A Reflection on Esther: 2020 PNEC Board Retreat

As we begin to think about the story of Queen Esther this morning, I give you this passage...

Esther 4:14 NLT

If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”

When I first read this verse, I had to wonder what on earth this has to do with the work of the Board of the Conference. But as I read it over and over, I began to see how significant this can be for the work that is set before each of you today and in the coming days, weeks, and months. Your work as the Board of the Conference may be a year, a couple of years, or a few years old or it may just be beginning. Regardless as to your tenure, this time is significant for the church, not the buildings but rather the people who are God’s feet, hands, and mouths in this world. Given all that has happened in just the last few months, the work of the Board will become even more significant. We are at a turning point in the life of the church. As someone who serves a local church and helps other churches to find their next leadership, the decisions the Board makes guide the whole of the Conference and therefore can make our new reality something special. My hope for your work and the work of the Conference as a whole is that we make a difference in this world.

The need to discern opportune moments

My prayer for this Board is that God gives each of you the wisdom, knowledge, and strength to make decisions that you need to make but also that God enters your hearts and provides you with the courage to do all that needs to be done. One of the things that comes to mind in this time is the Serenity Prayer…If you are not familiar with this prayer, I invite you to listen closely. If you are familiar with it, please say it with me, God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Amen.

Think about these words from the Serenity Prayer for a moment…

Serenity Prayer:

Serenity to accept, courage to change, and wisdom to know

These are strong words that direct our emotions, thoughts, and actions. This is a prayer I learned at a time in my life when things were changing rapidly. It was a dark time in my life and this prayer helped me to scratch my way out of one of the darkest times I have ever experienced. At the end of it though, I realized that it was accepting what God had in store for me, being courageous enough to make some significant changes, and the direction of God’s wisdom in my life that moved me beyond the darkness that was enveloping me. We, as a church, are at a turning point in our lives too. The church as a whole (again, I cannot say this enough, the church is not the building) is facing uncertainty. There are churches closing everyday (people losing hope and serenity), there are churches moving from a full-time pastorate and moving into a new reality of having pastoral leadership only part of the time (people facing change), and there are fewer and fewer people entering ministry. What all of this amounts to is challenges for all those who call themselves a Christian, at every level of the church today.

Your work needs to be about helping all those who are struggling, all those who are succeeding, and everyone in between. It is a heavy burden but I know that God still works amongst and through all of us. The Board stands as the sounding board for the leadership of the Conference and the decision making body for every church that we have in the Conference, and I am guessing the number of churches today might be very different than what it will be at the end of your tenure.

I am guessing at this point that some of you and maybe all of you might be wondering what this has to do with the scripture that we have before us today…and I invite you to read it once again...

Esther 4:14 NLT

If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”

In order for us to understand this verse, we need to understand the story of Queen Esther a bit. I am not going to retell the whole of the story but I do want to give us some background as we being thinking about this passage this morning...

Esther is a Jewish orphan who was raised by her uncle, Mordecai

Upon the dismissal of Queen Vashti for refusing to appear before him, Ahasuerus looks for a new Queen from the land and Esther attracts the King’s eye and becomes the new Queen of Persia

Mordecai uncovers a plot to have the King killed and therefore gains favor in the King’s court

When Mordecai refuses to bow down to the King’s vizier Haman, Haman hatches a plot to have all the Jews of Persia killed

Mordecai learns of the plot and that lead us into today’s story…ultimately, this chapter of Esther tells us of the point in Esther’s life as Queen where she must make a decision that affects the whole of the Israelite nation

Not unlike Esther, each member of the Board has been selected because of their wisdom, knowledge and desire to serve God. While the book of Esther is replete with examples of what it means to serve God, God is not mentioned once in the entirety of the book. We could spend the rest of our time today digesting what that means or how a book that does not mention God explicitly got into our Bibles. What I do want for us to hear clearly this morning, however, is that this book, and verse 14 of Chapter 4, speaks specifically about what it means to seize opportunities to serve God and how we fit into God’s ultimate plan.

God’s Ultimate Plan for the Conference

While we may never know exactly why we have been chosen to do God’s work (as most of the pastors in the room can attest to from their own call stories), the point of the matter is that we have all been chosen. It does not matter whether that is to serve as an ordained minister, an authorized minister, a lay leader, or as the ones who physically do the work of the church. We are all given a choice to accept the call that God places into our hearts. Like Esther in our story for today, we have a choice as to whether we want to listen and accept the call on our lives or we can choose to ignore. The thing that really matters here and now is that in making a decision to be here, you have already answered the call. And just like Esther, you are now called to be an example to others. You are being called to reach beyond your own personal needs and look to the work of the church through the conference. To look beyond yourself and see the work that is needed by all within the Conference to advance the kingdom of God here on earth, to love God, and most importantly to love one another. Trusting in God’s prompting and leading, to listen to one another and to not just hear but truly be there for each other. You may not like what someone says but understand that you are all here to do God’s work, which ultimately reflects on the Conference as a whole.

This day, take the call to which you have answered and start out the right way…looking to Esther as an example of someone who did not want to be in a position of leadership but was thrust into it. While Esther was willing to sacrifice her life for the good of the whole, ultimately, she did not have to do so because she was part of God’s restoration plan for the Israelites. She became and stands today as someone who heard, listened, and acted in a way that brought glory to God first, putting the needs and welfare of the many before her own personal needs.

May God bless the work of this Board as you move into the uncertain future that stands before you this day…Amen.