Based on Esther 2:1-4
By Pastor Glenn Pease

Alexander Selkirk was one of those men who always had to learn the hard way. The records of his church in Scotland show that he was disciplined several times for causing trouble in the church. In May of 1703 he said good-bye to all that, and at age 27 went off to sea. He tried to run things on the ship as he did church, and he got into a furious argument with the Captain. They were anchored off a small island four hundred miles from Chile. Alexander got so mad he packed up his possessions and went ashore. "You don't dare sail without me," he shouted to the Captain. The Captain was not impressed with his conviction, and gave the order to sail. Poor Alexander could not believe it. He thought he was indispensable. He was waiting out up to his arm pits pleading for the Captain to forgive him, but the Captain was as stubborn as he was, and he sailed away, never to return.

Fortunately for Alexander the island had been inhabited by Jon Fernandez two centuries earlier, and he had left some goats on the island. These gave him food and skins. For four years and four months he depended on them for survival. When he was finally rescued, he could hardly remember how to talk. When he got back to England he was a sensation, and several books were written about him. The most famous was fiction, but it used his experience as a model. The book was Robinson Crusoe.

That was a tough way to learn to keep his mouth shut. It is so hard not to do something, or say something foolish or destructive when you are angry. Even great men often have to learn the hard way that loss of temper can be costly. Xerxes was the ruler of the Persian Empire, he could have anything he pleased, but he lost his wife, whom he truly treasured, because of his anger. Xerxes had a reputation for losing his temper when he could not have his own way. He once wanted to cross the waters of the hellespont, but it was so rough his troops could not build a bridge. He got so angry he took chains to the water, and he began to flog it. Like most temper tantrums, it was not very effective.

It is so hard to play God when nature and others will not cooperate. The water would not stop for him, and his wife would not start for him, and he blew his stack. And why shouldn't he? He was the most powerful man in the world, and why should he not get angry for the same reason the rest of us get angry? Why do we get angry? Primarily because something or someone has spoiled our pleasure. We are not different from King Xerxes. He had his heart set on seeing all his noble leaders gape in envy as he revealed the beauty of his wife to them. Half the joy of possessing something is in showing it to those who don't. Vashti had the audacity to rob him of this pleasure. He blazed with anger within, because she would not grant his whim.

If you examine your own life, you will discover that most of your anger is based on the hindrance of your pleasure. You have plans, and somebody does not cooperate, and the pleasure you hope for is lost, and you are angry. Children cry most often because they can't have their own way. Somebody is always hindering them from having their pleasure. They want to play with the new camera you just bought, and you insist it is not a toy, and there heart is broken. They want to run barefoot in a junk infested lot, and you deny them of their pleasure. On and on goes the list of pleasures a child desires that are constantly being hindered by parents, who get no pleasure out of picking up pieces of a two hundred dollar camera, and rushing to the emergency room for stitches.

What we see then, is that from the beginning, life is a battle to see whose pleasures are met, and whose are denied. Striving for pleasure is a far more powerful factor in all of our lives then we realize. Because we do not examine our lives from the perspective of the pleasure motive, we look on the events of the book of Esther with some degree of shock.It is scandalous that every beautiful virgin in the empire was to be made available to the king, to meet his demand for pleasure. Keep in mind, he is the most powerful man in the world. The whole book revolves around his pleasure. What pleases him determines the life or death of every human being of his time. If he pleases, whole nations are destroyed,and if he pleases, they are spared. God's providence had to work through His pleasure motive.

The first two chapters reveal that he was dominated by sensual pleasure. His party life and sex life established the environment in which the entire story takes place. Xerxes is no different than the rulers of that part of the world today. A reporter who traveled to all of the oil rich Arab countries, and interviewed all of the kings and sheiks, reported that they lived just like Xerxes did. Wine, women, and song, and every pleasure man is capable of was a way of life. Xerxes is said to have offered a reward for anyone who could invent a new pleasure. This is the challenge today for those who have so much money they cannot think of any new way of spending it.

The book of Esther is not dealing with something old and irrelevant, but rather, with a subject so real and relevant to all of us, but one that we often fail to think about seriously, the subject of pleasure. Before we get all bent out of shape about Xerxes, and his lust for pleasure, lets examine our own lives. When we do, we will discover that we are not so different from this sensual king. The main difference is that we do not have the power and wealth to command the pleasures he had, but the difference is really only one of degree. We too enjoy parties with good things to eat and drink, and we enjoy beautiful furniture and drapes. We enjoy nice clothes, and I have seldom heard of a Christian who does not enjoy sexual pleasure.

The more we examine the Christian life, the more we begin to realize we are very pleasure oriented. We don't feel the lest guilt for enjoying the pleasure of music, fellowship, an all that being a part of the body of Christ involves. Why should we? Jesus enjoyed the social pleasures of His time. He enjoyed the party, the wedding, the feasting, the singing, the fun of fishing, and fellowship. So what we have is, the paradox of pleasure. It is both something we are to crave and seek and enjoy, and yet it is something that can be so dangerous that it can quickly lead us to fall, and be out of the will of God. Pleasure is both a virtue and a vice.

The search for pleasure is the primary motivation behind the evil of man. Satan appealed to the pleasure nature to get man to fall. He said, taste the forbidden fruit and you will have the pleasure of being like God, and they jumped at the chance. But good is also motivated by pleasure. The Gospel is an appeal to the pleasure nature as well, for Jesus says, "Come unto me all ye who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Jesus offers men the joy of eternal life, and the pleasure of abundant life. There is not available anywhere in the world a hope for greater pleasure than what Jesus offers those who put their faith in Him.

What this means is we cannot afford to be reacting as Christians so often do. They look at Xerxes, and his six months banquet of gluttony, drunkenness, and perpetual beautiful virgins for his lust, and they say this is disgusting. Then they think their mission in life should be to prevent as much pleasure as possible. This over reaction to evil pleasure in the world has caused Christians to totally misrepresent Christ, and pervert the Gospel so that it loses its appeal to most everyone but sadist who delight in pain. History is full of the folly of Christian ascetics, who thought they pleased God by pain rather pleasure. They wore hair shirts to itch and be miserable. They flogged themselves thinking that suffering was the key to sanctification. Fun and pleasure were so related to sin that misery and boredom were exalted to the level of virtues.

To avoid this reaction to worldly pleasure we need to see where the Bible stands on the issue of pleasure. The first thing we see, as we examine God's Word, is that God is the Creator of pleasure. He made the world and man, and said it is very good, and He took pleasure in all that He had made. He made man with a nervous system capable of enjoying much pleasure of sight, sound, taste, smell, and feeling. He designed man to be a pleasure loving creature. Every pleasure we are capable of is a cause to thank God, for it is by His will we have that capacity. David acknowledges God as the source of all of life's pleasures in Psa. 36:7-8. "How precious is thy steadfast love, O God! The children of men take refuge in the shadow of thy wings. They feast on the abundance of thy house, and thou givest them drink from the rivers of thy pleasures."

God gives rivers of pleasure, even in time, before the believers dwell by the River of Life, where all pain will be forever gone, and life will be endless pleasure, for, "At God's right hand our pleasures for ever more." (Psa. 16:11). God delights in the pleasures of His servants says Psa. 35:27. God is a personality who enjoys great pleasure Himself. Psa. 149:4 says, "For the Lord takes pleasure in His people." As we, as parents and grandparents, take pleasure in seeing our children grow and develop, so God delights in His children.

God wanted the temple rebuilt in Jerusalem, and He said to the people in Hag. 1:8, "Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may appear in my glory, says the Lord." God is no where revealed as a vast cosmic machine. God is a person who feels, and His goal is to accomplish what is good and pleasurable. Phil. 2:13 says, "For God is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." Jesus said in Luke 12:32, "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."

Let's get it straight in our minds, God is not a sadist who loves pain and delights in suffering . The goal of God is pleasure for Himself, and for all His people. He makes it clear in Ezek. 18:23. "Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?" God's goal for every man is a goal of pleasure. Hell is pain and heaven is pleasure, and heaven is always God's goal. I looked in a dictionary of synonyms and antonyms, and found this list of the opposites of pleasure. Listen to them, and see if you catch the flow of heaven or hell.

Displeasure   Evil   Desolation
Sorrow   Pain   Anxiety
Woe   Hurt   Burden
Grief   Wound   Adversity
Suffering   Affliction   Trouble
Vexation   Anguish   Unhappiness
Worry   Despair   Tribulation
Sickness   Misfortune

This is not an ideal shopping list for Christmas, or any other day in life. In fact, the only place you can get that list fulfilled perfectly is in hell. Not a one of them will be a part of heaven. So we are stuck with an enormous paradox. The entire plan of God, and the goal of Christians, is pleasure. Yet, that seems to be the major problem of sinful man, and the primary method of worldliness. Even Plato could see it and say, "Pleasure is the greatest incentive to evil." It is the pleasure principle that leads men into every form of lust, and which takes them lower than the beast. Yet, it is the pleasure principle that leads men to the highest levels of godliness, and enables them to fulfill the purpose of God.

The book of Esther is a perfect illustration of the paradox of pleasure. It begins with a feast that is dedicated to worldly pleasure, and gratification of the senses. It ends with the proclamation of a perpetual feast that will also gratify the senses, but will be in thanksgiving for the providence of God. The pleasure of the people of God at a banquet is no less enjoyable than that of the sensuous secularist. Xerxes had more of every sensual pleasure, but the fact is, he did not enjoy eating, sexuality, and other aesthetic pleasures anymore than the Jews did, or than Christians do today.

How then can we distinguish between pleasures which are displeasing to God, and those which please Him? How can we unravel this paradox so we know which side we are on? How can we know if we are at Xerxes's banquet, or Esther's banquet? The first thing we need to do is to recognize pleasure is not evil. It is good, and from God. Then we need to recognize that all good can be perverted and abused. That is what evil is-it is good used in a way that God never intended.

C. S. Lewis in The Screwtape Letters has the Sr. devil writing to the Jr. devil explaining the work of temptation. He writes, "Never forget that when we are dealing with any pleasure in its healthy and normal and satisfying form, we are, in a sense, on the Enemy's ground. I know we have won many a soul through pleasure. All the same, it is His invention, not ours. He made the pleasures; all our research so far has not enabled us to produce one. All we can do is to encourage the humans to take the pleasures which our Enemy has produced, at times, or in ways, or in degrees, which he has forbidden."

The tempters task is to get men to think, if a little is good, a lot must be better. If he can get men to use God's pleasures to excess, he can get them hooked, so that the very gifts of God become idols, that lead them astray from God. Such is the subtle plan of the deceiver, and it is a very effective plan. We live in a culture where pleasure is no longer a gift from God, for it has become god. Norman Lobsenz has written a book titled, Is Anybody Happy. It is a study of the American search for pleasure. The goal of life for Americans is a good time. Our national Mecca is Disney World. Pleasure is the alpha and omega of life. The national heroes are no longer the titans of industry, or the somber statesman, or solitary inventors. Now it is the movie star, the sports hero, and international playboy, who have taken their place.

The important thing now is to have fun. Lobsenz writes, "Advertisers, never slow to sense a trend, have leaped on the bandwagon, and there is now hardly an artifact or an activity that is not intimately connected with spine-tingling happiness. Brushing your teeth with a certain tooth paste, of course-is fun. Cutting the grass-with a certain lawnmower-is exciting. Do you want to know the real joy of good living? Drink a certain beer....soap flakes give glamorous suds. It is fun to paint your house with so and so's paint. Eye glasses are bewitching. Light bulbs are romantic. Building materials are festive. Soft drinks are sociable. Kitchen appliances are smart. Anything you buy that is made of shining aluminum will mirror your laughter. Even paying the bills for these items is a pleasure if you have an account at a certain bank." Lobsenz says he expects someday to see a billboard with the bony finger of Uncle Sam pointing at him asking, "Have you had your fun today?"

We are under a new morality-the fun morality. It says, if it feels good do it. It is not new of course, for Xerxes was a pro at it 2,500 years ago. Instead of feeling ashamed for having too much pleasure, from now on we are to feel guilty if we do not have enough. People are now going to psychiatrist and asking, "What is wrong with me? I can't let go and have enough fun." People feel so obligated to have fun they attack it with all the energy they use to put into achievement. This pursuit of pleasure often ends in broken marriages, broken lives, and death, especially for those who find their pleasure in alcohol and other drugs.

Is the Christian approach to try and be a kill joy, and oppose pleasure, and call people back to a work ethic, where go go go is the battle cry? Not at all! The Christian is for pleasure too, for that is God's plan for man. The Christian simply needs to point out the folly of making pleasure an idol. It is not the end of life, but a means to a higher end. "Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." We are into pleasure too, but because it is not an end in itself, but a means to the end of enjoying God, we have an objective standard by which we measure the value of all pleasures. In other words, we count the cost. Satan does not want man to count the cost, for his whole strategy is to get men to choose pleasure at any cost. The cost factor is what enables the Christian to have a guide to legitimate pleasure. You can tell if you are being excessive in your pursuit of pleasure by what it is costing you.

Any pleasure that costs you your growth in Christian fruitfulness is folly, and excessive pleasure. Jesus made this clear in the parable of the sower, where the seed that fell among the thorns did not lead to fruitfulness. He tells us in Luke 8:14, "There are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature." They pay too much for their pleasure. They lose the highest pleasure of life-the pleasure of pleasing God, and being what He wills, for the sake of pleasure that will pass away. They trade in their diamonds for marbles.

The Gospel is not a call to forsake pleasure, but it is a call to rise to higher pleasure, and to enjoy that which lasts forever. The motive for all self-denial, which keeps the Christian from immoral pleasure, is the hope for enduring pleasure. Listen to Paul giving counsel to the rich Christians who could so easily indulge themselves in excessive pleasures. He writes in I Tim. 6:17-19, "As for the rich in this world, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hope on uncertain riches but on God who richly furnishes us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good deeds, liberal and generous, thus laying up for themselves a good foundation for the future. So that they may take hold of the life which is life indeed."

Paul is saying, you only go around once in this life, so do it with gusto. But for Paul, that does not mean to drink beer, it means to enjoy the higher and lasting pleasures of doing the will of God, which guarantees we will have abundant life now, and an eternal life of pleasure on the highest level. The Christian is one who evaluates pleasure, and does not just grab at it indiscriminately. He asks, does this enlarge, or does it enrich my Christian life, and my attitude of gratitude to God? The Christian is on the greatest pleasure trip possible. If we could not assert that the plan of Christ leads to the greatest pleasure for the greatest number, we would be saying that there is a better way. The fact is, no one even pretends to offer a better way than Christ. We can say with the advertisers who are confident of their products, "If you can find a better way than Christ-take it."

When referring to God, it is an absolute truth that Father knows best. He forbids only those forms of pleasure which, in the long run, lead to pain greater than the pleasure. God never forbids any pleasure which will last, and be a part of your growth toward the goal of becoming like Him. He only forbids that which costs too much. Forbidden pleasure is a rip off. It costs you the favor of God, and usually has a kick back of pain that far exceeds the pleasure. How often people take drugs to feel good, only to end up in jail or worse, and feeling rotten, and with problems that are now worse than before. Biblical morality is a fight back morality. It is a demand that you don't be a sucker, and get ripped off by cheap imitations.

Jesus Christ, and He alone, offers the real thing-life abundant and life eternal. He paid and enormous cost, and endured the pains of hell, that we might enjoy the pleasures of heaven. Whatever price we need to pay to be loyal to Him is small cost for so great a gift. The martyr who suffers death rather than deny Christ, does so for pleasure. He knows the cost is nothing compared to what he will enjoy at Christ's right hand. That is why one of my favorite preachers, F. W. Boreham, said, "The tragedy of the age is not that people are getting too much pleasure, but that they are not getting enough." Life Xerxes, the world is pleasure mad, but in all of their sensual self-indulgence, they do not find the pleasure of peace and meaning, or eternal hope. They pursue pleasure as a god, and are left empty. The Christian pursues the will of God, and is filled with pleasure.

The world grabs the rose and clutches and thus must bare the pains of the thorn. The Christian does not need to grasp it, but can enjoy it, and not cling, for he knows he cannot lose the rose even if it dies, for he is a child of the rose's Creator, and knows the rose will be his forever. Honey is bought to dear by those who risk the bees stingers. The Christian is one who is wise in his pleasure seeking. He enjoys all God has given us to enjoy, but avoiding excess and the forbidden, knowing this leads to the greatest pleasure.

Contrary to the view that Christianity is opposed to the search for pleasure, the opposite is the case. We have found the very thing man is searching for, the way to the highest most lasting pleasure of which man is capable. With this highest goal of salvation settled, the Christian then can enjoy the lesser pleasures of life more completely, for they are not so essential that he has to cling to them for meaning. The highest and permanent being assured in Christ, he can relax, and enjoy the passing without the risk of idolatry.

To sum it up, the paradox of pleasure is that the pursuit of pleasure can lead you to the pit of hell, or to the pinnacle of heaven. It is life's most dangerous or delightful path to travel. The ecstasy of victory, or the agony of defeat, awaits all who travel it. Which you find depends on whether Xerxes is your example, or Jesus Christ. You either do what pleases you with no higher loyalty than your own pleasure, or you do what pleases God, with His will as your motive for rejecting or accepting pleasure. Those who choose the way of Christ, saying, not my will but thine be done, will enjoy at God's right hand pleasure for ever more.