she hath suffered many a day

now her griefs have passed away

A sermon from the 4th chapter of Esther

Well, you’ve got to love how ODD today’s scripture is. Don’t you?

We don’t have time to go through the whole book of Esther. 

*It is only 10 chapters, though, and you could easily read it in an hour, or so.

But quickly, an official decree has been made that all Jewish people living in the Persian empire should be put to death. 

…Not for any good reason, mind you. Simply because Mordecai, Esther’s uncle, refused to bow to an official of the court. And this official, unaccustomed to any loyalty higher than worldly power, campaigns to have all people like Mordecai, the Jewish people, killed…

What the official doesn’t know, though, is Mordecai has a ringer; Esther. 

Because Esther has two identities. She is Jewish. BUT, she is also the queen.

Esther was born Jewish. 

But she became queen through a series of unlikely events: Born an orphan and a refugee, she winds up winning a nation-wide a beauty contest! And then, when the king sees her, he falls so head-over heels for her, he makes her queen!

So when the decree is issued, that all Jewish people should be put to death; Mordecai goes to Esther, asking her to get the king to overturn the decree…

…Only, it’s not as easy as all that; there’s this crazy law that no one can go to the king without first being summoned. And by a golden scepter, no less. 

Plus, Esther can’t be sure if the king’s affections haven’t turned. It’s been thirty days since he’s beckoned her. 

And it’s not an unreasonable assumption on Esther’s part, either. 

After all, this is a king who causally decrees the death of thousands. And, he chose Esther to be queen solely on account of her beauty. And, the portion was only open because he deposed the last queen after she failed to turn up a one of his parties! 

Finally, let’s not forget, this king is so indulgent, you can’t go to him unless he bids you with his golden scepter!

Mordecai isn’t exactly asking Esther to reason with the most reasonable guy! And Esther says as much.

Presented with all those cold, hard facts; Mordecai thinks it over… 

And after giving it much thought, he tells Esther, as far as he can figure, that’s probably why she became queen! “For “such a time as this…”

“Such a time as this?!?!" Really? THIS?

THIS? Where her life is on the line???

THIS? Not thirty days earlier? When she still had the affections of the king squarely in her pocket???

No, if she became queen for “such a time as THIS;’ this had come & gone loooong ago!

…Mordecai though, without batting an eyelash, dares to say all that only points to this moment being just perfect! “Such a time as this.”

Such a time as this? It’s crazy!

…BUT, & here’s the thing; that kind of crazy-talk IS the norm in the church!!!

It is!

Think of those times you’ve met with me, and I declared what was first given to me; that all the junk that has you desperate enough to meet with me, is the very stuff God is at work in!

It’s crazy!

Because the world tells us we can spot God’s work a mile away. And it’s got all the regular trappings of worldly-power; a fat bank account, with a little extra set back. Health, and some good looks, too. Plus, the esteem of our peers.

Everyone knows God’s work doesn’t look like those times all that is long gone! When it’s on the line! When you’re asked to give it up!

…And yet. And yet, this IS the way God HAS worked in our lives time and time again. Isn’t it?

It’s how it went for Esther. And presumably Mordecai, too!

We Lutherans, we call this, the “Theology of the Cross.” A way of living that sees God’s work, not based our expectations, BUT by what God revealed on the cross.

And what God showed us there, was God’s work; only hidden. Hidden under what looks like its opposite: God working life under the cover of death. Power under weakness. Joy under sorrow. Hope under hopelessness. 

It’s crazy!

And yet! And yet, scripture has pointed to this work of God, more whole-heartedly and more often than Mordecai!

And so has life. Hasn’t it? As Luther said, life makes theologians out of us all. 

What I mean is, you know what I’m talking about. You’ve been there. Those times when everything looked hopeless, but what happened was—God got to work! Right then, and right there!

Those times when it wasn’t the right, and yet God got to work! When the timing’s all wrong for us, it is just right for God!

It’s advent, and advent is about the promise that our darkest TIMES, are the ones God works with best! This promise isn’t just true these days leading up to December 24th. It’s true every day of your life! For you have been baptized into the same work of God that Mordecai pointed Esther to!

So for you, the moments that are all wrong, are just right for God! Now, EVERY moment in your life is bursting with God’s work! Only, it’s hidden. Hidden under what looks like its opposite!

…The time will come, you know, when you find yourself in my office. We’re all closer than we admit. And on that day, I will have no word for you, other than the one Mordecai gave to Esther; maybe it is for such a time as this that God has chosen to get to work in your life.

But in that moment, all the evidence will point to the contrary. Won’t it? It’ll be too late! Or too unlikely. 

And yet. And yet the time will be just right for God!

Just right for The One who a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day! Just right for The One who will fulfills the angel’s word in Revelation, “Time is no more!” Just right for The One who holds time in his hands. Who takes time! And makes time, for you! For such a time as this!

When nothing in your life looks right, God IS at work! 

You see, God holds all of time, and your life, like a book. God can turn to any page, at any moment. And what God does is, takes those times of ours that all wrong, and wraps them into the cross! The cross, where all of history, and your life too, comes together!

For Jesus, that day on the cross is not over. He relives it over and over again. It is for him like thousands of years. Like thousands of years, so that for you it would be but a day!

A day lodged firmly in your past. And yet, a day that creates for you a future! A future that comes when it’s too late, and the timing’s all wrong!

Jesus lived that moment for you! He still lives for you! 

Jesus lives this moment for all eternity, so that NO moment of your life would be beyond the power of his work!

For it was for such a time as this; that Christ came to be born among us!

When it looks darkest, when it seems like it’s too late — and it does; get yourself in the presence of a Mordecai. You have one on the dole, you know, me—so avail yourself. Get yourself in the presence of someone who will say something crazy, that is by no means untrue, that it is for “such a time this” the Christ child was born! That God gets to work in your life!

For you, every moment in your life is such a time that the glory of the Lord shines upon! Making your life a token. A token that shows the world God’s love is NEVER broken!

This is the powerful work of God! It speaks of comfort when we sit in darkness, mourning under sorrow’s load!
So you, you whom God’s peace waits for, rise and sing of this work of God!