For Such a Time as This
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The Book of Esther holds so much within it. For those of you who might not be familiar with the story, or even if you are but haven’t heard it in a long time, it’s one that bears repeating. So a quick summary:
The Israelites are under the rule of the Persian Empire. King Ahasuerus, the Persian King, chooses young Esther to be his queen after dismissing his first queen, Vashti, for her disobedience. This is a time when women were essentially property in the eyes of the law and of the people. They had little to no say in who they married or how their lives may turn out, and yet, we read stories of women, like Esther, who prevail even under such an oppressive culture.
See, Esther is a Jewish orphan who was raised by her cousin Mordecai, but the King and the court do not know her Jewish identity. Now around the same time, a man named Haman is promoted within the kingdom and essentially becomes the king’s second in command. With that honor, he begins expecting people to bow down before him. But Mordecai refuses to do so as he is a Jew. So, when Haman learns that Mordecai is Jewish, Haman begins to plot the destruction of all the Jews living within the Persian Empire.
Mordecai learns of Haman’s plans, and in a conversation with Esther, convinces Esther to advocate for her people by approaching the king. Esther is risking her own life by choosing to do this, but she succeeds, and a young girl who happens to have access to the king, who happens to be in the right place at the right time, is able to save an entire people.
This is the story of Esther. A beautiful woman in a man’s world, she rises in royal favor, saves the King’s life (earlier in Esther). She maneuvers through the politics of court and eliminates a mortal threat to her own people. The shows extraordinary courage in identifying with her people and uncovering “wicked” Haman’s plot to kill the Jews.
By the end of the story we hear, “Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail” (9:29-32) --as proudly Jewish as she is proudly regal, feared by all under the king, immortalized in the canon of Scripture, and celebrated by Jesus for millennia. (Feasting on the Word, pg. 100)
Church, this is a powerful story. It is a story that never, once, mentions the name of God, but that doesn’t mean God isn’t all through it! It is a story of courage and hope. It is also a story that serves as the narrative source for Purim, the most joyous festival of the Jewish year. Esther conveys a message that is consistent with the entire biblical witness: the survival and salvation of God’s people—remembered and reenacted through celebrative ritual. (Feasting on the Word, pg. 98)
When we take a deeper look at Esther, she is being asked to act in a situation that she neither created nor asked for. And she is, at first, reluctant. Can you blame her?? Much like Esther, our lives today are filled with unjust circumstances and oppressive situations that we have neither asked for nor directly created.
It’s easy to feel like there’s nothing we can or should do AND perhaps, every once in a while, we still wonder: Where is God in this story? What’s God doing about these injustices? And when is God finally going to show up and change everything?
There is an old Hopi Indian saying that goes: “Perhaps we are the very ones we have been waiting for.” Perhaps we are not to sit idly by, waiting for God to show up and make a difference or give us some huge and obvious sign that tells us exactly what to do. Perhaps we are the very ones whom God will use even with our doubts and our uncertainties and our questions. That is the very case when it comes to Esther.
We know that the world isn’t as it should be, and there are steps – even small baby steps – that we can all take to set it just a little more right.
Perhaps we have been given the privilege to act, to be a doer and to participate in the ushering in of God’s kingdom. God chooses us, calls us, and claims us to do this work. Mordecai says, “For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but … who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for such a time as this.”
Perhaps we have been placed in this very time, in this very place, in your very workplace, in your very neighborhood, in your school, for such a time as this. And maybe, just maybe, we have the privilege of being used as an instrument of God to help those who might need it most.
None of us has the power to change all the injustice in our world. To try to do so would be overwhelming. Yet today we are reminded that even a young woman like Esther, with her life in danger and with the very little power, still took whatever leverage she had to help save her people. She didn’t know if her plan would work. She wasn’t sure that this is even what God wanted because she didn’t get a burning bush or some voice from the heavens. And yet, she chose to advocate for those without a voice. She finds her voice. She speaks. History is changed. Perhaps that is our call.
No matter what we do for a living; no matter how old or how young we are; no matter how much or how little experience we have, we are called for such a time as this. I believe this community can help one another discern and act where and when we see the need. I believe we can encourage one another to be filled with hope and courage when the road seems hopeless and frightening.
Where do we see a need in our world today? What is God calling us to do or say this coming week? How can we do good in this moment?
Have you ever asked yourself why you were born at this particular time in history, in this particular country, in this specific part of the country? What is your purpose here? What is God seeking to do through you that God can do through no one else?