Esther 7:1–6, 9–10; 9:20–22

The story of Esther is an intriguing narrative with no mention of God yet dripping with the presence of God’s activity. Although God is not mentioned, God can indeed be seen. The setting is the Persian empire. Empire for us is synonymous with exile and displacement. Just as Haman uses the words “separate and scattered” to describe the Jews to the King Xerxes, naming them an existential threat to the sanctity of the empire, so to do we understand the power of empire to do the same today. The story of Esther’s courageous actions on behalf of her people affords an opportunity for the preacher to speak a word this week to those who might be weary and in need of hope.

Esther has been taken from her home due to her beauty and the power of a society in which her options are limited. Her’s is not a fairy tale Cinderella moment when she is called with other virgins of the empire to leave her life behind and be brought to the King. Disney aside, she is an unwitting participant in a power play of for the lives of an entire ethnic group and it is her cunning and willingness to stand when the moment presents itself for the sake of others. Initially she has hidden her ethnic heritage at Mordecai’s instruction but by chapter 7 she has come out of the shadows to be known and recognized by those intent on harm. It is in fact Esther’s courage that becomes the fulcrum on which the intentions and destinies of two men are balanced, weighed, and decided.

Upon learning of Haman’s plan to punish all Jews for the perceived slight to his pride at the hands of Mordecai (Esther’s cousin and adoptive father), she risks her own life to enter the presence of the King uninvited. The risk pays off and the King is open to her advance and invites her to make her request known to him. Having been asked by Mordecai to stand for her people because it could be that her position as queen could have been purposed “for just such a time as this,” Esther begins to work shrewdly and deliberately. Through a clever plot she orchestrates a series of banquets to maneuver the King and Haman into a suitable position so she could make her request known to King Xerxes. Once the trap is sprung Haman’s intentions are revealed to be less than altruistic toward the empire and the King and purely motivated by selfish pride.

Again, God is not mentioned, but we see the ongoing conflict between the people of God and an older enemy in the Amalekites. The ‘enemy of the Jews’ as Haman is named in 3:10, was an Agagite. Agag was the king of the Amalekites who were the first enemies of Israel after their exodus from Egypt. We see that Haman is the enemy if Israel and even though not mentioned, the enemy of God.

There is another wrinkle to the way Esther is written. It portrays the King as weak and ineffectual, easily manipulated by those around him and in need of those whose aspirations are pure. Thus, the heroes of the story are Esther and Mordecai, two Jews of exile living out the mandate by God to “…seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” (Jeremiah 29:7) Their actions not only save the host of Israel but keep the king from making a grave mistake and following the machinations of Haman’s self-motivated inclinations. Kenneth H. Carter shares “A bishop of the church once urged a group of candidates for ordination to understand the human capital they would acquire through ordinary acts of ministry—visitation of the sick, burial of the dead, baptisms, weddings—and then she added, “You will come to the time when you will be called to spend that capital for some important purpose.”[1]

The lectionary reading takes up the narrative at Esther’s revelation to King Xerxes of Haman’s treachery and his subsequent execution. Mordecai is elevated to Haman’s status and affords the Jews the ability to defend themselves against an unjust edict that was un-renounceable. Here we see the establishment of Purim, a feast intended to celebrate the Jews escape from wicked intentions of Haman and their rescue from certain death. This will commemorate the actions that turned their “sorrow into gladness and… mourning into a holiday” (9:22).

I am moved by the willing sacrifice of Esther to put the well-being of others over herself. Put another way, she did in fact see her position as one of potential flourishing for others and could not simply rest in her status and ignore the plight of her people. This passage gives the opportunity to instill in our people the importance of being observant about how we participate in social systems that may disproportionately affect the weak and favor the powerful. Kathleen M. O’Conner says “…the story, with all its charm and its excesses and its deep pain, stands as a critique of the ways of empire, of governments that benefit only a few and harm others. The story lauds the fidelity of the less powerful as they seek to gain security and a life of dignity.”

Perhaps we speak less about the downfall of Haman as a man and instead focus on the continual battle against systemic forces aligned to marginalize others. How do our positions afford us voice to speak out against injustice and give voice to the other? Esther’s story calls us to ask the question of ourselves and our congregations into what action are we called to step into in this time?

[1] David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, general editors. Feasting on the Word, Yr B. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008.