This story today from the Hebrew Scriptures of Vashti and Esther confronts us with the questions that we, as children of God and as Christians, are asked to struggle with and give thought to in our lives:
* Like Vashti, when confronted with situations and people that force us to decide whether we will compromise our integrity and Christian morals and ignore what we know to be the right thing, when we are disregarded and disrespected because of our race, gender, economic background, or sexual orientation – do we have the courage to say ‘no’, and to stand up for ourselves and others? Vashti was really the original founder of the first #metoo movement. At great personal cost, she took a stand against the king, although he had great power over her – a story that is being echoed around the world today by women who are now stepping forward to say ‘no – this is not right’.
* And as Esther used her position of privilege to do good – how are we using ours? There is no doubt that as we look at our world – ours is a privileged life. Jesus later challenged us with the words, “To whom much is given, much is required.”