MOIRAJO
  • Barry Manilow & Mother T
    • Post 1 "I Write the Songs"
    • Post 2 "I Am Your Child"
    • Post 3 "Life Will Go On"
    • Post 4 "Sweet Life"
    • Post 5 "Can't Take My Eyes off of You"
    • Post 6 "As Sure As I'm Standing Here"
    • Post 7 "All the Time"
    • Post 8 "Mandy"
    • Post 9 "Here Comes the Night"
    • Post 10 "Lay Me Down"
    • Post 11 "It's A Miracle"
    • Post 12 "Sunrise"
    • Post 13 "Looks Like We Made It"
    • Post 14 "Daybreak"
    • Post 15 "Where Do I Go From Here?"
    • Post 16 "Somewhere Down the Road"
    • Post 17 "It's a Long Way Up"
    • Post 18 "Ay Amor"
    • Post 19 "Copacabana (At the Copa) Remix"
    • Post 20 "New York City Rhythm"
    • Post 21 "If I Can Dream"
    • Post 22 "Memory"
    • Post 23 "You Begin Again"
    • Post 24 "If We Only Have Love"
    • Post 25: "Put Your Dreams Away"
    • Post 26 "Good-bye My Love"
    • Post 27 "Please Don't Be Scared"
    • Post 28 "Keep Each Other Warm"
    • Post 29 "Ready To Take a Chance Again"
    • Post 30 "The Stars in the Night"
    • Post 31 "We Can Be Kind"
    • Post 32 "Look to the Rainbow"
    • Post 33 "Life Will Go On"
    • Post 34 "God Bless the Other 99"
    • Post 35 "Not What You See"
    • Post 36 "Welcome Home"
    • Post 37 "Everything's Gonna Be All Right"
    • Post 38 "Do Like I Do"
    • Post 39 "Brooklyn Blues"
    • Post 40 "Old Songs"
    • Post 41 "Could It Be Magic?"
    • Post 42 "I Made It Through The Rain"
    • Post 43 "Paradise Cafe"
    • Post 44 "Beautiful Music"
    • Post 45: "Harmony"
    • Post 46 "One Voice"
    • Post 47 "Appendices" Let Freedom Ring" >
      • Postlude "Even Now" : Seeing Barry at Barclays After 37 Years"
  • Blog: E-Lifts
  • Weekly Message
  • Sermon Podcasts
  • Links
  • Contact

"For a Time Such as This"   March 24, 2016

3/26/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture


... And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?"  Esther 4:13-14





Listen to:   Michael Card,  "El Shaddai"   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLM48ySdIDw

Today Jewish people everywhere are celebrating the feast of Purim, just as Christians are preparing for Maundy Thursday (Holy Thursday), when Jesus spent his last Passover with his disciples.  He washed their feet and prepared them for his arrest and death.  Maundy Thursday, (which comes from the Latin translation of the word "command," from when Jesus said, “a new commandment I give to you…to love one another as I have loved you” John 13:34) is a somber occasion.  Purim on the other hand is joyous, although at its heart it tells a chilling story.   Based on the book of Esther, the Jewish people living in exile in Persia are arraigned to be murdered due to a devious plot by Haman, the king’s adviser.   Mordecai, a pious Jew, happens to be the uncle to Queen Esther, who has kept her Jewish identity secret.  Now Mordecai goes and encourages Esther to do what is in her power to stop the carnage.  It means taking a risk and exposing who she really is.  She risks death for going before the King without being summoned.  Yet as Mordecai points out to Esther, perhaps it has been ordained (although God is never mentioned) for her to be queen for such a time as this, so she can save her people.  Esther does act and her people are saved.  

As a Christian I have a great affinity for the story of Esther.   I see in her a semblance of Jesus: whose true identity is hidden by spiritual blindness, Pilate calls him King (John 19:19) as does  Paul “He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,” (1 Tim. 6:15) and whose mission is to save all people from eternal death.  The rejoicing of Purim parallels the rejoicing on Easter Sunday, when Christ is Risen and death is defeated.

Jesus knew it was his time and even prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane to prepare himself (John 13:1; Matt. 26:36-46).  Esther knew it was time to act, but before she went before the King unbidden (worthy of the death sentence) she fasted for three days.  Both Jesus and Esther achieved their goals with great preparation and even suffering.  The stories ask us:  are we aware of our own time – the times God calls us to act?   There are big moments surely, but every day is a “time such as this.”  We are called to stand up for others, to stand up and act in the name of Christ through love, kindness and self-sacrifice.

Such heroic, noble acts are our heritage.  We may not be a Queen Esther or a King Jesus, but we are called to follow their example.  To prepare ourselves for action; to pray and fast, especially as explained in Isaiah 58:6: "No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people."  To act on behalf of others.  To take risks of love in the darkest of moments.  All these acts result in the great rejoicing for which Purim and Easter are noted. To act according to Queen Esther’s and King Jesus’ example brings us joy and fills us with a sense of purpose and fulfillment.

As we prepare for the holiest days of the Christian year, let us remember that Jesus came for a time such as this.   Whatever we are going through, whatever we have done, Jesus came for this.  For this time.   For all times.  For right now, whatever we are facing.  Jesus came for a time such as this.

Let us reflect on our lives and know Jesus came for times such as these. Remember those times.  The fears and worries. The depression and anxieties. The threats and presence of death.  Jesus faced it all for us and with us.   Let us sit with this as we sit with Jesus over the next three days.

Then on Easter Sunday let the feast begin and let us rejoice:  Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed! Alleluia!      

Prayer:   God of all Times:  Teach us to see that it is always time to do what is right, and that we are created especially for times such as these.  With your help, may we act in love in these time
s.


0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Moirajo is a minister, social worker, wife, mother, writer and animal lover. That's just for starters. Join the story, there's so much we can share together! 

    Archives

    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015

    Categories

    All

    Bible,  Living life on life's terms, spirituality

    RSS Feed

© Moira Ahearne 2017. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.