Esther 4:4 (ESV)

When Esther’s young women and her eunuchs came and told her, the queen was deeply distressed. She sent garments to clothe Mordecai, so that he might take off his sackcloth, but he would not accept them.

There are several interesting insights into the human psyche in this chapter. Behind it all, however, is the continuing sovereign care of God. One of the first things to catch my attention is Esther’s immediate response to Mordecai’s fasting. She wants to remove his immediate pain. Without asking why Mordecai is in sackcloth, Esther sends him clothes. Too often we settle for the quick fix, which doesn’t address the real issues of life.

Someone is grieving, hurting, suffering, or struggling in some way. The Scriptures instruct us to “bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal 6:2). They say to “weep with those weep” (Rom 12:15). Our natural tendency is to distract them, make them laugh, or cheer them up. It is true that sometimes we just need a fresh perspective, but too often we try to fix people without understanding what is really broken. For Mordecai the issue is the lives and future of his people. For Esther the issue is Mordecai’s comfort. She needed to ask some questions before jumping in with an irrelevant solution.

Our nation is fractured. There are many voices speaking to the problem without understanding the problem. The issue isn’t a black/white issue. What about the Asians, Hispanics, Middle Easterners, and Native Americans? They too are often profiled and treated differently. The issue isn’t a justice issue. We have been trying to legislate justice for years. It’s not the real issue. The issue isn’t even a moral issue. Yes, morality on several levels is being challenged and redefined, but that’s not really the issue either. At the root is fear. We are an anxious, fearful society. We have forgotten how to trust God.

Change frightens us. But let’s face it, change happens. Nothing ever stays the same. That’s life. The real issue is whether we step into a changing world with the faith that God is at work behind the scenes where he cannot be seen. Can we believe that? Can we trust him? We are running around trying to put clothes on Mordecai by shouting, “Black lives matter!” “Blue lives matter!” “All lives matter!” These statements miss the point. We are trying to put clothes on Mordecai by shouting, “We must preserve our political party at all costs!” That misses the point. We are trying to put clothes on Mordecai by shouting, “Put prayer back in school and the Ten Commandments back on our buildings!” That misses the point.

On a whole different level, we are trying to put clothes on Mordecai by preserving our youth as we inevitably age. We are trying to put clothes on Mordecai by distancing ourselves from death, hunger, pain, and discomfort. Let’s be honest, death still happens. Disease still comes. Pain still exists. We live lives of constant denial, thinking that somehow that makes us safe.

The point is that people are dying because an enemy has convinced us that we are safe even if others are dying. No one is safe. Whether we are talking about aging and disease, or political and social change, we live in a broken world. Change happens and no one is ever safe. Mordecai had to remind Esther that not even she was safe. “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews” (Esther 4:13). Our fear causes us to hide, or react. Faith moves us to do what Esther ultimately chose to do. She put her life on the line for others, but first she called them to prayer.

Esther 4:16 (ESV)

“Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”

Instead of shouting at each other, posting vitriol and anger, and reacting to reactions of reactive people, maybe we should be calling God’s people to listen, to pray, and to be willing to put our lives on the line for others rather than threatening the lives of others. Instead of reacting to pain, disease, and death by ignoring it as long as we can, perhaps we need to bear one another’s burdens. Maybe God put us here for such a time as this and we need to start listening to Mordecai rather than trying to clothe him.