Pentecost 6C
Proper 11
July 21, 2019
Luke 10:38-42
INTRODUCTION:
Last week we
heard from Luke the story of the Good Samaritan, which begins with the
statement that we are to love the Lord our God with heart, mind, soul, and
strength, and our neighbor as ourselves, and ends with that famous line from
Jesus regarding being a good neighbor: “Go and do likewise.” Today’s story
follows that encounter directly, but today, instead of focusing on the loving
neighbor bit, we’ll see what it means to love God. In Martha we will see the
“doing” part of loving God that many of us are so good at, but in Mary, as she
sits at her Lord’s feet, we will see the listening part that sometimes comes
less easily. So as you listen today, look for anything that might help you in
the difficult work of listening to God. Where do you hear God? How do God’s
word and God’s voice become apparent in your life? What in today’s scriptures
speaks to you, or perhaps come through to you as something you need to hear
from God this day? Let’s listen.
[READ]
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| Velázquez, Diego, 1599-1660. Christ in the House of Mary and Martha, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=49140 [retrieved July 22, 2019]. Original source: http://www.yorckproject.de. |
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
While
I was at camp at Lake Chautauqua this week with a couple of our youth, I had
the chance to spend an afternoon at Chautauqua Institution across the lake and
hear Father Richard Rohr speak. Among other things, he spoke about the transforming
power of contemplative prayer, especially in the second half of life. Any of
you ever try contemplative prayer? It’s a way a praying where you mostly
listen, perhaps reading a passage of the Bible, finding a word or phrase that
strikes you, and then sitting with that word of phrase to hear how God is
working in your heart through that word of God.
I
find this way of prayer to be very difficult, for a number of reasons. One is
that I’m kind of a Martha – too busy bustling around to sit and be patient to
hear God’s word! Another reason is that, as Father Richard pointed out, this
form of prayer can be very transformative, and while I like that in theory, in
reality I know that transformation often comes after the Word weasels its way
into the heart to reveal our deepest pains and insecurities, the very things we
didn’t want to face. And that is very vulnerable and difficult, and well,
convicting. I don’t want to face the ugly parts of my heart!
But,
after hearing Father Richard, I thought, “Maybe I should try out contemplative
prayer with the Gospel text this week,” but then I looked at it and realized: I
don’t have to sit quietly in prayer very long to find the Mary and Martha story
to be convicting. It makes me squirm with the pain of of self-recognition right
off the bat! I can imagine the scene: Mary sitting at Jesus’ feet, gazing at
him adoringly, 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 – of course, I’ve never done any of those
things! 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 serving others, 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. “Martha, Martha,” he says, “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.” Oof, can
you imagine Martha’s face when Jesus says that? 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’ve got a lot of things on my plate and a lot of people to
love and care for. Of course I’m worried and distracted!
“There is need for only one thing.” Only one thing, Lord? I find that hard
to believe! Just which of my responsibilities can I put on the back burner at
this point? None of them! 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 see this as
an expression of hospitality, and one of love, but perhaps most of all I see it
as 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.” We even try multi-tasking, to get as much
done as possible (while, if we’re being honest, this results in doing none of
those things as whole-heartedly or well as we might if we were more focused and
intentional). And yet, busy and important as we are, 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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