Courage

Today we heard from the book of Esther, one of the disputed books in the canon by both Jewish and Christian experts. In its 10 chapters there is no mention of God, the temple, the exodus, or the salvation history of the Jewish people. Esther doesn’t see God or hear from God. Yet Esther is a role model of bravery. She is not perfect. She would have broken all sorts of Torah rules in living in the Palace. Yet, when push came to shove, she chose to risk her life, for the life of her people.

The book of Esther could easily be a soap opera or melodramatic movie. We have a fickle King, a villain, plot twists, an unlikely heroine, war and death, triumph and tragedy. A Hollywood directors dream.

When we think of the action of God in the salvation of the Jews, it is often Moses, the one saved at birth, heard God speaking from a burning bush, and led people through the sea to escape the Egyptians. Esther is nothing like Moses, she is an orphan, there is no mention of her hearing God or anything supernatural happening. They are both times when the people of Israel were in trouble.

So often God's action in our life, God's activity in the world around us, is hidden from us; not because God is trying to hide, but because God acts in what looks like our ordinary life.

Most of us will never entertain an Angel, like Mary and Joseph did.
Most of us will not be able to tap a rock and have freshwater flow from it, like Moses.
Most of us will not touch the holes in the hands of Jesus as Thomas did.

We may wish for the certainty of the burning bush, or walking through the Red Sea, but reality is, most of us will not have those experiences.

We can learn from Esther.
We can learn what it is like to be ‘undercover’ believers.
To be the good news,
To be hope and light
to be ready.

Our lives, like Esther’s will not be perfect. We will break God’s heart at times, but God still trusts us and calls us to act for humanity.

This may seem like an unlikely reading for advent 2, when we focus on peace and the coming King of Peace.

Advent is a time of waiting, of preparation for the kingdom of God to come in completion. But what if instead of just waiting for God to waive some magic wand, what if we are being called on to collaborate with God?

What if instead of waiting for God to act, God is waiting for us to act?

“Advent waiting means reminding ourselves that perhaps God has been preparing us, too, for this very moment.

Advent waiting means taking action on behalf of God’s justice and mercy.

Advent waiting means refusing to hide behind our positions and privileges, risking action on behalf of those without access to power.

Advent waiting means realizing that our own well-being is tied up with those whose lives are threatened daily by the forces of bigotry and hatred.

While relief may come from another quarter, perhaps God has been preparing us for just such a time as this.”[i]

In advent we think of the nearness of the Kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God is near when we live it.

The kingdom of God is near when the hungry are fed.

The kingdom of God is near when we act in solidarity with indigenous people

The kingdom of God is near when we speak on behalf of people in detention centres, on Nauru, Manus island, and on the mainland.

The kingdom of God is near when we advocate for the homeless

The kingdom of God is near when we demand an end to violence

The kingdom of God is near when we open our hearts to the transforming power of the holy spirit

The kingdom of God is near when we recognise the face of Jesus in the people, we meet

Our individual stories all are woven together as part of the story of God.

Just as Esther took a risk in coming to the King uninvited,

Mary took a risk in saying yes to the Angel.

just as Jesus chose to live with the risk of loving,

we are called to take risks.

Just like Esther and Mary, we may see ourselves as having no power, of having no position or place from which to transform our community. But just like Esther we can act with courage. Like Esther and Mary we can take risks to live out our faith.

Just like Jesus we can choose to love,

      to offer grace,

      to stand when others walk away.

what if instead of just waiting for God to waive some magic wand,
we are being called on to collaborate with God?

What if instead of waiting for God to act, God is waiting for us to act?

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[i] https://robertwilliamsonjr.com/advent-through-the-eyes-of-esther/?fbclid=IwAR0FU9hBHaLF6mR1scmzYJkt2S5VdqaRyA0oHCxX7T-2EyDgUZQaI1X0wUI

waiting or collarborating?

Introduction to the reading:

The story of Easter is one that you may not be familiar with. The people of Israel were in exile. About 587 years before Christ was the destruction of Jerusalem and in the 10 years following that the Jewish elite were deported to Babylon, around the same time many Jewish people left the land and move to a variety of places. the about 539 BC Cyrus the Persian king conquered Babylon, some of the Jews went back home, but some did not.

 

The book of Esther begins with King Ahasuerus throwing a banquet, he calls his wife to come and show  the people at the banquet how beautiful she is, but Vashti refuses. Vashti is no longer a allowed to be in the presence of the King, and a decree goes out that all the beautiful young virgins to come to the King's harem, and one would be chosen to be the new Queen.

Esther was chosen to be the new Queen.

Esther's uncle Mordecai overheard a plot to kill the King, he told Esther who warned the King and his life was saved.

The King's main adviser is a man named Haman, he does not like the Jews. Haman tells the King that there are certain people who do not keep the King's Laws and the King should proclaim a decree for them all to be destroyed. The King accepts Haman’s word, and the decree is sent throughout the land.

 

We then pick up the story:

Reading: Esther chapter 4

The book of Esther is one of the disputed books in the canon by both Jewish and Christian experts. There is no mention of God,  the temple, the exodus, or the salvation history of the Jewish people. It has been said that it's actually a very Jewish story – they tried to kill us, they failed, let’s eat. The story of Esther is read as part of the feast Purim. (working preacher podcast)

 

but I believe there is more we can take from this story than another example of how God has saved the Jewish people.

We read the story of Moses and the burning bush;

and we hear of the Angel Gabriel bringing news to Mary;

the time of God speaking to Joseph in a dream, not once but twice; I wonder how many of us here have had that kind of experience.

 

So often God's action in our life, God's activity in the world around us, is hidden from us; not because God is trying to hide, but because so much happens in what looks like our ordinary life.

Most of us will never entertain an Angel, most of us will not be able to tap a rock and have freshwater flow from it, most of us will not lead a group of people out of slavery. We still believe that God is present, that God acts, and that God calls us to be part of that action. We are called to be part of what is known as the Missio Deo, the mission of God.  in the church when we talk about mission, it isn’t our mission, it is about us being active with God in the world, being active in God's mission, in the coming of the kingdom of God.

 

Chapter four, which we heard read this morning, focuses on a time of crisis for the Jews still living in Persia; it is also a crisis for Esther, she has to choose whether she will reveal her Jewish identity to the King, she has to choose if she will act for the good of the Jewish people, and in doing so she has to choose whether she will break the King's law.

 

These would not have been easy choices for Esther.  Even though Esther was Queen, she was not allowed to enter our into the presence of the king unless she was invited. But she could not risk waiting for an invitation, because by then the Jews would be killed. Esther, as with all women of that time, was at the mercy and whim of her husband, or her guardian. In chapter 1 we hear what happens to Queen Vashti when she disobeys the King's command. Esther takes the risk, in seeking an audience with the King.

But notice what she asks Mordecai, go and hold a fast for three-days, for Jewish people prayer and fasting go together. Esther knows that she needs the support of the entire community, and of God, if she is to take this risk, for she is risking her life.

 

Poem

Esther – a woman of action;

 a role-model for the ordinary

 to be extra-ordinary;

 a role-model who took direct action.

 The rabbis have considered her a prophet,

 who neither spoke a word with God

 nor from God,

 but who risked her life

 to save her people.

 

Jeremiah

 Amos

 Jesus

 Caroline Chisholm

 William Wilberforce

 Oscar Romero

 Mother Theresa…

spoke out

 against the wrongs in their societies;

 took action

 to redress those wrongs;

 to offer the world a glimpse

 of the realm of God:

 a community

 of mutual relationship;

 a community in which

 trust, obligation, morality, common good, tradition, goodwill,

 co-operation, religious values, neighbourliness

 and more

 are valued as basic to the good health,

 the wholeness,

 of that community.

 

This alternative vision

 is the realm we are called to live:

 to stand with those whose lives are hurt by the prevailing systems,

 to identify

 not with the powerful

 but the vulnerable.

 This is our risky journey

 of discipleship.

(Adapted from a sermon from some years ago, which may have drawn on material from other, long-forgotten, sources.)

         © Jeff Shrowder, 2012.

 

 

 

Advent is a time of waiting, of preparation for the kingdom of God to  come in completion. But what if instead of just waiting for God to waive some magic wand, what if we are being called on to collaborate with God?

What if instead of waiting for God to act, God is waiting for us to act?

 

The kingdom of God is near,

the kingdom of God is near when we live it.

The kingdom of God is near when the hungry are fed.

The kingdom of God is near when we act in solidarity with indigenous people

the kingdom of God is near when we speak on behalf of people in detention centres, on Nauru, Christmas island, and on the mainland.

The kingdom of God is near when we advocate for the homeless

the kingdom of God is near when we demand an end to violence

the kingdom of God is near when we open our hearts to the transforming power of the holy spirit

the kingdom of God is near when we recognise the face of Jesus

 

advent is a time of waiting,

waiting for the completion of the kingdom of God,

the kingdom of hope,

      peace,

      joy,

      love;

the Kingdom of grace and forgiveness;

the Kingdom of liberation and freedom.

 

But when all we do is wait for God to act, we deny the presence of the kingdom, we become a barrier to love and grace.

 

For just as Esther took a risk in coming to the King uninvited,

just as Jesus chose to live with the risk of loving,

we are called to take risks.

Just like Esther, we may see ourselves as having no power, of having no position or place from which to transform our community. But just like Esther we can act with courage.

Just like Jesus we can choose to love,

      to offer grace,

      to stand when others walk away.

 

We can wait for God to overcome hunger and poverty and injustice; or we can live as the people of God…