Privilege "for such a time as this" ~ Esther 4

 

We have continued to ask the question: Is Esther a story for us? I hope that you are finding that being met with a resounding “yes” and perhaps no more so than today. Today, we are going to see how Esther chapter four helps us understand a concept that is too often misunderstood, hated, feared, and yet critical “for such a time as this.” We’re going to let the story of Esther teach us about the concept of privilege and see that the concept is not simply important as we seek to become anti-racist as a church but also one that is fundamentally Biblical. We are going to encounter the conversion of Esther who must learn to use her own position of privilege for the benefit of those in need, even at the expense of her own comfort and safety. Let’s dig in.

4 When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the city, wailing loudly and bitterly. ² But he went only as far as the king’s gate, because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it. ³ In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

In our first three verses there are two striking realities, two amazing contrasts: On the one hand, is the pervasive lament and fear of Mordecai and the Jewish people. We have Mordecai wailing in the streets and Jews “in every province” in “great mourning” laying in sackcloth and ashes. This is nothing less than an empire wide movement of pain and protest. On the other hand, despite this widespread weeping and wailing – Esther doesn’t weep because she doesn’t know. She remains unintentionally ignorant “because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter” the palace. Privilege and power often seek to silence or erase lament. Intolerance of public displays of emotion and sorrow by troubled or uncooperative citizens fits with what we know about Xerxes’s need to be surrounded by order, beauty, and luxury. Limiting direct access to royalty was a common way of restricting their exposure to problems or danger. The Greek historian Herodotus notes that the Persian king, Deioces, “was first to establish the rule that no one should come into the presence of the king, but everything should be done by means of messengers.”

Privilege smothers dissent, keeping problems hidden, keeping marginal voices out. It insulates us from realities that others experience. It can even leave us wondering if such things are even true. It’s what happens when people of color talk about negative experiences with law enforcement or instances of racism in public spaces or at work. I recently read an account of a black student at George Fox who was pulled over on three separate occasions to see if he was wearing a seatbelt. Friends, an indicator of privilege is when others weep about danger, mistreatment, pain, and we don’t know.

The act of lament in Esther functions in two ways. I will mention the first one now and the second one later, even though both realities are present together throughout. The first purpose of lament is that it aims to make injustice visible and create a setting for change. Dominique Gilliard, the Director of Racial Righteousness and Reconciliation for our denomination, says “Lamentation begets revelation.” Mordecai’s lament is a staged public response to make Haman’s plot visible and garner the support of Esther and the Persians against this genocidal edict. His protest also assumes a theology of human-divine cooperation that understands that humans facing dire circumstances must initiate game plans to save themselves.

⁴ When Esther’s eunuchs and female attendants came and told her about Mordecai, she was in great distress. She sent clothes for him to put on instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. ⁵ Then Esther summoned Hathak, one of the king’s eunuchs assigned to attend her, and ordered him to find out what was troubling Mordecai and why.⁶ So Hathak went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate. ⁷ Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. ⁸ He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict for their annihilation, which had been published in Susa, to show to Esther and explain it to her, and he told him to instruct her to go into the king’s presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people.

When we move to vss. 4-8, Esther’s journey of recognition and responsibility about privilege begins when she hears of Mordecai’s lamenting protest. And her first response is also a typical response of those with privilege. She becomes incredibly uncomfortable (vs. 4, the Hebrew word hyl translated “great distress” literally means to writhe or tremble). And in that fear she seeks not to discover what is going on but kindly tries stop her pain by ending Mordecai’s lament with a gift. Mordecai refuses. A number of years ago I became friends with someone from Kenya who was experiencing both overt and covert racism personally and institutionally. In one lamenting conversation where he poured out his heart to me about how he was trying to name and fight such indignities I shamefully offered the gift of good advice: “Perhaps the best strategy is to be nice.” Like Esther, I offered a gift that aimed to silence. “Mordecai, stop going around crying all the time, can’t you see that things aren’t so bad? Hey, put away your naked lament and put on some clothes, won’t that make you feel better? Brother, sister, can’t you see that your distress makes me tremble? This would all go better if you would simply play nice, dress appropriately, and please, o please, just shut up.” But Mordecai, we are told, “would not accept them.” Friends, the story of Esther reminds us that privilege also seeks to force those in pain to play nice before they can be heard; to calm down and dress up, before any conversation can happen. We must not allow our fear of disruption to keep us from listening to our brothers and sisters in pain. But thankfully, Esther is learning. Praise God, for Esther is starting to become aware signalled by that o so important word, “then” in vs. 5. And what is Esther’s first move toward using her privilege well and becoming the advocate that God is calling her to be? What is the “then”? She sought “to find out what was troubling Mordecai and why.” And that’s been our journey as a church. It’s why we read Rediscipling the White Church in small groups. It’s why we engaged our Anti-racism Discipleship Pathway created by Dominique Gilliard, which anyone can engage on our website. It’s why we have a Racial Righteousness Team. It’s not our last step toward becoming anti-racist. We don’t imagine that by learning about racial injustice we are done. No, “finding out what’s troubling and why” is the first Biblical step of those with privilege. And Mordecai tells his story, it says, and sent her facts – the text of the edict. We must listen and do our own research. It’s important to recognize that even learning is a challenging experience, especially for those who are lamenting. Mordecai will take the extra brave effort to oblige Esther’s request to tell “everything that had happened to him,” even providing her with a copy of the edict but we must not put the burden on those who are oppressed to always be our teachers. We must give thanks for the Mordecais who take the terribly burdensome step of educating us while in deep pain. We must also strive to resource our own learning and learn to stand in their stead.

⁹ Hathak went back and reported to Esther what Mordecai had said. ¹⁰ Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, ¹¹ “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.”

In vss. 9-11 we begin to get to the heart of the challenge and often one of the more misunderstood elements of what privilege does and doesn’t mean. Many folks who encounter the term "privilege" often rightfully wish to point out that they too suffer, that they also struggle, that they too have aches. And that’s true. No one could accuse Esther of simply having an easy life: she was present in the Empire due to forced migration and war, she was an orphan, she was trafficked as a sex slave, and is now being asked to put her life on the line. Using one’s privilege still has a cost, a price, a danger. She could have easily said, “I didn’t do this. It’s not my fault. I’ve suffered too.”  But despite these suffering realities, she also knows that she has power that others, including Mordecai, do not. Despite all these troubles, she has access to resources that others do not. Despite all her trembling, she has a choice to stand up or flee that others do not. And that’s what privilege means. What will she do? Will she break the law and risk her life? Or, will she look the other way, mind her own business, worry about herself, and let others reap the horrors of injustice that she is privileged to potentially avoid.

¹² When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, ¹³ he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. ¹⁴ For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”¹⁵ Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: ¹⁶ “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.” ¹⁷ So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther’s instructions.

Mordecai will argue to Esther in vs. 14 that her privilege, in this instance that not necessarily true of all privilege, was there by design, at this time, to aid others. He encourages her to see "privilege" not as something to feel guilty about but something intended by God for the present moment. The challenge is that God is at work in our lives and calls us to use our privilege for others. John Newton, the converted slave trader, is known to have challenged William Wilberforce, who wished to leave British politics, saying: “God has raised you up for the good of the church and the good of the nation, maintain your friendship with Pitt, continue in Parliament, who knows that but for such a time as this God has brought you into public life and has a purpose for you.”Mordecai threatens that if she fails to act (lit. “is completely silent”) God will use someone else and she will not be spared. If we don’t, we all will fall. Racism is the downfall of us all. Esther must stand with both Vashti and Mordecai in their disobedience to the king’s orders and rise above the law that mandates order, power, and silence.

Esther’s response is to ask Mordecai “to gather all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me” brings us to our second purpose for lament. Lament, weeping and fasting, was a well-worn path of prayer to God to express hope that God will hear and bring deliverance. Mordecai’s own remarks and Esther’s response, hearken to another text that reminds us who God is, Joel 2:12-15:

“Even now,” declares the Lord,
    “return to me with all your heart,
    with fasting and weeping and mourning.”

¹³ Rend your heart
    and not your garments.
Return to the Lord your God,
    for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
    and he relents from sending calamity.
¹⁴ Who knows? He may turn and relent
    and leave behind a blessing—
grain offerings and drink offerings
    for the Lord your God.

¹⁵ Blow the trumpet in Zion,
    declare a holy fast,
    call a sacred assembly.

So lament and fasting are the deep recognition of faith that our plans are often mysteriously later recognized as God’s plan. Such a theology encourages us to act and yet also calls us to pray aware of God’s hand behind the surprises, coincidences, and reversals that are part of God’s larger plan. We don’t exactly know what will happen but we know that God is good.

In all this Esther reveals the power of privilege as God intended. Privilege is responding to the call to use whatever power one has received on behalf of others.