Circles of Influence

Much of my reflection time this week has concentrated on the uncanny correlation between this Bible study of Esther and the sermon series at church.

The first two chapters of Esther provide very concrete evidence of the importance of our circle of influence in our lives. Xerxes is a perfect example of the dangers of surrounding ourselves ONLY with those who think the exact same as we do. Our very humanness requires that we continue to challenge our thoughts and also our convictions.

So - first the lesson from Xerxes as I see it...

Chapter 2 of Esther begins: "Later when the anger of King Xerxes had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what he had decreed about her." With the knowledge of context that Beth Moore has provided, this scripture TAKES ON A WHOLE NEW MEANING from what would be inferred if we just read the scripture as a continuance from the conclusion of Chapter 1.

When taken in the context of history, we realize that "Later" was FOUR YEARS LATER, and the "anger of King Xerxes" may also have been referring to the results of 4 failed conquests of the King into the surrounding Greek empire. The entire purpose of the King in Chapter 1 was to not only display his power to all, but to gather them in to support his efforts to expand the empire. We know from Chapter 1 that he had surrounded himself with "yes men", trusted advisors who pumped up his ego and always wanted to make him happy. That is a huge danger, especially when in a position of leadership. So note in Chapter 1 - who was the only person who didn't do this? Queen Vashti! She "refused" to come when beckoned. We never really know why, but now in Chapter 2 perhaps we have another clue. Four years down the road, King Xerxes "remembered what she had done and what he had decreed about her" I actually think the second part of the scripture is more signficant - and offer a contrarian interpretation of the first part. Perhaps what King Xerxes was "remembering" was that Queen Vashti had been the only one in his life that dared to challenge his thoughts and whims. Perhaps he was slowly realizing that he needed someone around who questioned him rather than blindly following and supporting him. These significant failures needed someone to blame and he didn't have anyone around him to lay blame on except himself...dangerous situation for someone with such ego.
And since he was "remembering what he had decreed" he also realized that he lost the resource of bringing her wisdom back to the picture. He had no advisor who would be honest and provide necessary challenges to work through his wacky ideas.

Instead of wise council, Xerxes has his "seven dwarfs" who are continuously working to keep him happy. What a disservice - but totally understandable from a survival perspective. If they allowed the king to be unhappy too long, his ego would require that he find someone to blame and they would not want it to be themselves!! So of course right away they suggest he find a replacement. What a great diversionary tactic! I can imagine the seven nobles in their private time coming up with this idea. Let's get him a queen, let's keep him occupied with the "try-outs" as long as we can to stop this other nonsense of going to war...

How perfect! Keep the king occupied with checking out beautiful virgin after virgin.,,sort of "The Bachelor" on steroids!!! I am sure that in all this ego feeding frenzy of working through the virgins, someone else would be left to running the empire -and I am quite certain those seven nobles were working hard on that.

Xerxes need for his ego to be fed, to be constantly confirmed in his convictions, to be reminded how powerful he was, was actually depleting his power instead.

Now - how do I apply this to myself?

Well, as a type "A" personality, I too suffer from the need to be challenged, to be questioned, to be forced to dig deeper into my motives and actions. On a very personal level, this issue is at work in my family as we deal with the issues surrounding my parents. While one sister is challenging what we are doing, do I personally consider her objections or do I just blindly discount them because they oppose my own convictions. Is there truth that I might miss by not listening critically to what she has to say?

How about within my church?

I think that as a church, especially one as large as LFC, we can also become complacent, satisfied with the status quo, not questioning our own actions. This particular challenge was brought home to me this very week. I was blessed with meeting a woman who came from very far away (across an ocean and much of western Europe) to explore a conviction in her heart that an area in OUR VERY BACKYARD was in need of the HOPE of Christ. She wants to begin a mission in a trailer park right down the street from our church. How is it that someone from 6000 miles away can see a need in our very neighborhood? Here is her video:

">

Now the challenge to LFC (and me personally), is how to respond to this questioning of ourselves. Will we discount her because she is not from within? Will we determine it is not our call and send her off? Will we reject her mission because it is not grand enough or romantic enough? Or will we take seriously the challenge presented, prayerfully request discernment and respond to the call within our community? I would like to hope that as a church we will not be like Xerxes and only listen to our own egos.

Once Upon A Time...

Life comes at you hard sometimes - and the past few months have been one of those times for me. So imagine my joy with the special gift of the book of Esther. A cuddly fairy tale located smack dab in the middle of the Bible! I have been reading this book while carrying the mental image of sitting in my dad's lap, with my head on his shoulder - a child again - just resting in his embrace, secure in the knowledge that I don't have to carry the world on my own shoulders. A good story always helped me sleep at night as a child and it is no different with this special scripture tale!

Chapter 1 has all the necessary elements of a traditional tale - there is a king, a queen and a magnificent palace. I can't quite categorize Queen Vashti yet - is she a good queen or an evil queen? What was she thinking by refusing to come when the king beckoned her? That would be a daring act even by today's standards! She is lucky to remain alive with that insubordination. I wonder why she did that?