A young woman in a very difficult situation. A crisis moment, for which no training could have fully prepared her. A dangerous moment, one in which the future of a whole people lay in the balance. She had little power, in the usual sense. She wielded no authority, commanded no troops, had access to no funds. What could she do? How could she possibly make a difference, particularly when it seemed that the forces of change were blustering over the landscape and that the tides of history were turning rapidly? How does a young woman, given the constraints of her age and her gender, the limitations on her resources, and the obstacle of time- encrusted tradition in her path - how does she make a difference? Most especially, how does she make a saving difference when the future of many others is at stake?
The answer is that she puts her very life on the line, prepared to give it if necessary, because she has faith in the God who has guided her every step of the way until now. She puts her very life on the line, prepared to spend and be spent, because she trusts that the God who has brought her to this time and this place has done so for a purpose, and will not fail her now.
Her cousin Mordecai brought disturbing news to the young queen. The people called Israel were in jeopardy. Evil men had conspired to destroy them. The night of the long knives was about to overtake them. And Mordecai thought that untested, inexperienced Esther could do something to save them. Esther, you must go to King Ahasuerus; you must tell him that these are your people, and that there is infamy afoot. Esther, this is your moment, this is your hour.
Esther had not been the king’s favorite long, but she knew the rules of the court. She knew that if she approached the royal presence without an invitation, she could be cut off and destroyed. She knew there was no guarantee. Her heart stopped and pondered for a moment. But it was the encouragement of her cousin that touched something deep in Esther’s soul.
I
First, Mordecai just raised a question. "Who knows?" Who knows? Sometimes it is best to start with the questions. For life is mystery. It always has been, it always will be. And as you approach the future, you have to begin with "Who knows?" We stand before mystery whenever we undertake anything of any significance.
We live on the very threshold of mystery today. In a few months we will begin the third Christian millennium. Nearly everything about this future is mystery. Who can imagine, even remotely imagine, what life will be like in the year 3000? Will human body parts be replaceable? Will we be living in colonies on other planets? What will our world look like? Which nations will rise and which will fall? Will we even survive as weapons of mass destruction proliferate and chemical pollutants attack our air and our water? Who knows?
Who knows if we’ll even get into the third millennium? If some of the Y2K computer bug people are right, the power grids will brown out and everything will just shut down next January 1 anyway. If they are right, then it’ll just be the alarmists alive -- Jerry Falwell, out there with his food and his water and his shotgun to protect his stuff in the name of Jesus! Then, again, maybe nothing will happen and life will hum right straight on through with never a hitch. Who knows? We don’t know. It’s a mystery.
In fact, we’d better not pretend that we do know. We need to learn from the example of the hapless fellow who was the director of the U. S. Patent Office in 1905, just after the turn of this present century. Wrote he, with monumental blindness, "Everything that can be invented has now been invented. The work of the Patent Office is finished." How wrong can you get? What life will be like a thousand years from now, a hundred years from now, is largely a mystery.
It is right to approach the future as a mystery. It is good to confess that there are things we do not know. Mordecai’s question rings true. It’s a good place to start thinking about ministry in the millennium. It’s healthy to admit that we don’t have all the answers. There is a little couplet that haunts me sometimes; it says, "Our fathers have been churchmen for a hundred years or so, and to every new proposal they have always answered, ’NO"’. That haunts me, because it reminds me that sometimes we get very arrogant about our way of doing things.
But we are facing a new era. It is mystery. What is coming we do not see. Esther began her mission with Mordecai’s simple question ringing in her ears, "Who knows?" "Who knows?"
II
But there are some things we do know. There are some realities we can predict.
We do know that the human condition will not change; it will still be true that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The human condition will continue.
And we do know that God’s love for a fallen humanity will never diminish. We do know that when we survey the wondrous cross, towering over the wrecks of time, the love of God will go anywhere and transcend any barrier to reach a broken humanity. Neither life nor death nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor Y2K nor political instability nor space travel nor anything else in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. The human condition, in all its need will continue, and God’s love for fallen humanity will continue as well.
And one more thing. One more thing is not a mystery. The church will continue. The church of Christ will continue. It may change its form, it will look and sound and feel much different from today’s church. But it will be here, for the word of our God is that the very gates of hell will not prevail against it. God has chosen to proclaim, through the church, the infinite riches of His wisdom toward the world. The church will be here. In some way, shape, or form, it will be here.
Several years ago, Margaret and I traveled to Britain. We found ourselves, early in our trip, standing in Winchester Cathedral. Some parts of that magnificent building date from the 900’s, a thousand years ago. I must confess that a shiver ran up my spine when our guide said, "Ladies and gentlemen, the worship of God has been offered in this space every day, without exception, for one thousand years." The church will be here.
How worthy and right it is, then, to feel, as Mordecai told Esther, you have come to the Kingdom. You have come to the Kingdom, you have come to the right place. Esther, this is your time, your place, your circumstance. God has put you here. God has brought you to this unique set of circumstances. "You have come to the Kingdom".
Think of it. How likely was it that a little Jewish girl would capture the king’s roving eye, when there were scores of other candidates around? Not likely, unless God was in it. How likely that a newly minted wife, naive to the ways of the court, blithely innocent of its intrigues, would be able to turn the tide of history, unless God was in it. No, it was no accident that Esther came to the Kingdom. It was God’s design. God’s sovereign will. It was only up to Esther to see it, believe it, and march right in to the king to speak her mind. And then get out of the way and let go and let God. That’s all. To know that she had been sent to the Kingdom, that she was not an accident.
Shelby Martin Haggray, you are not an accident in the life of this church. You are not a mere blip on the radar screen, you are not a passing fancy. In the providence of God, you are here, come to the Kingdom as expressed in this place, by His will. You are here with all that you are and with all your gifts because God has seen that we need them. Your calling is to give them. Your calling, like Esther’s, is to step forth in boldness, to speak your mind, share your heart, give your gifts, and then step aside, let go and let God.
You are sent to this part of the Kingdom. With your eager spirit, you are sent to the Kingdom to help us take hold of opportunities and not let them pass by. You are sent to the Kingdom to lead us into ministries we have been slow to take on.
With your passionate prayer life, you are sent to the Kingdom to help us move beyond what the hymn-writer called "our prayer so languid and our faith so dim." You are sent to the Kingdom to help us with spiritual power.
With your ready wit and your winning smile, you are sent to the Kingdom to keep us from taking ourselves so seriously. With your gracious presence, you are sent to the Kingdom to help us confront the worn-out habit of grumbling about one another. With your awareness of God’s word, you are sent to the Kingdom to reinforce our need for truth. And with your commitment to your family, dare I say your rapidly enlarging commitment to your family, you are sent to model what it is to seek first the Kingdom and its righteousness and then all else falls into place.
Who knows? Asked Mordecai. The new millennium is a mystery. But Mordecai knew that Esther was sent, not just an accident, but sent to the kingdom.
III
And you are sent for such a time as this. Mordecai laid it on the line. No holding back now, Esther, for this is the crucial moment. This is the critical time. No time to lose, Queen Esther, for a people’s future is at stake. You are sent for such a time as this. This is a time when a people’s very lives hang in the balance.
We receive our Assistant Pastor today with high hopes, for the future of our young ones is at stake. The children of this church and this community need help. We have done many things, true, but for every child we enroll in our Sunday School or children’s worship or scouts or after-school enrichment, there are a dozen, two dozen, fifty, who are not reached by anyone’s church. A time like this demands a vision. We believe that you have it.
The youth of this church and this community need a presence and a hope. We need to rekindle hope out on these streets. Only this week one of our members spoke to me about the thrill she received twenty-five or thirty years ago when this congregation had a vital youth ministry that was a magnet for teenagers from every block of the neighborhood. If that was important twenty-five years ago, it is more than important today; it is critical. It is crucial. There may not be much time. There is an urgency: to reach the high school, to touch the junior high and middle schools, even to find our way into the colleges nearby. There is no time to waste; a generation is at stake. Lives are being wasted. Such a time as this demands our best. We believe that in you the best has come. For such a time as this.
Such a time as this! A time when we can no longer assume that people just naturally know the Scriptures and understand them. This is a time for serious and careful Bible study. This is a time for those who teach to be equipped, or else they will lose the ear and the respect of those they are trying to teach. We treasure your gifts in teaching and training. We know that you have brought those for such a time as this.
But, Sister Shelby, lest you feel that we are sending you out as a sheep among wolves; lest you think that we are dumping all our problems on your young shoulders; lest you suspect that we are preparing a scapegoat so that when we turn our backs on God’s will and get messed up, we can blame you; lest you get the impression that some rowdy Ahasuerus somewhere is going to drain you and drop you - may I point you to the last phrase in our text? "Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him."
You are not alone. You are not operating in a vacuum. And I promise you that pastor Mordecai, uh, Smith, will work with you, encourage you, strengthen you, listen to you, care for you, ask for your counsel, and do everything - well, maybe not everything you ask, but everything to help you succeed. The kingdom, the times, the people we are working to save, deserve no less than full cooperation.
How does a young woman, given the constraints of her age and her gender, the limitations on her resources, and the obstacle of time-encrusted tradition in her path - how does she make a difference? Most especially, how does she make a saving difference when the future of many others is at stake?
The answer is that she puts her very life on the line, prepared to give it if necessary, because she has faith in the God who has guided her every step of the way until now. She puts her very life on the line, prepared to spend and be spent, because she trusts that the God who has brought her to this time and
this place has done so for a purpose, and will not fail her now.
Esther’s cry was, " If I perish, I perish." I sense in you that same sacrificial spirit. "If I perish, I perish." But you know something the young queen of Persia did not know. You have something Esther did not have. You have Christ. You have the risen one. You have the one who holds the very keys of death and hell. You have the one who will build His church so that it will prevail. Do not say, "if I perish, I perish." Let your word be, "if I perish, I shall live." "if I perish, I shall have eternal life." Queen Esther could not know; but Sister Shelby knows, "For me to live is Christ, to die is gain." "It is not I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
Queen Esther we admire, for in her courage she faced the mystery of the unknown, she knew her time and her place, and she read the moment as one in which her people would be saved. We admire her.
But we shall do more than admire our Assistant Pastor. We shall follow her example, for she knows the one who hid the mystery of the ages and has revealed it now, in the church. She knows the one who is alpha and omega, the beginning and the ending. She knows the one who is begotten of the Father before all worlds, who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. She knows the one who is coming soon. She knows the one whose love so amazing, so divine, demands her life, her soul, her all. She knows the one who is alive forevermore, millennium beyond millennium. May God be praised for giving her to Christ and to us in this, His moment.
