Hope Reformed Church, RCA

In a nut-shell, the story of Esther is a story about a savvy woman who lays aside her own safety and speaks up in behalf of her people and saves them. That's how the people of Israel were preserved.

Once upon a time, there was a king who ruled over the world from India to Ethiopia. His name: Xerxes. This king decided he needed a queen, so he ordered that the women from his 127 provinces be brought before him so that he might choose the loveliest as his queen. He chose Esther.

Though the king did not know it, Esther was an orphan, (a Jew, in fact) in the care of her uncle, Mordecai. Mordecai advised Esther to marry the king, even though he was not of her faith or her people. Besides, Esther was a poor nobody, a woman, and Xerxes was a king. Back in that day, women were ranked at the same level as dirt. To marry a king would be a very good move. So she did.

A wicked man named Haman worked for the king. Think of the worst government employee you’ve every encountered, multiply him or her by 20 and you’ll get Haman – a man with a plan: Kill all the Jews in all the king's lands, because foreigners were troublesome aliens who would never be loyal subjects.

Haman sets a date for the mass executions. Then in good but scheming “teacher’s pet” fashion, Haman slithers up to the king and says, "Dear king, it has come to our attention that there is a certain ethnic group in your kingdom that considers themselves above your laws. Since a rule is a rule, allow me to help my king by destroying them.”

Now as you can imagine, the Jews were greatly distressed by this horrible news. Uncle Mordecai sent news of the plan to Esther in the palace, begging her to help. "Who knows?" asked Mordecai, "maybe you have been put in the palace for a time such as this."

Allow me, if you will, to digress for just a moment from this story to say a word or two about palace etiquette. In those days, it was hard to get to see the king, even if you were willing to make a fat donation. Even the queen had to ask permission. If she showed up unsummoned by the king, she could be killed.

Esther reminds Uncle Mordecai of the rules. If you bother the king when he doesn't want to be bothered – even when you’re the queen - you may end up being a dead queen. Uncle Mordecai, in return, reminds Esther that she is the only hope her people have.

Esther lives with great fear. She lies awake in torment for three days. Finally, she decides that she will talk with the king, saying, "If I perish, I perish." Really - that's what she says. It's right there at the end of chapter 4.

Esther entered the throne room. She was terrified. Granted permission to speak, she says, "Dear king," she said, "would you grant me just one little favor?"

Haman, when he learned of the invitation, was even more full of himself, so proud that he was being invited up to the palace for a great party. He was obviously in tight with the king and the queen. Passing old Mordecai on the way to the dinner, he told him to get ready to swing - from a rope, that is, by morning.

Esther spent the whole next day wondering how in the world she was going to talk to the king about Haman's plot against the Jews. The banquet was a great affair, but Esther couldn't bring herself to speak about her people.

At the end of the evening, Esther said that the food and the wine had been so great, the dinner table conversation so dazzling, that she was going to give another dinner tomorrow. Would the king and his advisor Haman be so gracious as to come?

They agreed. Next night, something came over good old King Xerxes. Maybe it was the wine or maybe it was the filet mignon. At any rate, he suddenly blurts out, "Esther, you're such a great queen; tell me - what would make you happy?"

Esther finally had the courage to say what was on her heart. "Dear king, there is an evil man in this palace who wants to kill me and those whom I love. Let me and my people live; that's all I ask."

Well, to say that Haman was shocked wouldn't be letting you know the half of it. He didn't even know that Esther was Jewish. And he was even more shocked when the king ordered him taken out and hanged on the very gallows Haman had been preparing for old Uncle Mordecai.

For one thing, Esther is a woman, and most of history seems interested in the actions of men. For another thing, some Christians have been a little perplexed by Esther's morality - becoming a mistress, then the queen of a pagan.

That being the case, why even tell you this story - on a Sunday and in church, no less. There is much ta-do these days about appropriate adult role models. If you're a woman, your task is especially tough, with so few to consider. If you are young, a woman and a Christian, then your choice of adult role models are very few indeed.

There are heroines out there. But being a 'heroine' and being a role model are not the same thing. By that I don't mean they fall short of the standard. What I mean is: Their accomplishments are too great, their attainments so spectacular that how can an average, everyday person hope to match your life with theirs?

Esther was a heroine, but a reluctant one. She did a great deed for her people, but she took small hesitant steps on the way there. She had become so much a part of the dominant culture that most of the people of her own race probably thought she had given away the store and had allowed herself to be so thoroughly enmeshed in pagan culture that she was no longer a Jew.

As a woman she was powerless, even though she was a queen. Yet Esther used what power she had, and maneuvered skillfully within the limits imposed upon her by the culture, and did a great thing.

What she did was not particularly spectacular, but that's good - because most of us (regardless of gender) are not very spectacular ourselves. Fortunately, most of the good that God needs doing is not too spectacular, either. Someday, someone here may be required to die for the faith they profess - but not likely. More likely they will be given the opportunity - or the dilemma - of summoning up the courage to speak out at some elegant dinner party - to put in a good word to the boss on behalf of someone who can't speak for himself. It might not be a large thing. It perhaps won't be grand. But it still can be called 'good.'

That's what today's story is all about. The motto for the times in which we live is not, "What does the Lord require?" but rather, "What do I have to do to get along?" Living in such a climate, we're tempted to let ourselves off the hook too easily and say, "I'm no Esther. And don't you dare tag me with the 'martyr' label, either. I'm just one little, insignificant person. What can I do?"

And that's why this story of Esther is for us! In little, unspectacular ways the kingdom of God is either being defeated or advanced through us. Since you never know when ‘such a time as this’ (as good old Uncle Mordecai put it) might occur, the battle is being won or lost on the basis of our little words, gestures, and acts.