WHEN ALL IS LOST (27 OF 52)
Scripture: Esther 4:6-16
This content is part of a series.
When All Is Lost (27 of 52)
Series: Lectionary, Year A
Christopher B. Harbin
Esther 4:6-16
Hope is the last to die, or so we say. How often, however, does it not seem that hope is the first to die, the first casualty of conflict, chaos, and disorder. For some of us, the glass may be always half-full rather than half-empty, but that does not seem to protect us from losing hope all too quickly when we encounter frustration, anger, pain, loss, grief, and disappointment. When life just does not go according to our plans and desires, we are quick to give up on hope. How should we respond when hope seems all but lost? Is there a better strategy than just throwing in the towel?
The Jews living in Babylonian exile were in great distress. Life was already really complicated. They had been ripped out of their homeland a generation back. They were forced to live as a slave class to the powerful of the empire. They had to keep their heads down, bow to those in power, and keep from raising a fuss just to survive from one day to the next. There was no venue for them to seek a redress of grievances. Their overlords could not have cared mush less for listening to their cries, much less to doing anything to resolve the oppression under which they struggled.
Life was bleak. There was no expectation for an end of their exile. There was no hope that their oppression in exile was nearing any end. It was simply going to last into the future, unabated. Well, that was until the news of Haman's strategies came around. Haman hated the Jews as a whole and devised a plan whereby he was orchestrating their eradication through geneocide. Things had gone from bad to much, much worse. If Haman's plan went through to completion, there simply would be no Jews left in the Empire at all. If ever there was a time to lose hope, this was it.
Mordecai had a different take on the reality around him. His was not the notion of hopelessness. He was indeed in the depths of misery, grief, and ...
Series: Lectionary, Year A
Christopher B. Harbin
Esther 4:6-16
Hope is the last to die, or so we say. How often, however, does it not seem that hope is the first to die, the first casualty of conflict, chaos, and disorder. For some of us, the glass may be always half-full rather than half-empty, but that does not seem to protect us from losing hope all too quickly when we encounter frustration, anger, pain, loss, grief, and disappointment. When life just does not go according to our plans and desires, we are quick to give up on hope. How should we respond when hope seems all but lost? Is there a better strategy than just throwing in the towel?
The Jews living in Babylonian exile were in great distress. Life was already really complicated. They had been ripped out of their homeland a generation back. They were forced to live as a slave class to the powerful of the empire. They had to keep their heads down, bow to those in power, and keep from raising a fuss just to survive from one day to the next. There was no venue for them to seek a redress of grievances. Their overlords could not have cared mush less for listening to their cries, much less to doing anything to resolve the oppression under which they struggled.
Life was bleak. There was no expectation for an end of their exile. There was no hope that their oppression in exile was nearing any end. It was simply going to last into the future, unabated. Well, that was until the news of Haman's strategies came around. Haman hated the Jews as a whole and devised a plan whereby he was orchestrating their eradication through geneocide. Things had gone from bad to much, much worse. If Haman's plan went through to completion, there simply would be no Jews left in the Empire at all. If ever there was a time to lose hope, this was it.
Mordecai had a different take on the reality around him. His was not the notion of hopelessness. He was indeed in the depths of misery, grief, and ...
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