Esther I: Perserverance

Place this in historical context: Ezra - Esther - Nehemiah
Where the bookended books tell stories of what it is like to return home, Esther tells of the story of remaining.

There have been more than a few times in my life where I have admittedly taken a lot of joy in finding the spoilers of a movie and knowing them before watching.
There’s always a few reasons for that:

In the case of Game of Thrones, things were just so awful that it let me skip through to the end.
It might also be that something has become such a phenomenon that it helps me understand it before I get to watch it. (Endgame)
And, with some other things, it means I might just skip the show altogether. This can be in particular with certain video games. Why have to do the extra work when I already know? (Mass Effect)

But either way, I’ve got my proof, my story. Provided everyone’s been honest, I know what’s going to happen at the end. Might mean my mind works on different details. I see things differently as a result.

Speaking of Game of Thrones… These first three chapters of Esther are a complex weave of plot lines, and are hard for to see who is actually going to come out as a winner.

Ahaserus - A bumbling king who seems more interested in drinking, sex, and his ego over good rule… Literally deposed his wife, Vashti, and set an entire decree out about women in the whole kingdom because she refused to dance.
Haman - Arrogant (later, he’ll literally ask for his family to sit down together and regale together all of Haman’s accomplishments), proud. He’s willing to destroy an entire group of people because of one man’s choice.
Vashti makes just a brief appearance, but then is driven away.
Mordecai - Would have been a man of means (that he was exiled meant he was one of the more elite Jewish people), who chose to remain. In spite of being in a foreign land, he’s serving the people of that land.
Esther - just so happens to be adopted and there.

Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces, giving orders to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. 14 A copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province by proclamation, calling on all the peoples to be ready for that day. 15 The couriers went quickly by order of the king, and the decree was issued in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city of Susa was thrown into confusion… The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (Es 3:13–15). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers
In spite of the goodness of Mordecai, in spite of the marriage upcoming, things look terribly bleak.
We get the benefit of having read the ending, but what of Mordecai? What of Esther?

They knew the ending, too, even as Haman was succeeding in his plot.
Or, maybe even better, they knew the whole story. They knew of God’s faithfulness. They knew God cared for God’s people. Knew that in the midst of this terrible circumstance, God would deliver.

We’ll learn more about the how next week. But for now, we can settle on the fact that the stories of who they were as people carried with them.

We know the ending of our story already, too, in even more illuminated detail. We’ve heard the stories told to us about life overcoming death: as Barth says, the judge judged in our stead. We are free, and will be free.
The problem for us is we don’t have the benefit of a book or movie written about us already.

We don’t know what bumbling king will in fits of bruised ego lash out upon us.
We don’t know what arrogance will cause our destruction.
We don’t know if refusing to do something we don’t want to do will cause our exile.
We don’t know if even in our service to the power that exists will help us.
We don’t know if our plans will be successful in saving what matters to us.

And because of our lack of knowledge, we can assumes God’s faithfulness to not apply to us.

I worry sometimes when we pray for healing for instance, and it doesn’t happen. It’s totally fair to be angry at God, to wonder why, but we too easily miss all the times that God has been faithful to us up until a moment when we presume God isn’t.
So we live in angst, fear, anger, forgetting that between today and the end of the story, there is a plot yet to unfold.

Live in perseverance.
The events of the first three chapters occur over four years, and the total book over 10.
We don’t know the story of God’s faithfulness to us tomorrow, next year. We don’t know when the story might change. When there will be a twist in the narrative.
The fuel that can keep us from defeat in the lowest moments and from apathy in the best moments is that God is faithful, and that Jesus is who he said he is.
And by knowing the end, it may mean we look at what’s happening differently. We may be willing to take the risks and leaps of faith because the end is secure.