Esther 7 September 27, 2009 Sermon

Most days, we go through the motions. We drive to work and barely notice that we've somehow gotten ourselves home. Sometimes, we enter a confluence of forces that demand a decision. We enter into a moment of truth. Timing is important in comedy, but in life. We do encounter windows of opportunity. Sometimes it is wise to strike when the iron is hot. At other times, a decision is forced upon us.

 

Esther used her looks and personality to become queen in a beauty contest to become queen of the Persian empire. Esther was doing well, but what of her people? A royal advisor with power, Haman, has started a plot, signed by the oblivious king, to exterminate the Jews in the far-flung Persian empire. No one knew that Esther was Jewish; she could avoid the coming slaughter of her people, insulated in the palace. Her revelation could mean her death. She has to figure how to influence the king with little formal power.

 

God seems to rarely act with parting of the seas. but God seems to prefer to work through human decisions and human actions. Here, god is working with a woman who is living out the Cinderella story. God working behind the scenes; God's hand is often hidden. Is it a result of the prayer and fasting? James is convinced of the power of prayer.Notice that he emphasizes it in all conditions, good or bad. those prayers can affect our internal struggles and even the weather. I don't imagine Esther is asking for fasting as a dietary regimen; she is asking for what accompanies fasting, prayer. She needs the assurance that others are praying for her and with her. At this point, i always think of the pastor who did nmy installation sermon in LaGrange. Stricken with cancer more than twice, he said that on rough days his sense was that the only thing that got him out of bed were the prayers of people for him.

 

Esther could be doing well all her life, but her people were in deep trouble.she had a choice. She could live in the safety of the palace, in the lap of luxury all her life. To try to save her people, she could risk it all. She had to discover courage. Esther needed a plan. She needed insight into her fickle husband and be able to predict his reactions. Just becuase Mordecai told her that help could come from another quarter, it dows not absove her of her particular resposnibility. Her plan did work, and we cannot know if it was the hand of god or the craftiness of her plan. The plan could easily have failed, but she did her best within the vast set of limiations and difficulties before her.

 

The name of God does nto appear in the story of Esther.Some think that is why it does nto appear int eh Dead Sea Scrolls.  The name of God is not always on our lips either. Still, in both cases, God is there: alet, active, alive to what we do. In ourt complex world, God works with and against human decisions to keep working for a better world. The story of Esther, and our own lives, is one where God doesn't seem to follow a rigid script but is more improvising and adapting to the circumstances on the ground. Like Esther, we can use what resources we have available to make this world jsut a little easier, just a little better. As we practice those good seemingly small deeds, the time may come when we are called to an important decision that requres discernment, faith, and courage. What we do matters as they flow into God's constant working of a plan to make this worth fit for human habitiation, and fit for the divine presence.