At the end of our story today, God saves his people....once again! And Mordecai issues instructions to remember this event – this near-miss of a genocide – this day of salvation – and to remember it throughout every generation. This event is to be remembered with a festival named Purim, similar to the festival of Passover commemorating the Exodus from Egypt, as instructed by Moses – an annual festival, celebrated on Adar 14 and 15. And if the annals of the Persian Empire are correct, and the 12th year of King Ahasuerus was indeed 473 BCE, then next year, in 2027, if my math is correct, on March 22 and 23, Purim will be celebrated by Orthodox Jews for the 2500th time! Generation after generation, remembering the times when God brought them salvation!
As Christians, we're pretty good at remembering the Christmas and Easter parts of the salvation story, and for us, March 28, 2032 will be our 2000th celebration of Jesus' resurrection. But do we celebrate and remember our stories of INDIVIDUAL salvation? We celebrate the day of our birth, but do we celebrate the day of our RE-birth in baptism? [Louis will have July 5th as a special day going forward!] Do we commemorate the day God kept us or our loved ones from dying prematurely? Do we remember the day God brought us back from a crisis of faith, or started us on a path that lead to recovery? By intentionally remembering and giving thanks for God's saving acts, we build up our faith – and we build up the faith of each other.
Gracious God, help us to remember and celebrate all of the times you brought salvation to our lives, especially through the death and resurrection of your son Jesus. Continue to defend us and give us courage to speak, in Jesus' name....