Take Me to the King, Rev. Dr. Eboni Marshall-Turman

0:53 I don't know about you, but I'm glad to be in the service one more time. After birthing those twins, I'm convinced that he didn't have to let me live. But I'm glad to be in the service. I give honor tonight to God who is the head of my life. God is the first and the last, the beginning and the end. The Greek New Testament tells us that God is the Alpha Chi Omega. God is the author and the finisher of my faith. To God be the glory. Great things God has done. to the under-shepherd of this house, the angel of this old ship of Zion, your pastor, the Reverend Dr. Howard John Wesley. I'm so blessed by his invitation to be in your midst on this day, on this weekend, to be able to worship in spirit and truth with this spirit-filled congregation. This service-oriented congregation is a privilege to my soul, and I am just overwhelmed with being here tonight. I give God honor and God praise for your pastor.

2:16 I want to acknowledge the reverend clergy who are in the building tonight, to Dr. Judy and to everybody else. There's a whole lot of y'all on the front row. Many that I know from across the years and also from Facebook and many who I am just getting to know. But it is good to see all of you. I was surprised to see Reverend Mark's name on your leadership profile. Reverend Mark was my student when I was at Duke University and it's so good, such a privilege to be able to serve the church by way of the Theological Academy. And now I must be getting old because now I go far and wide and I have students, former students, just about everywhere.

3:11 Every time I show up somewhere, I see one of my own in the place. And it is such a blessing to have walked with them in some capacity through their discernment of call and had a part to play in their formation in faith and now to see them serving church and society in their own respective ways. Mark, it's very good to see you, but God bless you all in the sacrifices that you make to serve at the pleasure of your pastor here. To the officers of this house, the deacons and deaconesses and trustees, I will continue to remember you in my prayers to this amazing... I felt like I was surrounded by seraphim and cherubim. I mean, you all sound wonderful.

4:10 You are singing the songs of Zion and lifting us higher and higher with every round. I give praise for the young people. The scripture says, suffer the children to come unto me and forbid them not. for of such is the kingdom of heaven. And certainly we have glimpsed that on this night. To all of the members of this house, the Alfred Street Baptist Church, and to all of the friends of the body of Christ who are here tonight, even many of my personal friends and sores who are in the congregation tonight, I greet you tonight as I would any other night in the name of the creator and in the name of the Christ and in the name of the Holy Ghost. Good evening. Nowadays, anything after 5 o'clock is late for me, so the hour is late.

5:08 Let us hasten to the scripture, which is taken from the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible, Book of Esther. I'll be reading tonight from the fourth chapter of Esther, beginning at the ninth verse. Esther 4, beginning at verse 9. A familiar passage I will be reading from the new revised standard version of the book. Hear ye now the words of the Lord. Hathak went and told Esther what Mordecai had said. Then Esther spoke to Hathak and gave him a message for Mordecai saying, All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, There is but one law.

6:14 All alike are to be put to death. Only if the king holds out the golden scepter to someone, may that person live. I myself have not been called to come into the king for 30 days. And when they told Mordecai what Esther had said, Mordecai told them to reply to Esther. Do not think that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from somewhere else. The text says from another quarter. But you and your father's family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for such a time as this.

7:12 Then Esther said and replied to Mordecai, Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will also fast as you do, And after that, I will go to the king, though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish. The word of the Lord is blessed. Shall we pray? Here I raise mine Ebenezer, hither by thy help I'm come, and I hope by thy good pleasure safely to arrive at home. Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God, and to rescue me from danger, interposed his precious blood.

8:19 Hide now your servant, O God, behind the cross, that in this preaching moment the people of God might not see her, but they might see Jesus and decide to follow him. This is your servant's prayer in Jesus' name, and the people of God say, Amen. I'd like to speak with you briefly tonight on the subject, Take Me to the King. Take me to the King. We all know the song. Tamela Mann can sing that gospel hit all day long. I will not be able to take me to the king. But according to just about, just about any game of chess, you cannot deal adequately with the king until you first know something about the queen.

9:28 For in the game of chess, one of the most popular games in all the world, the queen is the most powerful player on the board. I'm sorry, brothers. It is what it is. The queen is the most powerful player on the board. she is able to play the role of every other piece in the game. If she has to, the queen can move like a pawn in a straight line. If she has to, the queen can move vertically and horizontally like the castle. If she has to, she can move on a diagonal like the bishop. Or she can make a serious L costumed as a knight.

10:24 Now, don't get me wrong. The king, the king, is always the most important player in the game. But it's the queen who is the most powerful. For whereas the king is limited to moving one square at a time, the queen can jump from one end of the chessboard to the other end of the chessboard in one smooth step. Carl Carlton might say she's a bad mamma jamma. But the more dignified poetic imagination of say one Maya Angelou might equate the queen of the chessboard with the phenomenal woman of her prose. Pretty women wonder where my secret lies. I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model size, but when I start to tell them, they think I'm telling lies. Contrary to what women and girls have historically been taught about their secondary, subservient, subordinate, submissive, servile and sycophantic roles in this game called life. The game of chess. It first played around the year 200. It reveals to us something entirely different. In fact, it reveals that the queen, the woman, the feminine is the most powerful player in the game. And as I said before, you can't deal adequately with the king, you can't even think about getting to the king unless you first know something about who the queen really is, which is precisely why our text tonight places us right in the middle of Esther's story. Esther is the queen. We could spend a lot of time discussing the shady machinations of King Ahasuerus, also known as Xerxes, that went into making Esther

12:35 queen, like the sexual exploitation of girls or the devaluation of women to a base aesthetic. But that's another sermon. For now, all we need to concern ourselves with is the fact that Esther is the queen and the queen is in trouble. Even a queen has problems every now and then.

13:00 But maybe, maybe someone in here has their own problem and you don't even know how to play chess. But sometimes you feel like a pawn in someone else's game. Someone else is always in control of your every move. Your self-esteem perhaps has been so compromised by the game of life that you're always looking for someone else's approval, someone else's permission before you make your move. Do you think I should do it? Do you think it's okay? Do you think I look all right? And although God has already made a way for you, it was God who said, who told you in the first place, go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations. God has already affirmed you and told you, lo, I am with you even until the end of the age.

14:04 Although God has already said, whether you go right or left, there I will be in your midst. Although God has already made a way for you, you're still afraid of what other people might think. Maybe you aren't a pawn in someone else's game, but from time to time you feel like you might be the knight. You always seem like you're in the middle of battle, like Miss Sophia in the color purple. You wake up every morning thinking to yourself, all my life I've had to fight. And in fact, statistics show that women, black women, have been disproportionately subject to domestic violence in the home, sexual violence on the job, spiritual violence in the church. And though it has been said, the battle is not yours, it's the Lord's. Though we've heard it said, no weapon formed against you shall prosper. Well, it may not prosper, but the truth is sometimes it really hurts. So you walk around in fear because you don't know where the next blow will come from. Or maybe you're not a pawn or a knight in this game called life, but you play the role of the bishop. So holy.

15:33 so self-righteous always looking down on someone else you really believe that others should bow down and kiss your ring and though you've heard it said no ye not that uh the lord he is god it is he that hath made us and not we ourselves though you've heard it said i am the lord your god ye shall have no other gods before me. Your ego is on such a long trip that you worship yourself. Biggie said it like this, you get high off your own supply. Or perhaps, perhaps you are the castle in this game called life. Always on the lookout. You're worried about everything, always waiting for something to go wrong, living with all kinds of anxiety and fear that someone is out to get you, that something will go wrong. And though we have all heard it said, be anxious for nothing, but in all things with prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving, make your request known to God, though it's been said, trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not on thine own understanding. You're always worried about the end of a good thing. It's easy. It's easy.

17:07 It's easy to think we are the only ones going through something. It's easy, sisters and brothers, to believe that if we just had a little more money, if we had better clothes, St. John, or Lanvin, or Chanel, if only we had the right pair of shoes, red by, the real name is Louboutin,

17:43 Manolo Blahnik, the right bag, Prada, or Vuitton, the right spouse, Idris. If we could be a little bit more like him or like her, you know how we like to compare ourselves one against the other without knowing what he had to go through. Without knowing the choices she had to make, without knowing the burdens he has to bear, without knowing the bruises she had to carry. Mahalia Jackson said it best. Nobody knows the trouble I've seen. And the text tells us with no uncertainty that although everything may look good on the outside, everything that glitters ain't gold. Because the Bible says even the queen, Elizabeth and Victoria, Nzinga and Nefertiti, Even the queen has problems every now and then. Queen Esther had it all. She was the queen of the kingdom, adorned in majestic robes, surrounded by royal attendants. Queen Esther had it all, including a secret.

19:05 Now, you'll have to read the book for yourself, but in chapter 2, you'll see that Esther has a secret. She never told the king that she is a Jew. And someone here knows all about it. Because you've been carrying a secret in your quiver for years now. You've never told anyone the whole story. You never told anyone what really happened. You never told anyone how it really went down. And don't. Because you can't tell everybody everything. Everybody ain't for you. But Esther's secret is that she's a Jew. And in chapter 3, we find the king giving his second-in-command, Haman, license to kill all the Jews in the land.

20:07 It was, in a sense, an ancient iteration of fascism that has been repeated through the millennia and which we are witness to in the year of our Lord 2020. amidst the neo-fascist regime of the sick and satanic and diabolical and fiendish machinations of our current administration. Haman gave license. Haman was given license to kill all the Jews in the land. I'm seeing visions of those Tiki Torch boys in Charlottesville talking about the Jews will not replace us. Haman was given license to kill all the Jews in the land. We arrive tonight in chapter 4 to find Mordecai, Esther's cousin, who had raised her from childhood, begging her to intervene on behalf of her people.

21:18 Mordecai knows that Esther is the most powerful player in the game. Esther doesn't know it yet, but Mordecai knows that the queen can make any move that she wants to make. Have you ever in your life had someone who believed in you more than you believed in yourself? someone who told you, yes, you can do it, someone who told you you can run faster, climb higher, someone who believed in you more than you believed in yourself. Mordecai knew that Esther was the most important player in the game, and so he sends Esther a message. Esther, go to the king. But she's afraid because she knows that if she goes to the king, her very comfortable life that she's found in the corner of the castle might be severely interrupted.

22:21 Esther doesn't want to go to the king because she is afraid and she proceeds to make every excuse for why she cannot do what she's been called to do for such a time as this. And before we start pointing fingers at her, The truth of the matter is that many of us knows what it feels like to be paralyzed by our fear, to make excuses for our silence. We know what it's like to ignore the greater work that we've been called to do as people of the most high God. We sing Sunday after Sunday. He's got the whole world in his hands. But it's easier to sit back and watch as those with power beat up those who are powerless. We sit back and watch as the Western world devastates the environmental and social context of the African world.

23:21 We sit back and watch as the police devastate the lives of black children with guns and tanks and tear gas and jail. Like our ancestors before us, we sing, oh freedom, oh freedom, oh freedom over me. But before I be a slave, I be buried in my grave and go home to my Lord and be free. But we sit back as these corrupt politicians deal us racist and economically unjust policies that bully black and brown people and poor people of all colors. that restrict the life chances of the poor and bind the hands of our children. Like the black feminist Audre Lorde said, our silence will not protect us. Even though, like Esther, it sometimes seems easier to be paralyzed by our fear, I can't go to the king.

24:24 It sometimes seems easier to keep quiet in the face of injustice, but Mordecai would not let her off the hook. He comes back for round two to remind her that her silence will not save her from her secrets, that God's purpose will be accomplished with or without her. Mordecai says, Esther, don't think you will escape more than the other Jews. If you keep silence, relief and deliverance will arise from somewhere else. but you and your family will perish. But perhaps you are queen for such a time as this. Somebody here has been paralyzed by fear for way too long. You know that God has been calling you to a new thing. God has been calling you to go back to school, to take charge of that ministry. God has been calling you to step up your giving. God has been calling you to assess the quality of your discipleship. God has been calling you to the front lines of the struggle, to speak out against racial injustice because black lives do matter, to speak out against economic disparity because black lives do matter, to speak out against police brutality because black lies do matter. To speak out against violence against women and children because black lies do matter. But like Esther, your secrets are silencing you. Your secrets have you paralyzed with fear, making excuses for why you cannot answer the call that God has put on your life. You may have been locked up or strung out or turned out. You may be thinking, I didn't come from the right people. I didn't come from the right place. It's sometimes easier to be a pawn in somebody else's game than to be the kings and queens that you were born to be,

26:30 to walk in the calling that God has placed on your life. We say out of one side of our minds, with God all things are possible but then we are paralyzed by our fear and while we sit there looking stuck on stupid we say out of the other side of our mouths God can do anything but fail well I'd like to venture a theological wager tonight you know the church has me staying in proximity to the casino but I'm going to venture a theological wager All right. A theological wager. And it's not so much that God can do anything but fail, but it's more like God specializes in failure.

27:34 I'm going to say it again so you catch it. it's not so much that God can do anything but fail. It's more like God specializes in failure.

27:58 I know, maybe it's mean, but I know that there is someone here who has felt like a failure a time or two. But here's the good news. God specializes in failure. for in the life of the one called Yeshua Ben Yosef the one of whom Josephus the historian said they called Crestus in the life of the one of whom the baptizer said behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world the one of whom Simon Peter said thou art the Christ the son of the living God in the life of Jesus as gospel. We find a God who specializes in failure.

28:54 For it is written, see, that when it was all said and done, when he had been, the text said, crucified, died, and buried, when the book says the sky went black. And the rocks split and the earth did quake. When the book says he descended into hell to the very depth of failure, the text says that in three days time, God turned it around. What do you mean that God can do anything but fail? If God cannot fail, if God cannot do everything, then God can't be God. God failed. Destroy this temple. But in three days, I'll raise it up.

29:51 It means that although we fail, God can turn it around. The text says, destroy this temple. He was crucified, died, and was buried. But the old Baptist preacher would say it like this. Early Sunday morning, God turned it around. The song says it like this, late in the midnight hour, God specializes in failure. And therefore, for those of us who count ourselves as failures in Christ, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. I'm like Mordecai tonight to tell us that there are no more excuses. I stopped by to remind somebody that no matter where you come from, no matter where you've been, no matter who you've been with, you are a chosen generation. You are a royal priesthood.

30:55 You are a holy nation called out of darkness into God's marvelous light. God has anointed you for such a time as this. Not for tomorrow, not for next week, not for next year, but for such a time as this. That means right now. You have to do something right now. You have to rise up right now. And if you don't know what to do or where to go, I don't know either, but like Mordecai, I can point you to the king. Because even royalty, even royalty needs a king from time to time. Not just a king, but the king. For King David, he said in all his drama, who is the king?

31:54 Well, I can tell you, it's not who you think it is. David said who is the king David said it like this in the psalm who is the king of glory I can guarantee you sis it ain't your man you may call him king but it ain't your boo I can guarantee you that it's not Idris and it's not Denzel the psalmist said who is the king of glory? And Gardner Calvin Taylor would say it like this, the angel of the Lord came down and put one foot on land and one foot on sea. And he said back, the Lord strong and mighty. David said, who is the king of glory? And the angel said, the Lord mighty in battle. So I stopped by Alfred Street to tell somebody who's feeling like a failure, somebody who's feeling afraid and anxious and worried, lift up your head, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, for the King of glory has entered in.

33:16 And this king is called the king of kings. This king is called the lord of lords. This king is called the prince of peace. This king is called wonderful. He's called counselor. He's called the everlasting God. He was born in a barn and died on a cross and buried in a borrowed tomb.