Mordecai Part I

This is the first part of a 7 part series on Mordecai that I wrote for the men's group at my fellowship, it's mainly notes but here is the gist of it:

Mordecai Part I

Esther 2:7 "And Mordecai had brought up (āman = to support, foster- father/mother) Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman was lovely and beautiful. When her father and mother died, Mordecai took (lāqaḥ = to take in the hand, carry along, to lead) her as his own daughter."

ATTRIBUTE #1 = Man of RESPONSIBILITY

Mordecai took on the responsibility of raising his orphaned cousin Esther.

OBSERVATIONS:

The Bible doesn't state:

- how old Mordecai was when he took in Esther

- how old Esther was when her parents died

- if Mordecai was single or married

- what Mordecai's occupation was, if he was a merchant, farmer, etc.

In all honesty, we really don't much about Mordecai but here he was, thrust into a situation where he [possibly] had to be a single father raising a girl. Normally, that's tough in any era of human history (I have some girl cousins that I love dearly but I also know how some of them can be :)

QUESTIONS:

Growing up, Esther obviously witnessed Mordecai's life, actions, interactions & faith:

–- do you think he was on his knees in prayer every day?

–- do you think he was the same in public as in private?

–- how do you think Mordecai's integrity affected Esther later in her life?

I tend to think that Mordecai was a solid man of faith & integrity; the reason I say this is because if you read the Book the Esther, you see this undercurrent of respect between the both of them. If Mordecai had been a bad father or stayed out late partying on the weekends or acted pious in the community & abused her at home, Esther wouldn't have listened to his advice or cared about what he thought.

People are watching you; that can be a good thing & that can be a bad thing. I'll give an example of a bad thing first: a few years ago during a worship service I was sitting there w/ my eyes closed & God was speaking to me/healing me of some things. After the service a married couple came up to me & berated me for not lifting my hands & singing. They shouldn't have been watching me in the first place but you see how you are being watched.

Now the good thing: my late Uncle Paul was the same no matter where he was: at home, at a family reunion, in the community, at the grocery store, he was no Jekyll & Hyde as a few Christians come across as. He taught me a lot about integrity & he didn't have to say a word. I, along w/ the rest of the family, greatly respected him. Like Queen Esther w/ Mordecai, if my Uncle Paul said something, it was powerful & everyone took it to heart.

An interesting parallel: My mom's cousin James was orphaned when he was young. Long story short, my mom's uncle was elderly when he fathered James & he died when James was young (not sure what happened to James' mother) but James had no family & nowhere to go, so Uncle Paul & his wife took him in, formally adopted him & raised him as their own.

James 1:27 “Religion (thrēskeia = religious worship/discipline) that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit (episkeptomai = to look upon or after, have care for, provide for) orphans (orphanos = of those bereft of a father/parents, bereft of a teacher, guide, guardian) and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

Think about this, the Bible defines orphans as those that not only have lost their biological parents, but also those who have no mentor, no guide in life, etc. How does this apply to your family/church family/community? Are there “orphans” in your sphere of influence who need fathers/father figures/mentors/teachers? Are you taking responsibility for being a positive example to those around you?

Here's some possible action points for the men on taking responsibility:

Onsite:

- sign up for ushering/greeting/security/tech ministry

- connect w/ every man in the fellowship, encouraging them to come to either the pastor's class or the men's group on Sunday mornings

- help with the maintenance of the physical church building

- when the worship service begins, come out of your seats & form a wall of men up front, showing the children & the ladies, “this is how you worship God”

Offsite:

- block off a chunk of time (am or pm, whatever works for you) to have your personal devotions & intimate worship, be faithful to it, don't rush it

- be involved in your kid's lives, in their pursuits & public education

- on Wednesday evenings, join the dial-in corporate prayer at 6:30 & if possible, the virtual men's group at 8 to connect w/ the men & share in an encouraging word

There's many other ways to “take responsibility”, add yours in the comments!