Proper 21 (B) + How will you use your power? + 9.30.18

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M. Campbell-Langdell

All Santos, Oxnard

(Esther 7:1–6, 9–10; 9:20–22; Ps. 124; James 5:13–20; St Mark 9:38–50)

To tell the story of Queen Esther, it is necessarily to begin with the story of another woman, Queen Vashti. Vashti would not parade herself for her king and his subjects, and this raised all manner of fears about wives not obeying husbands, so she was sent away. Esther, a Jewish woman living in exile, is brought into the court and powdered up and somehow catches the king’s eye. She becomes the new queen. I like to think of her as a savvy Audrey Hepburn – demure but strong. She is wise. She knows that she is in a small kingdom run by a king who was at times mercurial in temperament, and she has to be careful. The new queen she may be, but years of prejudice allow the king’s official Haman to go around expressing his wish not only to mortify Mordecai but also to kill the Jews. She needs to save her people and keep her own skin intact while doing so.
Today’s reading follows a very elaborate process in the Book of Esther in which Esther invites King Ahasuerus and Haman to dine with her, and then invites them again. Each time, the king offers her generously, perhaps facetiously- up to half of his kingdom. The first time, Esther is cautious. She builds up a case. She invites the men back so that the king will be doubly willing to fulfill her desire. Whether by luck or additional plotting by her, her uncle Mordecai is vindicated as a hero in the king’s eyes. And slowly, carefully, she points out Haman’s disgraceful ways by speaking first of the plight of the Jewish people living in exile in the kingdom. Now, hearing the king offer up to half his kingdom, I could not help but think of Herodias’ daughter and how Herod similarly, almost casually, offered this as a favor to her. In the gospel of Mark, Herodias’ daughter dances for Herod, puts herself on display in just the way Vashti refused to do, and Herod, pleased, makes the same offer- to give up to half of his kingdom. And she, at her mother’s request, asks for the head of John the Baptist. Esther, by contrast, though in a much more powerful position as queen, asks for the good and wellbeing of her people.

Esther brings up the question: How do you use your power?

Yes, the story is not all sweetness and light. Haman is hanged – in cruel irony on the same gallows he had built for Mordecai. But some commentators point out that he is actually hanged because, in a verse omitted from the lectionary, he appeared to the king to be trying to have his way with Esther, clinging to her couch, while he begs her to save him.[1] Would she, wise Esther, have been merciful, had the king not been bent on defending her honor? I like to think she might have been.
Do any of you know the Jewish festival of Purim? On this special day, around the end of March, people gather and read the Book of Esther. And in it there is an element of fun. At Haman’s name, folks move knockers or make other noise to block out his name. Traditionally people eat Hamentaschen, a triangle shaped pastry in the shape of Haman’s hat, they drink and wear fun costumes as a part of their religious observance. This is truly a topsy turvy religious celebration. But it is not senseless jubilation; rather it is a carnival of resistance. As Cameron B.R. Howard says, “The book of Esther’s satire takes a less direct approach, using humor to expose the empire as a farce, and confronting its violence with ridicule in order to mitigate its terrors.”[2] Purim shows us how to use humor to expose what is wrong in the world and to bring out the good.

How do you use your power? In Esther Chapter 4, Mordecai says to Esther, speaking of the plot against the Jews: “For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for such a time as this (Esther 4:14).” Queen Esther believed she was raised to royal dignity for such a time as this to save her people.

We have seen an example of bravery this week in the testimony of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who I trust spoke not from a space of political tactics but because of a heartfelt desire to own her truth. The “half the kingdom” that she demanded in our halls of power was not taking down the head or the career of a politician, but the chance for half this country, namely its women, or you might say its adults vulnerable to physical assault, to breathe free. I completely own that this is my personal opinion and that others may see the complicated machinations of our current government differently.
But I do believe that half of this kingdom wishes to breathe free. To be unconcerned with physical welfare. Not to fear the future of our people- be it the Jews, womankind or any other group with which we affiliate.
Queen Esther speaks to me today, across the centuries, as a woman who used her position not for personal gain but so that she would help her people.

And let us look to the end of the reading from Esther. At first the end seems a bit grisly – a bad guy defeated but meeting a nasty death. But it all turns into a celebration, a feast, and a chance to give to the poor. An annual event of joy that our Jewish siblings live into today. That we can live into today.

Because just like James tells us to care for the one who has fallen astray, and Jesus tells us to think of the little ones in our midst, the powerless and the vulnerable, we too must use our power for those who otherwise wouldn’t have a voice. This week, our bishop called out the immigration and customs enforcement raid practices in the greater Southern California area as unjust and sinful. And in the gospel passage we read today, Jesus has not let go of the child he embraced last week, and neither should we let go of our concern for those in need in our midst.
Who knows? Maybe you were born for such a time as this? Called not to bury your head in the sand of these times, but to dance the dance of the righteous within the chaos. With necessary self care thrown in. Indeed, don’t forget the joy and humor of it all! Because all that joy and humor helps us confront forms of tyranny and violence in our world and expose them, calling us all into the true goodness of God’s call on our lives.  

Like Queen Esther, let us claim our half of the kingdom, but do it with grace, and joy and generosity. Let us expose abuse and violence and celebrate, remembering that life is not only pain and adversity, but it can also be a party! Thanks be to God!

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[1] Cameron B.R. Howard, “Commentary on Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22,” for September 30, 2018, https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3828.

[2] Ibid.