Sept 30 Sermon Notes-Esther

Esther’s story has a bit of Cinderella about it, but its dangers lie within the palace not the abusive home. Esther is about people living under the thumb of someone else.Esther’s name was not from her people. It probably comes the goddess Ishtar (remember that awful movie with Beatty and Hoffman?) She wins the chance to be part of the king’s harem after he is embarrassed by Vashti, the lead queen. It has a curiously contemporary ring, not only because of the year long spa treatments of Esther, the make-over, but the name of God does not appear in the story. (that may be a reason why the book does not appear in the Dead Sea Scrolls that have been found). She decides to have a cocktail party. Just as drink sealed the fate of her people, she is hoping that a drinking party can save them. Esther faces a moral dilemma. As a former president of CTS said, she was doing very well, but her people were in trouble. If she kept quiet, she would could continue to live in the lap of luxury. She could try to continue to hide her Jewish identity. Not only would she risk her position, but her very life, for she had to figure a way around a regulation that did not permit her to speak with the king and an edict against her people. The put down love stories about besting the upperdogs, of turning the tables on seekers of harm, especially when that comes from a surprising source. As I was working on this, the Freeh report on the Penn State abuse crimes was released. A custodian was afraid to report abuse because he was afraid for his job. He predicted that the administration would circle the wagons around the sacred football program and fire him. He certainly seems correct about circling the wagons, as the report mentions four administrators who kept the abuse under wraps.Out of fear, out of a sense of protection, security, out of denial we fail to act. Often, our moral emblem is the ostrich. Esther is an emblem as she found the courage to plan and to act.We do encounter a hint of piety when she asks people to fast. usually the word is bound to prayer: to fast and pray.Esther shows us that bureaucratic thickets are indeed obstacles to moral behavior but not insuperable ones. Esther realizes the will of God, but she realizes that God often calls us to co-operate in making that will become a reality here and now. Esther doesn’t moralize; she hatches a plot to host the evil Haman by his petard, to make him the victim of his own pernicious plot. The king seems to be a passive sort, easily manipulated and trapped by staff and regulations. Recall that the reader’s breath goes -oh no -at this point, just like we yell at the screen in a horror movie to do not go in there. the first wife Vashti gets in trouble because of a dinner party.Will either disappear as does Vashit; will she be a tragic heroine? Jesus said that disciples need to be clever in dealing with a fallen world. We seek to do good, not naively, but in full knowledge that doing good can be difficult, strewn with obstacles, fraught with uncertainties. One of the many annoying things I find in the rise of unaffiliated churches is their buoyant blind optimism that seems to go, ” I am on God’s side, so everything should work out great for me, I’m blessed.” The God who creates a world of freedom does not treat us as puppets on strings, but as living moral beings. Co-operative endeavor with God takes careful reflection, risk, and hard, demanding work. Co-operating with God’s way in the world is not a guarantee of success, only faithfulness.