Be not silent in such a time as this!

Esther 8: 3-8

As I was reflecting on the read text, I was reminded of a story which I heard from one of my friends. There was a man in a village who was notorious for his evil deeds. He used to enjoy giving trouble to the villagers. The villagers had to face so many problems and they began to hate him. One day the villagers were fed up with all his activities and decided not to interact or to make any deal with the trouble maker. In a way the whole village separated and alienated the man from the village. Then the man felt bored as the people did not talk to him and he could not give any trouble to them. Finally he decided and went to every door step asking pardon from the villagers for what he had done for so many days. After this he also said to them that he has a last wish and that after his death he does not want to have a decent burial but wanted them to cut his body into pieces and scatter it all over the burial ground. However the people did not know the conspiracy behind the trouble maker’s last will. One day he died and the people did as he instructed them. Later they found that the trouble maker had framed them. In another letter to the police he mentioned that the villagers may kill him some day...

            The read text Esther 8:3-8, also implicates such a situation in the life of the scattered Jews who lived in Susa. The plot made by Hamman to kill the Jews was revealed by Esther to the King and he was hanged in his house itself. However the decree that was written by Hamman and sealed by the king’s ring was still in force. According to the archaeological evidence of the Persian Gulf, especially in the Persian Court, the  practice was that the decree of the King could not be revoked. Therefore even though Hamman was no more, the decree made by him was in force. Esther and Mordecai received favour in the eyes of the King and their lives were elevated in the land. However the life of the Jewish community was in peril.

            In such a time there is no other way to revoke the decree of the king; instead another decree was to be written in order to save the lives of the Jews. The scene in chapter 8 clearly records the presence of Mordecai and Esther in front of the King. Esther had to risk her life in chapter 5 to visit the king. But here it is not so. She was already there in the presence of the king but still she makes her petition on behalf of her people. She intercedes for her kindred. She falls and weeps on the feet of the king not as an act of obeisance but as a suppliant. The golden sceptre of the king gives Esther the courage to stand in front of the king and to intercede for her people.

Esther rests her case wholly upon herself, by saying, in verse 6, How can I bear to see the calamity that is coming on my people? Or how can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?  It is nothing but Esther’s strong commitment to save the Jews. It may sound more personal and even racial and also exclusive in its claim. However her personal commitment was to save the people who were in trouble in the land of Susa. This commitment made her to risk her life for the sake of others and to strip the royal identity which she held and made her to mourn and weep publically for her people. It is not an easy task for a queen to fall on the king’s feet and weep in the court yard of that time.

Who is my people and who is my kindred? This has been already redefined by Jesus in his ministry. This recalls us to renew our commitment and to redefine our relationship with others and to accept all as Jesus has exemplified through his life and ministry.

The contemporary time is not better than the time which Esther had witnessed. The world that we are living in is filled with people who have different identities. Only because of the Jewish identity of Mordecai, Hamman wanted to kill the entire Jewish community in Susa. Same way people are in trouble because of the identity they hold. People’s lives are in threat because of caste, class, status, region, race, gender and sexual orientation. Every day news papers carry the news of violence and discrimination based on this.

 In such a time as this, where are we? For such a time as this, what is our role? To such a time as this, what is our response? We may think what could be my role in this context. We cannot remain silent. We cannot shut our eyes and ears to the contemporary realities. Rather we are called to risk our lives and to intercede for the lives of others. What does it mean to witness Christ and his love in this context? If we claim ourselves as ministers of Christ, our basic need is to witness Christ in our lives, that is not discriminate anyone as ‘others’ rather to relate all as our people, and to intercede and intervene for the rights of the minorities, whose lives are in peril. Esther calls us to move from our comfort zones and to strip and fall from our comfortable identity, and to weep, to mourn and to intercede for the people. In such a time as this, if we do not listen and respond to this call, God will bring liberation and relief to the people from another quarter.

May God give us the courage to respond to this call. Amen.

Andrews Christopher, BD IV. 

(Preached in the UTC Ziegenbalg chapel on Friday, June 13, 2014 during the morning worship.)