Called to Serve! Esther 4:9-17 10-25-09

Now as it happens there are some in the realm who both fear and despise the Jews who are living in their midst and manipulate the king to issue an edict that all Jews living in the land are to be killed. Now as it happened Queen Esther is a Jew, although her heritage has been kept a secret from everyone in the royal courts. So in the portion of Esther's story we heard today, her Uncle Mordeci calls her to do something to save her people. When Esther is hesitant because of the very real threat that taking any action would entail, her uncle responds, ""Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish." If you fail to act God will find another way, but you will have missed the opportunity to live your purpose. "And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"

Mordeci's words strike a cord in Esther's heart. Through them she hears God's call and she turns to God for wisdom, strength and courage. Then supported in prayer by her community of faith and open to God's guidance she acts in spite of her fear.

There is so much in Esther's story; so many points where we could connect it to our lives and journey's that we could spend several weeks exploring it and still not unpack all its wisdom and guidance for our lives. But today, I want to focus on God's incredible timing -the simple fact that Esther just happened to have the right stuff for the work that needed to be done and she just happened to be in the right place to do it.

The little congregation I served in Wisconsin had been through some rough times. We lost several members and with barely 25 people in worship each Sunday we wondered if we were going to die. In the midst of our angst, several people arrived with just the right stuff to call us back to life.

The first was Gladys, who came with her beautiful smile, her infectious laugh, her positive attitude, her deep faith and her life renewing hugs. As she moved among us she literally hugged us back to life!

"Who knows but that she came for such a time as this?"

Valerie and Jerry moved into the area on a short term work assignment. Valerie had the gift of prayer. She not only prayed for all of us and our congregation daily, but her very presence called all of us to deeper prayer. In her presence we sensed God's love and we were blessed. Jerry was a quiet strong man of equally deep faith, who simply did what needed to be done, with no fanfare. When the screen door that had been broken for years was suddenly working, we knew Jerry did it. When burned out light bulbs were replaced. Jerry did it. He even took the garbage home because we couldn't afford to pay for trash pick-up. Active participants in our Bible study, their faith and wisdom were infectious. During the 5 years they were with us we grew in faith and love.

"Who knows but that they came for such a time as this?"

Nadine and Randy moved back to Wisconsin from New York where Nadine had been a professional opera singer. In addition to their gifts of music which brought amazing blessings to our community, they brought gifts of enthusiasm, energy and a vision for the future. Although our congregation had seen some growth, we were still very small and still worshipping in a small multi-purpose room that served as sanctuary, meeting room, fellowship hall and home to a pre-school. I will never forget the day that Nadine asked, "Why don't we have a building fund? Do we always plan to be this small?" Then without waiting for an answer, she pulled out $25 and said, "Here's the first $25 toward a new building." Seven or eight years later our worship attendance had grown to more than 100 and we dedicated our first real sanctuary.

"Who knows but that she came for such a time as this?"

My friend Yolanda heard God's call to go to Bible College and enrolled at the very conservative Wisconsin Lutheran College to complete her undergraduate degree. Although she was eventually kicked out of that school because she would not keep silent about her radical, liberal views, while she was there she met Donna, a young mother who had Leukemia. As their friendship developed, Donna began to come with Yolanda to our weekly Bible Study. With the love and support of the congregation Donna eventually gained the strength and the courage to leave a physically abusive relationship. As she continued to grow in her faith, her Leukemia went into long term remission and by the time I left that congregation, she was considered cured.

"Who knows but that Yolanda went to that school for such a time as this?"

Who knows, but if we answer God's call and follow God's guidance we just might find ourselves in the right place at the right time with the right gifts to save a life, renew a church, embody the power of God's love or bring hope to a weary soul. God is calling, will you answer? Amen.