Raised by her uncle Mordecai, Esther was a beautiful young Jewish woman, who hid the fact she was a Jew. When her queen, Queen Vashti, falls from favor for refusing to dance before the King and his court, Esther has an opportunity. She finds favor with the King and soon becomes his new queen. But when her people are on the verge of destruction from Hamon, a leader in the Kings court, she discovers even queens have limited power.
I love watching The Crown on Netflix. Seeing insights into a young queen has been fascinating. So glad Claire Foy won the Emmy. But it also pointed us back to a person I think the world needed for such a time as this: Winston Churchill. His strength of character, his firm hand while facing utter destruction from Nazi Germany, felt like divine intervention. I have a sense that he was in that place of power for such a time, because the world needed him, we could even say God needed him to turn the tide, as the United States joined the fight. I can’t imagine the same outcome if we did not have our British allies, did not have Winston Churchill. We have also heard from some of you about the times in your lives when you faced a challenge yet found your inner strength or God’s leading. I hope many of you had a chance to ponder this question, “When were you born for such a time as this?” Pondered even if you did not share your answer. Because it gets at something important. How do we frame these events? When things happen in life, good or bad, how do we make sense of them. Do we see coincidences in our lives, do we think how serendipitous it was for that to happen? Or do we see things as part of God’s plan for us, and that we know God has our back and our future?
It is the pivotal moment in the story when Mordecai asks Esther, “who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Queen Vashti has fallen from grace, Esther has become queen, and Haman the right-hand man to the king is plotting the destruction of the Jews because he hates Mordecai. To top it off the King promised to give Esther up to half of his kingdom. Do we think all of these things are simply human actions or is God working in and through the lives of these people to have a way of saving the Jews? Scholars have debated this for centuries, some even wondering why Esther is even in scripture. No commentaries were written about this book for the first 7 centuries within the Christian church. Neither Luther or Calvin ever preached from Esther. More to the point, God is never mentioned once in this book. The closest we have to God is Mordecai saying, “Relief and deliverance will come for the Jews from another quarter.”
Last week I had coffee with a person who said, “There are no such things as coincidences.” A coincidence is defined as a remarkable concurrence of events that have no apparent causal connection.” The very concept of coincidence assumes that there is no source, no power, at work in the world. Inversely it also means that when we see things work out, line up, people of faith might see them as the work of God’s hand. This also connects to serendipity which is “making happy and unexpected discoveries by accident.” Have you ever had several things just line up and you are not sure why, but you are pleasantly surprised? That is serendipity. Once again it seems to get at how we view the world. As a commentator notes, for serendipity one needs to be “sagacious” enough to link together apparently innocuous facts in order to come to a valuable conclusion. In other words, not all witnesses of falling apples are named Newton.” (eriklumer.wordpress.com/2012/10/10/the-serendipity-principle-2/)
Faith helps us to be sagacious enough to see God’s hand at work. Faith helps us to be Esther when we are faced with a moment such as this.
Did you notice that Esther sought strength from God in her moment of need? She never mentioned God or even praying, yet when in a tight spot she asks those in her circle to fast with her. She asks Mordecai and all the Jews who might die, as well as her hand maidens to fast. She purified herself before God to request God’s help, as supplication for God’s mercy. James puts it a little more directly, “Are any among you suffering? You should pray.” Prayer is a powerful thing. Several mentioned prayer. As people of faith, we need those reminders. During our times such as this, we get to pray seeking God’s help and guidance. We can trust that God will work in ways we can never see. But if we believe in serendipity then there is no where to go for help, the world is run by fate. With Faith we know that God is working behind the scenes.
One reason Esther is in our Bible is because it shows God working behind the scenes.
There are no pronouncements on high, or even worship down low.
Rather it is about God moving in the world to enact God’s will.
What would have happened if the Jews were destroyed?
How would God’s promises come to pass. How could we trace Christ’s lineage all the way back to Abraham? Esther bears witness to God moving in our lives even when we are too blind to see, even when it feels like we are lost, even when God feels distant.
Professor Peter Lee writes, “We expect God to be mentioned constantly and persistently, but he never is…The author of Esther creates an awe-inspiring sense of the presence of God by not mentioning the overt presence of God at all.” He goes on to note an insight into Esther’s name. “The name “Esther” is based on the Persian word for ‘star.’” Let me interject for a moment, in Hebrew each word has three consonants. That is called the root of the word. Then how you add vowels tells you the tense and form. But that means three consonants can have several different meanings. Back to Peter Lee. “The Hebrew consonants for “Esther” ʾstr are the same consonants as a Hebrew verb form which means “I am hiding” Thus it is possible that the name “Esther” creates a double entendre for the verb “I am hiding.” If this is so, God is implicitly saying to the readers, “I know it may be hard not to read about me in a direct and obvious way, but do not be discouraged. I would not leave you at a time when you need me the most. I am still here, orchestrating all these events for the good of my people.” The Book of Esther: A Silence so Loud, it is Deafening.
So when you are faced with a time such as this, remember Esther, remember that God is hiding, God is working in our lives even when we cannot see it. Remember that faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the convictions of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).
“The book of Esther may not directly mention God, yet it clearly reveals God at work. His name is not written in the book, but His fingerprints, as we say, are all over it. The coincidences, the amazing reversals, and the poetic justice that led to the deliverance of the Jews in Persia all proclaim the presence of God.” (gotquestions.org). Our job today is to see God’s presence through faith and to trust that God is working behind the scenes. Amen.
