Sermon from July 21st

Choosing the Better Part

Sermon by Stephen Ricketts

Providence-Fort Washington United Methodist Church

Colossians 1:15-28; Luke 10:38-42

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost – July 21, 2013

 

I am sure the story of Martha and Mary is familiar to every woman here. It is frequently used at women’s retreats and typically the message is presented as a conflict between Martha and Mary. On the one hand there is Martha the hardworking woman of the house. Martha is the one who gets up early to shop at the market. Martha is the one who packs lunches for the children. Martha is the one who fixes a hot breakfast for her husband, works a ten-hour day, keeps a spotless house and always has a home-cooked meal waiting when her husband gets home from work. And, Martha is also the one who cannot get anyone to help her; even Jesus seems to side against her. On the other hand there is Mary the contemplative student. Mary is the one who gets up early to pray. Mary is the one who spends hours reading her Bible. Mary is the one whose prayer journal is filled with prayer requests from her neighbors. Mary is the one who has perfect attendance at Synagogue. And, Mary is the one who receives accolades from Jesus. Typically the message women hear from this passage is that they need to be more like Mary and less like Martha because Jesus commends Mary for “choosing the better part.”

There are several problems with this interpretation. First, I believe it is very unfair to women. Our society already gives women very mixed messages. Women are expected to be beautiful, sexy, smart, resourceful, and efficient. Women are expected to keep the house, raise the children, cook the meals, hold down a job, and keep their husbands happy. And, this passage seems to add one more challenge to an already overfilled life – women are expected to be spirit filled followers of Jesus as well. What is a woman to do? She can work like Martha and then be condemned for not being spiritual enough. Or, she can study and pray like Mary and then be condemned for not getting the work done.

The other problem with this interpretation is that it ignores half of the population. Many men assume they can tune out anytime this passage is being discussed. After all there are no male characters (except Jesus) in this passage; there is no obvious place for men. And our society says that the proper place for the man has always been out of the kitchen and away from domestic chores like house cleaning and diaper changing. Society has no problem when men choose to sit at Jesus’ feet. In short, this passage seems to present no challenges for the men; it is just assumed that we are supposed to be sitting at Jesus’ feet.

So, our challenge for today is to hear this passage in a new way; a way that empowers rather than imprisons women; a way that includes rather than excludes men. Our challenge is to hear this passage in a way that does not make women feel guilty when they choose between caring for their family on the one hand or serving God on the other. Our challenge is to hear this passage in a way that calls men to find themselves in this story and understand that their choice to care for others does not come at the expense of serving God.

I think the best place to begin re-interpreting this passage is by placing it in context. One of the problems of following the Lectionary is that it tends to break the scripture readings up into separate “chunks.” The preacher treats each reading as an isolated section unconnected to nearby readings. However, the scriptures are naturally connected because they tell only one story – the story of God’s love for his children. This means that passages build on and comment on each other. Particularly this week, the story of Martha and Mary immediately follows the story of the Good Samaritan which we looked at last week. I believe Luke placed them together because they have one message.

I think the title of Mi Ja’s sermon from last week captured the primary message of Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan – Love Does. Her message emphasized the fact that the parable is about putting love into action. The message of the parable is that it is not enough to know the right answer; we must apply what we know. It is not enough to have good intentions; we must help those in need. It is not enough to say we love our neighbor as ourselves; we must show our love for others. At the conclusion of the passage, Jesus commanded the lawyer to “go and do likewise;” to go and love his neighbor as himself.

But, then just a few verses later we find Martha working herself to exhaustion to provide for Jesus and his disciples. How do we join these two messages that “love without works is dead” and “works without love is just exhausting?”

Our challenge in fulfilling Jesus’ command to “go and do likewise” is that loving the world is hard work. Think about what the Samaritan had to do when he found the man lying in the ditch. He had to stop, bandage him up, pick him up, walk while the man rode on the donkey and then pay for the man’s care. It is no wonder that we walk by on the other side; that kind of love sounds like hard work (and it can be expensive as well). When we use our own strength to try and fulfill Jesus’ command we are quickly overwhelmed and exhausted. Then, our challenge in following Mary in choosing the better part is that so much seems to be left undone while we are busy building up our spiritual resources. When we remain isolated in our cloister we tend to forget the real needs that exist in the world. How do we bring these two together?

The solution comes when we join these two passages together and find that they give us the strength we need to love the world and they give us a purpose and reason to be active in the world. We do need to be like Mary and chose the better part because our time with Jesus gives us strength and power. The reason we attend Bible study and Sunday school is not so that we will gain academic accolades; we study to learn more about God and God’s will for our lives. The reason we join together in prayer groups is not so we will feel good about ourselves; our prayers connect us to the suffering and needs of others. The reason we gather for Christian fellowship is not to have a good time with friends; our fellowship gives us support and encouragement to serve in the world. Our Sunday morning gatherings have two very important purposes. First we gather to praise God and to be connected to the source of our life and being; and, we gather to be filled with the strength of the Holy Spirit. The time we spend with Mary sitting at Jesus’ feet is to get us ready to work in the world.

We need to begin by following Mary but, we also need to follow the Good Samaritan and “do love.” We cannot simply leave this place on a spiritual high and waste the energy we have gained; we need to put God’s love to work in the world. The Good Samaritan did not find the man in need until he ventured out into the world; the people in need are not sitting in church – they are out there somewhere in the ditch. And, we will not find them and meet their needs until we leave this place, walk alongside the ditches of this world, rescue the suffering, bandage their wounds, and continue to be present with them until all of their needs are met.

So, this morning I want to invite you to follow Mary and spend some time sitting at Jesus’ feet. I want to invite you to set aside some time this week and simply listen to his words. I want to invite you to set aside some time to just absorb his teachings. I want to invite you to set aside some time and simply relax in Jesus’ love. I want to invite you to open yourself up to the power of the Holy Spirit and let it fill you. You can spend this time with Jesus in a variety of ways. You might want to be part of the adult class at Vacation Bible School. You might want to set yourself the challenge of reading one of the gospels. You might want to take the extended prayer list from the bulletin and make it part of your morning devotions. You might want to spend thirty minutes alone outside listening to the sounds of nature. The invitation is to be deliberate in spending some time sitting at Jesus’ feet; and, let that time refresh you and fill you with God’s power.

This morning I also want to invite you to follow the Good Samaritan and meet the needs of someone in the world. I invite you to become aware of the issues that trouble our inner cities and find out how you can be directly involved. I invite you to become part of the group that traveled to the House of Peace this morning and join them in their ministry to the homeless of D.C. I invite you to increase your giving by giving to a specific local mission. I invite you to find a volunteer opportunity in our schools or hospitals. This invitation is to be deliberate in following the Good Samaritan and “do likewise” for our neighbors.

The story of Martha and Mary is a story about choices. But it is not about choosing between Martha and Mary; it is not about choosing between study and action. It is about choosing to allow the Holy Spirit to fill us with his strength as we study. It is about choosing to allow the Holy Spirit’s power to flow through our lives as we serve in the world. Together with the story of the Good Samaritan, Martha and Mary call us to choose the better part; call us to allow ourselves to be filled with God’s Spirit; and call us to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Amen.