She Said No: The Story of Vashti

Here's a biblical character you may not have heard of.  She is remarkably relevant for today.  Read chapter one of the Book of Esther

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Transcript

Sermons from Mission Hills UCC

San Diego, California

Rev. Dr. David Bahr

david.bahr@missionhillsucc.org

 September 29, 2024

“She Said No:  The Story of Vashti”

The Book of Esther, chapter 1 – Common English Bible

 Once upon a time, long, long ago, there was a powerful man who was easy to manipulate when his ego was stroked and, when not being flattered, throw temper tantrums completely out of proportion with the situation.  Despite this, King Ahasuerus was remarkably successful.  He controlled all the land from India to Ethiopia – 127 provinces in all.  

In the third year of his reign, he decided to throw a big celebration.  But, not just big.  It was huge.  He threw a six-month long party for leaders from all 127 provinces.  He brought them to his capital city to show off his riches and beautiful treasures to prove how great he was.  At the end of six months, he threw a banquet that lasted for seven days.  No expense was spared.  As the Bible says in great detail:  The royal palace was draped in white linen curtains.  Purple hangings were held up by shining white and red-purple ropes tied to silver rings and marble posts.  Gold and silver couches sat on a mosaic floor made of gleaming purple crystal, marble, and mother-of-pearl.  They served wine in cups made of gold, each cup with its own unique design.  For seven days, the royal wine flowed.  The king made sure there was plenty – and the rule was – no limits.  Give each guest, all of them men, as much as they want.  In the meantime, the queen hosted her very own celebration for the women of the kingdom.  Sadly, we are given no details of their decorating choices, no indication of anything more tasteful than gold couches.

On the seventh day, as the well-lubricated king continued to brag about his riches and boast about all of his beautiful possessions, he realized he had one more thing he wanted to show off.  He was “in high spirits” when he called his personal servants – seven eunuchs – and told them to summon the queen.  Queen Vashti was gorgeous and he wanted everyone to know it.  In truth, he wanted them to compliment him for having such as smokin’ hot babe for a wife.  Well, that line isn’t in scripture, but you just know that was what he was thinking, very rationally of course, at the end of a seven-day binge of a six-month long party.

So, the eunuchs went to the queen and explained that she was to appear before the king wearing her crown.  Queen Vashti gave a hard pass.  She knew what he meant:  Come parade yourself in front of a bunch of men who have been drinking for a week so that I can brag, not about you, but about me, me, me.  And wear your crown, which scholars have explained meant wearing “only” your crown.  She flat out refused.  The king boiled with rage.  How dare she!  He was furious and embarrassed and gathered advisors to discuss the best way to deal with the situation.  “What should I do with Queen Vashti since she didn’t do what I ordered?”  Everyone piped in with their own ideas.

Then Memucan spoke up – one of the seven most important people all the way from Persia to Media.  “Sir, the queen hasn’t just wronged you.  She has done wrong against all the officials and people in every one of your provinces.  Just think about it.  When news gets out, all the women of the kingdom will look down on their husbands.  They will say, the king ordered his servants to bring Queen Vashti before him, but she refused.  He can’t control her.  This very day, when the women of Persia and Media hear about what the queen did, they will tell the royal officials the same thing and there will be no end of put-downs and arguments.”  

There were a lot of men listening to this and nodding their heads and murmuring “yeah.  Yeah, she has done us all wrong.  Your highness the most, of course, but yeah, she’s a threat to our way of life!”  

Memucan let the men spin out of control and agitate the king and then he spoke up again.  “So, if it pleases the king, send out a royal order and have it written into the laws all across the kingdom, laws that no one can change.  It should say that Vashti will never again come before the king.  It should also say that the king will give her royal palace to someone better than she.”  A chorus of chants began:  “Kick her out.  Kick her out.”

Now we might ask, why would you write that into the laws all across the kingdom?  It’s only directed against one person.  It only applies to Vashti.  But here’s why:  “When the order becomes public in every province, all women, rich, poor, and in between, will treat their husbands properly.” 

Everyone turned to see what the king would say.  “I like it!”  And he sent written orders to every province in their own alphabet and their own language.  It said, “Men will decide what happens to women.”  Well actually it said, “Every husband shall rule over his own house.”  But as you can see, once upon a time, everything ended happily ever after.  

The six-month long party was over and everyone went home.  After he sobered up, the king’s anger lessened and he thought about his wife and what she had done.  And what he had done.  I’m not sure you could say that he regretted his actions, but he certainly missed her.  As he moped around the palace, his advisors sensed weakness arising and presented him with a plan.

“What do you think about this?  Let us search for the most beautiful young women between India and Ethiopia and bring them back to the royal palace.  Then you can choose a new queen from among them.  “I like it!”  What’s not to like, until they explained he would have to wait an entire year.  “Before they meet you, we will have your chief eunuch provide them with beauty treatments.  Six months of treatment with pleasant-smelling creams and six months with fragrant oils and other treatments.”  

Again, the king liked the idea.  They promised him that the one who pleased him, which I don’t really want to explain; the one who pleased him the most would become his next queen.  Her story is next week.

But all this waiting left him time to think about whether he did the right thing by Vashti.  Vashti also had plenty of time to think about whether she had done the right thing for herself.  She was banished from the palace and became a pariah from India to Ethiopia.  She lost her crown, her prestige, her privilege…  Was it really worth it?  Would she do it again?  

And suddenly this “once upon a time” story is one that actually deals with real questions we struggle with even today.  Questions like, when is the right time to speak up and when is the right time to remain silent.  What are the costs and consequences?  And are we prepared to pay them?  

How did Vashti decide, “this is where I finally draw the line.”  You see, this wasn’t a tantrum, an act of defiance, as much as a final “enough.”  Perhaps she asked, as poet and activist Audre Lorde did, “What are the tyrannies you swallow day by day and attempt to make your own, until you will sicken and die of them, still in silence.”  Vashti certainly didn’t decide to defy an order of the king without having first been pushed to her limit, and certainly aware of what would happen to her.  But, perhaps even more so, aware that the women at her party, and their daughters, were watching what she would do.  And that mattered.  That matters.

Very few people have ever heard of Vashti.  If anything, she’s just the setup, the prequel to the story of Esther.  For centuries, Vashti’s story has simply been told, by men, that she deserved what happened to her.  She was disobedient and got the punishment coming to her.  Fortunately, such sentiments are changing, at least a little.  For some, Vashti has even become an icon.  I agree.  We need people like her.

It’s like Dr. Anna Florence Carter said:  “It’s a funny thing.  We don’t have many role models in the Bible for saying no.  We tend to think of faith as saying ‘yes.’”  Yes, here I am.  What if we recognized that no is just as faithful an answer.  Because otherwise, sometimes the tyrannies we swallow day by day might cause us to sicken and die.  What if, for example, we embraced that sometimes it takes “no” to finally lead us in the direction we should go?  Aware of the costs, aware that others are watching – especially our children.

This may, in fact, be your story.  A story for every person, for example, who has had to weigh their job against their self-respect.  Choosing between what you’re asked to do and what is right to do.  It’s a story for every person who has ever felt their integrity called into question.  It’s a question sometimes people have to ask of their friendships and relationships and sometimes there is a point when we must finally must ask it of our marriage – cost and consequence and all.  

This is a story when we are confronted with injustice.  Movements don’t come out of no where.  When enough people say enough.  When have you said, when must we say, can I, should I, just go along with what is happening in our country, with what is happening in our world, or not.  This is just such a time of reckoning.  Do I stay silent?  A good time to ask:  What would Jesus do.  Seriously.  What would Jesus do.

Frederick Douglas said, “I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and incur my own abhorrence.”  Vashti chose self-respect for the purchase price of dignity.

The king didn’t just order Vashti to come and say hi to his guests.  After trying dazzle everyone with his riches for six months, he had one last “possession” to boost his ego, to prove his manhood.  He ordered Vashti to humiliate herself, to put herself on display wearing only her crown, to walk in front of men who had been drinking for seven days.  

Our choices are not usually that extreme, maybe not that obvious, but situations that question our integrity and self-respect are not that uncommon.  “Here is where I draw the line” is a faithful decision.  No is a good thing.  

And should we not also have a “here is where I draw the line” for how our neighbors are treated too?  That whole “love your neighbors as much as you love yourself” Jesus-thing requires no sometimes.  Enough.

So, here’s to Vashti, a new role model – 2,600 years later.  The time had come.  She said no.  Has that time ever come for you?  Is it maybe now?