Josh's sermon yesterday focused on Esther 4:14:
"... 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?”
This was Mordecai, Esther's guardian, encouraging her to use her status as queen to rescue the Jews from Persian oppression. While the story of Esther is specific to her time and place, it also has implications for us.
Today, at such a time as this, followers of Jesus are called to put our voices, our resources, even our bodies in the way of the oppressor. If we are not a part of the people groups being attacked, we are called to fully see and to fully hear the people in those targeted communities. It is sin to turn away. Avondale will stand in the way of those who seek to do harm to Jewish people; to disenfranchise African-Americans; to deny asylum to Hispanic migrants; to oppress any group that does not ascribe to the cultural norms of Whiteness. This is the path of discipleship.
Esther's story is the story of someone who would recognize their cultural power—whether from the center or the edge—and would risk their life to intercede for targeted people made in the image of God. Avondale stands against white supremacy and nationalism. We stand with our brothers and sisters of color both within and outside our walls, both within and outside the United States. From among the marginalized came the body of Christ himself. God has overcome evil in the past and will do it again. Our choice is whether to be a part of his work with him, or to leave our lives and the lives of our families vulnerable to being swept away like dust.
