Esther's Story

While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and hurried Haman off to the banquet that Esther had prepared. So the king and Haman went into the feast with Queen Esther. On the second day, as they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have won your favor, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me—that is my petition—that is my request. For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have held my peace; but no enemy can compensate for this damage to the king.” Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has presumed to do this?” Esther said, “A foe and enemy, this wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.

Mordecai recorded these things, and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, enjoining them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same month, year by year, as the days on which the Jews gained relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and presents to the poor.

Esther 7:1-6; 9:20-22

“Esther’s Story”

Our Old Testament lectionary text brings us to one of the smaller, lesser known stories in our Bible, the story of a King and his queens, the story of advisor who plots genocide against the Jews out his jealousy, the story of a guardian who will do anything to make sure his niece survives in the world, the story of that niece who wins the king’s heart, and most importantly, his respect—and saves her people. It is a story that begins with a feast and ends by pointing us to a bigger feast, the Jewish festival known as Purim. If you’re not familiar with the book of Esther, it begins with a banquet thrown by King Ahasuerus—all the men are drinking, and the King dumbly commands his queen, Vashti, to come in and parade herself in front of all them. Feeling merely like an object, I can imagine, Queen Vashti says no and quickly finds herself banished from the court. When the king decides to look for a new queen, his nobles suggest doing an empire-wide search for a new queen, a virgin to be sure. Many women are brought in to be a harem, and Esther is part of the group. She arrives with her guardian Mordecai, suggesting that she has no parents, suggesting she is probably a teenager who has to be guarded. Esther quickly wins the king’s favor and rises to the top as she is made the queen. Shortly thereafter, Mordecai uncovers a plot to assassinate the king, and probably Esther as well; he tells Esther, who tells the king and further wins his favor.

But the king, not the brightest bulb in the bunch, appoints a man named Haman to a high position in his court—the power quickly goes to Haman’s head as he demands everyone to bow down to him. Mordecai refuses, and Haman plots his revenge by vowing genocide, vowing to kill all of Mordecai’s Jewish people. Mordecai again uncovers the plot, asking Esther to risk her life and step in to save her people.

This is where our lectionary text begins this morning--chapter 7, the climax of the story. The King is again throwing a lavish banquet for his court, one expected to go on for days. Esther is smart, and knows that she could be put to death for coming in front of the king without first being summoned, but she decides she has to take the chance anyway. She knows that she shouldn’t confront the King in front of his whole court; she knows he could easily be swayed by his advisors who would be offended that she entered the court without an invitation, so she invites the king and Haman into her own chambers for a private feast. When the king asks Esther what her petition, her request to him, is, she simply says, “If I have won your favor, O King, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me, and the lives of my people…For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated.” And when the king asks her who has planned this genocide for her people, Esther looks at Haman and says, “A foe and enemy, this wicked Haman!” Haman is hung, and the Jewish people, Esther and Mordecai’s people, are saved. A generation saved from extinction, all because of the boldness and hope of a teenaged girl.

This story is small, but it’s important to us for several reasons. Even thought it’s a short story, it has so much to tell us about life together in faith community. It has to be an impossible choice for Esther to make—either to stay quiet and not share the plot with the king, resulting in a whole generation of Jews being killed, or to go to the king without being summoned, risking her own life. An impossible choice for anyone to make, to be sure, but Esther decides that she must make the choice to sacrifice herself, to sacrifice her life to save so many others. In making this choice, Esther reminds us that we are called to look out for each other, to take responsibility for our community, that we are sometimes even called to give up our own lives for the sake of others, hoping for the new life that could come as a result. And I love that she makes this choice while maintaining a spirit of humility, hopefulness, and grace. Esther could walk right into the king’s court, right there in front of everyone, making demands of the king in front of his most trusted advisors, interrupting a raucous banquet, embarrassing him as a result. But she doesn’t. She simply sets a place for him and Haman at her table, inviting them into the quiet, helping them escape the expectations and judgments of those around them. Esther makes a difference and saves a whole generation, does all of this by using her intelligence and displaying a deep humility. Maybe we, perhaps even our politicians, have something to learn from this—perhaps that intelligence and humility, instead of ego and judgment, are the way to really create peace and stability in the world.

Another important thing that comes out of Esther’s story is the feast of Purim, a celebration in all of the king’s provinces, a celebration of salvation and life. After the Jews are saved by Esther’s petitions to the king, Mordecai sends a letter to all of the people, asking them to always remember these anniversary days when their lives were saved, to celebrate “as the days on which the Jews gained relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and presents to the poor.” As a celebration of their salvation from death, the Jews celebrate life through this Purim feast together, ensuring there is enough food for everyone, turning mourning into rejoicing, giving gifts of life to the poor around them.

I love how Dr. Kathleen O’Connor, a retired Old Testament professor from Columbia Theological Seminary, depicts this celebration:

The celebration of Purim is iconic, emblematic of the Jews’ life as God’s people…They feast at table, they give gifts of food to one another, and they bring in the poor among them…God’s presence is suggested by the liturgical feast, where good is shared, community strengthened, and the poor invited to the table. For Christians, the feast of Purim calls to mind Eucharistic feasts and, in the context of Esther, serves as strong warning against social systems that benefit the powerful and harm others.

Kathleen describes this feast perfectly; she reminds us that this Purim feast for the Jews foreshadows the feast of the Eucharist for us Christians. She reminds us that the feast at the Lord’s table should be a powerful celebration of life, of community, of sharing—a reminder that we, as Christians, are always called to look out for the least and lost among us, called to invite and give and share and welcome and love.

Finally, I think this story is so important to all of us, and so special to me, because it focuses on a young woman who could easily become part of the world instead of trying to save it. Esther is very young, innocent to the world and nervous and in awe of everything happening around her, and she has to be scared to death to come in front of the king to save her people. She could very easily make the choice to stay quiet, to do nothing, to preserve her own life by sacrificing others, but she doesn’t. The world has told her that she should simply be a nameless face in the king’s harem, told her that she has nothing to give, especially at her young age, but she doesn’t listen. She speaks up, she urges the king to save her people, and she celebrates as the world is changed for the better around her. Does that remind you of another young girl in our Biblical story? It sure reminds of me a girl who could very easily say no to what is asked of her, but chooses instead to say yes, yes to life, yes to giving birth to a child who will be born to change and save the world. These two young women could choose to hide away, but choose to say yes instead—and it’s amazing to see the celebration of life that comes as a result. I love that these young women are the age of so many of you in this room, teenagers and college students, alike. It’s simply amazing what all of you younger folks in this room, women and men alike, might be called to do in this world.

It would be irresponsible of me to share Esther’s story with you today, without pointing to another young woman in the world who is doing great things—irresponsible because it’s tempting for us to think that nothing like Esther’s story could happen in our crazy world today, tempting to think that our crazy world doesn’t have any heroes left—especially younger ones.

Have you ever heard of a young woman named Malala? Malala Yousafzai is a 17-year-old young woman who grew up in Pakistan. The Taliban made their way to her village, eventually kicking all of the girls out of their schools, insisting that women had no right to an education. When Malala was kicked out, she decided to speak up, to speak out against the violence and prejudice and judgment in her world. She came to find out that the Taliban had threatened her life on of their websites, and these violent men tried to carry that threat out—they shot her at the age of 14, trying to end her life, trying to keep her from speaking out for the life and success of the other young girls in her community.

I absolutely fell in love with Malala when she was interviewed by my favorite news person—Jon Stewart. When asked about her fear of what the Taliban could do to her before she was shot, Malala said, “I asked myself, ‘If the Taliban come, what would you do, Malala?’ Then I replied to myself, ‘I would just take a shoe and hit him.’ But then I said, ‘If you hit a Talib with your shoe, there would be no difference between you and the Talib.’ You must not treat others with cruelty and harshness. You must fight this with peace and education. Then I would tell [the Talib], ‘That’s what I want to tell you.’”

And she did tell the Taliban about peace and education. After her recovery from almost being murdered, she didn’t fight back with weapons, with hateful words, with meanness—she fought back with humility, with love, by creating community, by continuing to speak out about the importance of education. That was pretty obvious when she delayed her press conference for winning the Nobel Peace Prize—because she had to finish her chemistry class. The Marys and Malalas and the Esthers in our lives have so much to teach us about the importance of education, the value of what a force humility and hope and intelligence can be when brought together. Indeed he Marys and Malalas and Esthers have so much to teach us about what happens when we listen to the intuition God places in our hearts, about what happens when we take care of our community instead of only being focused on ourselves. Pretty amazing what the young ones in our midst can teach us, isn’t it? Thanks be to God.