December 7 -- Second Sunday of Advent, Esther

Today we’ll sing “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here.”

Israel--in our reading from Esther--is in exile, mourning, lonely.  

And this ancient hymn and text from the Book of Esther meet us at a time of the year where we too may feel far away from where we want to be.  We too may be in exile in some way -- longing, lost, mourning, lonely.

Esther was a Jew in exile, far away from her homeland.  The Jewish people have been in exile for centuries now.  Gone are the days of the great Jerusalem monarchy and the mighty King David and Queen Bathsheba, gone are days of the lavish temple of Solomon.  All destroyed, first by Assyrians (Sennacharib?), who took the Jews away, after battling the Egyptians.  Then the Babylonians conquered the Assyrians.  And the already far-from-home and captive Israelites are now taken to Babylon.  The prophet cries out, “How long, O Lord!”  And as if that’s not enough exile, now they’re in Persia -- some of them.  The Jewish people now have been split up all over the place -- some have gotten back to their land, some are still in Babylon and some have now been taken to Persia.  The Persians now have their turn at being the world’s superpower.  

Maybe we sing this great Advent hymn a little differently now, having a little more sense of the context.  “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here.”

And here in exile is this story of Esther and her cousin Mordecai -- two of God’s people.  It’s a story, and actually a whole book that doesn’t mention God once.  It’s been a little controversial for that reason, both in the Jewish and the Christian traditions.  How could a whole book of the Bible not mention God once?  

But I kind of like that.  Because it makes us think about some things:  God is not always mentioned in our time and place either.  But just because God is not mentioned doesn’t mean God doesn’t show up.  Amen? 

As one Old Testament scholar puts it, “Coincidences are miracles where God chooses to stay anonymous.”  Just because God isn’t mentioned once doesn’t mean God’s not showing up.  We don’t have to invoke God’s name for God to be present...I’ve told you before about one of my favorite and dearly departed New Testament professors, Fred Danker, who used to always correct us at the dinner table, when we prayed, “Come Lord Jesus be our guest...”  

When the prayer was finished, Fred would always say, “You know, theologically that prayer is problematic.  God never needs a invitation.  Christ comes whether we ask him or not.”

That’s a long ways of saying, God is in the book of Esther.  Just like God is in your life.  I don’t know about you, but I haven’t had any burning bushes talk to me like Moses, and I haven’t seen any chariots of fire lift up into heaven like Elisha.  But that doesn’t mean that God is not in my life.  I kind of love that God isn’t mentioned in Esther because that’s more like our lives and our world.  Part of our job, sisters and brothers in Christ, is to see a God of love, in the midst of a world that doesn’t or can’t. 

OK, let’s get into this story a bit!  Esther: she was in the right place at the right time, and she did what she could with what she had.  Do you see God in a statement like that? I didn’t mention God, but do you see God here?  [repeat]  

Esther is a fantastic book...with twists and turns, dramatic and exaggerated characters: the beautiful Esther, who rises from being a nobody to a queen with the king’s ear (parallel with Mary); the evil Haman, who wants the world to bow down to him and destroy the Jewish people; the wise cousin Mordecai, who nudges Esther see that maybe she has been put where she is “for a time such as this”.  And Esther has the courage to bend the king’s ear, and the happy ending: the king saves the people, promotes Mordacai, and casts out the evil Haman.  It’s a book of coincidences -- take a devotion sheet on your way out, and study it this week, even if we don’t have Bible Study.

    

These Advent days are days for study and days of patience.  In this time of wanting what we want and wanting it now, wanting family and friends to be here now, wanting Christmas to be here now, wanting peace and justice in the world to be here now.  All the sweets and treats of the season.  I don’t know about you, but I kind of want to pig out on all of that.  And then the church gives us Advent.  Patience.  Slow down.  Maybe God has put you right where you are for a certain reason, “for a time such as this.”  

Esther was a nobody.  I’m sure she doubted herself.  I imagined she rolled her eyes the first time Mordecai said she might be here for a reason, just like Moses rolled his eyes the first time someone told him he should lead the people out of Egypt, just like young Jeremiah rolled his eyes when someone told him he would become the very mouthpiece for God.  Have you ever rolled your eyes?  

 I’m sure Esther didn’t think she had the ability to save an entire race of people.  The Jewish people still celebrate Esther every year with the feast of Purim.  Jewish scholar: “They tried to kill us, they couldn’t, let’s eat.”  I’m sure Esther never thought she’d be the reason for an annual party, around the world, thousands of years later.  But here’s what she had:  she was beautiful, and she was smart.  And she used that for good.  She could have been beautiful and smart and used it for herself or for evil.  

What do you have, that you can use for good?  Let me go ahead and insert the God language here: what has God entrusted to you, that you can use for good?  Let’s sit on that, patiently, this season.  What present has God given to you that you can use for good in this world?  Coincidences are miracles where God stays anonymous.  Where has God put you, “coincidentally”?  Where has God so graciously and lovingly put us...to do some good in this world?  God blesses us with a time of waiting, a time for patience, for watching, and for seeing a world in need.  People sit in darkness all around.

...And yet the song ends, “Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel has come to you, O Israel.”  God doesn’t need an invitation.  God enters our world in still, small and quiet ways.  God sits with us now, confronting us with these questions, nudging us, and finally comforting us.  Confronting and comforting.

Patience is our word for today, even if we’re in exile. We watch, we wait, we pray, we look for signs of God in our midst.  And we do it together.  And we see already God is here, even now -- freeing us, forgiving us, and loving us!  Advent days are the days of bearing witness to and giving thanks for Christ’s arrival into our world.  Advent is a celebration of God’s drawing near.  And that’s already happened!                      

See?