The Book of Esther's First Flip

Esther 4:17, “So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther’s instructions.”

There’s a change that happens in so many relationship, parent-child, mentor-protégé… It’s a flipping of the power structures, necessary even though these are different than empire’s. They’re set up to benefit the younger or less experienced person, to protect and guide them, and are never meant to be permanent. After all the goal of any good parent or good mentor is to help you grow up, to grow into yourself and all of your strengths, so you can go out and do good in the world. Good parenting or mentoring means eventually sharing power and letting you take the lead sometimes too, turning the power structures on their head. Flip!

Of course, that’s not always easy. There’s a reason “paternalism” is a thing and is generally accepted as a negative thing - because holding onto that paternal/parental attitude too long is just another form of control, however generous we may try to convince people (and ourselves) our motives are.

We see that in Esther’s story, as she responds to Mordecai’s instructions that she go to the king, her husband, to plead for her people, the Jews, who are under threat of genocide. Perhaps for the first time, Esther positions herself in conversation with Mordecai as an equal, as someone responsible to share her concerns rather than blindly following orders. This is a shift, and as observant readers we may sense Mordecai blustering a bit at first - being a bit heavy handed in his reply to Esther. (Or let’s be honest, we may miss it, because mansplaining is also a thing that we’ve experienced so often, we become numb.) When we do see the bluster, perhaps we can do so with compassion - how human, after all, to struggle a bit as a relationship’s power dynamics change.

And within a few verses, Mordecai’s tone gentles. Instead of exhortation, challenge, we hear him begin to position himself alongside Esther in wonder. “Who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” This open ended, openhanded question invites Esther into mystery, into using her own spiritual and moral imagination to contemplate her way forward. Hmm - what could God be up to?

This shift into partnership, the first big flip of the story, seems to give Esther the boost she needs to step into action - to wholeheartedly take the lead, despite its perils. And Mordecai is now the one willingly carrying out Esther’s instructions.

vv. 16, 17 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.” So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther’s instructions.

How have partnerships like Esther and Mordecai’s encouraged you in important work and hard times? How might God be inviting you to steward your power more responsibly like Esther or more openhandedly like Mordecai-at-story’s-end, to build these partnerships so critical for the work of resistance?

** Brenna will be posting reflections like this occasionally on her substack as well in preparation for a book writing project over her summer sabbatical in July & August. **