2022.05.07 | All In
“All In”
Rev. Dr. Arlene K. Nehring, Senior Minister
Eden United Church of Christ, Hayward, California
Stewardship Sunday, May 7, 2023
Erstwhile Emory University Professor Emeritus Fred Craddock explains in his commentary on Esther that this OT book is technically an Israelite novella rather than a book, per se. The novella’s historical context was the reign of King Xerxes, who reigned over Persia (now known as Iran) from 485-464 BC.1 The names were changed to protect the innocent. Xerxes’ pseudonym in the Hebrew Bible is Ahasuerus.
This novella illustrates and affirms the ingenuity and faithfulness of the eastern Diaspora, who like the protagonist Queen Esther, persevered in spite of the persecution that they endured 400 hundred years before the birth of Christ.
This novella also serves as the basis for one of the lesser Jewish holidays known as the Feast of Purim, which celebrates Israel’s delivery from persecution. This holiday is usually celebrated during a 24-hour period in the month of March.
The name “Purim” for this holiday is derived from the root “pur,” which means “lots.” In the novella, King Ahasuerus’ lead military advisor, Haman, proposed that the date for a pogrom against the Jews be determined by casting pur (or lots). Hence the festival is called Purim.
Modern celebrations of this feast day include reading aloud the book of Esther to an audience who boo, hiss, and rattle noisemakers whenever Haman’s name is mentioned — sort of like audiences once did at vaudeville shows.
Purim traditions also encourage revelers to eat, drink and be merry, and along with feasting on foods like Hamantaschen, I have it on good authority that those of age have are encouraged to consume adult beverages until they can’t tell the difference between “blessed be Mordecai” and “cursed be Haman.” It’s also customary to send gift baskets to loved ones, make charitable contributions, and participate in costume parties. One of my rabbi friends back in NY was known to don his pink gorilla costume for such occasions.
Esther — the novella — provides the basis for a Jewish festival that celebrates the liberation of the Eastern Diaspora, but that is not all.
In my view, the novella also serves as a morality tale for Jews, Christians, and anyone else who has ears to hear the wisdom that this ancient narrative imparts. Esther — the novella — reminds us that even when our power is suppressed, and even when we feel small and afraid, we can accomplish great things for God when we claim the power that we have, say our prayers, and work together for the greater good.
II
To bring home this truth, I’ll share my Cliff’s Notes version of Esther and then share a contemporary analogy.
The novella opens in the midst of a royal party that has been going on for 180 days. The party was hosted by King Ahasuerus, King of Persia. The term “bacinella” does not adequately describe the events that have unfolded.
The King’s banquet tables were filled with foods from all over the kingdom. Libations had been flowing for an amount of time that equaled a modern public school year, and the music droned on and on. After much revelry a lull ensued. The king was eager to keep the party going, so he summoned Queen Vashti and directed her to perform a dance for his guests, but she refused.
Ahasuerus was flummoxed by Vashti’s resistance, so he called the royal advisors in for consultation. They scanned the royal law books, and collectively determined that Queen Vashti was a threat to national security and she had to go.
Their logical syllogism went something like this: the queen won’t dance, her refusal to obey the King could ignite a peasant rebellion, and the crown could be overthrown. So the infidel had to go.
A nationwide search commenced for Vashti’s successor, but resumes were not quickly forthcoming. Word had gotten around about Vashti’s fate. No advisor wanted to risk nominating a candidate who might disobey the King and be deposed, much less be disposed of themselves.
The longer the king had to wait for queen candidates the more discontent he became. Eventually, Mordecai, an Israelite slave who served in the royal court, got wind of Ahasuerus’ concern, and approached the royal gate. He told the guards that he had found the perfect candidate for queen—his cousin, Esther.
Mordecai explained to the guards that Esther was young, beautiful, and gracious, and left out the part about her being his cousin and her being a Jew. Mordecai also cautioned his cousin Esther to hide her identity from the king and members of the court.
Esther reluctantly accepted Mordacai’s nomination for queen, and participated in a royal review of her candidacy.
Ahasuerus was persuaded to welcome Esther into his harem so that she could be groomed to serve as his queen. At the end of her preparation period, Esther was presented to Ahasuerus for consideration. The king quickly accepted her, and crowned Esther Queen of Persia.
Soon after her ascension to the throne, a plot against Ahasuerus was exposed by Esther’s cousin, Mordecai. The royal advisors who developed the plan were hanged, and Mordecai became one of their successors. About this same time, a mid-level advisor named Haman was promoted to serve as the king’s top advisor.
Haman was enthralled with his new role, especially the part about royal subjects being required to bow before the court. Everyone but Mordecai complied, on account of the fact that he was a Jew and good Jews kept the First Commandment. They did not bow to anyone but Yahweh.
From the perspective of good Jews, Mordecai was a paragon of virtue, but in the eyes of Haman, he was an infidel like Vashti, so Haman garnered a favor from King Ahasuerus and set out to destroy Mordecai and all of the Jews in Persia.
Haman cast lots (pur) to determine when the pogrom would commence. The date was set and the king signed the edict to commence with the pogrom, but before it was implemented Mordecai reached out to Queen Esther and revealed the plot, and persuaded her to intercede on behalf of their people.
Specifically, Mordecai paraded around the palace gates in sackcloth and ashes, and asked to see the queen. The harem eunuchs eventually brought Esther to the gate, where Mordecai was waiting and he explained the pending fate of the Jews, and begged Esther to use her power to convince the king to overturn the edict.
Esther was deeply troubled by Mordecai’s news, but she doubted her power to change their circumstances. She knew the history. She knew what had happened to Vashti and all of the others who disobeyed the king.
Still Mordecai persisted saying, “Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.” (4:14b). Perhaps you have been granted this position, so that you can use your power and influence to save our people.
At these words, Esther accepted Mordecai’s charge — under one condition — that all the Jews pray and fast while she tries to reverse their fate.
Mordecai conveyed Esther’s request to their people, and they complied. While Esther dreamed and schemed of ways to reverse Haman’s plot, the Jews prayed and fasted.
Esther knew that she had neither the physical strength to battle Haman, nor the royal authority to demand a change in the king’s orders, so she used what power and circumstances that were within her grasp and “turned the tables” for the Jews.
Her plan unfolded this way: Esther sent a message to the king inviting him to a fabulous banquet. She promised him the finest foods, the best entertainment, and an invitation to what some might call “the after party.”
King Ahasuerus accepted Esther’s invitation and “played into her hand.” She elicited a favor from Ahasuerus. Esther asked that the king reverse his decree against the Jews, and hang Haman on the gallows that had been prepared for Mordecai. The novella concludes with Ahasuerus granting Esther’s wish, and the Jews holding a victory party, which has been known, ever since, as the Feast of Purim.
III
Besides being a great story, the book of Esther raises the question: “What do we do with the resources that we have for the greater good? What do we do with our power, our purse, and our position for the glory of God?”
Not many of us are of noble birth; not many of us are powerful by worldly standards, but all of us, within our own spheres, do have some degree of power and influence. So what do we do with it? Do we acknowledge it? Claim it? Use it for the glory of God? Or do we dismiss it, and allow evil to triumph?
Since this is stewardship Sunday, I’m going to challenge us to focus our thoughts particularly on what we do with our personal resources for the greater good. Lots of us are probably sitting here thinking how little we have — rather than how much we have — relative to the needs of our households, and the cost of operating the church campus, and providing worship services, church school, music program, pastoral care, and evangelism efforts.
It’s easy to go to that place of scarcity and inadequacy. But people like Esther, Mordecai, and the so-called “little people” around them remind us that it is possible to be part of something bigger than ourselves. We have an opportunity to make a collective difference for the greater good.
Secular humanist and cultural anthropologist, Margaret Mead, probably never darkened the door of a church sanctuary on a Sunday morning, yet she was familiar with the truth revealed in the novella known as as Esther, which she famously stated this way:
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
We don’t have to look outside our own walls to see the truth of her observations. Consider, for example, that three years ago when virtually every renter in the unincorporated communities was behind on their rent, Eden Church raised close to $100K to provide immediate rent relief to people who were behind on rent and/or utility bills, and we harnessed our kitchen and recruited volunteers to provide 5,000 meals for hungry asylum-seeking unaccompanied youth in our school district. These funds were raised AND distributed six to nine months before any government relief was made available.
Consider too, that when the draw on our Comida quintupled virtually overnight in April 2020, we kept the Comida open and fully stocked for seven months--at the beginning of the pandemic — and now for the past 14 months — by calling on our own members and friends to step up and help out — and we did, and they did.
In addition, this past year, when other organizations were announcing that donor dollars were down, that their constituents were suffering compassion fatigue, and nobody was interested in funding emergency aid or bricks and mortar anything, Eden Church exceeded by at least 10% of our goal for the replacement of our Sanctuary windows.
Furthermore, I just received word from Jan Bass, our Associate Treasurer, a couple of days ago that we have been able to fully fund all of the Eden Area Scholarship requests that we have received--for the third year in a row!
So let’s just agree that talking “poor mouth” and claiming powerlessness gets us nowhere. Focusing on our strengths, doing what we can, where we are, with what we have — now that — that gives us the capacity to do great things for God and our neighbors, and that’s what our stewardship campaign is about this year, and this is what we’re about everyday here at Eden Church.
In that spirit, Stephanie and I thank for the many and varied ways that you have contributed to the mission of Eden Church in the past, and we invite you to join us today in making a significant pledge of your time, talent, and treasure for the mission of Eden Church for FY2024, which begins July 1, 2023.
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Endnotes
1 Fred Craddock, et al., Preaching through the Christian Year, Year B, (Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press, 1993) 421.
2 See “Esther” in The Harper’s Bible Dictionary (SF: Harper & Row, 1985) 280.