Esther 4:9-17
Introduction to the scripture:

We continue our Summer Sermon Series: Peculiar People: Biblical Characters - with Esther today.

A curious tale, is it not, this book of Esther. An epic legend with a cast of interesting characters, court intrigue, reversals, courage, power plays, revenge, suspense, surprises and a story of the salvation of the Jews.

Several aspects are particularly curious. In the whole book of Esther, in all 10 chapters, God is never mentioned once . . . not once. And then, in this book about the salvation of the Jewish people, Esther, our hero and a Jew herself, marries a non-Jew and hides her Jewish identity. So in addition to marrying a Gentile, she must have broken quite a few other Jewish laws.

There is another hero too, I think. The first Queen, Vashti, refuses her husband's request . . . er, command, to parade before the gathering at a banquet. To understand this a bit more, let's fill in a few things the children's Bible story left out.

Seven days of unbridled feasting and drinking. Vashti refused to come and be paraded in front of her husband's drunken men. For her refusal to be made a sex object, for setting some boundaries - we'd say today - she was dethroned, banished and held up as a warning to other women of what happens to uppity women.

So I do think she is an early feminist! I think she would like Laurel Thatcher Ulrich's quotation: "Well-behaved women rarely make history."

So I admire Vashti, right along side Esther.

Esther took a huge risk for her people. Mordecai convinced her partly with this line Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.

I like that line. It's a kind of calling line. It encourages Esther, in the book that never mentions God, to see that she is in a place and time with a purpose. For such a time as this. And Esther did risk her life. She went to the king and spoke truth to power.

Speaking truth to power (a wonderful phrase from our Quaker brothers and sisters) for such a time as this.

Who among us is Esther today? Who in our midst is Vashti today? Who is, for such a time as this, speaking truth to power? I believe the church of Jesus Christ, and and should be. I believe that you and I - followers of Jesus who clearly spoke truth to power without restraint, we as followers of Jesus have an opportunity for such a time as this.

Come with me, if you will, on an imaginary adventure for such a time as this. Imagine you and your family are on vacation this summer in Washington, DC and while on what seemed an innocent tour of the White House a security guard asks you to step aside, separates you from your family and takes you into a side room.

In hushed tones he tells you that early this morning, the President had decided he needed to hear more directly from the people. You have been selected to go, right now, to the oval office where you will sit in the presence of President Bush, Vice-President Cheney, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. While there you may speak freely to them for a half hour.

For such a time as this. What would you say?

Would you speak truth to power? For such a time as this. Would you talk about gas prices or public education or the national debt? Would you speak of the environment and global warming?

Would you bring up the war and what you really think of it and what you truly believe they should do about it and would you call them to accountability for how we went to war and what has happened to civil rights and would you dare to say something about how we are treating prisoners of war and those we have arrested as suspected terrorists?

Or would your passion be to speak the truth at such a time as this about the state of health care in our nation? Would you have courage to boldly challenge our public policies that keep widening the gap between rich and poor. Would you speak truth to power about Darfur and Sudan and our neglect of the crisis there? For such a time as this, would you talk about racism ? Would you say what you feel about the rights of all people without regard to sexual orientation, to pursue happiness equally, as our constitution proclaims?

For such a time as this. Well, in this little fantasy, I like to think I would speak truth to power. I like to believe I would arise to the challenge. I don't know if I would. I'm not sure I could. But then I remember that I would not be alone. I am not alone. God (although not mentioned in the book of Esther, will be mentioned in this sermon!) God inspires, empowers and accompanies us.

So, okay, you and I are not going to get personal invitations to speak directly to our President, Vice-President and Secretary of State, or perhaps not even Governor Doyle . . . although when I think about it, that one is more possible, especially if you are a state representative or active in local politics!

So what will you do for such a time as this? How might you - who you are, where you are, the way you are - how might you speak truth to power?

There are all those issues I mentioned before, hunger and poverty, health care, diversity, the war, Darfur . . . the list goes on and it's overwhelming, isn't it? You and I can't change everything. But we can change something. We can work for such a time as this, locally, we can influence public policy, we can vote and act, we can, make a difference. Write a letter, run for office, work for a candidate, speak out, work for change in your workplace, in our city, in your family and friends.

Esther calls us to respond for such a time as this because she did it
Vashti calls us to respond for such a time as this because she did it.
Jesus calls us to respond for such a time as this, because he did it.

God calls us to respond for such a time as this and by the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us and in the world, gives us all we need . . . if not us, then who? Amen.