On Sunday this week my friend and former seminary colleague Liz Fulmer preached a sermon about Esther, Haman, and Mordecai from the book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. At a key point in both the story in Esther and in the pastor’s sermon, there came the phrase, “for just such a time as this.” In Esther, chapter 4, Mordecai in response to a heinous decree about an impending genocide against his Jewish community reminds Esther that her position in the king’s palace will not protect her because she too is Jewish, but that perhaps, she could be instrumental in protecting the Jews. He posits that perhaps she has been given royal favor “for just such a time as this,” and thus it proved as the story continued to unfold over the next several chapters of Esther’s story.

That phrase remained in my mind throughout the day on Sunday, and continued to come back to my awareness in the next days as well. “For just such a time as this.” We are living in a time that is fraught with polarization, much of which has been incited by bad faith actors intent on stoking division, fear, and inciting violence. We are living in a time when telling the truth about history is decried as anti-American by right wing politicians, their acolytes, and political pundits. Ensuring that people are ignorant of history only serves to enable politicians to use fascist style rhetoric while engaging in stochastic terrorism by making up stories about Black immigrants from Haiti – immigrants who are here legally and who came to the U.S. because of violence and poverty in their native Haiti. It’s precisely the kind of rhetoric white supremacists in America and Nazis in Germany have used when they scapegoat people.

These same right wing American politicians and political commentators continue to make idols out of AR15s and other guns. They proclaim that the innocent lives of children are part of the cost of our God given freedoms to own lethal weaponry. In so doing they proclaim that it is perfectly acceptable and even laudable to sacrifice American children to Marduk, Mars, Anhur, Odin, and all of the other Gods of War, on the blood soaked altar of the golden AR15. Whose voices must be the loudest for just such a time as this?

Stoking division, perpetuating violence, slandering our immigrant neighbors, rampant climate change, dehumanization of the LGBTQ+ community, white supremacy, and hijacking Jesus for the sake of political power in the name of Christian nationalism are all rampant in America right now. Propping up dictators and genocidal regimes, using weapons of mass destruction, and selling them to be used to kill those whom Jesus called us to love continues with the complicity of both parties in power in the U.S. For just such a time as this are people who take Jesus seriously called. For just such a time as this are people who love their neighbors called. For just such a time as this are churches called.

This week, I had the privilege of interviewing Transgender Christian and prominent political activist Charlotte Clymer for the God Squad Pod. During the interview she spoke of her faith journey, political activism, and the frighteningly real dangers of Project 2025 if Trump and his acolytes get more political power in this election. At one point Charlotte correctly noted that there will be a lot of people who support the Christian nationalism movement who will be relegated to second or third class citizens once they outlive their usefulness as pawns for white Christian nationalism. White women with careers that support the movement, “get back in the kitchen.” BIPOC conservative Christians, “you’re no longer welcome.” LGBTQ+ conservatives, “repent and be straight, or else.” Like Esther in the king’s court, their positions within the conservative movement will not protect them. Who, for just such a time as this, will be there for them when they realize the truth?

Mordecai told Esther that she could not sit on the sidelines in a time such as she was living in. Neither can people of faith in our time. Neither can people who have even a modicum of concern for human rights and dignity whether they are people of faith or no faith. Neither can anyone with the kind of instant access to information as most people living in the United States do. Esther was bold. She took the kind of decisive action that we all should take for just such a time as this. Jesus demanded it as well when he told his followers that following him meant taking up one’s cross just like him. A tough ask for anyone with any sense of self preservation. For Jesus, pacifism and nonviolent resistance were not passive. nor were they particularly safe.

I frequently ask God what am I being called to for just such a time as this. Then the spirit moves and I find myself writing or speaking publicly about many of the issues mentioned above, the love of neighbor, and what I think it looks like to behave like a follower of Jesus in the 21st century. Doubtless, I could do more to use my gifts, talents, passion, and voice to stand up for the marginalized, the oppressed, and to renounce, repudiate, and thwart those who maintain the systems which oppress the “least of these.” I hope that anyone who reads this will begin asking, “what am I being called to for just such a time as this?” Or, “what gifts, talents, or time do I have to draw upon and give for just such a time as this?” Many hands make light work. In a time such as this, our local and global communities need all the help they can get in standing up for the marginalized, and in insisting that our political leaders put people and the planet over corporate profits. In a time such as this, millions of voices must be raised for peace in places that are plagued by war and where God’s children are being bombarded by weapons of mass destruction and genocidal attacks. In a time such as this, people must stand in solidarity with those who are being scapegoated by bigoted hatemongers, and be incessant in ensuring that there is always food for hungry children at home and abroad.

I believe everyone has a role to fulfill for just such a time as this. What is yours?