Give Up Domination

Lent 2023 Sermon Series
Give Up Domination

"Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this." -- Mordecai, Esther 4:19

I recently pulled out a nostalgic game to play with my children, a video game that came from my childhood - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. For those unschooled on this 80's phenomenon, TMNT was the story about four turtles and a rat who grew to the size of humans and became crime fighting ninjas after they were exposed to toxic waste. Classic 80's kids storytelling. It had everything our nation had anxiety about in the 80's - toxic radioactive waste, rising inner city crime, looming Asian power, and catch phrases that the older generation could not figure out (I'm currently feeling that anxiety for this generation). And how better can we respond to our anxieties? We beat up those criminals and rid the city of crime and grime. 

We like the idea of beating up our anxieties, don't we? To dominate that which makes us experience fear? But what happens when we can't dominate what makes us experience fear? When violence and ethnic cleansing is threatened against the Jews in Susa and the rest of the Persian Empire, there are no means of domination available - no mighty Samson to pull down the temple, no Joshua to break down the walls, no Elijah to kill all the foreign priests. Instead the fate of the Jewish people rests on a young woman named Esther. Trust, reliance, and interdependence, but no domination. 

"Leaving it in God's hands" is the phrase that I learned growing up. I remember it being a phrase that felt like giving up. We would say it when we felt powerless and everything was hopeless. And then we would hope that through some miracle things would just work out. But what if "leaving it in God's hands" wasn't just simply a opportunity for God to show up outside of ourselves, but instead an invitation for God to use our hands? Resigning ourselves not to some magical invisible force but submitting to the work, the outcomes, and the glory of God. 

As we will see later in her story, Esther is far more mighty than the reader or Mordecai imagined. God's presence in this story is not some invisible hand pulling on strings or levers making miracles happen behind the stage. God works through Mordecai to communicate the dire situation to Esther. God works through Esther to see that Haman's plans to murder an entire people because of a threat to his identity as a dominating man falls flat on its face. Even today, as we go through the ups and downs of our lives, even in times of hopelessness - God is there with us, with you. No magical work behind the scenes. No toxic waste turning turtles into superheroes. Things might feel as if you might want to just leave it in God's hands - but remember, God uses hands just like yours. So perhaps you have come to this moment for such a time as this. 

See you all Sunday.