Stroll through Scripture for July 5, 2026

Based on Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22, 29-32

The Narrative Lectionary gives us a quick stroll through the book of Esther.  The lectionary schedule has often fascinated me in how the readings match up so well with whatever is happening in our modern context.  On this occasion. We have the 250^th Anniversary of Independence Day in the US in our modern context.  And our scheduled reading is the conclusion of the book of Esther.  Both deal with tyranny – just in different ways.  Esther’s story is really a story of survival.  The Jews do not become independent in this story.  Our US story is full of both amazing aspirations and a complicated history.  

Preaching and leading worship on such a day is not easy.  Everyone who comes to worship will have their own expectations of what worship should look and sound like.  There will be some who come to worship expecting a full-throated patriotic type of service with flags, a sermon about God’s blessing on the country, and patriotic hymns.  And there will be others who are so frustrated with the direction of the country that they will want nothing mentioned about the anniversary at all.  And there will be a whole range of other folks who fall in between those ends.  This leaves any one leading worship in a no-win situation.  

Which brings us to Esther.  Esther was in a no-win situation as well – although a much higher stakes situation.  She’s enslaved, as are her people.  Her people have been condemned to death – a genocide that will take place unless something major happens.  Esther risks it all to save her people.  And it this story, that risk pays off.  At least in terms of continued survival.  The people remain enslaved, but alive.  

In the second part of the selected passage, we hear about Purim – the Jewish holiday that celebrates the Jewish people being saved from this genocide.  It’s a festival occasion.  Esther’s name means “hidden” in Hebrew.  It represents that God’s miracles and protection were hidden throughout the events of the book of Esther.  

Esther, like Ruth, the figure the Narrative Lectionary focused on previous, both offer us examples of women who were stuck in no-win situations, but remained faithful, risking it all for those they love.  In their stories, they break new paths, not sure where those paths will take them.  Maybe the Narrative Lectionary is trying to tell us something about how we approach not only the 250^th anniversary of this country’s independence, but so many of the conflicts that we face.