Such a Time as This

Today we begin our summer sermon series on Women of the Bible. Several of the  sermons are based on women also depicted in our many stain glass windows in our  sanctuary and Chapel. Today we begin our series with the story of Esther found in the  Old Testament. This is one of two books named after women found in scripture.  

The story of Esther is seldom read by Christians, but for the Jewish community this  story is the origin story for the holiday called Purim. It is a thoroughly entertaining  novelle or morality story found in the Old Testament set in the times after the exile to  help people of the diaspora.  

To set the scene a bit, the king has removed Queen Vashti for disobeying his demands  to have her dance before his drunk friends at a banquet. So the king holds a beauty  contest of the young women of the city. Eventually he selects the beautiful Esther as  his new queen. Esther’s uncle Mordecai instructs her to not reveal her identity as a  Jew in fear that she will be punished for it, but then things change.  

Haman, a high official of the court, views the Jewish people as unwelcome foreigners  and wants to rid them from the land. To make matters worse, Mordecai has become a  visible target of Haman’s hatred because he refuses to bow down and venerate  Haman. Mordechai has been a loyal official in the capital even exposing a plot to  overthrow the king.  

Haman has plotted a way to convince the King to kill all the Jewish people living in  Persia, accusing them of being enemies of the King. Mordecai hears about the plot and  asks Esther to use her position as queen to stop it. This morning’s reading is the famous words Mordecai uses to convince her, “Who knows? Perhaps you have come  to royal dignity for just such a time as this.” 

Today, Jewish people celebrate this story during the festival of Purim. The Jewish  community gets dressed up in costumes and retells the story in a Melo-Dramatic style  with great dramatic effect. Everyone participates in the play with sound effects, shouts  for the heroes and boos for the villains. People dress up in outlandish costumes,  usually switching gender roles, men dressed as the women and women as the men.  The role switching reflects the twists of the story where the outsider becomes the  patriot, the high official becomes the villain, and the hero of the story is a woman.  

One of the most controversial and fascinating aspects of the story is that God is not  named in the whole book of Esther and the reader is left speculating and searching for  signs of God at work in the shadows or background. In the story of Esther God is not  mentioned or even prayed to in the whole story and yet a great injustice is averted  because the most unlikely, insignificant person uses her unusual place of privilege to  save thousands of lives by becoming vulnerable and seen for who she really is and standing in solidarity with the people who are being targeted. 

When Esther first hears of the plot, she feels helpless and vulnerable. Perhaps she still  felt like the orphaned Jewish girl she was a few months earlier, before the king  elevated her to Queen. Esther knows if she reveals her identity, she could lose her life.  Queen Vashti disobeyed the king and was killed for it, so just trying to see the king  without being summoned was a dangerous move. Haman is also a very powerful man  and a bully. He also poses a personal threat to Esther if she tries to cross him. I think  we can all relate to the real sense of danger she is facing if she speaks up. But  Mordecai reminds her that her status as queen was not a guarantee of safety but a  place of privilege that could be used for good.  

It is not until she considers the unique position of privilege she has and sees herself in the people personally impacted by this order, does she become the heroine. As queen, she may be the only one that can persuade the King to hear the truth of the order. Her  example challenges us to consider our place in the world and responsibility to use our  positions of privilege for good, not evil like Haman does.  

Esther must reclaim her identity with the vulnerable to be spurred into action. Stirred by  compassion for the helpless causes her to act and do what she can to save them. Her  personal story and connection to the King was the best hope for the people to be  saved. She puts her body on the line, so to speak, ready to suffer along with others.  

When we see others being threatened, are we able to see them connected to us in  some way? Are we able to step up and use our position or privilege to defend them?  

This story is appealing to us because let’s face it, when was the last time you saw a  burning bush or heard angels testifying to God’s call on your life. We don’t, but how  often do you feel compassion and concern for someone in need. How often do we  identify with the victim or the vulnerable innocent caught in a power struggle. How  often do you say to yourself, “Well that is really wrong, something needs to change?”  We, like Esther, may recognize when injustice is occurring, and seek wisdom on what  we can do to stop it. Esther turns to Mordecai for guidance, and he reminds her that  only when the most vulnerable of society are safe are we all safe. Even she, as Queen,  will not be spared the hardship coming. 

Esther had competing images of who she was. She was a woman, an orphan, but also  a queen who has found favor with the king. Most of her life she could hide and protect  the deeper parts of herself to function in a world that did not always see her as fully  worthy of love and respect. But there are times I our lives where we are forced to  choose between how the world views us and who we truly are.  

Brene Brown in her book Dare to Lead talks about the difference between fitting in vs.  belonging. For Esther she was fitting to be queen. She looked and acted the part, but  people did not know the real Esther. They did not know her as Hadassah, her given  name from her parents. It was not until her deeper cultural identity as a Jewish person was threatened that she risked fitting in so that she could be her authentic self and  belong. She risked it because she knew that if she did not belong it was no longer possible for her to fit in.  

So I ask you to think of a time when you were trying to just fit in. What part of yourself  did you feel like you needed to hide or cover up?  

Talk with one another about a time you fit in and a time when you felt like you really  belonged? What made the difference?  

After World War II, Rev. Martin Niemöller, a prominent Minister in Germany, openly  spoke about his own early complicity in Nazism and his eventual change of heart. His  powerful words about guilt and responsibility still resonate today. This quote stands as  a reminder of the dangers of silence and complicity in the face of such evil.  

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out— 

because I was not a socialist. 

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist 

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— 

because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me. —Martin Niemöller