In the current sermon series on “A Passion for Christ” we have dealt with Paul, Peter, John and Barnabas. No women Biblical characters? We need to give time for the women in the Bible. This is not easy to do for the Bible is very male chauvinistic. It reflects the culture of the Jews which is patriarchal and women is really regarded as piece of property. Crudely speaking they are just baby factories and home maintenance workers. That is why we have feminist theologians who try to correct the glaring imbalance when they affirm that in Christ there is no male or female and call for gender equality. I tried to locate a heroine of religious faith and they are few and far in between and I found it in Esther. Though a Jew she had a passion for God of the Old Testament as the others in the New Testament and history have a passion for God in Christ.

The book of Esther sounds like the story of our ancient Chinese Emperors and their Consorts, concubines and court intrigues. It is even like the contemporary accounts of the rich and infamous and their wives, mistresses and legal cases.

It is strangely a secular account and there is no mention of God at all and it has no direct religious teaching. The name of God was not invoked and the appeal to prayer was not made. How did it find its way into Hebrew Bible for the Jews and Sacred Scripture for the Christians? Why did it become the basis of an important Jewish religious festival known as the Feast of Purim? Purim comes from the word which means “casting lot.” It is still celebrated by feasting and drinking, exchange of gifts and acts of charity. The scroll of Esther is read in the synagogue on that day. It celebrates the indestructibility of Israel and the consistent survival of the Jewish community in ancient time and modern time. It celebrates the deliverance and preservation of the Jewish people throughout Jewish history. The Jewish exiles living in Persia were threatened with destruction to the point of total extinction. This total massacre of the Jews exiled in Persia was averted and Esther became the symbol of deliverance of the oppressed Jews and the triumph of the Jews over persecution.

The story is about Queen Esther of the Persian Empire under King Ahasueres (literally Mighty Man) or Xerxes in 485-465 BCE. The borders of the empire extended from India to Ethiopia . The king after his numerous conquests has established this great empire and called for a grand celebration with a series of imperial banquets with pomp & circumstance to display his power & pride and glory & majesty. It was for all the men in the capital city of Susa . While he was “merry with wine” he summoned Queen Vashti to parade before the people to display her beauty. Some said that she was to appear in only her crown and presumed naked. But the Queen disobeyed the royal command. No woman is allowed to do that in a patriarchal society and this act of defiance on the part of the Queen cannot be allowed to go unpunished. Otherwise all the wives in the kingdom would disobey their husbands. And that just won't do. This was act of disloyalty tantamount to treason. Therefore the King gave an edict to depose her. There is this temptation even in our time to try to manipulate and exploit people for one's own pleasure and purpose.

Subsequently, when the drunkenness subsided and the anger abated, the King felt lonely. He could not revoke his edict according to the custom in those days. Another order was sent out to “let beautiful young virgins” gather in the harem in Susa for the King to select one to be the new replacement Queen. It took the form of a national beauty pageant and whoever becomes Miss Persia will be crowned the Queen. The King was the sole judge.

One by one they appeared, among them a beautiful and lovely orphaned Jewish girl named Esther. She was one of the Jewish captives taken from Jerusalem and brought into the land of Babylon. Her cousin Mordecai later adopted her as his daughter. All these beautiful women had to undergo a whole year of extreme makeover. They entered the seclusion of the royal spa. They were supplied with the beautifying oil of myrrh, spices and ointments for the massages. This was regal aromatherapy. When the turn of Esther came, she was brought before the king. He “loved Esther “more than all the women. Because of her beauty he immediately chose her to be his queen and exalted her to the second highest office in the kingdom.

Soon after an important information was passed to the King through Queen Esther. Mordecai who loitered outside the palace gates found out about an assassination plot against the King by two of his eunuchs. This led to their conviction and hanging of the conspirators and the life of the King was spared. This incident was recorded in the Book of Chronicles and it was remembered by the King later.

Meanwhile the King had promoted one of his own people,Haman, to be what can be regarded as the Prime Minister. Mordechai refused to bow down in obeisance and an intense rivalry was started. When Mordechai had outed himself as a Jew Haman became an enemy of the Jews and was instrumental to convince the King to send out an edict to eliminate all the Jews. Esther 3:8 gives this account:

Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, "There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king's laws, so that it is not for the king's profit to tolerate them."

Here is a minority group of people who are different from the majority of Persians. They cannot be tolerated and must be condemned. This was the view of Haman. The King assented to this proposal and the edict was issued which literally called for all the Jews to be destroyed, killed and annihilated. Hearing this Mordecai was grief-stricken and sends a message to convince Esther that she is up against a serious problem. He revealed to Esther the whole deadly plot of this cunning Haman: how he is out to destroy the Jews, which will ultimately pnclude the queen herself for Haman does not know yet that Esther is a Jew. When Esther hears this she is disturbed and perplexed and does not know what to do. Mordecai sends her further word, saying, "Now you must go to the king." But Esther hesitated for there is a risk involved.

In those days it was not so simple even for the Queen to appear before the King unannounced and without securing the King's permission. Only the King can command an appearance before him. When it is violated the law demands punishment by death.

Mordecai, gripped with fear and overcome with grief, appeals to Esther: “Think not that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. If you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father's family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.” 4:13-14

Esther could stay in the Royal closet and keep silent. She did not even have to reveal that she was a Jew and live a life of deceit but of pleasure in the palace. Instead she told Mordecai to hold a fast for all the Jews. With determination she said: “Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law; if I perish, I perish.” 4:16

Esther puts on her royal robes and stands in the inner courts of the king's palace opposite the king's hall, waiting in fear and uncertainty, without knowing what will happen when the king sees her. She was hoping to draw the king's attention to invite her in. When he saw her in all her regal beauty his heart melted. He said Queen Esther, "Ask anything you want. I will give it to you, up to half of my kingdom." He was willing to part only half of his kingdom if necessary.

Instead of making an appeal, Mordecai gave instruction to her to invite the king and Haman to dinner. After the dinner, the king asks her what she wants, and she says, "I want you to come back again tomorrow night for dinner."

When we read this part of the story with Asian eyes we find we can understand why Esther asked the King and Haman to come for dinner. She knows the way to a man's heart is through the stomach. She is aware that is better to do business during a dinner and after the people are well fed and filled with good wine. You first soften the ground or sweeten the ground and only then do you make the request.

After dinner when Haman met Mordechai outside the palace, the Jew again did not show respect to him. This angered Haman. "I cannot live, I cannot stand it as long as this man Mordecai is in the court." His wife says, "If he stands in your way, get rid of him. Hang him. Erect a gallows 75 feet high (that's how high 50 cubits is) and in the morning go tell the king to hang him."

On that night the king had insomnia and could not sleep; and he gave orders to bring the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. 6:1.

He was reminded then that Mordecai had reported to him about two of his own guards who plotted against his life. The king came to the realization who his real friend was and he had forgotten to be grateful to Mordecai. The following morning he sought the advice of Haman who said to him: " If you really want to honor the man in whom you delight, then give him your crown, your robe, your authority, everything you are, and set him on your horse. Then appoint some prince to lead him through the city and cry out, 'This is the man in whom the king delights!'" So the king says, "Haman that is wonderful. Go do it for Mordecai.” Haman who expected to be one to be honored was shocked but he had to carry out the order.

The next day the king Haman and Esther came together again and there Queen Esther had the courage and outed herself as a Jew and exposed the evil plan to exterminate all the Jews. She pleaded: “Let my life be given me,that is my petition – and the lives of my people, that is my request.” The king was startled. The King asked as to who it was that wanted to do that. Esther pointed her finger at Haman and said, “A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” He did not know for a moment what to do. He went out in the garden and paced up and down. The king knew that there can be no deliverance in his kingdom until this matter is ended, so he gave the orders: "Hang him on the gallows prepared for Mordecai." So Haman was hanged on that gallows that he himself had built which was meant for Mordecai

The story goes on to say that the King authorized Mordecai to issue any edict he wanted. A counter-edict was sent to be placed alongside the edict issued previously by Haman to eliminate the Jews for edicts cannot be revoked. The new edict gave permission to the Jews to kill all their enemies with the sword in defense of their people. They celebrated their victory with the Feast of Purim.

The feast of Purim is instituted as a perpetual memorial to the power of the downtrodden when pushed to the wall: (that day) had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feast

In reading any Biblical text it is essential that one should take into account the historical and cultural context. In looking at the life of the Biblical characters one should engage in the quest of the real person and his or her mission. We should resist the temptation to project ones wishes and paint a different portrait of the person when he or she is not the kind of person that appeared on the stage of history. We cannot distort history or contort the figures according to our personal likes and dislikes. While reading the Bible through Asian eyes we should not make the personalities in the Bible Asian or Western and planting our historical situation into those times past. Rather we are to draw what principles or values from those historical accounts that can be applied to our contemporary situation. There is the flow of history and we cannot u-turn back to the past. There is the diversity of life and we cannot duplicate the different contexts.

Turning back to the history of that period. It was the time when the Babylonian entered the city of Jerusalem , destroyed the Temple and deported the Jewish people. By 538 BCE the Babylonian Empire was overthrown by the powerful Persian king Cyrus. Cyrus was a more benevolent king and reversed the policy of repression by allowing those who had been deported to return to their own countries. The Jews interpreted how God used a non-Jew Cyrus to deliver the Jewish people out of captivity to return to Jerusalem and to rebuild the Temple . God was at work even among the non-Jews to deliver them from their bondage.

Some of the Jews like Esther and her uncle Mordecai decided to stay. The Jews in the time of Esther faced persecution and even annihilation. Esther became a symbol of the deliverance of the Jews as a people from being decimated in the course of human history. That is why the book of Esther is read in celebration annually by the Jews of today. Esther was willing to take the risks for the sake of the survival of her people. God was working with the faithful Jews to prevent them from their annihilation.

A historian Dorothy Lipstadt on hearing the words of Esther 4:14 “Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.” The words struck home and she was able to write this beautiful passage:

“And it made me think, Who knows if not for this very reason I got the education I got, I got the upbringing I got, my job-maybe we're all meant to do one something really significant. And some of us do it on the public stage, and some do it by helping a child. Nobody knows of it, nobody sees it, but we're all meant to do something. And maybe this is the something that I was meant to do.”

What is it that something that you were meant to do? It can just be like Gwo Yin counseling the one tested for HIV/AIDS and it was positive. It can be Jerry working his heart out for this charity event A Nation in Concert for the handicapped.

This is a powerful message for any group of persecuted people for whatever cause in our time. We are a minority group of people despised by the majority and it calls from us a greater measure of faith in God. What is required of us is to be faithful to God in such a time like this? People may want to malign you, ostracize you and even destroy you. Yes, we are in pain, we are abused, we may suffer but God is with us to share our sorrow and our agony but we will not perish. We have to be faithful and live with such a passion for Christ in such a time as this that God has placed us in this place and in this moment of history. God and the people of faith will see their way through and we will emerge and take our place with pride, honour and dignity. The message of Esther is one of hope for you today. We can celebrate our own feast of deliverance from seclusion, captivity and threat of destruction. This is such the time. This is what we are to live for.

Let us pray: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference; living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardship as a pathway to peace, taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that you will make all things right if I surrender to your will, so that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with you in the next. Amen.