THIS WEEK’S PASSAGE Esther 2:7-18
BACKGROUND PREPARATION You will need: 40 random objects, a table, means of playing music and a DVD or video, Bibles.
Ten of the same
10 mins
Arrange 25 random objects on a table, and cover them with a tablecloth before the session starts. Have another 15 spare objects hidden for the second part of the game. Ask for three contestants and send two out of the room till it’s their turn. The player has 15 seconds to look at the table of 25 random objects. They are then blindfolded while 15 of the initial 25 objects from the table are removed and replaced with the spares you’ve prepared and hidden earlier. The blindfold is removed and the player must identify which ten of the 25 items now on the table have remained since the first time they saw it. The winner is the person who gets the most objects correct.
Changes
5 mins
Some changes can be huge and noticeable, while others can be small and subtle. In small groups, ask the group to discuss what big and small changes they, or people close to them, have encountered recently. Encourage them to keep these experiences in the back of their minds for the rest of the session.
Background to the story
5 mins
It’s always helpful to see where Old Testament stories and events fit in the narrative of God’s people. The first five minutes of Mars Hill Church’s ‘Jesus is a better King’ video, the first installment of their Esther series from 2012, sets great context for what is going on here and is available in the links section of the Youthwork website.
Esther starts her journey
5 mins
Read Esther 2:7-18 as a group. In this passage we see how Esther came to be in the courts of the King. (You may need to explain that ‘concubine’ means someone who is legally lives with the King without being married to him.) After you’ve read the passage ask the group:
• How much control did Esther have over the changes to her lifestyle?
• Why do you think Mordecai forbade Esther from revealing her family background?
Three defining points
15 mins
We see many examples throughout the Bible where a person’s faith is tested by their reaction or response to change. Esther is one example; Peter and Joseph are others. Ask the young people to think of three moments in their own lives when they encountered major change - hopefully they’ll have one or two from the earlier discussion. Challenge them to explain, in less than five words, how they responded to each of those situations. It’s completely up to you and the dynamic of your group whether you do this as individuals, pairs, or in groups.
Superman Returns
10 mins
This clip runs from 1 hour, 4 minutes to 1 hour, 5 minutes and 37 seconds. In the clip, Lois and her husband are talking about Superman’s appearance, and Clark (using the super-hearing they’re talking about) overhears them. When they begin to wonder if he could be Superman, Clark waves stupidly to prevent them finding out his true identity. Later in the scene when Clark is helping Lois pick up things that have fallen out of her bag, his glasses fall off. He hesitates when putting them back on, showing that he wishes that she knew who he really was.
Say: Superman, as with most superheroes, is renowned for having a secret identity. Esther however, refused to have double standards in terms of who she was.
Ask:
• How easy is for us to be one type of person in one place and another somewhere else?
• What can we do to prevent that from happening?
• We see from later on in her story that God placed Esther into the courts of King Xerxes for a reason: to save the Jews from being killed by Haman. Can you think of a particular person or situation that God may be calling you to?
Prayer reflection
5 mins
It’s crucial to recognise with the young people at this point that, while Esther never complained or boasted about the position she was in, we don’t have to always display the same level of faith that she did for God to use us. In the same way Jesus didn’t condemn Peter for disowning him, neither does he condemn us. He wants relationship with us so we can discover and convey our true identity as his children. As the session ends, put on a song that speaks into this (e.g. ‘Coming back’ by Ben Cantelon).
KEY POINT #1
Esther did not forget who she was in a time of great change in her life. Suddenly she was being waited on hand and foot in the palace, so it would have been incredibly easy for Esther to embrace this new life and pretend that her old one had never existed. But she was created in the image of a God who is steadfast and faithful and - despite the challenges she faced - Esther reflected that in her life.
KEY POINT #2
One thing that is true with pretty much every superhero is that they are longing to reveal their true identity to those that they care about. Whether it’s Superman and Lois, Batman and Rachel Dawes (in the films) or Spider-man and Mary Jane or Gwen Stacey, as readers and watchers we get the feeling that our hero’s true potential won’t be met until they show who they really are. The same is true for Esther, as we find out later in her story. God shows us that living a secret faith, or having two identities - one Christian and the other perhaps less so - is not going to lead to us fulfilling our potential as his followers.
