HELP! I’M PREACHING THROUGH ESTHER.

You have seen Esther on your sermon or lesson calendar. As you comb your shelves and digital library for historical anecdotes, interpretations, and applications, you may be surprised to come up almost empty. Several of my own commentary and sermon collections simply skip any mention of the book. One commentary from 1900 introduced the book honestly by noting: 

There is a striking contrast between the high estimation in which the Book of Esther is now cherished among the Jews and the slighting treatment that is often meted out to it in the Christian Church.[1]

While Jewish people have grown closer to this promise of divine love for a scattered people, Christians have chosen to overlook a story of redemption, preservation, and faithfulness. In Esther, God doesn’t save the heroine from many of her difficulties like He does in Daniel, but He is faithful to walk through them with her. It is a needed message for today’s church. Here are some helpful points to make your Esther sermon preparation stronger:

GOD IS THE MAIN CHARACTER.

I know my literature professors would throw whatever book they are holding at me for supposing that someone who is never named in a book could be the main character. Yet, as you read the narrative, even the good guys are only heroes by accident—in the right place at the right time, attending their own coronations and solving crimes. They are pawns to His king. God’s control in the story is what Augustine of Hippo points out in his commentary:

Then there is the book of Esther, who was a woman of the people of Israel, and in the land of their captivity became the wife of the foreign King Ahasuerus. In this book it is written, that, being driven by necessity to interpose in behalf of her people, whom the king had ordered to be slain in every part of his dominions, she prayed to the Lord. So strongly was she urged by the necessity of the case, that she even ventured into the royal presence without the king's command, and contrary to her own custom. Now observe what the Scripture says: He looked at her like a bull in the vehemence of his indignation; and the queen was afraid, and her color changed as she fainted; and she bowed herself upon the head of her delicate maiden which went before her. But God turned the king, and transformed his indignation into gentleness. The Scripture says in the Proverbs of Solomon, Even as the rush of water, so is the heart of a king in God's hand; He will turn it in whatever way He shall choose. (Proverbs 21:1)[2]

In the final plot twists, impossible events line up to accomplish a salvation that defied reality as the unchanging law of Medes and Persians collided with the Unchanging One Himself. No one else gets this job done. The silence screams His name. 

IT IS A DEBATED BOOK.

While much of the Hebrew Bible literally became the standard for measuring all future potential scripture, Esther’s path was never so clear. Many opposed its lack of direct language of God. Others still worried about its adult content (see the next section) and even the unsettling theme of vengeance. On an even darker side, perhaps the very fact that it has major Jewish themes leads some to avoid it out of unacknowledged anti-Semitism. Or could it be that a book written in an almost extra-biblical style of pure ancient history is simply not appreciated by a generation of history-haters raised to disdain a discipline taught as an afterthought by their favorite teacher in a windsuit? The Pulpit Commentary (1900) offers this pale introduction:

Esther was omitted from the Canon by some of the Oriental Fathers. Luther, with the daring freedom he always manifested in pronouncing sentence on the books of the Bible, after referring to the Second Book of Maccabees, says, “I am so hostile to this book and that of Esther, that I wish they did not exist; they are too Judaising, and contain many heathenish improprieties.”[3]

Whatever the reason, those of us who talk a big game about teaching the “whole counsel of God” cannot avoid the book for any valid reason. Prepare yourself to answer some of the most basic arguments made against the book and encourage your people to ask “why did God preserve this in the Bible” as they read.

IT IS A LOVE STORY (BUT NOT THAT ONE). 

There is certainly a sexual element to the story, though I never said the word during a recent sermon series through the book. Perhaps this content warning is why many Western Christians reinterpreted (a nice word for whitewashed) the plot to downplay many of the disturbing details and instead focusing on the virtues of courage and patience. I too preach with kids in the room, so I find no value in making a sermon intentionally graphic. However, in this case, one simply can leave out the myth and instead point out the steadfast love of God. 

The real love story in Esther is between God and His people. He never gives up. Even in a foreign city far from their ancestral homeland, God is faithful. Among this religion that put so much emphasis on worshiping God in a particular place, we find a foreshadowing of what Jesus would tell the Samaritan woman in John chapter 4:

Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father…But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

In Esther, the Jews of Susa show us that they have learned to worship God in spirit and truth while far from a Jerusalem temple. God still loves them and He is invested in their daily struggles. Rather than emphasize an imagined love story between an impulsive king and his conscripted queen, Christian teachers must point out the hope that God offers throughout the story. This is not a story condoning abuse, rape, codependency, or vengeance. It is a story of God walking with His people through the valley of death and darkness. Meredith Storrs says it well:

The book of Esther isn’t meant to show us how to behave in morally ambiguous situations. It shows us how God behaves in spite of them.[4]

Esther is a real-life example of what Jesus prays for His present and future followers in John 17:15 when He says:

I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. [ESV]

STUDY UP ON JEWISH HISTORY.

I once studied Esther in a small group with a Jewish Christian. The book is an origin story for the Jewish holiday Purim. I am pretty checked out on the topic from years of study, but I was still surprised by a few unique insights from this class member who was Orthodox Jewish growing up. 

Placing the story in context of the bigger narrative God’s chosen people will help your listeners understand a lot of the details in the text. Why are Mordecai and Haman’s lineages all listed? (Spoiler: there is a centuries old vendetta between their ancestors.) 

Anchoring this book to its original intent as a celebration of God’s salvation in Jewish history is the very way Church Father Athanasius used Esther to point towards the celebration of Easter and the salvation we find Christ: 

Thus anciently, the people of the Jews, when they came out of affliction into a state of ease, kept the feast, staging a song of praise for their victory. So also the people in the time of Esther, because they were delivered from the edict of death, kept a feast to the Lord, reckoning it a feast, returning thanks to the Lord, and praising Him for having changed their condition. Therefore let us, performing our vows to the Lord, and confessing our sins, keep the feast to the Lord, in conversation, moral conduct, and manner of life; praising our Lord, Who hath chastened us a little, but hath not utterly failed nor forsaken us, nor altogether kept silence from us.[5]

COMMUNICATE THE TIMELINE.

We expect our exchanges with God to happen quickly. As a result, the faith of many Christians waivers when things don’t happen immediately. This can be reinforced by a VeggieTales reading of Esther’s timeline: one minute the king is looking for a queen, after a brief “talent show” Esther is chosen, and within days she is saving her people. In reality, the story languishes over a sprawling decade of Persian history that clearly saw Esther go from regular contact with the king to a queen who had to risk her life to have a casual conversation with her husband about genocide. 

There were many years when Esther had to ask “where is God?” This is the same question many of your listeners are asking right now in their own stories. They can’t identify with a 10-minute sainted hero, but a ten year slog of obedience? That’s a spiritual formation lesson we can all learn from!

THERE IS A ROAD TO CHRIST.

As countless authors and pastors have urged, find the road to Christ in every passage. Of course this desire is tempered by the caution to not stretch the passage farther than it is meant so as to include Christ. But in Esther, He is always there—even if He is not mentioned by name. Yet, Esther does offer some direct launching points towards the Gospel. 

Consider Esther as a type of Christ who in her own Gethsemane is reminded to lay aside her own will to fulfill her ultimate purpose of bringing salvation for her people. Of course, in Esther, the text reminds us that surely God will find another way if she refuses. With Christ, there is no backup plan in the wings. The book also reminds us of the rhythms of the focused Christian life. Faith leads to obedience which leads to worship and celebration for the good that God accomplished. Christ’s own call to die daily to our own desires is mirrored in His ultimate sacrifice—a theme readily available in the pages of Esther. 

The Spanish counter-reformer John of the Cross (1542-1591) goes even further in using Esther as a reminder of the love of the Bridegroom for His bride (a favorite and volatile medieval metaphor). Skipping over any illusions of a human love story (and good for him), John elevates the honor the true King bestows on His own:

Well may You then, O God, gaze upon and prize that soul which You regard, for You have made it precious by looking upon it, and given it graces which in Your sight are precious, and by which You are captivated. That soul, therefore, deserves that You should regard it not only once, but often, seeing that You have once looked upon it; for so is it written in the book of Esther by the Holy Spirit: “This honor is he worthy of, whom the king has a mind to honor.”[6]

Ultimately, the Gospel tells us that there is good news for those who follow Christ. His justice wins, and “in His name, all oppression shall cease” sang Unitarian minister John Sullivan Dwight after he adapted Placide Cappeau’s “Minuit, chrétiens” into English as “Oh Holy Night.”[7]He may not have believed in the Trinity or even the full deity of Christ, but Dwight shared the orthodox Christian belief that Christ came to declare freedom for the oppressed and to transform slaves into brothers—a truth borrowed from Philemon by Cappeau for his third verse and especially appreciated by American abolitionists like Dwight.[8] “Chains shall He break” as Christ brings freedom and salvation to all no matter what the odds.

FIND THE APPLICATION.

Esther is different. To that end, some point out that Esther is not the moral guidebook that many imagine the whole Bible to be. (See Stephen Witmer’s sermon). Others have found clearer applications in the courageous actions of the main characters—especially for those speaking for the oppressed. Author and civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963), whose own complicated relationship with the Christian faith teetered between being an agnostic and atheist, nevertheless saw a clear call to boldness in Esther’s example. He wrote this prayer:

Give us grace, O God, to dare to do the deed which we well know cries to be done. Let us not hesitate because of ease, or the words of [other's] mouths, or our own lives. Mighty causes are calling us--the freedom of women, the training of children, the putting down of hate and murder and poverty--all these and more. But they call with voices that mean work and sacrifice and death. Mercifully grant us, O God the spirit of Esther, that we say: I will go unto the King and if I perish, I perish. Amen.[9]

Perhaps much of this ethically complex story does not offer the direct and “prescriptive” models of behavior many Bible readers seek. However, models of character abound. Rather than a story of how things ought to be, it shows us how someone was faithful in the world as it is: painful, fear-filled, and potentially hopeless. Only God offers a way out. Perhaps He has us right where He wants us to be as a part of His bigger redemption story. As Charles Spurgeon preached:

Every child of God is where God has placed him for some purpose, and the practical use of this first point is to lead you to inquire for what practical purpose has God placed each one of you where you now are? You have been wishing for another position where you could do something for Jesus: do not wish anything of the kind, but serve him where you are. If you are sitting at the King’s gate there is something for you to do there, and if you were on the queen’s throne, there would be something for you to do there; do not ask either to be gatekeeper or queen, but whichever you are, serve God therein.[10]

[1]https://www.gutenberg.org/files/39956/39956-h/39956-h.htm

[2]https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1510.htm

[3]https://www.gutenberg.org/files/39956/39956-h/39956-h.htm

[4] https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/4-messages-esther-offers-me-too-generation/

[5]https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf204.xxv.iii.iii.viii.html?scrBook=Esth&scrCh=3&scrV=9#xxv.iii.iii.viii-p69.1

[6]https://www.ccel.org/ccel/john_cross/canticle.xxxviii.html#xxxviii-p10.2

[7]Read the full French version and a literal translation here: https://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/NonEnglish/minuit_chretiens.htm

[8]See Ace Collins, Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas(Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001). 132–138.

[9]https://sojo.net/articles/prayer-day-give-us-grace-1.

[10]https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/sermons/providence-as-seen-in-the-book-of-esther-2/#flipbook/