Pastor Bill
Sermon
Eighth Sunday of Pentecost
July 18, 2010
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Grace and Peace be with you from God, our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen.
Ted stopped into his local bank in Bozeman to do some business. The customer-service clerk was chatting on her cell-phone with a friend. "Have you been to Ted’s Montana Grill on Main Street? Well, my husband and I went last night and it was wonderful, you and Ed should really go." Occasionally she would glance up at the man standing patiently in front of her desk as she continued the conversation with her friend, but she did not recognize Ted at all.
Finally she said to her friend, "I am sorry, hold on, I am being interrupted by a customer."
What is the correct course of action for this person? Continue her conversation with her friend or attend immediately to the customer in front of her?
Could a case be made for the possibility of both being correct?
What do you think about the course of action taken by Martha and Mary towards Jesus, the person in front of them?
Could a case be made for the possibility of both being correct?
In my Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture series, I have found the following comments concerning Martha and Mary.
Saint Augustine writes: The Lord had a body. And just as he deigned to assume a physical body for our sake, so also did he deign to be hungry and thirsty. As a result of the fact that he deigned to be hungry and thirsty, he condescended to be fed by those he himself enriched. He condescended to be received as a guest, not from need but from favor.
Martha was busy satisfying the needs of those who were hungry and thirsty. With deep concern, she prepared what the Holy of holies and his saints would eat and drink in her house. It was an important but transitory work.
It will not always be necessary to eat and drink, will it? When we cling to the most pure and perfect GOODNESS, serving will not be a necessity.
Saint Ambrose writes: Virtue does not have a single form. In the example of Martha and Mary, there is added the busy devotion of the one and the pious attention of the other to the Word of God, which, if it agrees with faith, is preferred even to the very works, as it is written: “Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her.” So let us also strive to have what no one can take away from us, so that not careless but diligent hearing may be granted to us. For even the seeds of the heavenly Word itself are likely to be taken away if they are sowed by the wayside. Let the desire for wisdom lead you as it did Mary. It is a greater and more perfect work. Do not let service divert the knowledge of the heavenly Word …
Nor is Martha rebuked in her good serving, but Mary is preferred because she has chosen the better part for herself, for Jesus abounds with many blessings and bestows many gifts. And therefore the wiser chooses what she perceives as foremost.
Let’s consider what Jesus says about service later in Luke.
In Luke chapter 12: verse 37 Jesus says; Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them.
In Luke chapter 22 verse 27 Jesus says; For who is the greater, one who reclines at the table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.
I think we get a good glimpse of Jesus as host in these words, and I think we can see that he places more emphasis on his role as host than as guest – he has come to serve us!
He has come as a guest to Martha’s home but he is the host as well. He has come to serve all those who are gathered, including Martha, with the Word of God.
In Jesus the guest, and in Jesus the host “The Kingdom of God has come near.”
Paying attention to the fact that, “The Kingdom of God has come near,” is important for our lives.
We have previously heard Jesus tell those who follow him that they are to let nothing distract them from paying attention to this fact.
Luke 9:60: "Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as far as you, go and proclaim The Kingdom of God."
Luke 9:62: "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for The Kingdom of God."
With The Kingdom of God so near, with Jesus actually in her home, Martha has allowed service to get in the way of paying attention to the Word of God right in the next room.
I think that what we hear Jesus saying to Martha is not criticism of her honoring him as guest, with her preparations for food and drink; but that his presence in her home at this time is as host to her and that she is now the guest in his presence in her own home.
I think that what we hear Jesus saying to Martha is that he has come into her home to serve her with what is important, for later in life service will not be a necessity.
Martha’s love for Jesus is fervent, long before he has arrived with his apostles Martha has been planning and working on making everything ready to serve him and those who are coming with him.
Martha’s love for Jesus is fervent, in John 11:20, after the death of her brother Lazarus, we read; So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house.
We may read Jesus’ words to Martha as hurtful criticism, but I wonder if Martha heard them that way?
I will close with another comment from the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture.
John Cassian writes concerning Martha and Mary:
To cling always to God and to the things of God—this must be our major effort, this must be the road that the heart follows unswervingly. Any diversion, however impressive must be regarded as secondary…and certainly dangerous. Martha and Mary provide a most beautiful scriptural paradigm of this outlook and of this mode of activity. In looking after the Lord and his disciples, Martha did a very holy service. Mary, however, was intent on the spiritual teaching of Jesus… In saying, “Mary chose the good portion,” he was saying nothing about Martha, and in no way was he giving the appearance of criticizing her. Still by praising Mary he was saying…that the service of the body can only last as long as the human body is there, whereas the zeal of Mary can never end.
Jesus is our guest and Jesus is our host.
Let us be in service but let us not loose sight of why we are in service.
Let us be in service but let us seek the Kingdom of God as our first priority above all else.
Amen.