Observation: The Book of Esther takes place in Susa, the capital of the Persian empire. Esther and Mordecai, who are Jewish, have just averted an evil plot from Haman, a court official, to kill all Jews throughout the Persian Empire. Instead, the King sends out an edict that Jews are allowed to defend themselves from any and all attackers or enemies, and to plunder their property. This great victory for Jews living in this foreign land is celebrated to this day as the holiday of Purim.
Application: Even though the book of Esther is one of the only Biblical books that does not mention God, it is a book close to the heart of many Jews in recent centuries, because they know what it is to live as a minority ethnicity and a minority faith. Tragic history has shown that a victory like the one Esther and her cousin Mordecai celebrate is not always the way things turn out. Living as a minority, Jews have too often faced persecution, violence, and even genocide. The book of Esther celebrates survival against all odds.
Christians in America today are not a minority faith. It's just a fact. Even amid the decline in church attendance, we hold a majority in most every state of our nation. Yes, we have denominational differences, and no, we don't share ethnic ties in the way that many Jews in our country do, but in no sense can Christians be considered a "minority."
Yet that was not always the case. The first few generations of Christians were found in small, tight-knit groups in majority pagan cities. Many of our ancestors in faith lived in cities whose whole culture, economy and civic life were built around the worship of Greek and Roman gods. Confessing that there was only one God, whose Son was Jesus Christ, was considered very odd indeed, and often opened us up to ridicule and worse. In many places throughout the globe, Christians remain a minority, sometimes even facing the kind of persecution the first Christians faced.
As I read the book of Esther, the simple message to me is compassion for those whose faith and culture are different from the majority. That means being aware of privilege that Christians may enjoy in our society without even knowing it, and making sure we do not repeat the mistakes of our past.
Prayer: God, for your children, the Jews, who first shared with us your Word, I give thanks. Help us to honor them and be kind and considerate neighbors to them. Amen.
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