Episode Transcript
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Whitney Higdon (00:00):
You you. Welcome
to worship at First Presbyterian
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we, at First Presbyterian,practice a spacious
Christianity, which means nomatter where you are in your
faith journey, you belong andthere is space for you at the
table, there is space for yourdoubts and questions. We believe
doubts and questions are a giftthat invite us into deeper
conversations and a moreauthentic faith. We believe
diversity is a strength. Everystory is sacred and everybody
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matters. We do our best to livethe spacious and radical love of
Jesus so that all might have achance to flourish in this
world. We are so glad to connectwith you in this way. We would
also love to worship with you inperson if you're ever in the
neighborhood on Sunday morningsat 830, or 10am and never
hesitate to reach out to us tolearn more about us or how we
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might support you. I hope youenjoy this worship service.
Welcome.
Sharon Edwards (05:08):
We continue our
summer storytelling this week.
The story is about two women,Vashti and Esther. The story
begins with Esther, whose realname is Hadassah. She is about
13 or 14 years old, and life hasalready been very tough. She
knows about grief and loss, asboth of her parents have died
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and she is being raised by heruncle, Mordecai. Hadassah wasn't
seeking to be a heroine or aleader in her culture. She was
simply hoping to survive faraway in Susa, where those in
power lived, there was a kingnamed xerxi who threw a giant
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party. He was a powerful king,but very insecure. He showed off
his wealth and possessions tofeel big and important. This
king had quite a fragile ego. Hedemanded his Queen Vashti to
parade in front of his drunkenfriends as a trophy. Queen
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Vashti refused. What courage.
Remember, women had no voice orvalue in her culture, Vashti had
the courage to stand up to forherself, and she refused to be
treated as less than Vashti wasbanished and loses her crown,
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but she kept her dignity andself worth. She lost the comfort
and security of the palace, butleft with her soul and integrity
intact. The King's advisors tellhim his popularity is plummeting
in the polls, and he needs tofix this problem. Their solution
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a beauty contest to select thenext queen. They rounded up all
the beautiful maidens in theland so the king could pick the
fairest one of them all,Hadassah was taken away to the
palace for the contest, but heruncle Mordecai fears for her
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life and whispers in Hadas ear.
Don't tell them you are a Jew,hide your ethnicity, blend in,
assimilate. That's when Hadassahbecame Esther. She changed her
Jewish Nick Jewish name to aPersian one. Esther is beautiful
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and wins the contest. She is nowQueen Esther palace. Life
becomes comfortable. She hasattendance and spa treatments.
She forgets. There is anotherlife beyond the palace walls.
There's a powerful man namedHaman who is a friend of the
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king. Haman, like the king, isalso insecure, with a fragile
ego. He insists that everyonebow when he comes into a room,
and everyone bows exceptMordecai. Haman hates Mordecai
and tells the king he will makeit worth his while financially,
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if he makes Haman s people,God's people suffer. Of course,
the king agrees, because it willmake him richer. One day, Esther
is walking past the palacewindow and sees her uncle
Mordecai. Mordecai is trying toget Esther's attention. Mordecai
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says there are things going onbeyond the palace walls that
Esther needs to know. Mordecaiwants Esther to know that her
people are suffering. Theirlives are being threatened, and
he will keep crying out untilhis cries are heard. Mordecai
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wants Esther to see and hearwhat's going on. Mordecai then
says to Esther, I need you touse your position and power and
privilege. I need you to speakfor those who can't speak for
themselves. I need you to speaktruth to power. What good is it
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for you to live such a goodlife, hidden away if you stand
by as others suffer? Esthersays, Who me? I can't talk to
the king. You know what happenedto the last queen who challenged
the king Mordecai says toEsther, who knows maybe you are
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right where you are for such atime as this Esther prays and
fasts for three. Three days, andGod gives her the courage she
needs, and she says to heruncle, I will go to the king,
and if I perish, I perish.
Esther spoke up on behalf of herpeople, and because of her
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courage, a whole generation wassaved
Steven (10:25):
when I used to coach a
little league baseball, and I
could see that my 12 year oldpitcher was struggling, feeling
the pressure on the mound,feeling a whole bunch of self
doubt. I'd call a time out, andI'd go to the mound, the first
thing I would do is I'd ask ifthis 12 year old had a
girlfriend, just to break thetension always worked, and then
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I would smile and say, you areright where you're supposed to
be. This right now. This is yourmoment. Mordecai says something
similar to Esther in today'sscripture. Who knows? Maybe you
are here for such a time asthis. Davidson College is a
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small Presbyterian College justoutside of Charlotte, North
Carolina. Basketball fans knowit as the alma mater of Steph
Curry. Davidson's basketballcoach, Bob McKillip, decided to
take his entire basketball teamon a pilgrimage to Auschwitz and
not your typical summer trainingprogram. Coach McKillip said the
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volatility of our world rightnow requires a response informed
by both a respect for humandignity and an understanding of
what happens when it is absent.
He said, I'm taking these youngmen back into a moment in time
when for millions, evil seemedto have triumphed and humanity
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had vanished. I want these youngmen to understand what happened
in the past that they mightbecome the leaders the world
needs for the future, leaderswho will have the courage to be
champions for human rights anddefenders of human dignity. That
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is why we are going on thistrip. He said, Every generation
inherits a moment when theimpossible becomes necessary,
and we are that generation this.
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This is our moment. We'recontinuing our summer of
storytelling, telling the storyof two women today, Vashti and
Esther from the book of Esther.
Now the story begins withEsther, whose real name is
Hadassah. She's 1314, years old,and she knows she knows grief
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and loss as both her parents aredead, she's being raised by her
uncle, Mordecai thou, far awayin Susa, where the powerful
people live, there was apowerful but very insecure King.
Now that's a dangerouscombination. King Xerxes threw a
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party to show off his power andhis wealth. This king had quite
the fragile ego. The Kingdemanded that Queen Vashti be
paraded in front of his drunkenfriends like a trophy, wearing
only a crown and nothing else.
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Queen. Vashti refused. She said,I will not come. Imagine the
courage. Remember, women had novalue, no voice in that culture.
Vashti says my self esteem, myself worth and dignity are not
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for sale. Vashti had the courageto stand up for her own dignity,
and in doing so, stood up forthe dignity of others. Now
Vashti is banished. She losesher crown, but she kept her
dignity and self worth. She lostthe comfort and security of the
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palace, but she left with hersoul and integrity intact. You
know, sometimes I wonder ifwe've simply become accustomed
to violence, become accustomedto sexism, racism, if we become
accustomed to people beingtreated as less than accustomed
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to a lack of moral center. Iwonder if we've become
accustomed to lie. Custom todivision, accustomed to name
calling, demonizing those whoare different. I wonder if we
become accustomed to crueltybeing normalized, what would it
look like like Vashti to havethe courage to say, No, I refuse
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to attend that party. I refuseto participate in anything that
diminishes the value and thelife of others. I refuse to
compromise my integrity. Vashtiis banished. Now, the king's
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advisors suggest, notsurprisingly, a beauty contest
to pick the next queen. Theyrounded up all of the beautiful
young maidens in the land, andthat's when the story brings us
back to Hadassah soldiers fromSusa come to her village. They
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see Hadassah beauty, and theyround her up with all of the
other young maidens. Her uncleMordecai fears for her life and
whispers in her ear, don't tellthem you're a Jew. Hide. Hide
your ethnicity, blend in,assimilate, and that's when
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Hadassah becomes Esther. Shechanges her Jewish name to a
Persian name. Now Esther isbeautiful, and she actually wins
the beauty contest. She nowbecomes Queen Esther. Now palace
life becomes comfortable. Shehas attendants and spa
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treatments. And ex Esther beganto forget that there is another
life beyond the palace. Nowthere was a powerful friend of
the king named Haman, who, likethe king, also has a fragile
ego. Do you notice that thosepowerful people often have a
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fragile ego? While Haman insiststhat everyone bow, if you can
imagine this, that everyone bowwhen he comes into a room. Well
in fear, everyone bows, exceptMordecai. Haman is incensed, and
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he hates Mordecai, and he tellsthe king that he will make it
worthwhile financially if hepunishes and makes Mordecai, his
people, the Israelites, suffer.
Now, of course, the king agrees,because it will make him richer.
Now one day, Esther is walkingpast the palace window and
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Mordecai tries to get herattention. Mordecai says there
are things going on outside thepalace walls Esther that you
need to see, that you need toknow about. Mordecai wants
Esther to know that her people,her people, are suffering. I
don't know about you, but thereare things. There are things I
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don't want to see. There arethings I don't want to hear
about. I was watching televisionthe other day, and there were,
there are these, this heartwrenching images of children
starving in Gaza. Honestly, itwas too much. I hate to admit
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it, but I turned the channel,and then it struck me, what if
that starving child in Gaza wasmy child, and people simply turn
the channel. Friends in God'sheart, there is no such thing as
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other people's children. Theyare all our children. We need to
see, we need to hear, we need tolisten. We need to feel as
uncomfortable as it is, we needto feel empathy. Empathy is the
birthplace of moral courage. Toturn away is to lose our
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humanity. The world's greatestmoral failing is not scarcity,
it's indifference. Apathy is notneutral. It's lethal. Well, in
the story, Mordecai says toEsther, I need you, Esther, to
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use your position, your power,your privilege. Knowledge. I
need you to speak for those whocan't speak for themselves. I
need you to speak truth topower. Mordecai said to Esther,
what good is it for you to livesuch a good life hidden away if
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you stand by as others suffer,Esther said,
Who me, I can't possibly standup and stand up to the king and
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speak to the king. You know whathappened to the last queen who
challenged the king Mordecaisays to Esther and says to us,
who knows, maybe you are rightwhere you are for such a time as
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this. Now, the beauty of thestory is not that Esther is
naturally courageous. She she isnot Joan of Arc with a sword in
her hand. She's actually a youngwoman caught between worlds
afraid of what might happen ifshe does speak up. The story
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says, Esther prays and fast forthree days, the turning point
comes when she realizes that herposition, her privilege, her
very survival, are not for heralone. The call of God is not
merely to keep her safe andcomfortable. The call of God is
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to be used in the service oflove and justice. God gives
Esther the courage she needs.
She says to her uncle, I will goto the king, and if I perish, I
perish. Esther is stepping intothe truth that that life's
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deepest purpose is found whenwe're willing to risk ourselves
for the sake of others, whenwe're willing to risk ourselves
for the sake of love. You know,I wonder if Esther heard
stories, you know, thatcontinued to reverberate through
the palace about the astonishingcourage of Vashti, how she had
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the courage to stand up for herown dignity and the dignity of
others. I wonder if that gaveEsther a little extra courage
herself. You never really knowthe influence that you have on
others. It was Esther's couragenot to turn away. It was her
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courage to choose love over fearthat saved an entire generation
of people. There's an old story,older than our bones, older than
the words we speak. It begins inthe dark, as all real stories do
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in this story, the protagonistis not a hero carved of stone or
crowned with gold. She is you.
He is you. They are you, anordinary soul with calloused
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hands, perhaps weary from a longjourney, perhaps trembling at
the thought of what lies ahead.
In this old story, you do notset out seeking greatness.
You're busy with the work of theday, preparing food, writing
reports, raising children,doctor's appointments, tending
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wounds. Then as if a wind risesfrom nowhere, the world tilts.
Something comes knocking. Itdoesn't say, are you ready? It
says it is time, and in themarrow of your bones, you know
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you were made for such a time asthis, you've been carrying the
seed of this moment your entirelife. So, beloveds, for such a
time as this, when we arewitnessing the worst of
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humanity, do not. Turn away,show the world the best of your
humanity. Ask yourself everymorning, what is love? What is
love asking me to do today?
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Every generation inherits amoment when the impossible
becomes necessary. You are rightwhere you're supposed to be.
This is our moment. May it beso.
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friends, every generationinherits a moment when the
impossible becomes necessary.
This is our moment. You weremade for such a time as this go
in the peace and the love ofChrist, and May the love that
you bring into this world inthis moment in time, may your
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love bring peace to others.
Amen.
Whitney Higdon (28:22):
Thank you so
much for joining us, and we hope
you enjoyed this worshipservice. If you would like to
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Your support is reallyappreciated and makes a
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difference in people's lives.
Thanks again. I hope to See younext week.
Unknown (29:22):
You you.