Out of Plum

I've recently read the book of Esther. Its remarkable in that it is the only book of the Bible that mentions neither God, worship or prayer. It's an encouragement for those of us who acknowledge the Great Commission but feel uncomfortable bringing God into every conversation. I cringe at some of the words and phrases Christians dream up to claim ground for God. "Godincidence" is one of them. This is supposed to counter the idea that things happen by chance. Rather, God orchestrates our circumstances to bring about his plans for good.

Far from bringing a fresh perspective it merely presents a narrow Christian world-view that is ill conceived and poorly constructed. I am fond of the idea of Jesus being the unseen guest. After all, Jesus said that where two or three of us are gathered together, there is he in the midst. On the other hand, it can sound a little spooky to think that an invisible person is constantly watching you.

Nearly every book in the Bible brings a different perspective about God, his people and what he is trying to teach us. Some talk of the inconsistencies in the Bible but most of these can be explained by contrasting the contexts in which the stories or lessons appear and that they are directed at different audiences with different perceptions. Finding the Bible difficult to understand is not, of itself, a bad thing. Life lessons that are difficult to master often bring the greatest rewards.

Through the book of Esther we are challenged to find God in the schemes and devices of a Persian king, a Jewish queen and an anti-Semitic nobleman. It doesn't even directly relate to any other book of the Bible, nor is it mentioned in the New Testament. It doesn't easily fit Christian morality (Esther is encouraged to be a concubine). Many of us, when we were introduced to the Christian faith, were encouraged to measure everything against the Word of God. Unfortunately the plum line we were measuring against was not tightened by a free hanging weight but by a flexible but fixed end.

For the plum to be true it must be free to find its own line. Too often we allow the line to rest, only to fix it in position because we are afraid it will swing. We then take that position to be true. With all the checks and balances we still need God's Word to find its own plum. We can then check our experiences and information against the truth. It may give us different answers from time to time but if we trust that its God's Word we need not be perturbed. Like the book of Esther we don't need to bring God into everything we do. Jesus said, "If you know the truth, the truth will set you free." If we allow God to be what he is then we can be free to be what we are.