Meditation on Esther 7:1–6, 9–10; 9:20–22
First Presbyterian Church of Smithtown, NY
Pastor Karen Crawford
Sept. 29, 2024
We had a women’s picnic at the manse on Wednesday. All of the women of the congregation were invited. We had a great time of food and fellowship. Many thanks to my husband, Jim, for his grilling of the hamburgers and hot dogs. The women who came decided that we should, indeed, do it again next year.
We were celebrating three important milestones: Peg Holthusen’s 102nd birthday, and the anniversary of my ordination on Sept. 25, 2011 and my installation to ministry at Smithtown on Sept. 25, 2022.
I was terrified on the day of my ordination in 2011. I didn’t know what to expect with ministry, but I knew that it would be challenging in every way, that I would need to learn how to do it and keep on learning and growing. Ordination would require me to pour myself into ministry as a calling. It wasn’t going to be like any job I ever had.
I didn’t expect to be the first woman to serve as pastor at three of my congregations.
I didn’t know that every church would need to upgrade their sound system after I arrived so that everyone could hear and become accustomed to a woman’s voice!
I didn’t know that I would come to enjoy preaching—though it has never ceased to humble me and bring butterflies to my stomach. The pulpit remains a sacred place for me, not one to utter casual or careless words or to promote a political or social agenda. Even while I may share personal stories, the message is never about me. It’s FOR you and an offering to the Lord.
When I open my mouth to share what God is teaching me, I always hope that it will be a message to strengthen and heal you, to help build the church, and draw us closer together. May you feel loved and accepted here, my flock. May you feel that you are one of a tightknit faith community—friends who care about you. May you know that you are one of the family!
May my little act of courage each Sunday morning, when in fear and trembling I share yet another message with you, give you courage to use your words and actions in God’s timing, when the Lord calls you to be brave.
This is what the book of Esther is about—one brave voice! She risked everything to save her people during a dark and violent time.
Esther is one of only two books of the Bible named for women. The other is Ruth. But Esther is nothing like Ruth. I don’t know that I have ever preached on Esther before, while I have often preached on Ruth. Esther comes up only once in the 3-year lectionary cycle of scriptures. I find it to be a difficult and strange book, but an important one to read and seek spiritual understanding and application for today.
John Calvin didn’t like the book of Esther. He left it out of his biblical commentaries.
Martin Luther didn’t like Esther. “I am so great an enemy to Esther,” said Luther, “that I wish it had not come to us at all.” [1] He didn’t like the epistle of James, either, and that’s one of my favorite books.
Esther became a Jewish heroine, but “she’s not your typical saint.” This is Debbie Blue speaking in Christian Century Magazine (January 20, 2016 issue). Debbie is pastor of House of Mercy Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, and author of the book, Consider the Women (Eerdmans). But she also says Esther is meant to be a comedy, though “Esther’s comic aspects aren’t contained in a few jokes… It’s a timeless sort of farce, full of men behaving badly,” especially the king of the Persian Empire.
At the start of the book, he is throwing a “preposterously lavish party” that lasts for six months! During that time, the drunken king summons his queen, Vashti, to parade in front of his guests wearing nothing but her crown. She refuses. “His advisors suggest that perhaps a harem of the most beautiful young virgins might brighten things up a bit,” says Pastor Blue. “They will gather them from far and wide.” Each night, the king will have a different one visit him, and whichever one he likes best will become his new queen. This is definitely not a story for the Sunday School! Before the young woman are sent to him, they must go through an elaborate beautifying ritual, something that takes an entire year.
Esther, a Jewish orphan raised by her uncle Mordecai, wins the contest and becomes the Persian king’s next queen. The irony is that his new love interest is, well, Jewish, at a time when the king has been persuaded by Haman, an evil prince in his court, into killing the Jewish people.
Mordecai persuades Esther to use her voice and talk to the king. The only problem is that one cannot go in to see the king uninvited, unless one has a death wish. Esther, who hasn’t been summoned by the king for a month, has to wait until he holds out his golden scepter, which could be days, months, or not at all. Mordecai doesn’t tell her that God is calling her to this mission. God isn’t mentioned in the book of Esther! He says, “Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.”
Dear friends, yesterday was the first Synod-Sponsored Mission Day at Shinnecock Presbyterian Church. Though there were some work projects chosen by the church in the afternoon, the whole point of the day was to build relationships between the small, now elder-led congregation and the sister churches in our presbytery and synod. At least three presbyteries were represented. But only 26 people in all the synod registered for the event. The good news is that five of the 26 people who came were from our church!
Praise the Lord!
One of the organizers said that many people in the presbytery and synod didn’t know of the existence of the Shinnecock church, which is the oldest continuously worshiping Reformed Indigenous Congregation in the United States. Or they might know about it but have never been there or met any of the members. The second was true for me. It would also be a time for the Shinnecock church to show “radical hospitality,” said its former pastor. And they did!
A phrase that one of the organizers used caught my attention. She said, “This is a new endeavor in this time and place.” I thought of Esther and Mordecai’s question, that maybe she had come to be queen in such a time and place for a reason—to do something brave and terrifying and, in the end, save the lives of the Jewish people.
Sisters and brothers, I invite you all to join with me in a celebration of my ordination and God’s faithfulness. My life and ministry are a testimony to whatever the Lord calls you to, the Lord will empower you to do it! I have just finished 13 years in Presbyterian ministry! I look forward to the next 13 years or more, Lord willing, with you! I have peace with this life, with what God has called me to do, despite the challenges. I have never worked this hard—so many hours every week, doing many different things.
But I have the peace that is a gift of Christ. A peace that surpasses human understanding. A peace he offers as a gift to you, as well.
I can’t wait to see what else the Lord has planned for us, all the new endeavors in this time and place that will certainly keep on shaping us into the strong, faithful people of God the Lord wants us to be. May God give us courage to use our words and actions in God’s timing, when the Lord calls us to be brave.
Let us pray. Holy God, thank you for the example of Esther, a woman chosen in such a time and place to use her voice and save the lives of many people. Thank you for your gift of peace to all believers who seek to serve you. Thank you for the Mission Day at Shinnecock that built friendships and helped with cultural understandings. Deepen our relationships with our Presbyterian neighbors, dear Lord. Help us all to grow in faith and faithfulness, sharing the gospel, communicating your love. Give us courage, like you did for Esther, to use our words and actions in your timing, when You call us to be brave. In the name of your Son we pray. Amen.
[1] Debbie Blue, Christian Century Magazine, Jan. 20, 2016 issue.
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