Today’s Scripture Reading (August 12, 2017): Esther
3
One of the gravest sins of society is being
different. We are pressured to conform at every turn – and ostracized if we
refuse. We want people to believe like us, act like us and especially dress
like us. One of the criticisms that I often hear
from mainstream people within the culture that I live is that if you are going
to live in our country, adopt our customs. And so we have fought over whether it is appropriate to wear a
turban while on duty as a police officer or in military service. Never mind
that the turban is a symbol of the concept that we are willing to accept
ourselves the way that God has created us. Wearing a turban is wrong because I don’t wear a turban. (Okay, self-confession
time. There have been times when I have so wanted to wear a turban just to see how people would treat me,
to walk a mile in my turban wearing
friend’s shoes.) We reject the burqa, especially with the full face covering,
not recognizing the demands of modesty made by cultures different from our own.
Of course, the burqa with the full face covering has also been misused by terrorists providing a different
reason for its ban. And so that conversation
becomes a legitimate safety issue, but it
sometimes becomes a challenging task to know where to draw the line between public
safety and personal modesty.
The Jews were different. There are two things to
note in this passage. First, even though the return from the Babylonian exile
was now fully underway, many Jews had made the decision not to go home. They had recreated their lives, formed
friendships, married and had children, and built their homes away from Judah.
While Babylon had been a foreign land for their parents and grandparents, the
reality was that now, for these children of Israel, the foreign land was Judah.
It is also apparent that the Jews had been at
least partially assimilated into society – they had been dispersed among the people.
But they were also different. In some ways they kept
separate. It is likely that they tended to marry among their people, and worship their own God. And so when
the command was made to bow down to the king, this group of assimilated and yet
separate people refused. It violated their idea of honoring only their God. They
would bow down only to him.
And this act made them not only different but dangerous. In times of national
struggle, for whom would they fight. By not bowing down to the King, they were seen as not having allegiance to the King.
As well, because they would not bow down to the king meant that they would also
not bow down to the national gods. As a result, these gods might not come to
the defense of the Empire in times of need – a penalty visited on the Empire
because they tolerated these different people. And so, the attitudes of this
separate people could not be tolerated.
Haman’s issue specifically was with Mordecai of the
Jews. But what he had in mind was the genocide
of a people that were different from him.
And in society then, as now, being different is a sin for which there is often
little forgiveness.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Esther 4
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