The Time We Find Ourselves In - Esther

1. Based on the Book of Esther
the TIMES we
find OURSELVES in

2. • Andrea’s husband
• Former Youth and
College Pastor
• Current grad school
student
• Interning @ Harvesters
through Americorp
• Current candidate for
city council in KCK
WHO IS ANDREW?

3. HarrietTubman/Queen Esther
(1992) by FredWilson

4. And they told Mordecai what Esther had said.
Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther,
“Do not think to yourself that in the king's
palace you will escape any more than all the
other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time,
relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from
another place, but you and your father's house
will perish. And who knows whether you have
not come
ESTHER 4:12-14

5. Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai,
“Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa,
and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not
eat or drink for three days, night or day.
I and my young women will also fast as you do.
Then I will go to the king, though it is against
the law, and if I perish, I perish.”
ESTHER 4:15-16

6. So the king and Haman went in to feast with
Queen Esther. And on the second day, as they
were drinking wine after the feast, the king again
said to Esther, “What is your wish, Queen Esther? It
shall be granted to you. And what is your request?
Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be
fulfilled.” Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have
found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please
the king, let my life be granted me
for my wish, and my people for my request.”
ESTHER 7:1-3

7. For we have been sold, I and my people,
to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be
annihilated.
If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and
women, I would have been silent, for our affliction
is not to be compared with the loss to the king.”
Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther,
“Who is he, and where is he, who has dared
to do this?” And Esther said, “A foe and enemy!
This wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified
ESTHER 7:4-6

8. Therefore they called these days Purim, after the
term Pur. Therefore, because of all that was written
in this letter, and of what they had faced in this
matter, and of what had happened to them, the
Jews firmly obligated themselves and their
offspring and all
who joined them, that without fail they would
keep these two days according to what was
written and at the time appointed every year…
ESTHER 9:26-27

9. …that these days should be remembered
and kept throughout every generation,
in every clan, province, and city, and that
these days of Purim should never fall into
disuse among the Jews, nor should the
commemoration of these days cease
among their descendants.
ESTHER 9:28

10. 1. USE YOUR VOICE
Both Esther and Vashti spoke up and
spoke out against oppressive acts of authority
“It is not that good people are gone, it is just
that too many of them have gone silent….
Be good and be loud.” - John Pavlovitz
(If the Good People Would Be Loud)
WHAT CAN WE LEARN…?

11. 2. USE YOUR TIME
We are in a historic time (climate change,
racism, xenophobia, the pandemic and
so much more…)
It is up to us to do something about
the various times we live in.
If we do not use our time, God will
use someone/something else.
WHAT CAN WE LEARN…?

12. 3. USE YOUR PRIVILEGE
I believe the book of Esther contains valuable
insight into modes of resistance against
oppressive systems and how our identity
markers affect these modes. Whereas Vashti
shows direct resistance, Esther manipulates
the system from within.”
- Ciin Sian Siam Hatzaw (Reading as a Postcolonial
Feminist Icon for Asian Women in Diaspora)
WHAT CAN WE LEARN…?

13. 3. USE YOUR PRIVILEGE, cont.
- You are unique
- As men we must be allies & fight misogyny
- Like Esther, we all have a choice
WHAT CAN WE LEARN…?

14. 4. USE THE NAME OF GOD
OUT OF THE CHARACTER OF GOD
- God cannot hide
(even if His name is not there)
- Our society uses the name of God
for selfish means sometimes
- The fruit determines the root
WHAT CAN WE LEARN…?

15. THANKYOU