The Scripture today is taken from the Lectionary. One of the wonderful things about using the lectionary is that the preacher doesn’t choose the passage for the day. The lectionary is three years of carefully chosen passages designed to give an overview of the Bible. Each week has four passages with a connected theme allowing the preacher to select the one that most speaks to her/him. This "speaking" is the work of the Holy Spirit leading the preacher to what the congregation needs to hear. It is actually an exciting experience, for of course, the preacher does not know the heart of each congregant and the preacher’s faith is deepened as she/he is drawn into dependence on the Spirit, instead of self.

It is not often that we preach from the Old Testament stories. They are foreign, difficult to translate into today’s culture and coupled with the listener’s temptation to consider them irrelevant. But when we look at the passages as connected to the week before, they begin to hold a bit more meaning.

You may remember last week’s passage from James about wisdom; the difference between the world’s wisdom and the very different kind of wisdom that is of God. Succinctly put, the world is about doing and getting for ourselves; whereas God’s wisdom is about being and giving to the other person. The world’s wisdom is about profit, prize and status. God’s wisdom is about kindness, generosity and patience. The world’s wisdom is about the acquisition of things. God’s wisdom is about developing relationships.

In today’s passage we find ourselves in the midst of a life threatening duel between those very discrepancies; between the world and God; between what is right and what is wrong. But a bit of background is necessary to hear the message for today.

It takes place in Babylon where many Jews remained after the exile was over. It was during the reign of King Xerxes in around 486 B.C. The principle characters in the story are the King Xerxes, Mordechai, a Jew living in exile with a position in the court; his cousin Esther, also a Jew, and Haman, a high official in the king’s court. Mordechai anchors the story for us. He is solid, faithful, sane and godly. His goodness is more than matched by the evil and arrogant vanity of Haman. Esther, who was orphaned at an early age, was raised by her cousin Mordechai, and finds herself in the royal harem, due to the foresight/wisdom of Mordechai.

The story opens following the banishment of queen Vashti by the king. There is an extensive search for a future wife and Esther is selected as the new queen, without concealing her Jewish identity. Mordechai, who had access to the harem with his position, was able to see Esther every day. One day, outside of the palace, he got wind of a conspiracy to kill the king. It is through Esther that he communicates the plot to the king. The conspirators are found and killed and Mordechai is recorded for his good deed in saving the king.

In a later event Mordechai, refuses to prostrate himself before a statue as he considered it a form of idolatry and against his Jewish faith. So furious was Haman with his refusal, that he considered Mordecai’s execution inadequate and masterminded a plot to exterminate the entire Jewish nation. Haman then went to the king, reporting that "certain people" did not obey the royal edicts, without revealing to the king who they were. In this way he was able to obtain the kings permission to get rid of them and made plans to do just that.

Mordechai then tells Ester of the plot, asking her to intervene with the king. Esther is afraid for to break the court protocol by approaching the king without being summoned could result in her death. If she said nothing and allowed the decree to kill the Jews proceed, it was likely that the king would spare his beloved queen. But, in good conscience, she could not sacrifice her people for herself. She gathers her courage, and dares to approach the throne. Being in a good mood that day, the king welcomes her and asks what her wish of him is. "Tell me what you wish and half of my kingdom is not too much to ask." Esther decided to delay the request and invites the king and Haman to a banquet which leads to a second banquet before Esther decides the time is right.

The devious Haman hated Mordechai mainly because Mordechai could see through his pompousness. He had made plans to kill Mordechai the next day. But when the king found out what Haman had planned, he was furious and ordered him killed immediately on the very gallows that Haman had built to kill Mordechai. As a result the Jewish people were saved.

What a story! This story of deliverance of the Jewish people is a story that is celebrated to this day in the annual festival called Purim. It is celebrated the 14-15 day of February or March each year; the very date that the massacre was scheduled to take place.

Each of these characters has something to teach us in warning or inspiration. The king was rich and powerful enjoying his position of privilege. He was a hothead who flew off the handle easily and made decisions without a full deck of cards. He was more concerned about things going well knowing all the details. In this way he could claim innocence if things went awry. We too, know leaders today with similar traits.

Haman is described by one commentator as a ruthless man who personifies evil. He is vain and greedy, filled with hate, out to get what he can for himself and not to be trusted. He too, has power and wealth with little sense of boundaries. In today’s world, it reminds us of Enron, or CEO’s giving themselves huge bonuses, or the stock market debacle.

On the other side is Mordechai. He is a good person with a pure heart without money or power to effect much change. Being a Jew he is in a vulnerable position with the dangerous Haman. But he also has his principles. He will not bow to a foreign god even if it is a decree of the king.

Finally there is Esther, who never sought to be the queen, but finds herself in that position; an object to be shown off when the king decides. She has no power and limited influence, but finds herself in a most precarious position, when her identity as a Jew, needs to be revealed in order to save her people. She is a person of virtue and high morality risking her life when she informs the king that his highly appointed Haman is an evil mistake.

Her courage is astounding. How many of us would risk our lives when faced with an ethical wrong? Would we speak up? Or protect ourselves in silence? What does our faith demand of us? When have we been in a meeting and defended the minority position? When have we revealed our position on an issue that is right, but unpopular? When have we risked our jobs by reporting lying or stealing? Most of us fold at these risks, but Esther dared to risk even her life for what she knew to be right. A woman of courage, integrity, and honor, who decided that even life was not worth living in a cover up position.

Doing the right thing is often an act of courage. It is easy to follow the crowd; doing what everyone else is doing; basking in the glow of acceptance and popularity. Esther violated the protocols of the court that could have cost her, her life, because the plot was evil and wrong in the eyes of God. God’s providence abounds for those who follow the ways of God, and so it was for Esther.

Let me remind you that this is not just a story of long ago. We have heroes of faith in our day too. Take Rosa Parks, for example. Her story in an article I have, states that she never intended to start a civil rights revolution. She was just a black seamstress, tired after a long day’s work, too tired to get up and give a white man her seat on the bus. Up until she died she insisted her feet were just too tired to walk another step.

Rosa Parks was born in Alabama in 1913 and died at age 92 in 2005. Like Esther, Rosa didn’t set out to be a hero. She never thought she was doing anything special. But even with tired feet, she must have known that her refusal to move to the back of the bus would have consequences; even life threatening consequences. Yet her simple, but courageous act of civil disobedience sparked the Montgomery bus boycott that captured the attention of the country, opening our eyes to the humiliation and cruelty inherent in the segregation laws at the time.

Rosa Parks went on to spend much of her life as an active member of the NAACP and other civil rights organizations. She was the recipient of many awards including the prestigious Martin Luther King Jr. Award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom- the highest honor the U.S. Government can award a citizen.

Rabbi Philip Pohl makes a comparison between the Hebrew word that means "I will hide my face from them. The word "ah-steer" he says, is very close to Esther. Just as the word "ah-steer" means hidden, so too is God’s name hidden from the book of Esther. He notes that sometimes God’s presence is missing, or at least it seems that way. Just as our children’s true side is revealed when we, as the parents, are not present, so is our loyalty to God truly displayed when God’s presence seems distant and removed from us.

The king and Haman represented one side of humanity and Mordechai and Esther displayed quite another. Through the inspiration of Esther and Mordechai to stand for what was right, God’s way, the Jews remained faithful to God and Judaism, even when God was "nowhere to be seen".

This story, and others like it, begs the question: Who are we when God is not visible? Will we save ourselves or stand for what is right? Will we believe that God will give us the strength we need, or not?

There is a line beyond which most of us cannot go when we are confronted ethically. Will we step up or keep silent? Will we call on God to help us? Or go it alone? Each time we stand up for what is right we are all the stronger the next time we are compromised; those times when we are confronted with something for which we must stand. Are we ready? Can we do it? You and I know that with God’s help we can.

Amen.