July 2004
Esther

"If I have won your favor, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me-that is my petition-and the lives of my people-that is my request." -Esther 7:3

Leading Courageously

Esther was beautiful … and up against forces far superior in sheer power and evil intent. An enslaved Jew within the Persian Empire, she was conscripted to serve in the king's court. There she found favor with the king, who made her his queen. When the king was convinced to order the annihilation of the Jewish captives, she risked love and life and position to persuade him to reverse the order. To this day the festival of Purim celebrates God's saving act because of her courage.

Courage is action in spite of risk; it is selflessness for the sake of a larger purpose. It is often dramatic in scope and effect, but it also happens in small acts of faithfulness and persistence. Courage is knowing that life is not about me alone, but about us in relationship to God's greater purpose. In the face of great evil or harm, courage chooses to do what is right so that life may be preserved and blessed.

In these days also, it takes Esther's kind of courage to lead the church. Forces are at work in our time that can hurt and humiliate, discount and devastate, minimize and marginalize the people around us. It is far too easy to slip into the crowd of faceless folks who do not challenge others for the sake of the right. It takes courage to raise questions about those who are being ignored, hurt, or cast out by our way of being the Church or our way of living in this society. It takes courage to ask for change so that others can feel welcome in our faith community, can be blessed by Christ's message, and can be empowered by the Spirit's stirrings. It takes courage to accept the risk of living and loving for the sake of others.

What requires your congregation's courage today?

Prayer: Move us by your Spirit, Lord, to fear nothing except losing you. May we be courageous in word and deed for the sake of the world you love. Amen.