Proper 11 Year C
18 July 2010
“She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" the Lord answered, "you are worried and distracted by many things, but only one thing is needed.”
I get so excited when company comes to visit. I clean the house, prepare a menu, go to the grocery store, and spend hours getting everything ready. When I was growing up, it didn’t make much sense to me. “Mom! Why do we have to clean so much? It’s just grandma coming to visit!” In my adolescent years, I, basking in my wreck of a room, decided that it must be an image thing, a show that must be put on to maintain the fake constructs of our polite and impersonal society. It didn’t really matter what I thought or how I felt or how annoyed I was that I had to clean and do extra chores. In our house, you said “yes, mam” and you got to work.
In our Gospel reading, Martha graciously opens her home to Jesus and his companions. Jesus is traveling and teaching, ultimately heading towards Jerusalem and his death. From what we understand, Jesus relied on people like Martha to provide a place to stop and teach as he traveled. Because she cares about him, she and her siblings are close friends of Jesus, after all - and because she cares about his mission, she works hard to prepare her home for this special guest and wants everything to be perfect. Martha becomes overwhelmed with the burden of hosting because Mary, her sister, is neglecting her duty to help and is, instead, sitting in the living room hanging out with Jesus.
Can’t you just imagine how Martha felt? She probably would have loved to have been out there with everyone listening - she did invite Jesus into her home in the fist place , but since her sister left her alone with all the work, it is taking even longer. Standing all alone in the kitchen, angrily stirring the mixing bowl and thinking “why should Mary get to walk away from the duties of hosting but not me?” I can see how Martha, as she worked longer and longer, got angry. Can you imagine how mad, how justified Martha must have felt in order to march out in front of all those Jesus is teaching and publicly point out her sister’s failing? She pleads with Jesus - Don’t you care about me? Please, tell her to come help me! She’s left me all alone with the work! Martha, feeling very much the victim, expects Jesus to chastise Mary for failing to do her part. Jesus surprises her, however, and says this: “Martha, Martha” he soothes, calling her by name, “you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing.”
Martha was “distracted” - not just by her work, but also by her stress and her anger with Mary. She was distracted from that which is most important. There is need of only one thing. Forget the dishes. Forget the cooking, the cleaning, the preparations. Forget the fresh flower arangements, everything. Especially, forget the anger and resentment. There is need of only one thing.
We could come down pretty hard on Martha at this point. You have Jesus Christ sitting in your house and you are wasting your time with chores? Now that I have a place of my own for friends and family to visit, I can identify so closely with my mom and with Martha. It’s not just pride in one’s home, or the expectations of society that spurs on that need to clean and prepare and host. It’s caring for the ones we love, and showing them that love in the best way we know how. Our reading tells us that Martha didn’t just put up with Jesus’ presence, but welcomed him into her home. She honored Jesus with her invitation to stay and use her home to teach. She worked hard to show her love by taking care of the gathering, providing her best efforts so that Jesus could do what he did best.Her efforts were well meant, well intentioned, and on some level - required by society’s expectations of her as a hostess and as a woman. Somehow, it turned sour in the moment. As she sat, doing what she wanted to do, what she needed to do, she got angry. Some part of Martha must have know that she could have walked into the other room and joined her sister at the feet of Jesus. But unlike Mary, she didn’t.
While thinking on this Gospel reading, I remembered a story that my friend, the Rev. David Meginniss, shared in a sermon. David is the co director of Special Session at Camp McDowell, a week long session for adults with mental and physical disabilities. Young adults volunteer to come and serve as counselors and are always changed for the better by the experience. David talked about how, when Kee (his fellow director) had to leave camp for a family emergency, he was thrown into the hot seat, solo. He was more than capable of handling the responsibility, but found himself running around camp with his watch and clipboard, trying to be everywhere at once, to keep everything running smoothly. He loves camp and everything that camp does - for the campers and for the counselors and staff. It was out of that love that David ran himself ragged to make sure it was a success. At some point, exhausted, stressed, and not having much fun - David finally woke up. He finally put down the clipboard and realized that God was there, the Holy Spirit was present in that moment in that special place and he, David, was missing it.
We live in a world of immediate and important tasks. There is actually a book out called “Having a Mary heart in a Martha World”. The dishes must, at some point, be washed, the car needs to be serviced, the grocery run must be made. We need to do our homework, write that email, walk the dog, update our facebook, pay that bill and empty the dishwasher. We do so much for the ones we love, and sometimes find ourselves - like Martha - quietly, almost shamefully bitter or angry about it. Jesus doesn’t defend our sense of martyrdom here. At the end of the day, attention to the moment, the miracle of life, and God’s presence is what is most important. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her. She broke free of the to do lists, the chores, and the expectations laid on her shoulders.
Jesus challenged Martha, and through this story - passed on for over a thousand years, challenges us, to find a way to see past all that . To widen our view so that that never ending to do list takes it’s proper, smaller place in life. Don’t miss out on the moment because you’re too busy making the moment happen. Don’t be blind to the miracles around you. We can’t get so focused on the details that we miss the glory of the kingdom. Our glimpses are so often fleeting and moments that can change your life are too easily missed. We forget, sometimes, that it’s okay to walk away from all those seemingly important things to do what is most needed and most important - to be present in the moment - to sit in a place of humility, love, and reverence at the feet of Christ and listen.
