Pastor Jones and his wife were married forty years, and then he decided to retire. All during their married years, there had been a black box in the corner of the living room in the parsonage. He never asked his wife about it, knowing the box was hers. But shortly after retiring, the pastor happened to be passing through the living room one afternoon and noticed that the box was open. He looked inside and was amazed to see there three eggs and cash. LOTS of cash. His curiosity got the best of him, so he counted the money and discovered it totaled $20,000!
Later, when his wife came home, Pastor Jones queried, “Dear, I couldn’t help noticing that the black box was open when I was passing through the living room this afternoon, so I looked inside. I saw three eggs. What are they about?” “Well, every time you preached a bad sermon, I put an egg in the box!” Pastor Jones puffed out his chest and his head began to swell. Only three bad sermons in forty years, he thought. Not bad! “But the cash? What about the cash?” he asked his wife. “Well,” she responded, “every time I got a dozen eggs, I SOLD them!”
When Mordecai the Jew refused to bow to Haman, Haman was enraged. He would destroy not only Mordecai, but every Jew in Persia! With the king’s consent, a decree was published as to when the Jews were to die.
Mordecai tore his clothes when he heard the edict. The Jews mourned, fasted, and wept. Queen Esther gave two dinner parties. Her guests were Haman and the king, and naturally Haman was elated! Invited to dine with the queen! At the first banquet Esther lost her nerve and invited the guests back for another. At the second banquet Esther did it. She denounced the proud Haman before the king, exposing his plot against her people. By nightfall Haman was swinging on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai!
“Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought,” admonishes Romans 12:3. This verse would have been good advice for Haman and for Pastor Jones, but also for each of us.
September/October 1995
