July 18, 2010
Saint Paul’s Salem, OR
Father Fred Heard
Luke 10:38-42
It is really appropriate that today’s scripture the story of Mary and Martha comes in the Bible right after the parable of the Samaritan who is a good neighbor. Why? Because it is a good counterpoint to it. Today’s scripture helps to take the parable of the Good Samaritan and put it in proper perspective.
Probably after last week, there were people who were reminded of times when they went out of their way to help someone in need. I myself remember giving someone some money on the street here in Salem and being resentful when I saw them going into a store to buy wine. Then I remembered that my money now belonged to the person I had helped and was no longer under my control. I am sure you all have similar stories, and therefore it is worth noting that Jesus calls us to be wise in scripture and not just doormats to be walked over by those around us.
And so, today’s scripture comes right after the parable of the Good Samaritan. Perhaps the main character in it, Martha, had heard Jesus tell of the Good Samaritan. Perhaps Martha was moved into action by this parable that she heard. You see, Jesus had just told those around him to care for those in need, and the next thing we know, Martha and her sister Mary are inviting Jesus and his disciples to stay with them. Maybe she is going out on a limb, trying to “go and do likewise” as Jesus asked those around him to do. This would be understandable.
When I am really into an interest, I find I want to do something about it. I like to garden, and I was frustrated for awhile because I didn’t have space for a garden. Now I do, and I find myself dreaming dreams about how my garden can be even better. I like to do counted cross stitch. I probably have ten planned projects in that area. I would like to learn water color…someday. I love to read…but there is no time…so I have discovered audio books and am reading book after book. I have discovered John Steinbeck, and since I now live in Steinbeck country, that is exciting to me. I attend meetings all the time in his Episcopal Church in Salinas were he served as an acolyte. Adair and I have been to his museum and his grave.
All this is to tell you that I understand where Martha is coming from in today’s story. She, like me, likes to do things to show what is important to her. She had been out and about and had heard this great teacher preaching amazing things. She invited him to stay with her and her sister along with his disciples. He had moved her with his teachings and her response was to want to make sure that he was cared for.
But Martha, in her desire to do something for Jesus, in her desire to act out her excitement about his teachings, misses out on what is really important. She misses out on the true experience of Jesus. But worse than this, she is forever associated as someone who is a busybody, who works too hard, who is so busy taking care of others that she doesn’t allow herself to be taken care of.
Martha gets a bad rap in today’s scripture. It almost seems like laziness is what Jesus is honoring here. It sounds as if hard work and devotion are being put down. If Martha hadn’t been running around making sure that everything was okay, her sister Mary couldn’t have sat at Jesus’ feet. Martha’s self-sacrifice allowed Mary to experience that which was truly important. And yet Martha is the one who is attacked by Jesus, who is corrected, who is put in her place. But we know that this is the beginning of an important friendship. Martha and Mary both stay close to Jesus throughout the rest of his ministry, and he comes to think of them as friends. Each year, as he travels to Jerusalem for the Passover, he goes through their town and spends time with them. Martha’s invitation for Jesus to stay with them has a long-lasting effect on her and her sister’s lives. So, I think we need to look at this story in its broader context to understand it fully.
It has been said that when we die, we will be surprised about what we thought sin was and what God believes it is. Jesus really believes that some things are more important than others. Throughout his teaching, Jesus continues to tell us that taking care of others is more important than taking care of yourself. On the one hand, Jesus tells people not to worry about what they’re going to eat or drink or wear, because God will provide for them. Then, later on he tells them to provide for those who aren’t able to take care of themselves. He encourages them to go about caring for the poor and the needy. Well, why don’t the poor and needy just trust in God and he will provide for them? Well, that’s not the way God chooses to work. Instead, he chooses to use us to provide for the needs of others. And when we take these two teachings of Jesus and see them in context with each other, we see that Jesus is trying to teach his disciples, he is trying to teach us, that we should not spend our time worrying about ourselves, but rather worrying about how we can help those around us.
But this isn’t the last word of Jesus’ teaching. It gets weirder. You see, at another point, Jesus is eating a meal at someone’s house and a woman comes in and pores oil all over his feet. Those around him are troubled by this waste. Maybe she should have sold the oil and given the proceeds to the poor. Jesus’ response could be troubling. He says “the poor will always be among you, and you can help them whenever you want. But you only have me a short time.”
This might be a harsh response. After all Jesus’ teachings about the poor, here he dismisses them as something that will always be around and not terribly important. And that’s where the context comes into the story. You see, in all Jesus’ other teachings, caring for the poor is extremely important, but honoring Jesus is more important than the poor. Here, again we see the hierarchy of importance in Jesus’ teachings. The poor are more important than yourself. But Jesus is more important than the poor.
And that takes us back to today’s scripture. Jesus isn’t saying to Martha that it isn’t important to take care of the things that need to be taken care of. He isn’t saying that preparations for having guests are not important. He is just saying that there are more important things.
Jesus has just preached one of his great parables, encouraging people to be good neighbors to all they come in contact with. He shared a story of someone who, on the spur of the moment, decided to do the right thing. But there’s a process that gets us to the point where we are the kind of person who chooses to do the right thing. Again, being a good neighbor is not about what you plan out, it is about what you do on the spur of the moment, and this means that it is showing who you are as a person.
Personally, I like a certain amount of spontaneity in my life…up to a point. I know there are others who do not like to be spontaneous…order is the rule of their lives. Constantly we are going through a process where God is molding us into the people he calls us to be. Here, in the story of Mary and Martha, we are given a glimpse of how to become the kind of person who will help the stranger in need. How do we become that sort of person? By sitting at the feet of the Master; by sitting at Jesus’ feet; and by realizing that crisis, disaster, life is not always orderly.
Now, let’s look at context again. What comes after the story of Martha and Mary? Instructions on how we are to sit at the feet of the Master. Jesus teaches his disciples about prayer. Again, it tells us what is truly important. You see, we don’t have Jesus physically present in our home; we don’t have the ability to physically sit at his feet and hang on his every word. That doesn’t mean however that Jesus hasn’t given us a tool to help us grow. The tool that we have, the way that we are allowed to sit at the Master’s feet, is the tool of prayer. Episcopalians are Easter people, and we are people of prayer.
Let us look at the hierarchy again. First of all, there is the truth that we are called to care for others before ourselves. We aren’t supposed to worry about our own needs; instead we need to be worrying about the needs of others. We are to care for the poor and the strangers. And above all of this, we are called to sit at the Master’s feet. If we sit at Jesus’ feet, we will become the kind of people who hold these other things important. And the way to sit at Jesus’ feet is to learn to pray.
Where are your priorities on this continuum? Where do you fit in? Thankfully, there is a path that God has given us to move up this ladder. When we learn to put Jesus first and when we discover the power that comes with prayer, a power not only to change the world, but to change ourselves, then we will find ourselves with our priorities right, just like Mary did. And we will learn when to put down all our activities and all the busy things we do, for ourselves, for those around us, for the church, and we will learn to sit at the feet of Jesus, we will learn to be in the presence of Jesus. And this will change us in wonderful and powerful ways. To paraphrase Saint Augustine we will learn that when we can love our God deeply, we will do His will. AME
Saint Paul’s Salem, OR
Father Fred Heard
Luke 10:38-42
It is really appropriate that today’s scripture the story of Mary and Martha comes in the Bible right after the parable of the Samaritan who is a good neighbor. Why? Because it is a good counterpoint to it. Today’s scripture helps to take the parable of the Good Samaritan and put it in proper perspective.
Probably after last week, there were people who were reminded of times when they went out of their way to help someone in need. I myself remember giving someone some money on the street here in Salem and being resentful when I saw them going into a store to buy wine. Then I remembered that my money now belonged to the person I had helped and was no longer under my control. I am sure you all have similar stories, and therefore it is worth noting that Jesus calls us to be wise in scripture and not just doormats to be walked over by those around us.
And so, today’s scripture comes right after the parable of the Good Samaritan. Perhaps the main character in it, Martha, had heard Jesus tell of the Good Samaritan. Perhaps Martha was moved into action by this parable that she heard. You see, Jesus had just told those around him to care for those in need, and the next thing we know, Martha and her sister Mary are inviting Jesus and his disciples to stay with them. Maybe she is going out on a limb, trying to “go and do likewise” as Jesus asked those around him to do. This would be understandable.
When I am really into an interest, I find I want to do something about it. I like to garden, and I was frustrated for awhile because I didn’t have space for a garden. Now I do, and I find myself dreaming dreams about how my garden can be even better. I like to do counted cross stitch. I probably have ten planned projects in that area. I would like to learn water color…someday. I love to read…but there is no time…so I have discovered audio books and am reading book after book. I have discovered John Steinbeck, and since I now live in Steinbeck country, that is exciting to me. I attend meetings all the time in his Episcopal Church in Salinas were he served as an acolyte. Adair and I have been to his museum and his grave.
All this is to tell you that I understand where Martha is coming from in today’s story. She, like me, likes to do things to show what is important to her. She had been out and about and had heard this great teacher preaching amazing things. She invited him to stay with her and her sister along with his disciples. He had moved her with his teachings and her response was to want to make sure that he was cared for.
But Martha, in her desire to do something for Jesus, in her desire to act out her excitement about his teachings, misses out on what is really important. She misses out on the true experience of Jesus. But worse than this, she is forever associated as someone who is a busybody, who works too hard, who is so busy taking care of others that she doesn’t allow herself to be taken care of.
Martha gets a bad rap in today’s scripture. It almost seems like laziness is what Jesus is honoring here. It sounds as if hard work and devotion are being put down. If Martha hadn’t been running around making sure that everything was okay, her sister Mary couldn’t have sat at Jesus’ feet. Martha’s self-sacrifice allowed Mary to experience that which was truly important. And yet Martha is the one who is attacked by Jesus, who is corrected, who is put in her place. But we know that this is the beginning of an important friendship. Martha and Mary both stay close to Jesus throughout the rest of his ministry, and he comes to think of them as friends. Each year, as he travels to Jerusalem for the Passover, he goes through their town and spends time with them. Martha’s invitation for Jesus to stay with them has a long-lasting effect on her and her sister’s lives. So, I think we need to look at this story in its broader context to understand it fully.
It has been said that when we die, we will be surprised about what we thought sin was and what God believes it is. Jesus really believes that some things are more important than others. Throughout his teaching, Jesus continues to tell us that taking care of others is more important than taking care of yourself. On the one hand, Jesus tells people not to worry about what they’re going to eat or drink or wear, because God will provide for them. Then, later on he tells them to provide for those who aren’t able to take care of themselves. He encourages them to go about caring for the poor and the needy. Well, why don’t the poor and needy just trust in God and he will provide for them? Well, that’s not the way God chooses to work. Instead, he chooses to use us to provide for the needs of others. And when we take these two teachings of Jesus and see them in context with each other, we see that Jesus is trying to teach his disciples, he is trying to teach us, that we should not spend our time worrying about ourselves, but rather worrying about how we can help those around us.
But this isn’t the last word of Jesus’ teaching. It gets weirder. You see, at another point, Jesus is eating a meal at someone’s house and a woman comes in and pores oil all over his feet. Those around him are troubled by this waste. Maybe she should have sold the oil and given the proceeds to the poor. Jesus’ response could be troubling. He says “the poor will always be among you, and you can help them whenever you want. But you only have me a short time.”
This might be a harsh response. After all Jesus’ teachings about the poor, here he dismisses them as something that will always be around and not terribly important. And that’s where the context comes into the story. You see, in all Jesus’ other teachings, caring for the poor is extremely important, but honoring Jesus is more important than the poor. Here, again we see the hierarchy of importance in Jesus’ teachings. The poor are more important than yourself. But Jesus is more important than the poor.
And that takes us back to today’s scripture. Jesus isn’t saying to Martha that it isn’t important to take care of the things that need to be taken care of. He isn’t saying that preparations for having guests are not important. He is just saying that there are more important things.
Jesus has just preached one of his great parables, encouraging people to be good neighbors to all they come in contact with. He shared a story of someone who, on the spur of the moment, decided to do the right thing. But there’s a process that gets us to the point where we are the kind of person who chooses to do the right thing. Again, being a good neighbor is not about what you plan out, it is about what you do on the spur of the moment, and this means that it is showing who you are as a person.
Personally, I like a certain amount of spontaneity in my life…up to a point. I know there are others who do not like to be spontaneous…order is the rule of their lives. Constantly we are going through a process where God is molding us into the people he calls us to be. Here, in the story of Mary and Martha, we are given a glimpse of how to become the kind of person who will help the stranger in need. How do we become that sort of person? By sitting at the feet of the Master; by sitting at Jesus’ feet; and by realizing that crisis, disaster, life is not always orderly.
Now, let’s look at context again. What comes after the story of Martha and Mary? Instructions on how we are to sit at the feet of the Master. Jesus teaches his disciples about prayer. Again, it tells us what is truly important. You see, we don’t have Jesus physically present in our home; we don’t have the ability to physically sit at his feet and hang on his every word. That doesn’t mean however that Jesus hasn’t given us a tool to help us grow. The tool that we have, the way that we are allowed to sit at the Master’s feet, is the tool of prayer. Episcopalians are Easter people, and we are people of prayer.
Let us look at the hierarchy again. First of all, there is the truth that we are called to care for others before ourselves. We aren’t supposed to worry about our own needs; instead we need to be worrying about the needs of others. We are to care for the poor and the strangers. And above all of this, we are called to sit at the Master’s feet. If we sit at Jesus’ feet, we will become the kind of people who hold these other things important. And the way to sit at Jesus’ feet is to learn to pray.
Where are your priorities on this continuum? Where do you fit in? Thankfully, there is a path that God has given us to move up this ladder. When we learn to put Jesus first and when we discover the power that comes with prayer, a power not only to change the world, but to change ourselves, then we will find ourselves with our priorities right, just like Mary did. And we will learn when to put down all our activities and all the busy things we do, for ourselves, for those around us, for the church, and we will learn to sit at the feet of Jesus, we will learn to be in the presence of Jesus. And this will change us in wonderful and powerful ways. To paraphrase Saint Augustine we will learn that when we can love our God deeply, we will do His will. AME