For Such a Time as This
Four Archetypes for Our Moment
Rev. Teresa Whitman
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Greeley
August 16, 2026
This morning, I want to take you into one of the strangest books in Scripture. I call it strange because God's name never appears in it, even though it is ten chapters long and holds an honored position next to Nehemiah in the Old Testament. And yet almost everyone who reads this book closely, walks away certain that God was in the midst of everything that was happening.
Friends, my goal today is to convince you that God is in the midst of everything that is happening with you. I want you to know that you are right now in the right pew, at the right time, in your own right moment on the timeline. And before we're done today, I want you to be able to find yourself inside this particular story because, whether you know it or not, you're already in it.
Rather than retelling the story like you’ve heard it a thousand times before, we are going to be focusing on the kinds of people in the story because without these kinds of people, there is no story.
ARCHETYPE 1 - The King
The book of Esther opens in the court of King Xerxes, a.k.a. Achash-verosh and Aha-suerus (I’ll say Xerxes because it’s easier to say).
King Xerxes ruled over the 127 provinces in the Persian Empire around 486 B.C.E. This was a time after the exile to Babylon when the Jewish people were allowed to return to their homeland. Not all of them chose to
return, but King Xerxes ruled over them all. This king was powerful, but perhaps not very smart because he was easily talked into things by his advisors. Or perhaps he is just tired of kingly responsibilities. Whatever the reason, he removed a queen on a whim and later signed a decree that would destroy an entire people group without ever asking who it targeted or why.
The King is the first archetype in today’s story. Do you know what an archetype is? An archetype is a recurring pattern or type in storytelling – it could be a character, symbol, or role. An archetype shows up across cultures because it captures something recognizable about human nature or experience.
This story has four main archetypes. As we learn about each one, I want you to be thinking about which one you most resemble or want to be.
The King is not a villain, but he is powerful. The King is comfortable in his wealthiness, complacent with his power, ratifying most of what is put in front of him without asking hard questions.
You don't have to rule an empire to be a King. Most Americans live like kings compared to the rest of the world. A father is like a king, as is a husband – sometimes the wife is king. If you are a king in your small realm, what kind of king are you?
ARECHETYPE 2 – The Enemy
Enter Haman — the king's right hand, and a man who cannot tolerate a Jew named Mordecai who refused to bow to him in public or in private. That wound becomes a diabolical plan. That plan becomes an edict.
The edict marks an entire people for destruction, all because one man's pride couldn't absorb a single refusal.
That's the second archetype: Haman is the enemy. He is an accuser, his pride is his downfall, he’s the one who turns personal offense into engineered destruction, being prone to lying and manipulation to get revenge.
Scripture names a spiritual reality behind that pattern — Revelation calls Satan "the accuser of our brothers and sisters" (Rev. 12:10). Haman is what the accuser looks like when he puts on a human face and carries a government seal.
I pray we have no Hamans here. Most of us will never be a Haman in the dramatic sense, but we've all felt that instinct to make someone smaller because they wounded our pride. We are like Haman when we seek revenge instead of letting God take care of the wrong that has been done. Examine yourself regularly to make sure you have not slipped into being an enemy to anyone except the enemy himself.
ARCHETYPE 3 –the Watchman
Now for the two archetypes that matter most for us this morning.
Mordecai is the Watchman archetype. He is a faithful witness. He sits every day at the king's gate, which is a place of honor and leadership, but not inside the halls of power. He is positioned to see, not to decide. And from that gate, he does three things:
He stays awake. While others are absorbed in palace life, we read in chapter 2 that Mordecai notices a plot against the king's life. Later, he's the one who notices Haman's decree when it would have slipped by unnoticed if he hadn’t been watching.
He risks his position to speak the truth. Mordecai refuses to bow to Haman, and that refusal costs him. This is the spark that lights the whole plot. He doesn't choose to stay safely neutral; he bows only to Yahweh. Haman hates him for it.
He calls others to action with precision. When the right moment comes, Mordecai sends a message to Esther with one line that cuts straight to the center of the issue.
The Esther Moment
What message did Mordecai so urgently need to send to Esther?
Haman was so consumed by his hate of Mordecai the Jew that he drafts an edict that will result in the extermination of all Jews in the Persian Empire, which included all those who had returned to Judea and those who stayed in Persia.
The King signed the edict without much thought, not knowing that his beloved Queen Esther is a Jew. Mordecai doesn’t have the power to reverse the edict because he’s too far from the power center, but he knows someone who is close enough.
Turn to chapter 4 to see what Mordecai says to Esther. Verse 14. “For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
For such a time as this. Hold that thought. I don’t know about you, but I found comfort in the assurance that it’s not all up to us – if we fail, God will find another way. Just know, though, there will be personal consequences for not stepping up to the moment.
Now, I want you to notice what Mordecai doesn't say. He doesn't say: "You have no choice." He doesn't say, "God guarantees this will work out." He just asks a question. He was saying, “What if the reason God placed you here — in this position, with these relationships, with this access — is for exactly this moment?”
Let Mordecai ask that same question of you today. Why did God place you here now? There is a reason. Is there a situation that is calling for you to be courageous, to step out in faith, and do something bold for God’s kingdom? Then, you and Esther have something in common.
Entering the Throne Room
Courage in Action
Esther wasn’t older and experienced like Mordecai. She wasn’t a watchman. She was young and out of her wheelhouse. Her job until now was to look pretty and please the King.
Her first answer back to Mordecai named the danger she faced. Look at verse 11 of chapter 4. “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s province know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law – to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live.”
Mordecai’s reply was the question that ended with “for such a time as this.”
Esther doesn’t act hastily. She calls the Jews to fast with her for three days. (vs. 16) After fasting and praying, she makes her decision. [“If I perish], I perish.” (vs.16)
Then she acts. She goes to the king. He points his scepter at her to spare her life. She names the plot. Haman is shocked and dismayed. She didn’t waste the position she was in. The story ends with her people being spared and the enemy receiving the punishment he had planned for his victims.
ARCHETYPE 4 – The Deliverer
Our fourth and final archetype from Esther’s story is Esther herself. By God’s providence, she was unexpectedly placed close to power. She had to move from concealment to visibility – from the queen’s quarters to the throne room. She had a choice to make.
I wrote about her choice in my book about Faith and AI. Here’s how I wrote it:
“She had a choice to make. Stay silent and live or speak up and die that her people might live. Facing one’s own mortality is intensely spiritual – for only the spirit will survive. Facing the mortality of every person you love, and every person loved by every other person, is exponentially spiritual. The real impact of extinction hits the soul like a freight train at full throttle. Esther had never seen a train, but she felt that kind of power in full motion headed toward a ravine with no track. Then Mordecai tells her she is the one who can stop a diabolical plot and save the people.
She had a choice to make. And so do I.”
And so do you, today. Did you find yourself in one of the four archetypes? Are you in a position of power with influence? Or are you fighting against other people, causing harm wherever you go?
Perhaps are you a watchman, someone who sees things others miss and is wanting to sound the alarm to the ones who can make things right? Or are you the deliverer, even the reluctant deliverer, who has been put in a particular
place at a particular time for a particular reason – all ordained by God?
Be Awake. Be Aware. Look Within. Look Up.
We have come to the end of our time together, for this morning. My prayer it that you have found much to contemplate from the story of Esther that applies to your own life. I encourage you to go home and read the book again this afternoon.
I’ll conclude with something I do every Sunday morning. After I livestream a short devotional message on Facebook, I these four short phrases: Be awake. Be aware. Look within. And look up. Esther's story hands us this exact pattern. And it is my call to action for you today.
Be awake — like Mordecai at the gate, noticing what others walk past.
Be aware — recognizing your own position isn't accidental.
Look within — Fast and pray, search your motives, use discernment before you take action.
Look up — the whole book of Esther shows God at work even though His name is not mentioned. God is not absent from your present. He is present in your present. In Him we move and have our being. Look up, friends. God is near.
Let’s pray…
Father, Son, Spirit – You are our God. You hold all things in Your hand. You sit on Your throne in this very moment. Nothing is hidden from You. No entity in any realm can overcome You. People untethered from You are making decisions that will surely lead to destruction. Protect us, Lord, from their plots, from their hunger for power and wealth, for control. We pray against the enemy who is driving their choices – bind him and thwart his plans that we may rise up like a mighty army without hindrance. Empower Your people today, Lord, to open their eyes as watchers, to stir up their courage, and to step bravely into this moment. May this message today ring in our ears like reveille does in a soldier’s heart. You placed us on the timeline right now, for such a time as this. May we each put on the full armor of God and enter the fray, in Your name and for Your glory. In the mighty name of the King of kings and the Lord of lords, Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.