Esther
Excerpt from 2:24 to 6:37:
I’m coming to terms with the fact that at the end of the day I am trained in helping people see the biblical text as a window to mystery and grace and gratitude and awe and grief and just about everything else. Why? Because it is filled with stories. And let's not mistake stories for history, right? Like, what's that saying? Did it happen? No, but it's true.
So that phrase, "for such a time as this." How does the book of Esther begin? Xerxes, the king of Persia, is having this drunken fiesta with all of his friends and, you know, halfway through the evening decides, "You know, I'd really like my wife to come out and dance for all of my cronies," and her name was Vashti. And so he summons Vashti and says, "Dance, woman," and Vashti says, "Like, no way!" And so, well, you can only imagine what happened to Vashti—she got kicked out of the court. And so began the beauty contest for the new Queen. At the same time, there was a man named Mordecai, who was Jewish, who worked in the court, and he had a cousin, his name is Esther, who was absolutely beautiful. But it wasn't a safe place to be Jewish, so he said, "You know, I think you have a good chance of winning this beauty contest, but you're not to tell anyone you're Jewish". And lo and behold, doesn't Esther become Queen? A bunch of stuff happens, and a really, like, evil guy, his name is Haman, decides that he wants to get rid of the Jews. And so he creates this plot that, in fact, Xerxes the king goes for. And in the meantime, Mordecai is kind of freaking out and going, so he sends a secret message to Esther and says, "Esther, you got to do something here, otherwise, like, we're all going to be slaughtered". And Esther says, "Like, I can't possibly do that. You know what the rule is? I can't just ask to see the king; I mean, he has to summon me". And he said, Mordecai said back to Esther, "Esther, who knows if it wasn't for such a time as this that you became queen?". And so Esther pulls together the courage to seek out the King. And the rule at the time, the protocol, was if he were to hand his scepter to her, she would be allowed to visit him. If he didn't, well, that would be the end of her life. Well, the King loved Esther and so welcomed Esther into his presence. And Esther then put in place a plan to save her people that ended up being very successful.
So what about that phrase, "for such a time as this"? I think it's time, friends, that we wrestled with our sense of grief and imprisonment and sorrow and fear and anxiety, and that we go deep into whether it is our faith tradition or poetry that speaks to us or an identity that is waiting to rise within us or calling that we have not been listening to forever, because the world needs Esthers who were going to think about those around them, those with whom they can make a difference, those whose lives they can change and make better, and get beyond all of their own fears to make that happen. And goodness knows the world is in need of all of us to figure out what time it is for our gifts, our voices, our compassion, our generosity to rise.
Covid Sunday story: For Such a Time as This, Living With Curiosity, Creativity & Courage - full video.