Esther 4: “They came for me . . .”
Wednesday, February 12, 2025
Today we hear a portion of Esther’s story that resonates with humans in every age. Mordecai puts on sackcloth and ashes as he mourns an impending holocaust. He warns Esther that her future is in danger whether she takes action or not. He reminds her that her thinking that there is safety for her in the palace is a false one. And he suggests that perhaps she is queen for precisely this moment in history. His words force her into action once she realizes that inertia only invites evil. Apathy or disinterest are no protection against malicious intent.
Do not think that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.
We will celebrate Ash Wednesday in a few weeks when we will wear ashen crosses on our foreheads at the beginning of the season of Lent. As we move toward that day and time, we will explore our own role in human history, and we will examine our own fears and hopes. We pause in our journey through Esther to reflect on words from the 20th Century.
From the Holocaust Encyclopedia site: “Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) was a prominent Protestant pastor who emerged as an outspoken public foe of Adolf Hitler and spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camps”.
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
Both Mordecai and Niemöller invite us to examine our hearts. Esther invites us to consider our response to God’s call.
Tomorrow, an invitation.
Who celebrates Ash Wednesday? Click on the image of the woman and child receiving ashes to learn more.
Visit the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to learn how Niemöller dealt with his own anti-semitism: https://www.ushmm.org/
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