Sermons from Park Hill Congregational UCC Denver, Colorado Rev. Dr. David Bahr [email protected] September 30, 2018 #WhyIDidntReport Esther 1: 10-22 – New Revised Standard Version On the seventh day, when the king was merry with wine, he commanded the seven eunuchs who attended him, 11 to bring Queen Vashti before the king, wearing the royal crown, in order to show the peoples and the officials her beauty; for she was fair to behold. 12 But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command. At this the king was enraged, and his anger burned within him. 13 Then the king consulted the sages who knew the laws for this was the king’s procedure toward all who were versed in law and custom, 14 and those next to him were the seven officials of Persia and Media, who had access to the king, and sat first in the kingdom): 15 “According to the law, what is to be done to Queen Vashti because she has not performed the command of King Ahasuerus conveyed by the eunuchs?” 16 Then Memucan said in the presence of the king and the officials, “Not only has Queen Vashti done wrong to the king, but also to all the officials and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of the King. 17 For this deed of the queen will be made known to all women, causing them to look with contempt on their husbands, since they will say, ‘The King commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, and she did not come.’ 18 This very day the noble ladies of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen’s behavior will rebel against the king’s officials, and there will be no end of contempt and wrath! 19 If it pleases the king, let a royal order go out from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes so that it may not be altered, that Vashti is never again to come before the King; and let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she. 20 So when the decree made by the king is proclaimed throughout all his kingdom, vast as it is, all women will give honor to their husbands, high and low alike.” 21 This advice pleased the king and the officials, and the king did as Memucan proposed; 22 he sent letters to all the royal provinces, to every province in its own script and to every people in its own language, declaring that every man should be master in his own house. The poet Muriel Rukeyser wrote in 1930, “What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life? The world would split open.”[1] That sure seemed to reflect the fears of the advisors to King Ahasuerus in our reading today. Let me briefly recap the story of Queen Vashti, the predecessor to Queen Esther. The king held a six-month long party all around his empire to brag about his vast territory – from Ethiopia to India – and his tremendous wealth. A party that lasted six months. The festivities came to an end with a week-long binge in which he instructed his officials to have everyone drink “without restraint.” A seven-day binge. You can only imagine a bunch of very intoxicated men laughing and telling stories and trying to one up each other, bragging about this and that. Well, the king had one last thing to display. His beautiful, very beautiful, wife, Queen Vashti. She was holding her own party for the women of the kingdom, but the King called her away and asked her to parade in front of the men so they could admire her and the men would envy the King. She was instructed to wear her crown, which according to some ancient traditions, meant she was to wear only her crown. How many times before do you suppose she had been asked, demanded, to do something as equally humiliating? This time, however, she refused. She said no. No doubt this was embarrassing to the King. But it was all those drunken men who really got worked up. They demanded the King must punish Queen Vashti or all the women of the kingdom would be inspired to disobey their husbands too. It would be a disgrace. A sham that destroys the foundations of our society. This became a dispute not only between one man and one woman, the King and Queen, but it became a necessary action to maintain their privilege. So, the King decreed, “Every man should be master of his own house.” Queen Vashti was banished. She was stripped of her titles and crown, her palace and her power. It was a very high price to pay. But with it, she purchased her dignity. Or, you might say, on behalf of women throughout the land, she did her civic duty. Among male interpreters of this text, a common theme is a matter-of-fact, no questions asked, “She got what she deserved.” In other circles, however, she has become something of an icon. In fact, some consider her the first feminist in literature or recorded history. Remember, this was six centuries before Christ. Drunken men at a party and a single brave woman – 2,600 years ago. I swear on a stack of Bibles that I did not pick this text on Friday. The Old Testament passage assigned for today is from the Book of Esther, but the lectionary does not include this story of Queen Vashti. That’s a shame. Another woman silenced. In fact, the lectionary assigns only one text from the entire Book of Esther in the whole three-year cycle so, months ago, I added the story of Queen Vashti. I’ve always been drawn to her story, even though it is equally inspiring and depressing. She found her agency, she expressed her power despite its limitations, and by her choice, she gave the women of the kingdom the faintest idea of a different possibility. But nothing changed. She introduced the idea that a woman could say no. For which she paid a very heavy price. Now, we must remember she was a woman of privilege. The vast majority of women would have been put out and left with no resources. They would have been abandoned by their father’s house too. Their very survival would be in question. Regardless, by her actions, Vashti told the women of the kingdom, you don’t deserve this. Vashti saw them and heard them and used her privilege. And while that may not have changed their station in life, it may have changed someone’s heart, mind, soul, and strength. And that matters. Queen Vashti bravely demonstrated to the women of her husband's empire that they were more than an object of drunken men’s pleasure. We’ll be talking for a long time about whether Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony was worth such a heavy price. Lots of “she’s getting what she deserves” for “ruining a man’s reputation and depriving him of the position he deserves on the Supreme Court.” How dare she question that, and a Yale graduate to boot? And of course, faced with questions like, “If it was really that bad, why didn’t she report it then?” Surely, she must be asking this morning, “Was it worth it?” Hours after she testified, which even Fox News declared was credible, eleven men decided her experience wasn’t worth one minute more of delay to investigate. One senator forced a one-week delay because two incredibly brave women dared confront a man in power. But really. Can we be surprised that such an allegation would matter when our president actually bragged to Billy Bush about sexually assaulting women? After that, nothing else seems quite so bad. Why didn’t she report it when it happened? Some of you, some of us, can answer that. Perhaps you read some of hundreds of thousands of heart-wrenching tweets, such as:
You’ve heard those and many more. Why didn’t I report? To who? Tell my parents? I wasn’t out, nor did I even know what that meant, but an experienced abuser saw it. I was 15 or maybe 16, coincidentally about 36 years ago. I can’t remember what year either, but I know exactly what I was wearing. Maybe I shouldn’t have been there – although, in my case, it wasn’t a party but a church musicians conference six states away and a very long bus ride back home. Maybe it wasn’t that bad. Maybe I deserved it. It was probably my fault. I have told exactly one other person in my whole entire life, so telling you today is surreal. And now that we’re putting my sermons on YouTube, that’s a whole other level of terrifying! But please understand the last thing I want to do is draw attention to myself. I really don’t. I don’t want any sympathy. This is not about me – other than to say I see you. I hear you. And to say about that whole trigger thing, it’s real and it went off big time with the hashtag “Why I didn’t report.” It brought up a depth of emotion that I didn’t expect. Maybe it did for you too. And I apologize if this sermon is difficult for you to hear. Just when I think it can’t get any harder to live in this country, it gets harder. But again, it’s easier to defeat evil in the light of day than when it hides in the shadows. I believe her. And I will believe you too. I have heard too many stories from too many women and men to question the credibility of survivors whose memories are crystal clear and foggy at the same time. And I don’t automatically believe her because I have taken a partisan side. I hate that it’s become whether Dr. Ford is believable based on one’s party affiliation. But I believe her. I don’t pretend to understand her pain or know your suffering, but I do know that feeling pain is a step on the journey to healing. One reason I am a follower of Jesus is that he is not unfamiliar with our pain. In the Book of Hebrews 4:15, it says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are.” Or, another version, “We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, too. He’s experienced it.”[2] In other words, Jesus is not above it all but with us through it all. And as his life demonstrated, I believe everything can be redeemed, even though it doesn’t erase anything. Was it worth it for Dr. Ford to testify? Watching the volcanic meltdowns of all the white men, hysterically shouting, whining, crying, what I do know is that “White patriarchal entitlement crumbled a little bit more on Thursday afternoon.”[3] These men are afraid and won’t let go without a very mean and dirty fight. But it exposed their terror that a new day is dawning – one that is more Open, Inclusive, Just, and Compassionate. Where Black Lives Matter. And Families Belong Together. Where Love Wins. And women are believed. It was painful to watch, but not because we too are afraid of losing white privilege or male superiority or Christian supremacy. It was painful to watch a woman put on display in front of a bunch of men, drunk on their power, playing games with her life to prove how much they care. But then again, it’s also hard to watch a butterfly break through her cocoon, but look what ultimately emerges. As the poet Muriel Rukeyser wrote in 1930, “What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life? The world would split open.” [1] http://the-toast.net/2013/11/01/muriel-rukeyser/ [2] NRSV and The Message [3] Thanks to Rev. Melanie Morrison for this language and the reference to Muriel Rukeyser’s poem
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