[Propertalk] Fwd: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 21B

[Joe Parrish]

 Forwarded:

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Judy <judy_boli at ecunet.org>
To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic at ecunet.org>
Sent: Sat, Sep 29, 2012 9:43 pm
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 21B


Dear Friends,

This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “Which Side Are You On?” or “Esther-
WHO???” or “Don’t Take the Easy Way- Take God’s Way!” and deals with
the Old Testament lesson (Esther 7: 1-6, 9-10; 9: 20-22).  Here it is:

Does anyone know the song, “Which Side Are You On?”  It started out as
a union song, then became a civil rights song in the sixties.  I
remember singing at the top of my lungs (so no one would know how
afraid I was) “Which side are you on, friends?  Which side are you
on?  Which side are you on, friends?  Which side are you on?”  I can’t
remember the rest of it, can you?  Anyway, in the episode from the Old
Testament we heard about Esther- one of the great women in the Bible.
It’s really a story about someone- Esther- who had to make a risky
decision about which side she was on.  She could take the easy way and
not concern herself about things that were not her problem; or she
could choose to do the risky, right thing and try to save her people-
God’s chosen people, the Jews from certain death.  To refresh your
memory, here’s an abbreviated rendition of how the story goes:

The story begins in the city of Susa, in the winter palace of the
Persian King Xerxes, who had just divorced his wife for disobeying
him.  His search for her replacement produced Esther, who was crowned
queen.  Now Esther’s parents had died when she was very young, so she
was raised by her uncle Mordecai, who loved her dearly.   Before she
was chosen queen, Mordecai warned her not to tell anyone that she was
Jewish, since there were many in Persia who hated the Jews.  Later
Mordecai discovered a plot to assassinate King Xerxes and warned him,
thus saving his life.  Soon after that, Haman (one of Mordecai’s
rivals) became prime minister.  Haman immediately began showing off
his power by requiring everyone to bow to him.  Of course, Mordecai
could not, because the first Commandment says, “You shall have no
other gods but me.  You shall not bow down to them or worship them.”
Haman was enraged at Mordecai’s refusal.  What was worse, he realized
that the problem wasn’t just Mordecai- none of the Jews would bow to
him for the very same reason; and he’d look like a fool.  To get
revenge, he convinced King Xerxes to issue a decree that all Jews
would be killed.  As Haman thought about how wonderful it would be to
kill Mordecai, he ordered a gallows built right by his house- just
waiting to be used on the man who had refused to worship him.  In the
meantime, Mordecai informed Esther and begged her to appeal to the
king so Jewish lives would be spared.  He told her, “It may be that
you were made queen for a time like this” (Esther 4 14b).  This was a
dangerous undertaking, for two reasons: (1) the king did not know that
Esther (his queen) was Jewish; and (2) no one was allowed to come into
the king’s presence without an invitation, and King Xerxes had not
sent for Esther for 30 days.  To come uninvited meant certain death
unless the king extended his golden scepter to permit the person to
enter and speak.  Esther decided it was now or never; now was the time
to bravely declare herself on God’s side, so she took the risk and
appeared uninvited before the king.  King Xerxes was so enthralled by
her beauty that he extended his scepter and asked what she wanted.
She invited the king and Haman (the evil prime minister) to a banquet,
which lasted two days.  On the second day, she made her request- we
read it earlier today in the Old Testament lesson.  Esther said, “Your
Majesty, if you really care for me and are willing to help, you can
save me and my people.  That's what I really want, because a reward
has been promised to anyone who kills my people” (Esther 7:3).  When
King Xerxes asked, Queen Esther identified herself as a Jew and Haman
as the person who planned to kill all her people.  The king was so
infuriated that he ordered Haman to be hanged on the same gallows he
had so carefully built for Mordecai’s execution.  So- what goes
around; comes around- especially in this story.

What Mordecai said to Queen Esther really applies to us:  “It may be
that you were made queen for a time like this” (Esther 4 14b).  You’ve
heard people say that things happen for a reason.  I’d go a step
further.  God doesn’t make evil things happen, but he surely uses
them.  When something happens, I’m sure God looks around to see who’s
available.  In the story, that person was Esther; today many times in
many situations in your life, that person is YOU.  “I’m not
qualified!” you say.  Well, neither was Esther.  She was a simple
Jewish girl, but God knew he could count on her to save his people.
Did you hear the story of the little girl who, after a week of
kindergarten, decided she wasn’t qualified for school and was just
wasting her time by going?  “Why” asked her mother, “do you feel this
way?  “Well,” said the little girl, “I can't read, I can't write and
they won’t let me talk!”  I’m here to tell you that even that little
child is qualified to do God’s work in her family, school,
neighborhood, and life, so you know God can use you.  Have you heard
the saying, “God doesn’t call the qualified; he qualifies the
called.”  What Mordecai said to Esther also applies to us: “It may be
that you were made husband or wife or son or daughter or cousin or
aunt or uncle or Godparent or friend or neighbor or outreach minister
or van driver or youth worker or doctor or plant worker or helper or
fixer or who-knows-what for a time like this” (Esther 4 14b).  The
Marines used to say they were looking for a few good men.  (I’m sure
now they add women.)  Well- so is God.  Are you available?  It’s no
job for the wishy-washy.  You can’t be for God one minute and watching
out for number one (yourself) the next minute.  You can’t back off and
say “It’s not my problem.”  The pay is nonexistent, the work is hard,
but life is unbelievably meaningful and the retirement is out-of-this-
world!  Did you hear about the man who was sweating out his first exam
in college?  All the questions were “true” or “false.”  In
desperation, he took out a quarter and started flipping it.  If
“heads” came out, he chose “true.”  If “tails” appeared, he chose
“false.”  The rest of the class was still sweating the exam when he
finished, but he didn’t think it would look good for him to leave too
early.  Soon the instructor came by his desk to see what the problem
was.  There he was- tossing his quarter, muttering, and cursing.
“Son, what’s the problem?” he asked.  “Oh, this exam is just getting
to me,” he answered.  “I’m all done, so I’m rechecking my answers and
I’m getting confused.”  Don’t be like that.  That’s bad enough in
exams, but it’s worse in life.  Don’t flip sides back and forth.
Choose Jesus.  Be on God’s side.  God is looking for a few good men
and women and children, specifically- YOU!

For anyone who is interested, this sermon and updated African-American
wisdom statements either is or will be posted on our parish web site.
The address is: http://www.stpaulsepisag.com .

Blessed preaching,
Judy Boli
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Saginaw, Michigan

 
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