Pentecost 9C
July 21, 2013
Luke 10:38-42
Grace to you and peace from God our
Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
In
a few weeks, our new Deacon, Sharon, will preach her very first sermon! (Yay!) So we
worked on it a bit together this week, and as I was trying to guide her, I had
to do some thinking about how I go about writing a sermon. We talked about not
only thinking about a text, but also reflecting and praying on it, letting it
speak to the human condition, considering what about this text makes me feel
uncomfortable, and what the gospel then offers to soothe that pain. Chances
are, I told her, if it bothers you, it probably bothers someone else, and will
be something worth hearing on Sunday morning. It was sort of a fun process to
think about, but also very convicting, because even as I know what I’m supposed
to do, I don’t always do it. (Busted!)
So
then of course I had to think about why I don’t always do it like I should. And
today’s Gospel text made that realization very easy. Sometimes it is simply too
painful to let the text highlight my own needs, to let myself be set straight
by the Word, and then to stand up here and talk about it! Sometimes I just see
too much of myself and my shortcomings in these stories we hear each Sunday –
and probably never more so than in this brief story about Mary and Martha. Two
thousand years later, it is still so contemporary.
Mary
and Martha are sisters, preparing for a most honored guest – Jesus himself!
Jesus arrives, and Mary promptly sits at his feet and listens to his every
word, as Martha continues to bustle around. I can imagine the scene: Mary
gazing adoringly at Jesus, soaking up his peace and wisdom. Jesus delightedly
sharing in this beautiful moment with a dear friend and disciple. And Martha,
growing increasingly irritated, being less and less careful about how she puts
down the dishes so as to make more and more noise, grumbling sarcasm under her
breath, making faces at Mary behind her back – who said passive aggressive
behavior is a modern invention! Finally, Mary laughs that sweet, carefree laugh
of hers, and Martha just can’t take it anymore. She slams down the pot of stew
and stomps into the room where Jesus and Mary are sharing their time together,
and bursts out, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all this work by myself?! Tell her to
help me!” She is indignant, and rightly so! Who does Mary think she is, just
sitting around like a slug? Would Martha have liked to have sat and listened to
Jesus? Of course! But this food doesn’t put itself on the table! And so her
most immature sibling rivalry tendencies come to the forefront: “She doesn’t
listen to me. YOU tell her to help me!”
Jesus’
response is not what Martha hoped it would be. Surely, she thought, Jesus would
take her side on this. He’s the one always talking about servant leadership,
after all. She had heard about the scandalous story he had only just told,
about the Samaritan helping that guy in the ditch. So if he was all about
helping people like he said he was, then surely he would side with her on this,
rather than her lazy sister.
But he doesn’t. Can you imagine Martha’s face when Jesus responds to
her? “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted
by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better
part, which will not be taken away from her.” Imagine her face. Something tells
me she did not take this response with a smile.
The
something that tells me that is my own feelings. My own shortcomings. My own
conviction. My own recognition: that I am Martha in this story.
“Johanna,
Johanna, you are worried and distracted by many things.” Yes, Lord, I am! So
you could tell? I mean, why shouldn’t I be, I’m buying a house, and getting
married, and packing, and anticipating another major surgery, and oh yeah, I’m
a pastor of your church, trying to lead your people the best I can… wouldn’t
you be distracted? Wouldn’t you be worried?
“There
is need for only one thing.” Only one thing, Lord? I find that hard to believe! Did
you hear the list of things I just gave you? Which of those can I put on the
back burner at this point? None of them! How can you say only one of those
things is demanding my attention right now? They are all extremely important!
“Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken
from her.” But Lord, Mary?? She’s just sitting there! She’s not doing any of the work,
remember how I told you? All she’s doing is sitting there and listening to you
and…
Oh.
And that, my friends, is where I am convicted by the Word.
And where I suspect many of you are convicted as well.
Mary has chosen the better part, to sit at the feet of
Jesus and simply listen. I could talk about this gesture as one of hospitality
– and I surely will in another sermon sometime. I could talk about this gesture
as one of love – and it surely is. But what I understand about this gesture on
this day is that it is one of discernment. To take the time and just listen to
Jesus, hear what he is saying to you and your life today, right now. That’s an
awfully tall order in such a fast paced world that puts so many demands on us.
And they are reasonable demands, too: feed your children, go to work, clean and
take care of yourself and your home, volunteer at these worthwhile
organizations, even, go to church. Martha’s demands were reasonable ones, too.
And yet, it is Mary who chose the better part.
So many of us identify as Marthas. In today’s world, it is
almost a badge of honor. People ask, “How are you?” and the answer is, “Busy,”
as if to say, “I’m important, and contributing a lot to the world.” The millennial
generation, which includes anyone born after 1980, is especially known for
being excellent at multi-tasking – you almost have to be, in order to get ahead
in this world, right? And yet, it is Mary who chose the better part.
What is it that keeps us from being Marys instead of
Marthas? What keeps us from taking the time to just sit and listen to God’s
Word? Certainly there is a time and place to be Martha as well… but if you’re
anything like me, you prefer being Martha because you find it easier to be Martha, to bustle around keeping busy,
rather than take some time to listen and pray. All those distractions keep us from our worries, and if we do enough stuff, enough busy
work, we don’t have to deal with whatever difficult thing is going on in our
heart. Because the work of the heart is hard work. Hearing what God has to say
to us can be extremely difficult, because often God doesn’t say to us what we
want to hear. I mean, if I could sit at the feet of Jesus and always be sure he
would shower me with affirmations and nice things and promises of prosperity,
then I think it would be a delight to be a Mary. But instead, when we open
ourselves to be addressed by God, make ourselves vulnerable before God, then we
might have to face the fact that something has to change. That something in our
life is not as God would have it be. That our focus has turned from godly
things to worldly things and human desires.
I know there are always things like that about my life,
because I am a sinner, just like all of you. And in prayer, in those times when
we truly just listen to God, we often have to face them. And that is hard work.
But even as this hard truth convicts us, God’s greater truth also nourishes us,
redeems us, and promises us grace and love and forgiveness. Perhaps we get so
bogged down by our worries and distractions that we miss that part. Perhaps we
get so turned off by the revelation of our shortcomings that we forget to keep
listening for the grace.
But friends, an encounter with Christ is always an
encounter with grace. It is always in invitation into relationship –
relationship with God, and by extension, relationship with others. It is always
an experience in which we are, finally, lifted out of the despair of sin and
into the holiness that is God’s love and forgiveness. An encounter with Christ
is always a promise that we are God’s beloved children, not because of what we
can get accomplished on any given day, or what important worries and
distractions are driving us, but because God claimed us as God’s own, promising
to be with us from now to the end of time. And that is something worth sitting
at the feet of Jesus to hear.
Let us pray. Gracious and loving God, we are worried and
distracted by many things, but there is need of only one thing: to sit at the
feet of Jesus and listen to his Word and his promise. Help us to choose the
better part, and to know that this will not be taken from us. In the name of
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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