[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 09/Sep/2018]
In my previous contribution to these pages I hinted at an interest in the time periods included in many of the Bible stories. Maybe it has something to do with being born during the relatively short reign of George VI, or maybe it’s the fallout from having spent so long in a working environment where I had to account for every quarter-hour. Consider for example the account of Abraham’s visitors in Genesis 18. How long would it take to select a fatted calf, slaughter it, draw it, skin it, butcher it, cook it and then serve it? Maybe they had a sandwich whilst they were waiting!
Recently we have been delving into the story of Esther, courtesy of Neil, Paul, Martin and David. (I wonder if a woman’s perspective might have been different!) Those events occurred at a particular time in history (maybe around 480 BC) but did you notice the duration of the various stages of the story itself? The initial banquet lasted 180 days. I recently went to a wedding reception where five main courses were served in so many hours; most of the guests took the final two courses home in doggie-bags. What must have 180 days been like – not to mention the additional seven days for the staff? There was another six years whilst the King tried to force the Greeks into submission (the IMF tried the same 2,500 years later with rather more success). Then Esther took 12 months to prepare herself to meet the king – even by modern standards that is a bit much for a first date.
Our usual ‘take-away’ from the story of Esther is her guardian’s admonition that “Maybe you have come into your position for such a time as this”. Esther, Joseph, Moses, Mordecai and Nehemiah all attained positions to influence the affairs of state in alien cultures; the royal court was their ‘front line’. The front line is different for each one of us but the formula that defines our response is the same: “What can I do, here, now, where I’m at?”
Or, as Elsie Yale wrote …
There’s a work for Jesus, ready at your hand,
There’s a work for Jesus none but you can do.
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Contributed by Steve Humphreys; © the Author
