Esther 9:22 …the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day…
My how the tables turn in the story of Esther! It was the intent of Haman, the Jew’s enemy, to destroy the Jewish nation in the massive Medo-Persian Empire. He hated a Jewish man, Mordecai, and he transferred that hatred to all the Jews in the entire nation. He wanted to destroy Mordecai and all the Jews. What he did not know was that Esther was Mordecai’s cousin, and she was the queen. No one knew that Esther was Jewish. She had kept it a secret in order to protect herself, but there came a time when Esther had to acknowledge who she was and to trust God with what would follow.
To make a long story short, this wicked Haman had basically cast dice, cast pur, as a way to make a decision. He had cast lots to decide what day, with the king’s permission, they would destroy the Jewish people. God intervened and Haman ended up being hung on his own gallows. The ring indicating the king’s favor that had belonged to Haman was given to Mordecai the Jew, and the house of Haman was given to Esther the queen. The day upon which the Jews were to be killed ended up being the feast of Purim, the day that the Jews celebrated the providence of God and the survival of the nation.
There are three things about gratitude you can see in Esther 9. First, gratitude is a ritual, or at least it should be. Esther 9:21 says, “To stablish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly.” So, this day became a yearly event or ritual. By ritual, I mean a habit that has meaning. Sometimes we say grace. We thank God for the food before a meal. That is good, but it can lose its point if it loses its meaning.
In America today we have very little ritual. It seems like most meaningful rituals have been forgotten or ignored. People dress the same way every day; they eat the same way; they think the same way; they do the same things. There is nothing that distinguishes a special day from a normal day. There is nothing that esteems a special time more than any other time. So, it is more than just being casual; it is losing the differences in days, the significance of things that ought to be remembered. Gratitude is a ritual. It should be a habit, something that is done on purpose for a reason.
Second, gratitude is a memorial. In verse 28 it says, “And that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation.” Later it says that it would be a memorial. A memorial is something that aids in our memory. If I am to be grateful, then I need to remember the many causes for my gratitude. This is something in which I can be practical. Maybe I have a list where I keep all my prayer requests, things I pray for every day or every week. Maybe it would be good for me if I would make a list of things for which I am grateful, maybe answers to prayer. Gratitude is a memorial that helps us to remember things that matter.
Third, gratitude is a celebration. Verse 22 says, “The month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy and from mourning into a good day: that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.” They were mindful. The word “pur” which is basically “dice,” dumb chance you might say, figures so prominently in the story of Esther. Yet, Purim, which comes from the word “pur,” is a celebration, not of dumb chance, but of God’s providence.
A party needs but an excuse; a celebration demands a reason. If I have friends over and grill steaks on Memorial Day, but I have no memory of what is important on that day, then I don’t have a memorial or celebration, I just have a party.
Which is easier, to remember what you need or what you have been given? These people were mindful because they were glad to even be alive. They had gone from fasting and crying to rejoicing and giving. Today, we can learn much about the nature of gratitude, and we are reminded of the importance of being grateful in our lives.