We continue our series on Esther titled, “For Such A Time As This.” Thinking, not blaming is key for each one of us to make a positive, hopeful, joyful, and non-anxious impact in society and the lives of others. As you recall, Esther is the story of the Jews protecting themselves from persecution during the Babylonian Captivity. It is a story of a people delivered. The Jews experienced anxiety as did the political leaders. It was a complicated time.

Life is about relationships. And to be candid, relationships can be awkward. I was having a conversation with someone last week and the subject of appropriate social skills came up. Appropriate social skills are necessary for effective relationships. And when one is aware that they lack some of the appropriate social skills, it can bring about anxiety and even panic attacks.

Thinking about anxiety and its causes is important. Blaming anxiety on someone or something is not helpful. The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines anxiety as “a nervous disorder marked by excessive uneasiness.

The “marshmallow test” is a classic research project that illustrates our lack of self-control and delayed gratification. For the study, the researcher would give a child a marshmallow, and tell them that they could eat the marshmallow OR they could wait until the researcher would return several minutes later, at which time they would get a second marshmallow. Videos abound on YouTube featuring kids, in successive versions of the original experiment, waiting, playing with, and sometimes eating the first marshmallow, forgoing their chances of a second marshmallow. In January 2020, the results of a new version of the experiment were released. In this new version, kids were paired up, played a game together, and then were sent to a room and given a cookie with the promise of another if they could wait for it by not eating the first cookie. However, some of the kids were put in what researchers called an “interdependent” situation in which they were told they would only get the second cookie if both they and their partner could wait and refrain from eating. The results showed that the kids who were depending on each other waited for the second cookie significantly more often. According to researcher Rebecca Koomen, “In this study, children may have been motivated to delay gratification because they felt they shouldn’t let their partner down, and that if they did, their partner would have had the right to hold them accountable.”[1]

The tension between concluding that being interdependent is better than being isolated supplies laughter and tears. To think is always more difficult than to blame. The purpose of the Book of Esther is to help us understand that God is active in all aspects of life. The Book of Esther helps us see that God positions each one of us to accomplish God’s will.

The Party Is Over (Esther 2:1-4)

King Xerxes threw a huge party, a lavish banquet (literally “drinking party”) that the king hosts for all of his officials and ministers. The army of Persia and Media as well as the nobles and governors of the provinces are in attendance. King Xerxes displays his great wealth and the party is an annual event usually lasting more than one hundred eighty days. Xerxes had summoned his wife, Queen Vashti, but she refused to come. The disrespect and insubordination by Vashti, raised the king’s blood pressure. The party came to an end. Anxiety has disappeared. King Xerxes has calmed and cooled down. In fact, King Xerxes remembers Vashti in the passive voice. The King remembers Vashti’s fate in passive light. King Xerxes moved on. Others had carried out his order. King Xerxes’ servants prepared the new harem from which the new queen would be chosen. A young virgin from a harem of young virgins who was pleasing in the king’s eyes would replace Vashti as queen. It didn’t take long for the king to return to his old self.

Esther is placed in the Royal Harem (2:5-11)

Mordecai and his cousin Esther were Jews who had been exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon/Persia. Their family linage is traced to the tribe of Benjamin. A rivalry emerges between Mordecai and Hamen. Hamen was an Agagite. Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin. There was a rivalry between Saul and Agag. The tension is set further. Esther’s name resembles the name of the Babylonian deity “Ishtar” and Mordecai’s name that of the Babylonian deity “Marduk.” Esther’s name in Hebrew means “myrtle.” Mordecai is consistently identified as a “Jew.” Thus, all the Hebrew exiles were identified as Jews. Both Esther and Mordecai lived faithfully in a terrible situation. Mordecai told Esther to conceal her Hebrew identity. Mordecai emerges as a loyal Jew. Esther was more than a pretty face. Her humility won favor with the lead servant of the harem, and she was promoted to first place in the king’s harem.

Esther Is Chosen As Queen (2:12-18)

            Each virgin, in the harem of virgins, was prepared for their evening with the king. This preparation was a twelve-month process in the beauty parlor. Each virgin received “rubbings” that is skin treatments. Each massage involved oil of myrrh and then unnamed perfumes. Esther obeyed the Persian laws in this case. She first obeyed her cousin Mordecai and then when selected for the harem, Esther submitted to the skin treatments. Each young woman was given one chance to impress the king. If their first night was successful, they moved from the harem of “candidates” to that of the “approved” concubines. When it was Esther’s turn, King Xerxes treated her with “love,” “favor,” and “devotion.” The king was so impressed, Xerxes placed the Crown on Esther’s head. Esther became Queen.

God Saved the King (Esther 2:19-23)

            The peace in the King’s court didn’t last too long. Mordecai is put into protective custody, because two disgruntled eunuchs had plotted an assassination attempt on King Xerxes at the time of a second gathering of virgins. Mordecai somehow caught wind of the assassination conspiracy and was able to tell Queen Esther. The Queen told King Xerxes immediately and gave Mordecai credit. The conspirators were discovered and executed. This rescue operation plays an important part in another rescue operation of greater scale and significance.

Esther is the book about Jewish identity as a people, a nation. Purim, a Jewish high holy day, is a national day. It celebrates perseverance and preservation of a people. Faithfulness to God is the key to Jewish perseverance and preservation. Faithfulness vanquishes anxiety.

George Muller writes, “The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety.”[2] You too can exercise influence for the common good. It was the way of Esther. It is the way of Jesus. Friends, faith in Jesus is the antidote to anxiety. Thinking, not blaming is necessary for such a time as this. Amen.

This sermon was preached the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost on Sunday, 25 August 2024

by the Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh in the Great Room and Sanctuary

at Grace Presbyterian Church in Wichita, Kansas

Copyright Ó 2024

Steven M. Marsh

All rights reserved.

[1]The Staff, “Marshmallow test” redux: Children show better self-control when they depend on each other. ScienceDaily.com (1-14-20); Rebecca Koomen, Sebastian Grueneisen, Esther Herrmann. “Children Delay Gratification for Cooperative Ends,” Psychological Science (2020).

[2]George Muller in “Signs of the Times.” Christianity Today, Vol. 35, no. 95.

Series: “For Such A Time As This”

“Now Is The Time”

Esther 1

I was reading in Craig Groeschel’s Daily Devotional, Daily Power, the other day. The scripture on which the reading is based is Psalm 63:1. It reads, “You God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.” I was taken by this section in Craig’s reflection,

They call them the “dog days” of summer those weeks when the temperatures soar and make it impossible to enjoy being outside for long. The air scorches our nostrils, the heat burns our skin, and the pavement sizzles beneath our feet. You know cooler weather will come eventually, but in the meantime, you’re sweating buckets.

To be honest, I’m often stuck in the “dog days” of the news cycle about our world, country, state, and city. Something needs to break this cycle. And I know the antidote.

Now is the time to increase our critical thinking skills to address the issues of power, justice, democracy, and leadership. How are Christians to respond in such a time as this? It’s simple, but not really. Love God. Love others.

Can anything be more critical than for Christians to get back to the gospel, and act on being self-giving not self-serving? The good news of the gospel leads us to stand against hate and discrimination. The good news of the gospel leads us to stand with the LGBTQ community and immigrants. The good news of the gospel calls us to love all regardless of ethnicity, economic status, and yes, even different political parties than our own.

Some circumstances in life make it hard to believe that God is with us. Esther was an orphan in exile. Esther married a cruel despot. It’s true that wherever you are, is where God can use you. God used Esther’s marriage to save God’s people in exile in Persia. Listen carefully to John Piper’s words,

Life is not a straight line leading from one blessing to the next and then finally to heaven. Life is a winding and troubled road. Switchback after switchback. And the point of biblical stories like Joseph and Job and Esther and Ruth is to help us feel in our bones (not just know in our heads) that God is for us in all these strange turns. God is not just showing up after the trouble and cleaning it up. He is plotting the course and managing the troubles with far-reaching purposes for our good and for the glory of Jesus Christ.[1]

And so, we must come to terms with God being involved in all aspects of life and specifically one’s life. This is where critical thinking is essential.

Purpose. The purpose of the Book of Esther is to help us understand that God is active in all aspects of life. The Book of Esther helps us see that God positions each one of us to accomplish God’s will.

Date. In 586 BCE, the southern kingdom of Judah was defeated by the Babylonians (modern day Iraq). The Jews were exiled to Babylon. Almost fifty years later, in 539 BCE, the Babylonians were defeated by the Persians, and that proved to be beneficial for the Jewish people living in exile. The Persians allowed the Jews to return home, rebuild the Temple, and fortify the walls surrounding Jerusalem.

Authorship. The Book of Esther was written sometime after 539 BCE perhaps even as late as the 3^rd Century BCE. It appears that the Book of Esther is the work of the community of faith. It recounts, in a reflective and personal way, on a specific period of time for the people of God. The Book of Esther was written under the inspiration of God. It was not accepted into the Canon, the books of the Bible, until the 4^th Century CE.

Sociological Significance. Esther was part of the diaspora. She was a Jew, living in Persia. The story line in Esther continues the history of the Jews experiencing persecution.

Religious Significance. The religion of the Jews is barely mentioned in the Book of Esther. In fact, the name of God is not mentioned. The book of Esther is an anomaly among the books in the Old Testament.

Application. The book of Esther has many avenues for application. It encourages readers and listeners to trust that God is at work in their lives. Know and experience that wherever you are is exactly where you are to be. God is with you and will use you. God used Esther in her role as a wife and queen. In the daily routine, in a mediocre job, in a pit-stop along the way, that’s exactly where God can use you for God’s purposes.

It is safe to say that most humans aren’t kings and queens, but many have experienced challenging relationships. They’ve been placed in positions where they didn’t feel qualified. Or they’ve taken on roles outside their comfort zone, out of necessity. Some might describe their current situation as a “dead-end.” Can one still be used by God for God’s good purposes? Absolutely.

The Book of Esther shows us that God is for us, not against us, and will use us. I think that’s helpful to any person in any situation. It’s applicable to the person who cares for their aging parents. It applies to the person who is underemployed or unemployed. It matters to the single mom or dad who never dreamed this would be their story.

I remember when I was voting in a national election in Erie, Pennsylvania. I went to my polling place and stood in line. I checked in. I went into my booth, closed the curtain, and then my critical thinking process in each of the races kicked in. In approximately two minutes, a knock occurred on the wood frame. A poll worker asked me what was taking me so long? I told her I was thinking. To which she replied, “Thinking? Just pull the red or blue lever. You don’t need to think!” Needless to say, I kept thinking. When I left the booth, I received a glare from the poll worker.

Are you stuck in the “dog days” of the news cycle about our world, country, state, and city? Exercise critical thinking. Engage justice issues. Confront the abuse of power. Support those who are experiencing relationship troubles. Esther did.

You too can exercise influence for the common good. It was the way of Esther. It is the way of Jesus. Power and position come from God. Critical thinking is necessary. Now is the time, my friends. Amen.

This sermon was preached the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost on Sunday, 18 August 2024

by the Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh in the Great Room and Sanctuary

at Grace Presbyterian Church in Wichita, Kansas

Copyright Ó 2024

Steven M. Marsh

All rights reserved.

[1]John Piper, A Sweet and Bitter Providence (Crossway Books & Bibles, 2010), 101-102.