So, we need to stop second guessing God. And, in just a moment, I’ll be reading what may seem to be a rather odd text for a Mother’s Day message. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, this is the word that describes the serpent in the Garden of Eden. This word comes down to us in English as prudence. He finished up undergrad, went to grad school, went to work for a bank, and he rose very high up in the bank. And, of course, when the story is over, it has a happy ending because the Jews are saved and their enemies are destroyed. Every choice we make — and they are truly our choices — are factored into God’s plan.
Because who knows? You get a phone call. So, this morning’s lesson is not about “how to be a good mother”. And as you can imagine, it’s always you that ends up getting stuck trying to move the couch through the door. The first thing we can all do is make some changes to our routines that prioritizes the health and safety of those most at risk of dying from COVID-19 in our communities. Imagine the kind of barriers that that could have been for a minority or for someone who doesn’t necessarily fit that description. These are divisive times. The feet of those that preach the gospel of peace. Moms, today we honor you. There’s a lot there in that text. [And the Lord responds.] Even Jesus was 30 years old before he began his public ministry. The most dangerous deceit is more subtle. escape. Some of us are born for a lifetime of public recognition; but most of us are not. We need subtlety, discretion, understanding, problem-solving. “For Such A Time As This!” A time for the true Christian to stand! Meaning, he can see the work of God in the smallest of things. You’ve probably heard of them, maybe not put in exactly that way. But we tend to push things apart and put them each in their own category. Altogether, nine long years filled with endless days of routine activity in the palace. And her wisdom is better than all our desires.
That’s why in the New Testament, Paul and James and John over and over again tell us, “Don’t be deceived, my brothers and sisters. We’re all a lot like Esther in that none of us have everything, but there are some things that we do have. Wisdom is critical to the gospel ministry, but I’m afraid we often neglect it, we minimize it. Aristotle, for example, said that there were five ways to come to the truth, and he put each one in a separate box with very little overlap.
Now, there are some scholars that say, “Well, okay, but see, wisdom in Hebrew started out as a practical thing because that’s early on there in the Bible. The serpent was more crafty or subtle or shrewd/cunning than any beast of the field. This morning I’d like for you to be turning to the book of Esther. With confirmed cases of COVID-19 in our community, Session and I decided to move worship online and suspend in person meetings until at least the end of the month.