Telling the story of Esther
     Vashti falls from favor, Esther chosen queen
          King's huge power
          Preparations to be received by king
          Mordecai's advice, his keeping in touch, saves the king from assassination
     Haman hates Mordecai, hatches the plot
          Thinks it's "beneath him" to just hurt Mordecai (hurt whole race--shock and awe)
          Esther sends new clothes to Mordecai (as if that will help his mourning)
               Clueless about the edict, not to mention its impact?
               What's going on?
               Irony: outside palace threat known threat, sharing king's bed doesn't know
          The detail with which Mordecai sends the eunuch in to tell Esther what's up

Preparation
     Everyone fasts and prays
     "Thought it's against the law . . . if I perish, then I perish"
God turns everything upside down
     The compliant, obedient one (what has made her successful) acts in disobedience
     Mordecai's faith that God will save, as opposed to both unquestioning acceptance of the edict and Esther's faint-hearted acceptance of shock and awe-for such a time as this
     Going to the king, invitation to banquet, Haman's plot to hang Mordecai
     King can't sleep after first banquet, so he has his deeds read
          Remembers Mordecai's help
          Haman: who would he wish to honor but me?
          The exalting of Mordecai, Haman's shame
          Haman's wife tells him it's only the beginning of the end for him
     Second banquet reveals potential destruction of her people
     Jews are saved, Haman killed, Mordecai given Haman's job and Esther his house
     What Esther learned
          God turns everything upside down
          God empowers (God doesn't change them, God empowers us to act in justice and fairness

This time of year is hard on me. It's not the falling leaves and the end of berry season-although that's hard. What is hard on me is that year after year the daily and Sunday lectionary this time of year gives us the end of the world-apocalypse. Compounding this Biblical message, every year it feels as if world events verify a little more that message--"the end is near!" And nearer and nearer. The Biblical purpose of apocalypse is not to give us a blow-by-blow account of what will happen at the end of the world. The purpose of apocalypse is to let us know what's really going on. And what is "really going on" in both the gospel and Esther's stories is salvation-that thing about God turning everything upside down. Do you remember the two things Esther said she learned? One was that God turns things upside down. The underdog wins-because God is on the side of the underdog. But the other thing Esther said she learned was that God empowers us to act.

It's not that God is lazy and doesn't want to bother, nor is God too timid and needs to act instead. God knows we need to participate. It's fundamentally respectful to give us a role in making things right, but we get so confused. It is so easy for us to believe the reversal is because of something we did-we said the right words, we did the right dance, we prayed the right prayer or had "enough" people praying. That's magic. It is never magic that causes salvation-something outside the normal realm that we tap into-but it is never our sophisticated socio-political activity, either. Whenever it's salvation, God is at the center of it. And God chooses to use us.

Sometimes we learn this best from stories-like Esther's. Sometimes we learn this best from a plain description of what to do, when to do it, and who to do it with. Jesus isn't exactly clear today, sitting in front of the temple, predicting the end of things-as-we-know-them for the disciples. But what he says, read in the context of Mark's gospel, is clear advice to us today.

Jesus warns about threats to the church from the inside and from the outside. The threats from outside are called "persecution." The threats from inside-what Jesus calls "the ones who lead astray"-we call "theological controversy" and "church conflict." Jesus gives no litmus test for recognizing what "astray" is. Basically he's saying, don't be gullible, develop the ability to discern what is true, exercise your ability to think and pray. Imagine that-thinking and praying, listening for God's leading, together and individually. It is my humble opinion that at the root of every church controversy-from arguments at presbytery and General Assembly to ecumenical brouhahas-at the root of it all is the simple question, "Where is the God in this?"

We must develop our ability to discern God's answer for our immediate individual and church lives (our "ministry"). As we try to live into the role we play in salvation's upside-downing, we must pay attention to Esther's other learning: God empowers us.

When I was young, I wanted to change the world, and I thought it was possible. As I've gotten older and been bonked on the head by life's circumstances, I've come to adjust the scope of my ambition. Esther's story lets us know we are part of salvation, part of God's plan, which will come, whether we participate or not. But each of us is invited to participate. There is no part too little-something we also hear from the Narnia stories and Lord of the Rings. Our small part, performed with integrity, changes the world. Here's an example: are you called to bring food to the Resource Center? In your jar of peanut butter, mentally place a prayer of thanks that you can provide it. Pray for the person who will receive and eat it. Give thanks to God for peanuts! Ask how else you can show God's saving love to hungry people. There is no part too small. But whatever you are called to do, keep the Spirit of God at the center of what we do. When we don't, we are condemned to repeating the endless cycle of the oppressed becoming the oppressor.

Mark's apocalyptic advice is to keep the Spirit of God at the center of our social activism-wait! Better to call in "ministry." Ministry would imply that God participates, that it is God "making right." Mark has two more words for us in our ministry: patience and hope. Actually, I suspect these words may be natural consequences of keeping the Spirit of God at the center of our ministry. Both patience and hope are necessary to believe that our ministry isn't about what we accomplish. Devotion to discerning God's call saves us from danger of thinking our success ushers in the reign of God. Neither omens nor accomplishments bring about God's purposes, because only God is in charge of schedule. So: patience! But also hope. There is little objective data to warrant optimism. But ministry isn't about optimism. It's about hope. Hope is different.

Hope knows that violence is worldly chaos, but a chaos God will order. Hope doesn't come naturally. It comes from spiritual nourishment, from praying and thinking, from acting and praying. Hope is based on a confidence that we are in what Jesus calls the time of birth pangs. God is still doing something marvelous. God has the final word, and that word is "salvation." Esther's story tells us that there is a reason we-people of faith-are put here. We are the ones acting as if there will be a future, listening for where the Spirit of God is in all of this. May this be so for you. Even here. Even now.