Sermon: The Missing Piece of the Puzzle | Pastor Tom Tewell

Esther stands in the Persian palace with a hard choice in front of her. Queen Vashti has been removed, Esther has become queen, and nobody yet knows that she is Jewish. Haman wants Mordecai and all the Jewish people destroyed because they will not bow down to another god. Mordecai sends word that Esther cannot assume the palace will keep her safe. Mordecai tells her that if she keeps silence, deliverance will arise from another quarter, but perhaps she has come to royal dignity “for such a time as this.”

Esther knows the danger is real. Persian law says that anyone who enters the king’s inner court without being called can be put to death unless the king holds out the golden scepter. Esther does not rush in on nerve or good intentions. Esther calls for fasting and prayer, asks Mordecai and the Jewish people to join her, and then says, “If I perish, I perish.” God uses her courage to save her people, expose Haman’s evil, and lift Mordecai up.

God puts the right person in the right place at the right time when God wants to do something special. Churchill’s walk up the steps of Buckingham Palace pictures that kind of decisive hour, when every lesson, book, and life experience has been preparing someone for a moment of calling. Westminster, Betsy Swedenberg, Salem Presbytery, and every person in the congregation have been brought together for such a time as this.

The jigsaw puzzle gives the picture its shape. Every piece may be about the same size, but every piece has its own contour, its own place, and its own role. The face on the front of the box is the face of Jesus. Galatians 5 names the qualities that ought to show up when people look at Christ’s body: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

God is the missing piece in every human puzzle, and people are the missing pieces in God’s puzzle. Esther never even names God, yet the footprints of God are all through her story. Fifth Avenue Presbyterian discovered those footprints when homeless neighbors began sleeping on its steps. God brought the need to the church’s door, drew the congregation into partnership with Saint James Presbyterian, and taught them to treat homeless people as children of God with dignity and worth.

The call to Westminster is not merely to admire the picture. The call is to ask where each puzzle piece fits: teacher, elder, deacon, usher, mission worker, neighbor to the poor, or perhaps someone called toward ministry. The face of Jesus becomes visible when God’s people show up, speak up, pray deeply, and take their place for such a time as this.

##

---

Key Takeaways

• 1. Courage grows through fasting and prayer Esther does not confuse bravery with acting alone. Her resolve is formed in dependence on God and in the prayers of God’s people. Fear may still be present, but fear does not get the last word when faith takes the next faithful step. [11:58]
• 2. God’s providence often hides in plain sight Esther never mentions God by name, yet God’s fingerprints are everywhere in the story. The royal palace, Mordecai’s care, Esther’s character, and the timing of the crisis all become part of God’s saving work. Faith often understands life going backward, when hidden mercy becomes easier to see. [14:53]
• 3. Every person carries a unique puzzle piece The puzzle piece is not valuable because it looks like every other piece. Its value lies in its unique shape and in the place God intends it to fill. Christ’s face becomes clearer when each person stops standing on the sidelines and offers what God has given. [07:11]
• 4. Need at the door may be calling The homeless neighbors on the church steps were not an interruption to ministry. They were the ministry God had brought directly to the door. God’s call can arrive in the form of a person whose need requires more than sympathy and calls for patient, long-term faithfulness. [17:01]
• 5. Dignity belongs to every child of God Homeless people are not projects, problems, or objects of charity. They bear dignity and worth because they are children of God. The church often receives more from wounded neighbors than it ever imagined it could give.
  
  ## [22:12]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [01:41] - Esther’s Dangerous Choice
• [04:50] - Churchill and a Decisive Hour
• [06:18] - Right Person, Right Place, Right Time
• [07:11] - The Jigsaw Puzzle of God
• [08:01] - Showing the Face of Jesus
• [08:26] - Esther Becomes the Missing Piece
• [11:35] - “For Such a Time as This”
• [13:21] - God’s Puzzle and Human Calling
• [14:53] - God’s Footprints in Esther
• [15:35] - A Church Looking for Its Place
• [17:01] - The Need That Came to the Door
• [19:49] - Partnership With Saint James
• [22:12] - Dignity for Homeless Neighbors
• [23:43] - Finding Your Puzzle Piece
• [24:45] - Brought Here for Such a Time

Bible Reading

Esther 4:10-17
Then Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to go to Mordecai and say, “All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law—to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.” And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”
[02:43]

Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
[08:08]

Observation questions

1. What does Esther say makes approaching the king so dangerous, and what exception could spare a person’s life? [02:43]
2. What two possible outcomes does Mordecai name if Esther remains silent?
3. What does Esther ask the Jewish people in Susa to do before she goes to the king, and what does this show about the way she prepares for a fearful decision? [11:58]
4. In the jigsaw-puzzle picture, what does each person’s unique puzzle piece contribute, and what is meant to be seen when all the pieces come together? [07:11]

Interpretation questions

1. Mordecai believes that deliverance for the Jewish people will arise somehow, yet he still calls Esther to act. What does this show about God’s providence and human responsibility? [11:41]
2. Esther does not deny the danger before her, but she fasts, gathers others in prayer, and then acts. How does this differ from simply acting on impulse or trying to handle a hard situation alone? [11:58]
3. God’s name is never spoken in Esther, yet God’s footprints are seen throughout the story. In what kinds of ordinary events or past experiences might a believer later recognize God’s quiet guidance? [14:53]
4. The fruit of the Spirit makes the face of Jesus visible in a congregation. Why might love, patience, gentleness, and self-control be especially important when a church responds to people in deep need? [23:22]

Application questions

1. Is there a situation in which silence feels safer than speaking up for what is right—for a neighbor, a coworker, a family member, or someone being treated unfairly? What would one faithful next step look like? [11:35]
2. Esther asked others to fast and pray with her before taking action. What decision, fear, or burden in your life needs to be brought before God with the support of other believers this week?
3. Each person has a distinct place in God’s puzzle. Where do you sense your gifts, experiences, or concerns may fit—in teaching, serving, welcoming, caring, giving, leadership, or ministry beyond the church walls? [23:43]
4. Sometimes the need God places before a church comes directly to its door. Who are the people or needs already close enough for you to notice, rather than waiting for a more convenient opportunity to serve? [17:19]
5. Homeless neighbors and struggling people are children of God with dignity and worth, not projects to be fixed. How can you practice seeing and treating someone with that kind of dignity in a concrete way this week? [22:12]
6. Which fruit of the Spirit do you most hope people see in you right now? What specific habit, relationship, or response could help that fruit grow? [24:45]
7. Where can you look back and see that God may have been preparing you through past joys, wounds, work, education, or relationships for a present calling? [05:57]