Stand Up!

 

“Come, let us bow down and worship. Let us kneel before the Lord, our Creator.”  
Psalm 95:6

 What does it mean to bow down to someone or something? I asked CoPilot and this is what it said:

To bow down to someone or something can symbolize an act of profound respect, submission, or acknowledgment of superiority. It often conveys the idea of lowering oneself, either physically or metaphorically, in recognition of authority, greatness, or even divine power.

This phrase can be used literally—for instance, bowing in front of a king or a religious deity—or figuratively, as in "bowing down to societal norms" or "bowing down to pressure," where it means yielding or conceding to something.

The expression sometimes carries emotional or situational weight, depending on the context. It can reflect reverence and devotion, or it might signify surrender or defeat.

 Often in life, we are compelled to “bow down” to people or ideas. In the portion of the story I read in Esther today, Verses 3:1-4, we see Mordecai faced with a dilemma. Haman has been promoted in the court, but Mordecai knows him to be a vile person. The king decrees that all should bow to Haman, should submit to him, should worship him in essence. You have to wonder if Mordecai would have submitted to this indignity had he known the consequences, that Haman would take out his anger not just on Mordecai, but on all his people? Mordecai was no fool. He knew that choosing not to bow would anger Haman and that with the power the king had given Haman, Mordecai would be in terrible danger. He was additionally warned by all his associates who sat at the king’s gate with him. These associates clearly didn’t have Mordecai’s best at heart though, because they decided to go tattle on him when he didn’t fall in line as they had.

 Sometimes in life we bow. We bow because it is best. We bow because it is easiest. We bow because it is not worth fighting for. I’m thinking of the phrase, “Your hill to die on.” So many things in life are just not worth it. But some things are. Where we draw our lines matters.

 Odds are that Mordecai, when in the presence of King Xerxes, bowed. He knew that bowing to the king was a compelled and societal norm of the culture he had been transplanted into. But Haman was a different story. All the king’s servants at the gate were, “bowing and paying homage to Haman,” because the king had promoted him. They were wanting to curry favor, to get on his good side.

 What was it about Haman that Mordecai should deign it necessary to insult him in this way? The Bible doesn’t tell us specifically, but there are hints in the text that Haman was from a people group that was very evil towards the Israelites. In Exodus 17:16, God declared perpetual war against them for their deeds. Whether Mordecai knew Haman personally or had interactions with him that had shown his character, or he had just heard about him through the grapevine, he knew that Haman was not worth bowing to. Knew it so clearly, that he was willing to risk his life for it.

 What do I believe in that I would stand for so strongly? My faith in God for certain. I’ve always known that if I was in a situation where I had to choose death or renouncing my savior, death would be my stand. But what else? Where are we bound to live out God’s principles in life and stand up for what we believe in? When is it ok to just do what is safe, even if it is unpleasant, and when do we need to say, “No! This far and no further!”

 I took that stand with my concern about the way immigration is being handled in our country this year. I wrote about it openly on my blog, and shared it on social media. I’m no fool, I know that doing things like that can put you on a list. I see even now how people who have stood up for immigrants are being threatened with deportation, even though they are US citizens, or arrested, even though they are judges. I don’t think of myself or my tiny social media platform of likely being worthy of the government’s attention, but perhaps Mordecai felt the same. What I do know is that God called me to take a stand, and so I did.

 Perhaps for you this is a different cause: abortion, sex trafficking, the lack of love shown by the American Church. For each of us, God has drawn lines. For each of us, there is a, “this far and no further.” Will we bow to man or to God? Jesus made it clear:

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.  [Matthew 10:28 NET]

Here’s the Thing: You’ve got to stand for something, or you’ll fall for anything, or so our country songs have taught us. Mordecai took a stand, and it cost him dearly. I’d like to believe that, even knowing this, he would have done it again. We are not called to a comfortable, privileged existence. We are called to war. We are called to fight against evil, to resist the Devil. It’s not fun. It’s not easy. But it IS worth it!