOD, you alone; You made the heavens, the heavens of heavens, and all angels; The earth and everything on it, the seas and everything in them; You keep them all alive; heaven’s angels worship you! (Nehemiah 9.6, MSG)

Then it goes through God’s choice of Abraham, the Exodus, the giving of the law, followed by the disobedience, including the golden calf. Then the prayer recalls their going into the promised land, followed by more disobedience, and finally the captivity. The conclusion?

You are not to blame for all that has come down on us; You did everything right, we did everything wrong. None of our kings, princes, priests, or ancestors followed your Revelation; They ignored your commands, dismissed the warnings you gave them. Even when they had their own kingdom and were enjoying your generous goodness, Living in that spacious and fertile land that you spread out before them, They didn’t serve you or turn their backs on the practice of evil. And here we are, slaves again today; and here’s the land you gave our ancestors So they could eat well and enjoy a good life, and now look at us—no better than slaves on this land. Its wonderful crops go to the kings you put over us because of our sins; They act like they own our bodies and do whatever they like with our cattle. We’re in deep trouble. (Nehemiah 9.33 – 37, MSG)

The solution? A “binding pledge:”

Because of all this we are drawing up a binding pledge, a sealed document signed by our princes, our Levites, and our priests.” (Nehemiah 9.38, MSG)

You can read in chapter 10 who signed the pledge, and the particulars of the pledge. I really like the ending:

We will not neglect The Temple of our God. (Nehemiah 10.39, MSG)

We’ve seen before how the Temple was neglected. Joash and Josiah had to renovate it. Then it was rebuilt under the ministry of Haggai:

Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the LORD. (Haggai 1.8, NIV)

We ought not neglect the Temple: spiritually, mentally, physically.

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. (1 Corinthians 3.16, 17, ESV)

The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: for gaining wisdom and instruction; for understanding words of insight; for receiving instruction in prudent behavior, doing what is right and just and fair; for giving prudence to those who are simple, knowledge and discretion to the young— let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance— for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1.1 – 7, NIV)

For physical training is of some value… (1 Timothy 4.8, NIV)

Is there a dearth of joy right now? Has the half the population that’s unhappy about the election results doomed itself to a joyless four years?

I hope we can all remember that when God promised us joy in the coming of Jesus and exhorted us to follow Jesus joyfully, there were no elections. The government was NOT favorable either to Judaism or to Jesus followers.

Suddenly, God’s angel stood among them and God’s glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David’s town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. (Luke 2.9 – 11, MSG)

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. (Philippians 4.4, ESV)

Rejoice always. (1 Thessalonians 5.16, ESV)

The fruit of the Spirit is…joy. (Galatians 5.22)

We looked at Nehemiah pausing the work in chapter five to take care of the poor. Pauses happen.

June tripped over our small dog on Saturday at 11:15a, inside the house, landing squarely on her hip. Her Apple watch detected the fall and before I could get there from the next room, the watch had called 911, and June was talking with the dispatcher. EMTs arrived in minutes. They carefully loaded her into an ambulance and took her to the ER at Penrose Hospital in Colorado Springs, where she was diagnosed with, not a broken hip, but several small broken bones in her pelvis. The main break was the “right superior pubic ramus.” There were two other small breaks.

This is an inoperable injury (like a broken rib or broken collarbone in that respect). “There’s no treatment; it just hurts! The ER doc said she would stay in the hospital 1 – 2 days to meet with occupational and physical therapists. That’s exactly what happened. While she has to be VERY careful when moving in order to avoid over-the-top pain, she made great progress in just two days. She learned to walk with a walker, and together we learned to manage stairs. We were released around 3p, Monday afternoon, to drive home in the snow. Thankfully, we made it safely, and June’s friend Nancy from Nursing School days (class of 1967!) came over to help get us settled in. June continues to progress nicely.

In the meantime, the rest of life is on pause…I canceled two meetings scheduled for Monday and Tuesday. I performed a wedding Thursday, but June didn’t get to play the piano for it as she had planned.

We are thankful for the folks who have paused their lives to pray for us and bring food. And we’re excited that someone in the Cayman Islands National Choir, which our daughter Melody directs (in addition to her school job), is paying Melody’s way to come see us after Christmas. A blessing.

…you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” (James 4.15, 16, ESV)

And it’s my birthday, born on Friday, December 13, 1946. You can see my reflections on the number 13, written the last time my birthday fell on a Friday, 5 years ago.

Speaking of getting old(er), I experienced a first on November 24. Once or twice a year I preach a Sunday afternoon vespers at a large retirement home in Colorado Springs. When my friend Jeannie who arranges for the guest speakers called, she extended two invitations: one to speak, the other to move in!

I guess you’re old when the retirement home you used to visit for preaching considers you old enough to join them!

I told her we thought about where we should live and had decided to stay right where we are, but thanks for the invitation.

I’m in good health and definitely not retiring…yet. Yesterday I did a wedding at a neighbor’s house, performing the ceremony and playing a bit of piano at the reception. Tomorrow I play piano for the Men’s Christmas brunch at First Presbyterian Church, Colorado Springs. (https://www.bobplayspiano.com/) And I still write the daily Ewellogy and invest in the lives of leaders and growing disciples.

Because the stakes are so high, even though you’re up-to-date on all this truth and practice it inside and out, I’m not going to let up for a minute in calling you to attention before it. This is the post to which I’ve been assigned—keeping you alert with frequent reminders—and I’m sticking to it as long as I live. (2 Peter 1.12, 13, MSG)

Nehemiah built the wall as recorded in Nehemiah 1 – 6, but Nehemiah has 13 chapters! What else is there to do?

Nothing gets a local church more excited than a building program! “Our present building can’t hold all the people! We need a new sanctuary and a capital fund campaign to support it!” And there is great enthusiasm. But along the way, we often forget to build something even more important than a new sanctuary: the people! Europe is filled with great cathedrals…empty.

What good is a new wall protecting Jerusalem if the people inside aren’t following God? Nehemiah chapters 8 and 9 record important “discipling” meetings conducted by Ezra the Priest

By the time the seventh month arrived, the People of Israel were settled in their towns. Then all the people gathered as one person in the town square in front of the Water Gate and asked the scholar Ezra to bring the Book of The Revelation of Moses that GOD had commanded for Israel. So Ezra the priest brought The Revelation to the congregation, which was made up of both men and women—everyone capable of understanding. It was the first day of the seventh month. He read it facing the town square at the Water Gate from early dawn until noon in the hearing of the men and women, all who could understand it. And all the people listened—they were all ears—to the Book of The Revelation. The scholar Ezra stood on a wooden platform constructed for the occasion…Ezra opened the book. Every eye was on him (he was standing on the raised platform) and as he opened the book everyone stood. Then Ezra praised GOD, the great God, and all the people responded, “Oh Yes! Yes!” with hands raised high. And then they fell to their knees in worship of GOD, their faces to the ground…[13 men] explained The Revelation while people stood, listening respectfully. They translated the Book of The Revelation of God so the people could understand it and then explained the reading. (Nehemiah 8.1 – 8, MSG)

Then Nehemiah and Ezra encouraged the people to celebrate and share bounty with the poor:

Nehemiah the governor, along with Ezra the priest and scholar and the Levites who were teaching the people, said to all the people, “This day is holy to GOD, your God. Don’t weep and carry on…Go home and prepare a feast, holiday food and drink; and share it with those who don’t have anything: This day is holy to God. Don’t feel bad. The joy of GOD is your strength!” …So the people went off to feast, eating and drinking and including the poor in a great celebration. Now they got it; they understood the reading that had been given to them. (Nehemiah 8.9 – 12, MSG)

Chapter 8 ends with the people celebrating the Feast of Booths (Leviticus 23.33 – 36):

The entire congregation that had come back from exile made booths and lived in them. The People of Israel hadn’t done this from the time of Joshua son of Nun until that very day—a terrific day! Great joy! Ezra read from the Book of The Revelation of God each day, from the first to the last day—they celebrated the feast for seven days. On the eighth day they held a solemn assembly in accordance with the decree. (Nehemiah 8.17, 18, MSG)

Let’s spend one more day on this. Chapter 9 is another solemn assembly too good to skip over. After a special post tomorrow, I’ll come back to Nehemiah.

But the lesson for today is clear: the real building is the people.

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? (1 Corinthians 3.16, ESV)

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Ephesians 2.19 – 22, ESV)