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September 27, 2009 
Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22; Mark 9:38-50

For me, this has been a week of finding new ways to find God. Ways of finding God along the rough edges of our lives. It has been a week of experiencing new ways to encounter the Living Spirit, whoever we are, wherever we are.

In the scripture readings for today, we hear how we, as individuals in a global community, have the power and opportunity to act in partnership with God, in ways both great and small. Ways in which we can respond to the Word to make our world a welcoming place for those at the edges of our community.  Ways that are new, wrought with uncertainty, and that challenge our faith.

And for you…where do you find “ways”? Where do you find edges? For me, encountering God in a new way all started during the worship service last Sunday.  Thanks to Pastor Phil, and the rest of the congregation that gathered here last week, I became intertwined with the Spirit in new and unexpected ways.

It was the roughness of the burlap on the communion table and the burlap prayer stoles that grabbed my attention. Last week, the worship committee had cut simple strips of burlap into prayer stoles. At each of the morning’s services this past Sunday, a stole was handed out to every person gathered for worship. Pastor Phil suggested that we take the prayer stoles home as a visual and tactile reminder of how God finds us, and how God calls us into community with one another.

As the burlap stoles were handed out, I watched as some people put the stole they received over a shoulder. Others wrapped the stole over both shoulders. Some put their stole on the empty seat next to them.  Some people took the stoles home. Others left theirs here. I started to plan how I would use my piece of fabric. I must admit that it took me awhile to find a way to connect to God through the brown burlap.

I initially thought that I could put the strip burlap down the center of my dining room table, but our dining room table is covered with papers, books, and an overwhelming stack of “things to do.” It is a mess that both I and my husband have avoided. At this time, my dining room table is not a very clear place to find God.

However, as I left church last Sunday, I began to find the threads.  I am not sure that Mark Moffat, who works to keep the church clean appreciated the threads, but I became intrigued as I found threads.

I found threads throughout the church: on the floor in front of the communion table; scattered on the floor in the narthex; there were even a few threads in the fellowship hall. The individual threads had come off of the rough edges of the burlap stoles. I began to realize that as people carried their stoles with them through the church, these small threads fell off and remained at church. I picked up several of the threads as a reminder of our church community, and how each of you have had an impact on my life, and how each of you have helped me to recognize God in new places.

Now I’d like to ask each of you that were here last Sunday to pause for a moment and think about how you used the prayer stole you were given. For those of you who were “called elsewhere,” and were not here on Sunday – if you did not receive a stole last week, and would like to take one home today, there are stoles available at the front of the sanctuary. Please feel free to come forward after worship and take a stole home.

Whether you found connectedness with God in the threads of your prayer stole, or not, the simple burlap strips give us a way to experience our shared community in a new way.

For me, the scattered threads were just a beginning. When I got home last Sunday, I carelessly placed the folded stole on the dining room table. It became another shapeless item on my cluttered “to do” list.

Then, I began to find God in unexpected places. In fact, it was one of my cats that helped me to find a way to use the burlap in my own, personal way - to find God more often woven in the threads.

Buried in the stacks of items on my dining room table, my cat found the prayer stole. He sought it out - dug at it with his paws. No matter where I tried to hide it, he found the stole. I soon realized that I would not be able to place the stole as the center piece on the dining room table, because the cat kept looking for it and dragging it elsewhere!

I needed another idea for using for my stole.

I sat at my home computer, with the prayer stole next to me, and reread the story of Esther to prepare for this week’s worship service. Suddenly, I found another loose thread. Another connection to another community.

This was not a burlap thread. This was the thread of a story woven into our current community. But it was just one thread. Once every three years in our lectionary we are treated to the story of Esther. However, the story of Esther that we heard read this morning is just one thread, a small snippet in a dramatic drama.

Let me take a moment to weave together a bit more of Esther’s story for you. What is left out of today’s reading are the events that led up to the two-day festival we listened to. I would not be surprised if any of you told me that you felt uncomfortable or uncertain as you heard this story. A story full of seduction, conspiracy, accusations and death.

It is possible that a few more details will help us to better understand the twists and turns that led to the dilemma Esther finds herself in today. 

First, there is her uncle, Mordecai. (Pastor Kris pulls a thread out of her burlap stole). Mordecai is a member of the Jewish community, and the behind-the-scenes hero of the story. Many years ago, he adopted and raised Esther when her father died. Mordecai fills Esther in on Haman’s wicked plot.

Then there is King Ahasuerus. (Pastor Kris pulls a thread out of her burlap stole). He is described as a king who ruled while the Jewish community was exiled in the land of Persia. Throughout the book of Esther, the king appears to like to throw parties…and demonstrates a bit of a temper.

Of course, there is also the title character of the book, Esther, who is a young, beautiful girl who is Jewish (Pastor Kris pulls a thread out of her burlap stole). Esther wins what amounts to an elaborate beauty contest to become queen. She keeps her identity - both that as a person who is Jewish and as Mordecai’s niece - a secret.

At the end of the story, we heard Esther’s outburst in front of the king about the “evil Haman.” (Pastor Kris pulls a thread out of her burlap stole). Haman had an ongoing hatred of Esther’s uncle, Mordecai. Haman has tricked the king into declaring that all of the people in the kingdom who are Jewish must be killed.

It is difficult for us, here in the gentleness of this worship space, to recreate the enormity of the decision Esther faces. If she does nothing, she could face death during the persecution of the Jewish community. If she speaks up in the presence of the king, she also faces the risk of death.

I encourage you to think about the small ways, and potentially the big ways, God moves in your life at unexpected times. To do this, several burlap prayer stoles were scattered through the pews today. A few of you found burlap prayer stole on, or next to, your seat.

I’d like to ask those of you with a prayer stole on, or near, your seat to please raise your hand…

You are now our “Esthers.” Those in the midst of our community that are called upon to speak up for the outcasts. An outcast who might be your neighbor; a friend; a family member; a stranger; yourself. How can you respond to the Word to make our world a welcoming place for those at the edges of our community?   

Those of you who raised your hand…I’ll get back to you in just a moment. Next, I want those of you who received a burlap pray stole last week to think about how you used the stole to connect to the church community over the past week.

Thanks to my cat, I ended up carrying my burlap stole with me in my shoulder bag. My stole, and all the loose threads, traveled with me on hospital visits and home visits. It rode along with me in the car; it went to work; and it ran errands.

Each time I placed my hand in the shoulder bag and felt the burlap, I was reminded of this church, this community, and the constant presence of God.

Last Wednesday morning at Scriptures and Scones, I set my stole on the table in the center of a circle of people as we discussed the story of Esther. Part-way through the discussion I asked how the group if they would share what they had done with their stoles.

For some, the stoles became a focal-point on their dining room tables, a reminder of God’s call in their lives. Some felt that the fabric wasn’t something that benefitted their faith journey. At least one person stated he was using thread to sew the words “peace” and “love” on his stole. Another person told the story of a wonderful childhood memory that was triggered by the burlap. He recalled the time when his father made him chaps out of burlap for a cowboy costume.

Those are a few of the ways the stoles were woven into our lives.

Now, back to those of you who raised your hands a moment ago; those of you that are now our “Esthers.” I have for you some trivia about the book of Esther:

• First, King Ahasuerus is mentioned over 175 times. God is not mentioned once.
• There is no prayer mentioned in the book of Esther
• And, this is obviously one of the few books in the bible named for a woman. 

Those of you who found yourselves to be “Esther,” if you were worried that I was going to single you out during the sermon, you can relax. But I would like you to think about how the sudden realization that you might be called on this morning made you feel.

Sometimes, our call from God is just that, a sudden realization. A jolt. A jolt that we don’t even realize is God. The disciples traveling with Jesus must have experienced a similar bump when- in the Gospel of Mark- Jesus tells them that even people who do not consider themselves direct followers of Christ… those outside of their immediate group… can do good things in the community.  The outcasts. The people on the edges.

Sometimes, we find ways of finding God along the rough edges of our lives. But it is a two-way street. Sometimes, it is God that has a way of finding us along the edges. The God who lives in our midst, even if we do not name God specifically, is there in our lives…whoever we are…wherever we are.

Even though God is not mentioned in the book of Esther, H. James Hopkins stated, "we are drawn to Esther's story and to the hope that though God is not named, God can still be known."

Though God is not named, God can still be known.

A single thread becomes multiple threads, woven into one community. In this global community, we have the power and the powerful opportunity to act in partnership with God, in ways both great and small.