FIRST READING Genesis 18:1–10a
1 The LORD appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. 2 He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground. 3 He said, “My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant. 4 Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. 5 Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on — since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” 6 And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes.” 7 Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. 8 Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate. 9 They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” 10 Then one said, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.”
PSALM Psalm 15
1 LORD, who may dwell in your tabernacle? Who may abide upon your holy hill? 2 Those who lead a blameless life and do what is right, who speak the truth from their heart; 3 they do not slander with the tongue, they do no evil to their friends; they do not cast discredit upon a neighbor. 4 In their sight the wicked are rejected, but they honor those who fear the LORD. They have sworn upon their health and do not take back their word. 5 They do not give their money in hope of gain, nor do they take bribes against the innocent. Those who do these things shall never be overthrown.
SECOND READING Colossians 1:15–28
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16 for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers — all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. 21 And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him — 23 provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel. 24 I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. 25 I became its servant according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.
GOSPEL Luke 10:38–42
38 Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. 40 But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; 42 there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”
WHAT REALLY MATTERS
I saw a joke on the Internet recently that I think many of the ladies here today can appreciate. It seems a man was praying, “Oh Lord, please have mercy on me, I work very hard while my wife just stays at home. I would give anything if you would grant me one wish. Please, switch me into my wife. She’s got it so easy at home and I want to teach her a lesson about how tough my life really is!”
God, as we know, has a sense of humor and decided to grant this poor soul his wish. So, the next morning the man wakes up at dawn . . . as a woman. This new woman takes a quick shower, then takes care of the rest of her grooming quickly so that she can make coffee for herself and her spouse. She feed the cat, makes lunch boxes, prepares breakfast for four, wakes up the kids for school, sets out clothes for the littlest one, puts a load of clothes in the washer, takes the meat out of the freezer and then drives the kids to school. On the way back, she stops at the gas station for a fill-up, cashes a check at the local bank, stops by to pay the electric and phone bills, picks up some clothes from the cleaners, quickly swings by the grocery store for the week’s essentials, and on the last leg home, stops at the post office to pick up a package.
By the time he, or should I say she, gets home, it’s already 1:00 p.m., so she makes the beds, takes the clothes out of the washer, puts them into the dryer and puts another load in to wash. She then folds and puts away the clothes that don’t need ironing, vacuums the house, boils some rice for a late lunch, goes to pick up the kids from school and argues with them on the way home.
As soon as she gets home, she feeds the kids a snack, puts the dirty dishes in the dishwasher and starts it, takes out a second load of damp clothes to put into the dryer, helps the kids with their homework, finally feeds the dog, watches some TV while ironing the remaining clothes from the first load, prepares and serves dinner, empties the dishwasher and reloads it, cleans the counters and stovetop and puts away leftovers. She then gathers up the trash to be taken out, gives the youngest kid a bath, reads each of the kids a story to put them to sleep, and pays some loving attention to her husband . . .
The next morning this man who had prayed to become a woman prays to God once again: “Oh Lord, what was I thinking when I asked you to grant my wish, I can’t take it anymore. Please, I beg You, switch me back to myself!” As he finished his plea, he hears God’s voice speaking to him, saying: “Dear son, of course I’ll switch you back into yourself now that you’re wiser, but there’s one minor detail. It’ll be nine months before I can comply. I’m afraid you’re pregnant.” There’s an old saying from previous generations, “A man’s work is from sun to sun, a woman’s work is never done.”
I guess some things never change; yet some things have. Women are now in the workplace as well. So now, women also work from sun to sun, but for many women, when they get home, the day has just begun. That’s why the biblical story of Mary and Martha can be a bit tricky for some women.
It’s a familiar story for most of us. Jesus and His disciples are in the midst of their travels and come to the village of Bethany. There, a woman named Martha opens her home to Jesus. Some theologians speculate that Martha was a widow because it was relatively rare in those times for a woman to own her own home, and this was a home evidently large enough to accommodate many guests. Martha also appears to have been an industrious woman. It’s possible that she had made her own way in the world, which was rare but not unheard of, in first century Palestine. Case and point, Lydia, the seller of purple cloth.
Martha shared her home with her sister Mary and their brother Lazarus. This is of course the same Lazarus that Jesus would later raise from the dead. During Jesus’ ministry, He developed quite a warm friendship with Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Recall how John in his Gospel records that Jesus wept at Lazarus’ tomb. Actually one way to translate the Greek language used in chapter 11 verse 35 is that “Jesus sobbed” at Lazarus’ tomb. All Biblical evidence tells us that Jesus loved these three very much.
Based on the language of the stories, most commentators assume that Mary was the younger sister. Nothing in scriptures actually tell us that, however, some interpreters assume that Mary was younger because Martha owned the home. Several base their supposed birth order opinion of Martha and Mary from their behavior. We often stereotype the older sister as being more responsible and the younger as being more free-spirited. Whether or not you buy into this stereotype would probably depend upon your experience with your sister or with sisters you’ve known.
When our story opens Jesus is teaching in Martha’s home and free-spirited Mary is sitting in rapt attention at Jesus’ feet listening to His every word. I think I’ve mentioned before that it was customary in the Middle East for students to sit at the feet of their teacher. However, what was unusual in this story is the fact that it wasn’t customary in first-century Palestinian Jewish society for a woman to be included among those students. What was normal in the ancient world, was that all of the adult women would have shared in the responsibility for preparing a meal, but it appears that Mary chose not to help. What’s even more interesting is that this account does say something about Jesus.
Surprisingly, Jesus breaks with the cultural norm and doesn’t encourage Mary to help her sister. In patriarchal societies, there was (and still is) a strict division of labor along gender lines. But Jesus was continually startling people with His apparent disregard for cultural customs, especially within the family, and this is just one instance. Of course, it shouldn’t surprise us that Jesus wouldn’t restrict the privilege of sitting at His feet according to gender.
Jesus did more to liberate women than any man who ever lived. Just because some of His followers through the centuries haven’t been as enlightened as He, that doesn’t change the fact that Jesus didn’t discriminate. Jesus was of course full of surprises. I guess we’re as guilty today of failing to see the limitlessness of God as were those in the first century. We keep trying to put God in a box. And this could have been Martha’s problem; while Mary is sitting happily at Jesus’ feet, Martha is working like crazy. Or to be fair, Martha was simply too caught up in her duties as hostess to see that she needed balance in her life. She seemed to be focused on just the one thing and failed to see the bigger picture. Luke puts it like this: “Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.”
Some of you know what that’s like. It’s not easy entertaining guests in your home. There’s so much to be done. Particularly when you’re entertaining a group of first-century men who are accustomed to having women treat them like masters. And it’s even worse if you have a good-for-nothing sister who lollygags with the men and refuses to help.
Martha it seems is thoroughly disgusted with Mary and she makes her displeasure with her sibling known. She comes to Jesus and asks, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” Some of you may be agreeing with Martha here inwardly thinking, “I agree; Mary ought to be helping. It’s only right.” But, as usual, Jesus surprises us. In essence Jesus takes the opportunity to gently provide a redirection of Martha’s priorities. Jesus in essence says, “Martha it’s you who need to reevaluate the situation. You’re worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is really important right now and Mary has chosen it.”
Needless to say, this wasn’t the reply Martha expected. And this is the message we need to consider as well today. We’re worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is really important and Mary had chosen it. There are many things in life that are important, but only one thing is of ultimate importance, that’s sitting at the feet of Jesus. Martha wasn’t wrong in going about her duties. We all know that and Jesus knew that. There would have been a house full of hungry folks, if Martha hadn’t been so conscientious in seeing after all the details of entertaining her guests.
This was probably the focal point of her life, caring for her home caring for her family. Martha was a responsible person. She did the things she believed were important and she did them well. We’ve all known the Marthas; we too may, at times, be a Martha ourselves and we give God thanks for them. Some of them make all kinds of good things happen in our homes and in our church. And the work they do is extremely important when kept in balance. The danger is when we become consumed with our duties at the expense of everything else. We must remember that there’s another dimension to life besides doing. There’s more to life than simply keeping busy, even keeping busy doing good, like looking after others.
Many scholars have suggested that it may not be accidental that Luke placed the story of Mary and Martha immediately after the story of the Good Samaritan. Think about that for a moment. One aspect of the Good Samaritan story is that it’s a call to action. It’s a call for us to care for the needy and to get busy ministering to their needs. We covered the story last week.
A man was beaten severely and robbed. Three people come by, a priest, a Levite and a Samaritan, but only the last one provides help. It’s one of Jesus’ best known stories and it’s more than a simple story of love for neighbor. It’s also a call to action. It’s a call to duty. It’s a summons to take care of our neighbor, whoever that neighbor may be. And for two thousand years Christians have been building hospitals, looking after orphans and widows, feeding the hungry and doing all kinds of good works. And that’s good. These are things we ought to be doing . . . and more! I’m grateful that Christians are in the forefront of every movement designed to make this world a better place. That’s exactly where Jesus wants us to be.
Former President Jimmy Carter in his book Living Faith tells about a group of Christian laymen who were doing missionary work. They approached a small village near an Amish settlement. Seeking a possible convert, they confronted an Amish farmer and asked him, “Brother, are you a Christian?” The farmer thought for a moment and then said, “Wait just a few minutes.” He wrote down a list of names on a piece of paper and handed it to the lay evangelist. “Here’s a list of people who know me best,” he said. “Please ask them if I am a Christian.”
In so many ways, that’s a very profound answer: ask my neighbor if I’m a Christian. That would be a good test for all of us to take. The clear implication is that we ought to be able to tell a Christian by what he or she does, by how he or she lives. Can others see that we’re followers of Jesus by our fruit? However, bearing fruit worthy of the kingdom isn’t the only trait of being a Christian. That’s not all of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. It’s not even the better part of being a follower of Jesus. If it were, there would have been no need for Jesus to lovingly correct Martha.
Like Mary, we need to take time to sit at the feet of Jesus. It’s good to be a responsible person going about doing all the good we can. It’s important for us to take care of our families, and to feed the homeless and to serve our fellow men and women wherever they may be. But, in the process, we also need to feed our own souls. This is where worship comes into the picture, and Bible study and prayer. We need to take time each and every day sitting at the feet of Jesus. That’s where the fuel comes from for doing good works, for meeting our responsibilities. Otherwise we run the risk of either burning out or resenting the tasks we’re responsible for. We need the refreshment of seeking God’s presence. We need to study the scriptures and to reflect on their meaning for our lives.
There is a wonderful story in one of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books that says it all. A father lay staring up at the ceiling. Beside him, his wife was fast asleep, exhausted after the long drive back home. The drive was made even longer by the emotional strain of returning home without their only daughter. It was her first day at the university and her first time away from them. Laying there, the father reminisced about his first day of college.
It seemed like a lifetime ago, riding in his father’s old truck with his whole life packed into the back. The drive was incredibly long. He remembered a stop by a stream and eating lunch. But the similarities to his daughter’s experience ended there. His daughter had a much larger dorm, stuffed full of electronics he could’ve only dreamed of at her age.
When his father left him, he looked him in the eye, shook his hand and said, “I have no real advice I can give. I was never smart enough to go to college myself. I don’t have much money even now to give you, but here’s a checkbook. If you get in a bind, write yourself out a small check and I’ll do my best to make sure the money is there.” He pulled the checkbook out of his pocket and handed it to his son. He then reached down and pulled out his old and worn Bible.
There was never a night he didn’t see his father reading this Bible. He was a simple man, but he was a man of great strength and faith. Handing it to him, his father didn’t tell him to read it every morning or every night. He just said, “This can help you, if you’ll let it.” Now lying in his own bed, decades later, this father felt a twinge of regret. He knew he gave his daughter all he could give, but despite all the wealth and prosperity he achieved in his own life, it amounted to nothing compared to what his own father gave him.
Quietly climbing out of bed, he made his way to the attic. He found the dusty old box his father’s Bible was in. He pulled it out and smiled. It was exactly as he remembered it. He carried the Bible down into his office where he found a large, padded envelope and set it inside. He grinned as he wrote a note. “This can help you,” he wrote, “if you’ll let it.”
It’s probably the best advice anyone can give another. But we need to read it regularly and we need to read it prayerfully. Martha was a fine person. She was a wonderful homemaker and host. But, in her business, just as in ours, she ran the risk of missing what was most important in life, sitting at the feet of Jesus. It’s an easy mistake to make. Do all the good, responsible things God wants us to do, but we must never forget, we need balance. And to have balance in the midst of our busy lives, we need to spend time in God’s presence.
Amen