Let us pray: Strengthen us, O God, to choose to live faithfully in all the situations we face. Make us bold and courageous advocates for those who are facing danger or risk. Help us be wise, persistent stewards of all that you entrust into our care. Amen.

How much do you know about the book of Esther? Are you familiar with the story of the heroine Esther, who gives name to the book? Do you know that it is the only book of the bible that does not explicitly name God?

You've heard a little of the story of Esther already this morning during the “Learning with Children” time. Esther was a brave advocate for her people. She risked her own safety to plead with her husband the king to save the Jewish people from genocide. While God is not mentioned explicitly in the whole story of Esther, it is clear that it Esther is guided by her understanding of God's desire for justice for her people and also by the sense that she must have felt that this was her time – a time to which she had been called – to use her position and influence as queen to take a stand. When Esther came out of the closet – so to speak – as Jew, she did not know what kind of reaction this would have with her husband, sometimes named Xerxes (the Greek name) or Ahasuerus.

Well, we know now how the story ends. The evil Haman meets his demise and Esther becomes a heroine for her people. She stands as a symbol of courage and bravery and an example of someone standing for a cause regardless of what might happen to her personally.

It's pretty easy to be a North American Christian these days. We don't live in a time fraught with stories of persecution. The strongest reaction we might face in wider society today is perhaps a bit of indifference. There may be the odd bit of ridicule, but we certainly are not being asked to risk our lives because of our faith.

And yet, the Christian story is one that is full of stories of incredible courage and bravery and yes, even martyrdom. It's a story we share with our faith ancestors, people of the Jewish faith. Much of the biblical story of the Hebrew people is the story of a people on the move seeking to find a place of security where they could live their lives without fear of persecution, oppression and genocide. We also know that we don't have to go back in time very far at all to know that the Hebrew people have continued to face these kinds of situations. I'm speaking of course of the holocaust and the terrible consequence that it continues to have on the history of a people with whom we share so much of a common faith story.

The story of Esther and the stories of countless people in the Judaeo – Christian tradition are ones which inspire us to acts of bravery, courage and commitment. But as I said, we live in a time which does not appear to call upon us to be brave and courageous. A question like the title I used for this reflection seems out of place in a time and place such as ours. How Far Would We Go? seems laughable as a kind of faith question for today. We may not talk about our faith story among friends and colleagues at work very much, but it is not because we feel our lives are at stake by so doing, but rather because it might cause us some embarrassment.

But I wonder How Far Would We Go? It's not a question I ask from some lofty moral high ground. I purposely made it a question that contains a collective noun that includes myself. I could have said, How Far Would You Go?, but I recognise that we are all part of this time and space – a time and space which in some ways finds the Christian faith languishing probably because it is not under threat, except perhaps from indifference or lack or relevance. What if we were asked to put our safety, our freedom, even our lives on the line in defense of our faith? Would it change what we believe? I'm quite sure that it would cause us to reflect very hard on just what we believe – about life, about justice, about what's important in this life.

But let me ask the question anyway. How Far Would We Go? What would we risk our lives for? What part of our faith would cause us to set aside concerns for personal safety in the cause of a greater good, a good which is beyond our own selfish desires?

Some from among us have decided that being at war in Afghanistan in order to try and bring democracy to that troubled country is worth risking their life. While I can subscribe to the cause in some limited way, I must say that I am personally not convinced that military force is the way to do it. This does not mean that I don't respect the willingness of others to make that choice. I would hopefully – and I say hopefully because I don't know the true answer and I won't know the true answer until I actually have to do it - but I would be more likely to put my life on the line for the resolution of conflict through non-violent action. That could ultimately be a much more dangerous stand, the stories of Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., being two examples, but it is a cause I would be more willing to take such a risk for.

I very definitely would not risk my life in defense of the Christian faith as the only true religion. For one thing I wouldn't do it because I don't even believe it, and my understanding of the message and purpose of Jesus would not support that kind of stand, despite some of the ways that the gospel writers have chosen to quote him. I believe that Jesus did not die defending an exclusive faith. You can hear more about this this afternoon. I do believe that Jesus died defending the cause of justice – certainly his life: teaching and actions support this notion, along with his own ecumenical world view – a world view that sought theological and faithful insight from people outside of the faith community. I would be more likely to put my safety and certainly my name on the line in a similar ecumenical stand which allows reasonable people to practise their faith in a reasonable way, free from persecution, ridicule and legislated opposition. I would risk standing for issues of justice – and for me that is a risk that comes from my faith. However I say that with an awareness that I don't always live up to that ideal. There are many issues of injustice and I confess that I have not always done everything I could do to stand against the powers and principalities which can so often dominate our lives. While I don't wish for it, I also could hope for an opportunity which would lay the issues out so clearly for me that I would have no choice but to stand for what I believe. That's what Esther did. There were probably other times in her life when revealing her Jewish heritage might have been an act of courage that presented a risk to her personal safety, but didn't use the time. It's almost as if she was waiting for the right time – a divinely appointed time when her actions, her stand, her courage would be the most beneficial for the most people. We heard how that worked for her this morning.

When is our time? Is it now? And how far would we go? May the questions speak deeply to our souls with answers lived out in faith and action. Amen.