Behind the Veil: A Journey From Hidden to Revealed

What follows is a transcript of Pastor Gina’s message from our Sunday morning gathering. We share these messages on our blog for those who appreciate the opportunity to read the sermon again—whether for deeper reflection, personal study, or a quieter moment of prayer and introspection. As you read, we invite you to linger with the words, notice what resonates, and remain open to how God may be speaking to you through them.

by Pastor Gina Johnon

All right. So last week, as we came into the introduction of Lent, we were visiting the hidden places where we met Esther, a young girl who was chosen to be called to the palace.

And then eventually she was chosen to be queen. And then while she's there in the palace, she's still unaware of why has she been placed there. But she is following the instructions of Mordecai, her family member who adopted her when she lost her parents.

And last week, we also sat at the entrance to the wilderness with Jesus, not quite preaching, not out healing, simply in the wilderness being formed. And so last week was a time of recognition that through preparation, revelation will come to the surface. God is doing a deeper work here in Esther and in Jesus.

And before long, the visible parts will start to appear. Preparation tells us that there's still something to come. If there's a time of preparation in the story, in our own story, then we know that there is something on the horizon that we're moving towards.

And sometimes preparation can be quite the wilderness journey. It can be quite the time of having to listen and learn and sit still and not run ahead and see what's to come. Preparation will always bring a moment when what has been formed is not only going to be revealed, but what has been formed even deeper is going to be demonstrated.

I want to give you an example. I don't know how many people in here are runners, but I have had a few friends who run marathons. And I thought that would be fun.

And I lasted a whole few days of saying, I'll run with you. And then that didn't work. But when you are a marathon runner and it's something that is in you, it's something that you have a passion for, for months on end, they get up early.

They run when it's cold. They run when it's rainy. They're strengthening their muscles.

They're building endurance. And a lot of times no one sees them. There isn't anyone there applauding them as they get up before the sun even comes up and goes running.

There isn't a finish line they're getting to. They are just in the repetition because they are building endurance for race day. You can't fake conditioning.

You can't fake the preparation that you put into something when race day gets here. When you're in the final miles of that marathon run, if you did not put the preparation in, you will know it. You will feel it.

People will see it. But most of all, you will recognize, man, I didn't prepare for this. We have to remember that what we build in secret, and I don't mean secret like something deceitful, but what we build in that stillness, in that private space that we enter into beingness with God, what we build there will sustain us in all the days to come.

And so that's where the story of Esther is going to move into this week. But before I do that, I wanted to share with you all. So I was sitting in my car listening to an audio from YouTube, which is normal.

So I don't want you guys to think that I was... I might have been doing it. That might be weird. But yes, I was sitting in my car for really about two hours listening to this audio.

And I went to seminary. I got my undergrad in pastoral ministry, and then I went to seminary. And there are some days that when I look at my student loans, I'm like, what did I buy in seminary that really cost that much? Because I think about all the things that I learned in the time I was there.

And it's like, man, you know, sometimes I think about that nine years it was in total, because it took me, oh, seven and a half. It took me about five to get my undergrad. And I just think, I don't know what I think about.

And sorry, because I know we have a lot of education. I'm not knocking education. I'm just telling you, it's quite a realization as I'm now a minister, and I think about the classes and the hours and the papers I wrote, and how much of that is just gone.

It's not in application. I mean, it's in financial statements for sure, but it's just gone. So I was listening to this YouTube video, and it started talking about, and I probably didn't pronounce it right back then, and I'm not going to do it now, but chiastic structure, chiastic structure.

And I was like, why does that sound so familiar? Ah, so it wasn't completely gone. That was something from seminary from a Hebrew class I was in, and it was talking about basically how what happens in the beginning happens in the end. And there are so many stories throughout the Bible that if you look at what is taking place in the beginning of the story, you'll see it at the end.

Sometimes you'll see these interesting letters that will say like A, Z, B, Y, and that's because if you follow the pattern of the story, what's happening in A is happening in Z. And so when you follow this in the beginning, there's two feasts. And in the end of the book of Esther, there's two feasts. In the beginning of the book of Esther, she's being chosen.

And in the end, after Haman is defeated and the Israelite people are saved again, she's being chosen and honored with feast in her name. And now she is living outright as a queen who comes from Israelite heritage. And so I just wanted you guys to have that little, you know, maybe that's just something for me because I'm kind of geeky and I enjoy that deeper understanding.

But we also see that in the story of Jesus in the wilderness. He goes into the wilderness after having that experience of being baptized. I shared that last week.

And the heavens open up and the dove, the spirit descends like a dove and says, this is my beloved son. Right? You guys remember that from last week? Okay. And so then what happens again at his time in the wilderness? Well, we're going to find out, but I just want you guys to watch that pattern.

The story of Esther took place roughly about 2,500 years ago. And if you guys remember Solomon built a temple and that temple didn't last, it was destroyed. And so then there's a time where the Babylonian empire has come down.

Everything is being ruled by Persia. And this is where the story of Esther comes in prior to the second temple being built. So here we are.

We are in Esther chapter three. After these things, King Ahashverosh promoted Haman, son of the Hamadatha, the Agagite, and advanced him and set his seat above all the officials who were with him. And all the king's servants who were at the king's gate bowed down. For the king had so commanded concerning him, but Mordecai did not bow down.

Then the king's servants who were at the king's gate said to Mordecai, why do you disobey the king's command? When they spoke to him day after day, he would not listen. They told Haman, and in order to see whether Mordecai's words would avail, for he had told them that he was a Jew. When Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down, Haman was infuriated, but he thought it would be beneath him to lay hands on Mordecai alone.

So having been told who Mordecai's people were, Haman plotted to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai throughout the whole kingdom of King Ahashverosh. And that concludes that part of the reading. And so as you guys see, here we are.

We have these other key players now. Go ahead, Omi, and advance the slide. We have Mordecai, who is related to Esther.

He's the one that's giving Esther all the guidance as she is there in the palace. And he has a loyalty. He has a love and an honor and a reverence for God.

So he will not back down. We have King Haman. And King Haman, he hears of Mordecai's disobedience, and he goes out there to see if it's true.

And Mordecai doesn't throw a fit. He doesn't yell. He doesn't protest.

He just simply stands there upright, and he says, I'm not going to bow down to you. I am a Jew. Your idols, your false gods are not my gods.

And so he stands there. And so Haman then goes back to the king and says, hey, you know, there's this group of people out there who have no respect for you. They're disobeying you.

They won't bow down to you. And so I think we need to issue a decree that says, since they are not obeying you, if this continues, this is going to be the day where they're all going to be persecuted and put to death. And it's interesting because at this point, the king just trusts Haman so much as his trusted advisor.

And so he allows such things to happen. And so now a decree is going to be put out through the land that all Jews are going to be basically annihilated, are going to be taken and imprisoned and killed. And so I want to just pause there for a moment and go back, because this is going to be something important.

In the end of chapter two, Mordecai is hanging out by the castle gates. And as he's hanging out by the gates there, there's a couple of the king's servants and they're having a conversation and they're unhappy with the king. And so they make a plot to kill the king.

They're going to kill him one evening in his sleep. And Mordecai hears about this plot and he tells Esther. And Esther makes sure the king puts a stop to it.

And when she tells the king, she tells him in Mordecai's name. And so it gets recorded in the annals that Mordecai saved the king's life. Now you guys need to hold on to that because that doesn't come till a few weeks from now.

And so it's important though to keep that. And so that's where we are in the book of Esther. We see Esther in this new position, not sure what it's for, but trusting God, trusting Mordecai to guide her every step of the way.

We see Haman who is infuriated because as he wants to be the king, as he wants to be the presence of all authority, Mordecai would not bow to him in his allegiance to God, in his allegiance to truth. And so now a decree has gone out and Esther has no idea what is taking place. So as we stop there, I want to now take you all to meet Jesus in the wilderness.

As you all can remember when he goes into the wilderness, he's in there for 40 days, 40 nights fasting and praying. Beginning in chapter 4 of Luke verse 1, Jesus full of the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan and was led by the spirit in the wilderness where for 40 days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days and when they were over he was famished.

The devil said to him, if you are the son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread. Jesus answered him, it is written, one does not live by bread alone. Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world and the devil said to him, to you I will give their glory and all this authority for has been given over to me and I give it to anyone I please.

If you then will worship me and it will all be yours. Jesus answered, it is written, worship the Lord your God and serve only him. Then the devil took him to Jerusalem and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple saying to him, if you are the son of God, throw yourself down from here for it is written he will command his angels concerning you to protect you and on their hands they will bear you up so that you do not dash your foot against a stone.

And Jesus answered him, it is said, do not put the Lord your God to the test. When the devil had finished every test he departed from him until an opportune time. And that concludes the reading of the word from chapter four in the book of Luke.

So perhaps in your life you have not been driven into the wilderness in this exact context. But you know when you're listening to the words there, Jesus was driven. There was something in him that was calling him and pulling him into the wilderness as well as he was led by the spirit.

And maybe sometimes in our life we have something that's calling us. We feel the spirit pulling us and it might be a time of wilderness. It might be a time of isolation.

It might be a time where we have to cut ourselves off from the outside noise more intentionally than just taking 15 minutes to meditate in the morning. More intentionally than just putting our phone on do not disturb at eight o'clock at night so we can have a quiet evening. Maybe there's something going on in our lives where we say, hey this is more than just the season of Lent, a common practice that happens every year.

This is a time where I need to be in the wilderness. Where I need to trust that it doesn't matter what I eat or what I drink. It doesn't matter what I wear.

It doesn't matter what the outside noise is saying. What matters is what's being revealed to me in this time, in this time of stillness. And you know I always have to wonder, Jesus went into the wilderness knowing for 40 days and 40 nights he would not eat, he would not drink, he would pray.

He knew that he would be tempted and not just by the physical devil, the presence of the devil. What about his own mind? You know how many times have you set out to do something for your own good, put yourself in your own wilderness and by a few days into it you're ready to give up. You know I'm doing this discipline but nothing is happening.

I'm not seeing the fruit of my labor. I'm not feeling any different or the opposite. I'm feeling different.

Something is happening but nothing around me is changing. Nothing around me seems to be moving with me in alignment. Maybe I should just give up.

Could you hold out like Jesus held out? You know we say that Jesus was fully human and fully divine so that entire time he knows he is God. He knows he is the incarnate of God. He knows he doesn't have to take anything from Satan's temptation.

He knows that he doesn't have to give in. He doesn't have to cower and so he doesn't. Like Mordecai, he stands strong.

He is offered food after 40 days of hunger. He's offered the world. He is offered to test his strength as the God incarnate and he says no.

That's not what this time is about. How many of us could say that we would have stayed firm in our know and yeah I'm not expecting you to be out in a desert and all of a sudden the devil's gonna come and take you to the high place and offer you the whole town of Maryville, the whole state of Missouri but still in those places where you're feeling strong and you're feeling solid so you're going to go into a purposeful intentional time of growth, of seeking, of understanding, of surrendering, of shedding away layers and allowing what is real and what is truth inside of you to emerge. But as you're on that path it gets a little challenging.

It gets to be in a place where the noise just gets so loud and it tells us you should be further along by now. There's something urgent going on here. There's a noise that tells us hey let's go with comparison instead of being content and grateful for what we have.

A noise that tells us that we need to measure our worth by productivity and visibility and what kind of approval we're getting. We need to measure our worth by making sure that everything looks picture perfect around us especially from those who are looking from the outside in. And you know the thing is we don't usually get called to circumstances where we bow before satan's presence or before a king that comes in front of you or an advisor and says hey bow before me in the name of the king.

But how many things subtly creep into your life and ask you to bow? How many of you when you wake up in the morning before you even give thanks to God or even acknowledge who you are and the blessing of what you have you grab your phone and check what's going on in the news? Or maybe you're still a television person and there's a lot of times where your tv is constantly running the news because you're going to find your peace and your happiness and your endurance for the race by bowing to that external noise. How many times when we think about our government we think about what state our country is in the anxiety that rises up within us causes us to bow and then we start fretting for no reason. We start running our mouths in ways that are unproductive and unserving and just spewing just the most disgusting things and we forget that there are ears listening around us and sometimes those ears are young and so in the process of getting caught up in the noise then we start passing it on.

We start letting fear dictate what pace we should be moving at. We bow when we let illness, when we let unexpected circumstances tell us, oh, this is going to be the end for you, so now sit and panic, sit and worry, sit in despair day after day. Hide what's going on in your life, because if you tell someone, you might actually get spoken truth over. You might actually get spoken to with hope and love and confidence that this is not the final word, so let's hide it because we don't want people to know how much we're really struggling. And there then we bow to that noise, too, because when we are faced with a challenge and these challenges are starting to bring us apart from who we are, and then we even hide in that, we're just continually bowing down to the noise of the world, to the noise of fear, to the noise of death, the noise of separation. And before you know it, we have replaced the truth of who we are, where we reside. We've replaced all of that with this mistrust, with lies, and most of it, it just feels normal.

I mean, you know, something you can do privately now when you go home, but maybe take a moment. Just say, you know, where have I allowed myself to make bowing down to the world the norm? Is it those days where you're running from one thing to the next, so then you're exhausted at the end of the day and you didn't even take a moment to catch your breath? You didn't take a moment to smile at anyone. You didn't take a moment to be grateful for anything because you were bowing down to the pressure of get it done, get it done, get it done. What's next?

When is the last time that you just took the time to pray or give gratitude or just sit in stillness? Not because we're here in the sanctuary, not because you're part of some group meeting, not because it's what you do every morning as you flip through your devotional book, but when's the last time you actually chose to bow down to God just randomly in your day, to say thank you, to be in the stillness, to be in the peace?

Just because something feels normal, that doesn't mean it's aligned. We are so used to giving into the world and allowing the world to dictate who we are and what we do that we start to let the noise of the world be our routine, be our normal. And to pull out of it, people start to look at you like, well, where have you been? What have you been doing? Oh, you know, I've just been taking more time getting in the Word more. I've been studying more. I've been deciding to turn off the TV more and just spend time in meditation and presence with God. Oh yeah, you've always been really spiritual. You've always been really religious.

Yeah, and that's what it becomes. Anyone who takes extra time to discipline themselves with spiritual understanding, it becomes, you know, someone who's really religious or really spiritual, as opposed to just walking in the truth of who we are.

This is why Lent matters, and this is why I'm walking alongside of you all with both of these stories, because what once was continues again. What was in the beginning is in the end, and then it starts again, and there it is. And so, just like Esther was in a place where Mordecai was being called to bow to something other than truth, and Jesus in the wilderness with all of the temptation, all that he was offered, he stood firm and said, no. I not only know who I am, I know what my purpose here is, and it doesn't matter what you offer me. He even knows that the cross is to come. He even knows that he is going to have to demonstrate that death is not a thing, and he says, I'm still going to go through all of this, and it's not even for me. It's for you all. It's for us. He didn't have to do any of that, but he stayed strong because he knew in the end I and the Father am one. If you see me, you see the Father. If you see the Father, you see me. And if the Father and Jesus are one, then you and the Father are one.

You know, both of these stories, they remind us how easy it is to compromise the truth and lose our footing when circumstances start to look too challenging, when the promise over here that's quick and easy looks better than what we know is going to happen in the long run.

Lent is a time where we can interrupt the noise, and we can strengthen our roots. You know, we're talking about planting a seed in the ground, and you can stand there and you can yell at it and yell at it, but it's establishing its roots. It's going to come to the surface when it's ready. It's hidden in that time of preparation. And that's the thing is, no matter what starts to come up, remember where you're rooted. Let Lent interrupt your noise. Let Lent give you your Mordecai moment, your Christ moment, where you say, I don't need to bow to this world. I may not know exactly how it ends. I may not know exactly how it's all going to come together, but I know where I began. And that right there says there is no end for me, so I don't have to bow to this world.

What have I been letting shape my attention? What have I been giving my allegiance? Where am I allowing urgency to tell me, get going, do more, faster, faster, as opposed to trusting in the stillness? It's not a fight to stay aligned. It's simply staying rooted in who you are and who you've always been.

You know, I love watching willow trees on really windy days because I've just loved willow trees for the longest time. And I think about how on these super windy days you'd see all of those branches going, and the tree is just there. It's rooted, and it's firm. And I remember some storms came through, and you would even see these long willow tree branches around the yard, but the tree, in all of its gloriousness and all of its beauty, was still there. The noise of the wind passed through, yes, and some of the strength in the wind, some of the branches may have gotten pulled off, rearranged, tangled up, but at the end of the day, the roots determined where that tree stood. It determines when it's going to bend and when it's going to return to being upright.

Alignment is all about where you're placing your roots. And so, as we look again this week, we have our veil, and now there is a structure behind our veil standing strong in its place. That structure will not collapse. It'll not be swayed by any noise or any wind as it stands there in protection. Can we be rooted that way? Can we remember to place something upright within our beingness that keeps us aligned to God? That is my question.

When something comes in in these days ahead that says to you, bow before me because I'll get you there quicker. Bow before me because I am the place where you need to place your allegiance. Yes, I may look like fear or worry, but I promise the more time you spend toiling on this, you're going to find a solution. Bow to the noise because it's what you're used to. When that comes to you this week, are you going to be able to remain upright and aligned where you always are?

Please pray with me.

Our most gracious and loving God, we humbly bow before you as we know that you are God the Father, you are God the mighty, you are the great Jehovah, and within each and every one of us is the essence of you, the Christ. And so, God, we bow before you, and as you call us to rise, we stand in confidence. We stand in the eternal knowing that we and the Father are one, that we are here to be the vessels, the conduits, to be the light and the love in humanity, to be those who silence the voices of the inner devils in our mind, of the false use of power and authority, and to raise the voice of love and compassion. And so, God, as we've received your word today, I pray that the message that's been prepared by the Spirit for each and every person listening will be delivered, and we pray that our time, our hearts, and our presence will glorify you.

It's in Jesus' name, amen.