For Such A Time As This!!

Reflection:  Today again we see God’s sovereignty in all things.  In the beautiful story of Esther, we see this young Jewish girl who courageously goes into the king’s court upon her cousin Mordecai’s request.  She takes her own life into her hands even though she is the queen, and at the end of chapter 4 she proclaims boldly, “If I perish I perish”.   Notice too before she makes this bold declaration that she asks the whole town of Susa where she is from to “fast and pray” for 3 days.  Esther knows that if her plan is to work, it needs to be worked out in the heavenly realm before the earthly realm.  We will see tomorrow how God will use Esther for such a time as this! 

In Romans 9, Paul does some more teaching on the sovereignty of God, as he explains that it is not just physical descendants of Abraham that are the children of God, but those who are children of the promise.  That is why even though Rebekah had twins through Issac, God declared that the older would serve the younger, and Jacob he loved but Esau he hated.  Paul knew this would be hard for the Romans to accept, so he further explains that it all depends on God’s mercy not human effort.  Mercy is not getting what we deserve. 

Paul goes even further to say, “If this is how it is then some of you will say, ‘Who then can resist God’s will?”  Paul knows human nature all too well, and the danger of the sovereignty stance is that people will say if God chooses anyways than what difference does it make what I do.  Paul answers this by saying that it is not for humans to try and figure out God’s purposes in election, but to accept His will and live our lives out in response to His mercy.  Simply put, we are not God and some things we will only understand on the other side of heaven. 

Just like Esther was chosen to provide deliverance from the Jews for such a time as God placed her as the Queen of all the land, God has given us a calling.  Mordecai said to Esther, “if you don’t follow through, deliverance will come from somewhere else.”  That was his way of saying God’s will is going to be done, the only question is it going to be done through you.  Martin Luther said the same thing in response to the meaning of the Lord’s Prayer, when we pray, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  Luther taught, “God’s kingdom will come the only question is will it come through you.” 

You may not be the Queen of Persia, but God is working in all of you for His good purpose.  Each day we have a chance to serve God and advance His kingdom in His power through the Holy Spirit he has given to those who believe and are baptized!  Go in peace and serve the Lord!  Thanks Be to God! 

Psalm 39:7-13

7 “But now, Lord, what do I look for?

    My hope is in you.

8 Save me from all my transgressions;

    do not make me the scorn of fools.

9 I was silent; I would not open my mouth,

    for you are the one who has done this.

10 Remove your scourge from me;

    I am overcome by the blow of your hand.

11 When you rebuke and discipline anyone for their sin,

    you consume their wealth like a moth—

    surely everyone is but a breath.

12 “Hear my prayer, Lord,

    listen to my cry for help;

    do not be deaf to my weeping.

I dwell with you as a foreigner,

    a stranger, as all my ancestors were.

13 Look away from me, that I may enjoy life again

    before I depart and am no more.”

Esther 4,5

Mordecai Persuades Esther to Help

4 When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the city, wailing loudly and bitterly. 2 But he went only as far as the king’s gate, because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it. 3 In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

4 When Esther’s eunuchs and female attendants came and told her about Mordecai, she was in great distress. She sent clothes for him to put on instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. 5 Then Esther summoned Hathak, one of the king’s eunuchs assigned to attend her, and ordered him to find out what was troubling Mordecai and why.

6 So Hathak went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate. 7 Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. 8 He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict for their annihilation, which had been published in Susa, to show to Esther and explain it to her, and he told him to instruct her to go into the king’s presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people.

9 Hathak went back and reported to Esther what Mordecai had said. 10 Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, 11 “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.”

12 When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, 13 he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”

15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”

17 So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther’s instructions.

Esther’s Request to the King

5 On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the palace, in front of the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the hall, facing the entrance. 2 When he saw Queen Esther standing in the court, he was pleased with her and held out to her the gold scepter that was in his hand. So Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter. 3 Then the king asked, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given you.” 4 “If it pleases the king,” replied Esther, “let the king, together with Haman, come today to a banquet I have prepared for him.” 5 “Bring Haman at once,” the king said, “so that we may do what Esther asks.”

So the king and Haman went to the banquet Esther had prepared. 6 As they were drinking wine, the king again asked Esther, “Now what is your petition? It will be given you. And what is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted.” 7 Esther replied, “My petition and my request is this: 8 If the king regards me with favor and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come tomorrow to the banquet I will prepare for them. Then I will answer the king’s question.”

Haman’s Rage Against Mordecai

9 Haman went out that day happy and in high spirits. But when he saw Mordecai at the king’s gate and observed that he neither rose nor showed fear in his presence, he was filled with rage against Mordecai. 10 Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home. Calling together his friends and Zeresh, his wife, 11 Haman boasted to them about his vast wealth, his many sons, and all the ways the king had honored him and how he had elevated him above the other nobles and officials. 12 “And that’s not all,” Haman added. “I’m the only person Queen Esther invited to accompany the king to the banquet she gave. And she has invited me along with the king tomorrow. 13 But all this gives me no satisfaction as long as I see that Jew Mordecai sitting at the king’s gate.” 14 His wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Have a pole set up, reaching to a height of fifty cubits, and ask the king in the morning to have Mordecai impaled on it. Then go with the king to the banquet and enjoy yourself.” This suggestion delighted Haman, and he had the pole set up.

Romans 9:8-21

8 In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. 9 For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.” 10 Not only that, but Rebekah’s children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac. 11 Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: 12 not by works but by him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” 14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15 For he says to Moses,

“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,

    and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

16 It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. 17 For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. 19 One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?” 20 But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” 21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?

The mighty one, God the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. Psalm 50:1

See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking. Hebrews 12:25

God of light, promise, and hope, may we hear your voice calling us again, as if for the first time. May the stories of this holy week dare us to take part anew in the unfolding drama of your love. Amen.