Sermon 17th January 2016

One of our Lay Readers, Trevor Tayleur, continues our study of some heroes of faith. This week, we look at Esther. 

Last Sunday, in introducing the sermon series on heroes of faith, Cameron made an important point. In these sermons we’re not going to be talking about great people with great faith, but people with faith in a great God. Many biblical heroes were flawed characters, and indeed Esther was a very unlikely hero.

Chapters 1 and 2 of the book of Esther describe how Esther came to be Queen. It’s the 5^th century BC, many Jews were living in dispersion in the Persian Empire, and the Persian king, Xerxes, had deposed his queen, Vashti, because she had been too bold. She had stood up to his tyranny, so he had got rid of her and then looked for a replacement.  After holding a beauty contest of sorts he was more attracted to Esther, a beautiful young Jewish woman, than to any of the young beautiful women offered to him. So he chose Esther to be his new queen.

Esther’s rise to the top was certainly remarkable. She had been orphaned at a young age in a foreign country, and she had become queen. Sounds a bit like a fairy tale, doesn’t it? But it wasn’t a fairy tale. Following the guidance of her uncle Mordecai, who had raised her after the death of her parents, she had kept very quiet about her faith and her Jewish identity. Many religious Jews, when hearing this story, would have compared Esther unfavourably with Daniel. Daniel had served Babylonian and Persian kings while in exile, but had not compromised his faith, and had been willing to go to his death in the lions’ den. In contrast Esther kept her faith quiet, slept with a man to whom she wasn’t married and broke many of the Jewish laws in the process. Her path to the top was certainly morally compromised. And the man she married, King Xerxes, probably had more in common with a frog than a fairy-tale prince!

Also from a modern 21^st century perspective, Esther isn’t at first sight a shining example. To many people the example of Queen Vashti would be the one to follow. She had stood up to her tyrannical husband and has been banished from the palace as a result. In contrast Esther had been able to take Vashti’s place through being compliant and pleasing the King. But although Esther’s path to the palace might have been morally, culturally and spiritually dubious, God was still able to use her in a dramatic way.

It’s unlikely that any of us will get as close to the seat of power as Esther. None of us here work in Number 10 Downing Street as far as I know, but still there’s a lot we call all learn from Esther’s story – and two things in particular:

·      The importance of using the authority and influence that we may have in a Godly way, and

·      How to face the risks involved in using that authority and influence in a Godly way.

So, firstly, the importance of using the authority and influence that we may have in a Godly way. At the start of chapter 4, our reading, we see Mordecai, Esther’s uncle, at the gates of the palace, in sackcloth. The palace was the centre of power. It was from there that all the laws that shaped people’s lives emanated. Esther had reached that place, the seat of power. And Mordecai was trying to get her attention.

Powerful forces had got together in the Persian empire to destroy the Jews. These powerful forces had persuaded the King to make a decree ordering the massacre of all the Jewish people, and the decree had set a date for the massacre. And so Mordecai had come to the palace to say to Esther “You have to do something. You’ve got to use your place in the palace, your royal position to prevent this massacre. You’ve got to do something.”

Now, none of us will ever be the in the same position as Esther. It’s unlikely that we’ll ever have the ear of the Prime Minister. Yet many of us are in positions that carry with them some responsibility and authority.  We may not literally be in the palace or at Number 10, but that doesn’t mean we have no influence over the lives of others. We may have important roles where we work; law firms, the civil service, local government. We may have important roles in community groups and we may have important roles in our families.  

It may be the case that we have got into positions of responsibility in ways we’re not entirely proud of. We may feel, that although we’ve got some clout now, we’ve compromised to get there. We may feel that our consciences are not perfectly clear. But Esther had got to where she was through compromise. I expect she had some qualms about how she had got to her position as queen to the Persian king. But God was able to use Esther in a very dramatic way. It’s never too late to be used by God.

It is important to use the authority and influence that we may have in a Godly way. Esther was in a position to help Mordecai and the Jewish people, but there may be risks, even danger involved in using our authority and influence in a Godly way. So how do we face up to those risks? Esther was certainly going to be at risk if she did what Mordecai asked her. Note her initial response to Mordecai’s request for her to go to the king and beg for mercy. She replied, in verse 11, “If anyone, man or woman, goes to the inner courtyard and sees the king without being summoned, that person must die. That is the law; everyone, from the king's advisers to the people in the provinces, knows that. There is only one way to get around this law: if the king holds out his gold sceptre to someone, then that person's life is spared.”

It was an offence punishable by death for someone to approach the king without being summoned unless the king extended the gold sceptre to them.  Esther was saying to Mordecai, “Do you realise what you are asking? You are asking me to risk my life, to throw away everything that I have.”

And it was 30 days since the king had last called for her. The king hadn’t slept alone for those past 30 days. No doubt some other beautiful women had kept him company. Esther may well have been falling out of favour. She was far from sure that she would get the gold sceptre. Esther was saying to Mordecai; “You don’t know what you are asking. I could lose everything, including my life.” Esther was also probably mindful of the fact that the previous queen, Vashti, had been banished for being too bold.

Mordecai replied that he did know what he was asking. Basically he said to Esther, “If you don’t risk losing your place in the palace, you will lose everything. Don’t think that if you keep quiet, you will be safe. You will be sniffed out. If all the Jews are killed, sooner or later someone will realise you are one, and you will be sniffed out. And if the Jews aren’t killed, you will be sniffed out as a traitor.”

Mordecai was pretty brutal. He didn’t pull his punches.  The choice that Esther had was either to use her position of influence to benefit other people or to try to cling on to her privilege. And this went to the root of her identity. Did she get her identity, her self-worth from her position in the palace, or did she get it from God? There are perils of having a high place in society, of having lots of money and status. You can get your self-worth and identity from your place in the world and not from God. If we have money, or a nice house, or a good job, or a well-respected position in the community, then there is the risk that that is where we find our identity. There is a great risk that we find our identity in the things of this world. And it becomes very tempting to cling on to them. We may know that we shouldn’t do certain things, but we are worried that if we refuse, then it might make it harder for us to climb up the ladder, or it might jeopardise our place in society.

So, how do we find our identity in something other than in the things of this world? The answer is hinted at in Esther – GRACE.   The last thing that Mordecai said to Esther is: “Yet who knows - maybe it was for a time like this that you were made queen!” (verse 14). Esther had been brought to her royal position for a purpose. Esther hadn’t earned her position as queen. Her beauty wasn’t something she had earned; it had been given to her. The door of opportunity had been given to her, and she had walked through it.

Esther didn’t reply by saying what we might say if we were in a high position. If someone says; “You are in your position simply because of grace,” we might reply, “You don’t know how hard I’ve had to work to get here. I’ve really had to struggle.”

Well, we may well have worked hard, but if we have done well in life it’s because we’ve used the talents that were given to us, and we’ve been able to walk through the doors that have opened for us. We have so many more chances in life than someone born in, say, a refugee camp or a war zone. Everything we have is a matter of grace. Yes, we may well have worked hard for it, life may have been a struggle at times, but if we have achieved success and prosperity, that is a result of grace and not because we deserve it, or are better than other people.

And Esther responded to what Mordecai said. The Esther from chapters 1 and 2, the compliant Esther whose aim in life was to please the king, started to give orders. She resolved to see the king, saying; “If I must die for doing it, I will die.”

Looking ahead to the following chapters, Esther did indeed take her life into her hands. She approached the king who extended his sceptre to her and spared her life, and then listened to her pleas on behalf of the Jewish people. As a result, the Jews were saved and their great enemy defeated. Through courage and determination, Esther saved the day.

Esther provides an example of someone who stood up to be counted when the crunch came. And it’s an example from which we can take inspiration. But I don’t think I can end the sermon there. Some of us might be inspired to follow her example. We might say we’re not going to cling on to our skills, our position and money in a way that simply helps us to move ahead in life. We’re going to use our skills to serve others; we’re going to take more risks, strive harder for justice and speak more openly about our faith. That would be great, but the risk is that our new enthusiasm won’t last. If we are simply impressed by Esther’s example, it will wear off. If our motivation is guilt, it won’t last. The guilt won’t change us; it’s negative. An example, even a particularly great example, sets an inaccessible standard. It will crush us. So what can we learn from Esther that will help us to change? Esther isn’t just an example, but also a signpost.

Esther saved her people in two ways. Firstly, she identified with her people. Her people were condemned and she identified with them and came under condemnation herself. “If I must die for doing it, I will die”, she was willing to say. But because she identified she could mediate and go before the throne of power. No one else could mediate. And because she received favour from the throne of power that favour was imputed to her people. She saved her people through identification and mediation. Does that remind you of anyone?

Jesus Christ lived in the ultimate palace, and he had the ultimate glory as the Son of God. Human beings had turned away from God, and yet he left his palace to come and live amongst us. No one had to persuade him or pressurise him. He didn’t do this at the risk of his life, but at the cost of his life. He didn’t say, “If I must …”, but “When I die”. And he went to the Cross, and there he died for atonement of our sins.

And the Bible tells us, Jesus stands before the throne of the universe, and the favour he has gained is ours. If we believe in him, it is ours. If we see Esther as an example and try through our efforts to live up to her, we’ll fail. But if we see Jesus as our Saviour, not as an example of someone doing things for other people, but as our Saviour, then we can find our value in him. If we know that we are valuable to him, that our future whatever it may be is secure in him, that changes our identity.

One commentator on Esther makes the point that 14 times in the book Esther is called “Queen Esther”. 13 of those times are after she said, “If I must die for doing it, I will die”. She became a person of greatness not by trying to become one, but by serving, by putting others first. If we are confident of our identity in God and Jesus, then we too may be able to stand firm in times of crisis.

Let’s pray: Thank you for the story of Esther, for the way it acts as a signpost to your amazing grace. Help us to root our identity in our Saviour, Jesus, so that we can stand firm in times of crisis. Amen.

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[i] 17 January 2016