Pentecost 18B
September 30, 2012
The Book of Esther takes place in Babylon when the Jews were in exile
there under the rule of King Xerxes – the book begins this way:
”This is the story of something that happened in the time of Xerxes,
the Xerxes who ruled from India to Ethiopia—127 provinces in all. King
Xerxes ruled from his royal throne in the palace complex of Susa. In
the third year of his reign he gave a banquet for all his officials and
ministers. The military brass of Persia and Media were also there,
along with the princes and governors of the provinces.
For six months he put on exhibit the huge wealth of his empire and its
stunningly beautiful royal splendors.”
So, King Xerxes drunk on wine decides he wants to parade his beautiful
Queen Vashti in front of all his partiers but Queen Vashti refuses and
is put into exile. So Xerxes sends his Eunuchs out to scour the empire
for beautiful virgins so he could select a new queen. He chooses Esther
not knowing she is a Jew. Our reading for today come from the Book of
Esther (god never mentioned) towards the end of the story.
Esther 7:1-6,9-10, 9:20-22
7 1-2 So King Xerxes and Haman went to dinner with Queen Esther. At
this second dinner, while they were drinking wine the king again asked,
“Queen Esther, what would you like? Half of my kingdom! Just ask and
it’s yours.”
3
Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor in your eyes, O King,
and if it please the king, give me my life, and give my people their lives.
4
“We’ve been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed—sold to be
massacred, eliminated. If we had just been sold off into slavery, I
wouldn’t even have brought it up; our troubles wouldn’t have been worth
bothering the king over.”
5
King Xerxes exploded, “Who? Where is he? This is monstrous!”
6
“An enemy. An adversary. This evil Haman,” said Esther.
Haman was terror-stricken before the king and queen.
9
Harbona, one of the eunuchs attending the king, spoke up: “Look over
there! There’s the gallows that Haman had built for Mordecai, who
saved the king’s life. It’s right next to Haman’s house—seventy-five
feet high!”
The king said, “Hang him on it!”
10
So Haman was hanged on the very gallows that he had built for
Mordecai. And the king’s hot anger cooled.
9:20-22
Mordecai wrote all this down and sent copies to all the Jews in all
King Xerxes’ provinces, regardless of distance, calling for an annual
celebration on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar as the
occasion when Jews got relief from their enemies, the month in which
their sorrow turned to joy, mourning somersaulted into a holiday for
parties and fun and laughter, the sending and receiving of presents and
of giving gifts to the poor.
My sermon for today (16B 2000) is a synopsis of the Book of Esther in
case you’ve never read it.
Young Christians
At different times in our church service, we say different kinds of
prayers. At the start of church, we pray to say hello to God. Then we
pray to ask forgiveness for the mistakes we have made. When we listen
to God’s Word read and proclaimed, we pray for understanding. We
pray for our friends and neighbors. We say prayers of thanksgiving for
all of our blessings. And when we leave each Sunday, we pray for God to
go with us. We also pray at home and school and throughout the week.
We say prayers before we eat and before we go to bed. We pray when
we feel bad and when we feel Yeehaw good. (You can substitute any
colloquial term of joy.) We pray when we are scared and when we need
help. In some of our prayers, we ask for things. In some of our prayers,
we share things.
There are many different times to pray and many different kinds of
prayers. But there is just one reason that we pray. We pray to be close
to God. Prayer is how we talk with God. And God wants you to talk to
Him. God wants to know how you feel and what you think. God wants you
to tell Him what you like and what you don’t like. God wants to hear you
tell Him your story.
In our Bible story today, we hear about the power of prayer. But
prayer is not a wish list of things you want God to give you. Prayer is
not a race. Prayer is not a guarantee. And certainly prayer is not
boring. Prayer is boldly sharing your heart and mind with God. Prayer is
an action for building your relationship with God. So wherever and
whenever you pray, talk to God with all of your heart and mind;
honestly share who you are; and enjoy growing closer to God.
Will you pray with me? (This is an echo prayer: the leader says a
line and the children repeat it back.)
Dear Lord,
Thank You
for prayer.
Help me
to share with You
my heart and mind
so I can be close to You.
Yeehaw.
Amen