Introduction
In a world as full, busy, over-committed and stressed as our own – an
era that is ripe with both opportunities and obligations – it is almost
inevitable that there will be times when we will feel stretched to the point of
snapping. And because we all have
important things to accomplish, I thought it might be useful to try something
out of the box this morning:
· So what I’d like
you to do is take a moment right now to recall the top five things that you
believe are essential to accomplish next week – the top five tasks or
commitments that you most need or want to get done in the coming week – the
really big ones, ok?
· I’m not going to
ask you to say them out loud or anything, just take the time to zero in on the
top five things you most need to get done and actually write them down so you
can see them. Are you with me: can you make a list of your top five?
Now once you have this list, I’d like you to do two things with it:
· First, try to
rank your top five most important things to get accomplished next week from 1
to 10 according to what is genuinely essential.
Think of it like this: rate your
pressing commitments according to the consequences that will happen if you do not
complete something – who will be affected – what will change or happen if
it doesn’t get done? (David Lose, workingpreacher.com)
·
And second,
knowing that you have your list of essential commitments in hand, try to assign
a value to this: how important is it
next week for you to hear – and know – that you are loved by God and valued as beloved?
Not for all the things you do, but just
for being you? “Or maybe you could think
about how much you would want those closest to you – your children, siblings,
best friends – to hear and know how much they are loved and valued just for who
they are – not for what they do either – but just for being their own sweet selves?”
(Lose @ workingpreacher.com) How
important – from 1 to 10 – is that?
What did you discover – or experience –
in this experiment? For me it didn’t take away any of the things
I need to accomplish – I still have work to do, people to visit and tasks to
complete – but it helped me realize what else I need to factor into this
week: taking time to feel and know that
I am God’s beloved. And letting those I
love know I love them dearly, too.
That is what is at the heart of today’s story of Mary and Martha –
learning and practicing how to live in balance with God’s grace - rather than getting caught up as the story says
in worry and distraction. And what a
useful gift this knowledge and practice can be, don’t you think? So let me share a few insights with you that
I found valuable from this scripture and then we’ll talk about why it matters.
Insights
You might recall from last week that I mentioned it is helpful when
making sense of a particular Bible story to place it within the bigger story of
each gospel. And this is true in spades
when we look at what Luke was trying to communicate to us in the story of Mary
and Martha because it comes right after the parable of the Good Samaritan.
In that lesson, the emphasis is on doing
– go and live as a neighbor to the world – Jesus even concludes the story by
saying: go and do this wherever you
are. In the Mary and Martha story,
however, one of the things Jesus emphasizes is not doing – only one thing is required, he says, and that is to
rest and reflect like Mary at the feet of the Lord. So what is it – what’s going on?
· Remember both stories take place just after
Jesus has announced that he must go to Jerusalem to face the Cross and die –
which is a not so subtle clue that the stakes have gone up here - so we really
need to pay attention if we’re going to make sense of he wants us to know –
especially because it all sounds so paradoxical.
· So what does the
context of this story tell you about living into the rhythm of God’s grace when
held in tension with the Good Samaritan story?
Could it have something to do with the wisdom expressed in the Hebrew
Bible as “to everything having a season?”
How does Ecclesiastes 3 put it?
For everything there is a season, and a
time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a
time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a
time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and
a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to throw away
stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to
refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and
a time to throw away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep
silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for
war, and a time for peace.
It seems to me that one of the useful insights from this text and its
context has to do with balance – sometimes we’re in a time for doing and
sometimes we’re not – sometimes we need to rest and sometimes we need to act –
sometimes we need to speak and sometimes all that is needed is silence. And a healthy and holy life is NEVER about
just one or the other time but how they all fit together in balance with one
another.
· So based upon our
opening list, how goes it for you: do
you have a life that is balanced between doing and resting? Acting in useful and loving ways and letting
yourself be nourished by God’s love and grace?
· What gets in the
way of being balanced for you?
Now here’s where I think the story of
Mary and Martha cuts deep because it gives us two more clues about how to live
in balance. First, let’s get this out of the way: I think we need to say that BOTH Mary AND
Martha are essential in our lives, right?
One is not better than the other – and both are essential to us as
individuals, congregations and communities.
Think about it:
· While Mary sat at
the Master’s feet in study and reflection, what was Martha doing? She was preparing food – she was practicing
hospitality – a time honored spiritual commitment that is absolutely essential
for everyone’s well-being, right?
· What’s more, caring and feeding a guest was
believed to be a form of physical or embodied prayer. Think back to the Old Testament story this
morning of Abraham and Sarah and the angels who came disguised as a guest: what was the first thing to happen in this
story but that Sarah went to the kitchen and started to prepare some food. To be generous and intentional about your
hospitality was a spiritual commitment that ran deep in the spirituality of
Israel.
So much so that we are told in Hebrews 13: Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by
doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. For
when Abraham and Sarah extended hospitality to a stranger, they experienced
communion with one of the Lord’s angels.
In our text, Martha is performing a profound spiritual discipline by
fixing a mmfortable place.
· When it comes to
balance, Mary isn’t better than Martha – both are important – and we need them
both. So let me ask you, who do you
favor or resemble more at your core:
Mary or Martha?
· People are
different, right? And some of us are
intuitive by nature and some of us seek a more extroverted way of being; some
of us tend more towards contemplation and quiet while others are clearly more
action oriented. So how goes it for
you? At your core, who are you more
like: Mary or Martha?
Knowing and honoring this can be useful
in creating balance: that’s one insight. Another is
this: based upon the words of the Bible
it appears that Jesus scolds Martha for not resting and listening. And that is how this story is usually
taught: Mary is better because she sits
and listens. But here’s what I think is
really going on when he says “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by
many things and in this moment there is only one thing that is needed.”
He is NOT chiding her for being busy or offering hospitality, but
rather for being worried and distracted while DOING the work of caring and
feeding. Do you grasp the difference? Offering
hospitality is a beautiful thing – and if you are single minded about it –
making supper can be a prayer – a way of expressing love and compassion. I’ve experienced that sometimes just setting
a table: knowing how the beauty of the
meal will turn something simple into a feast for those I love is a joy for me
and I want to do it.
I’ve also known the opposite, too – resenting or worrying about my food
or house cleaning until I’m a wreck – and I think THIS is what Jesus was
concerned about: Martha was so
distracted by the tasks and chores, that she wasn’t really present. As the text says she was worried and
distracted… so much so that she forgot that Jesus was preparing to head into
Jerusalem to face his passion and the Cross.
Not only was she so distracted that she wasn’t able to listen to her
guest, but she totally forgot what he was getting ready to endure. In this, her commitment to hospitality became
part of the sickness rather than the cure.
· What do you think
about that: is any of it valuable?
· Will it make any
difference in how you prioritize your commitments next week?
Conclusion
If the wisdom of Scripture – and the practices of Sunday morning –
isn’t useful, we should just give up on the Church and stay at home on Sunday
morning. If, however, they can help us
live a more balanced and compassionate life, then they are a gift from God
filled with truth and grace. Let’s see
how it goes this week, ok and we’ll check back in on the next Sabbath?
No comments:
Post a Comment