this sermon completed the fall preaching series in which we reflected on the Joseph story in Genesis and the Esther story. We had the imaginary meeting of Esther and Joseph. the Associate Pastor and I did this dialogue together. We had minimal costumes. the Time with the Young Disciples discussed who we were and what our costumes were, so the congregation was prepared for us when we got to the sermon.
"God Used You! Esther 7: 1-6; 9-10; Genesis 50: 15-21
Joseph: Esther, is that you?
Esther: Yes, I am Esther.
Joseph: Wow! I’ve heard so much about you through the years, but I’ve never met you.
Your royal headpiece gave you away, though.
Esther: And who are you? (joseph plays with his colorful whatever).
Or course, you are Joseph with that amazing colorful
Joseph: I didn’t think I’d ever get a chance to talk to you. I’ve heard your story told so many times, and now I bump into you. Maybe you can tell me the story behind the story!
Esther: I have heard about you as well. About the boy who was sold into slavery by his brothers. It is a wild story!
But tell me what was it really like.
I’ve always wondered. What did you think of what your brothers did to you?
Joseph: well, I was a lot younger then.
I was so sure I was right. and then the dreams; kind of crazy dreams – all the sheaves of wheat bowing down to one sheaf (that was me, of course).
The sun, and the moon, and the stars bowing down – bowing down to me, of course.
Sort of weird dreams, and then dreams that infuriated my brothers when I interpreted them and they meant they would all bow down to me one day.
As I look back, I think the problem might have been less about my brothers and maybe more about how I shared my dreams with them. It must have been hard to hear that they would all bow down to me, the youngest brother.
my father didn’t help matters, either. I love this colorful robe he gave me – it was so beautiful. But can you imagine a father choosing one son and treating him better than all the rest.
My father probably should not have played favorites, but I have to admit, I did have a lot going for me back then!
Looking back, maybe I could have acted a little more brotherly -- no tattling on my brothers, no telling them my crazy dreams, no wearing the beautiful robe.
what about you? what was it like for you growing up?
Esther:
I didn’t grow up in a big family
My parents died when I was young, and I was adopted by my older cousin, Mordecai, I am grateful that I didn’t have brothers who sold me into slavery!
Mordecai and I lived in Persia, but we weren’t Persian but, instead, were a part of the small Jewish community that lived there. My cousin was a royal attendant in the palace of King Ahasuerus where Vashti was queen.
The king banished Queen Vashti when she didn’t obey one of his commands.
Then - He held a beauty contest to pick the new queen.
Mordecai encouraged me to enter the contest. He said God’s people were not part of the ruling class, and if I became queen I might be able to help them.
Then Hegai, the chief eunuch in the king’s palace, liked me. He made sure that I had everything I needed, and I advanced quickly to the best place in the harem.
Through all of this, I never revealed I was a Jew, because Mordecai had charged me not to.
From the time I was a young girl, I was considered beautiful.
My beauty was the reason I was one of the young women to enter the king’s beauty contest to become queen.
Joseph: your beauty turned out to be a powerful gift.
Made you queen.
Not everyone gets to be queen.
Esther: (slide out)
The beauty did turn out to be a gift to help save God’s people.
But, like you – your dreams didn’t always seem like a gift, I didn’t always recognize my beauty as a gift.
The competition for the beauty pageant was crazy! It was really scary to know that I was one of so many young women who had been preparing in the harem for twelve months. I don’t know what scared me more – to lose the competition or to win and become queen.
But I still decided to use my gift of beauty to help me first become queen and then later when the pressures of being a queen started to escalate. And - As scary as it was to be the queen when Haman plotted against Mordecai and God’s people, still I used what little power I had.
Do you think I used my beauty in the way I should? What do you think?
What was it like using your dreams for the Pharoah?
Perhaps talk about what it felt like to be part of the contest to replace Queen Vashti
Pressures of being queen?
But your gift of interpreting dreams.
Joseph: (Slide out) I never thought of interpreting dreams as a gift, although I was able to use it to my advantage.
it certainly got me out of jail.
and it led to a position of power working for Pharoah.
But there was a burden in being able to interpret dreams.
Although the cupbearer was glad to hear his dream meant he would be restored to the king’s good graces, I also had to look the chief baker in the eyes and tell him he was about to die.
And My brothers never liked it when I dreamed that I would have power over them.
On the other hand, Pharaoh seemed to understand the power of dreams. He embraced the idea that the seven good years would be followed by the seven bad years.
And he let me work with the leaders to put into place a plan based on the dreams so that Egypt would be prepared for the famine.
Esther: I think Mordecai recognized the power of my beauty and how it could be used.
As I look back, I wonder if that’s why he encouraged me to try and become queen. Maybe he understood that one day my being in a position of influence would be a good thing and that I needed my beauty to get into a position of influence.
Joseph: Sounds like it worked to me.
narrator: Esther and Joseph. Both had God-given gifts, even if they were aware of them at times.
What God-given gifts do you have? If you cannot see your gifts, maybe ask a family member or a friend. I bet they can see in you some of the gifts God has given to you.
Esther: there were times when I was not so sure my beauty was a gift and when I forgot that God was there with me.
Joseph: I know what you mean. After Potiphar’s wife had me arrested and sent to jail, I figured God would make things right. After all, I had done the right thing and turned away from her.
but it did not seem like God cared what was happening to me.
there I sat in jail.
Then when i interpreted the dreams of the chief baker and the chief cupbearer and the dreams came true, I figured this was my way out of trouble.
Surely, someone would recognize my gift and get me out of jail. But, nothing happened. I was a forgotten man for two whole years.
I was beginning to wonder where God was in all this.
Esther:
That makes me think about the time when I was preparing for the contest.
For twelve months, we had cosmetic treatments and ate a special diet as a part of our instruction to be presented to the king.
I must have worked hard because Hegai was pleased with my progress. I wondered where God was – had God forgotten me?
Throughout all of this, I could never reveal that I was a Jew, one of God’s chosen people. I felt as if I were waiting for something to happen.
And I guess it did – I became queen, and then Mordecai and I discovered Haman was plotting to kill my cousin and the Jews.
Joseph: Seems to me you used the time to your benefit.
I love the part of your story where you waited and waited, but then went to see the king unannounced and under the threat of death you interrupted him.
But, instead of being angry with you, the king asked you what you wanted.
You laid out your plan – slowly moving toward ending Haman’s threat against God’s people by having the king realize what Haman was doing.
How amazing that a foreigner could receive the king’s good graces.
Esther: once you got out of jail, you used your time wisely as well.
How amazing that you became the financial planner for all of Egypt. You were just an Israelite sold into slavery in a foreign land.
God does have a sense of humor.
Joseph: (Slide in)
Kind of funny to think that my brothers sold me into slavery, which took me to Egypt where I gained power so that long after my brothers sold me into slavery I was able to save them and all their families with the resources I had helped Pharaoh accumulate. I bet that gave God a good chuckle!
Speaking of God, when you look back over your life, do you see how God used you?
Esther: (slide in) That is a good question. When I listened to Mordecia when I was young, and then as a young woman, I listened to Hegei in the harem, I think God was speaking to me through their guidance and help.
Maybe God used me in a small way with Hegei. He and I were from different tribes of people, different genders, and possessed different levels of power. In his position, he held a lot of power, and I was powerless, before I was chosen queen, but he instructed me, and I listened to him, and he helped me to become queen in Persia.
Maybe when I see the relationship with Hegei, I see God at work.
Maybe, too, because I listened, God used me to help King Ahauerus not make the mistake of killing an entire ethnic community. That was something big and important that God did.
Mordecai told me that God could use me to save God’s people.
Maybe God did use me.
Joseph: God did use you
Esther: God used you too.
Narrator: God used Joseph. God used Esther. How is God using you?
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