Too Much Martha Psalm 147 Luke 10:38-42

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Albert Taylor
5 years ago
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1 Too Much Martha Psalm 147 Luke 10:38-42 Before I say anything else, I need to start this morning by disclosing that today s sermon is for me. Of course, you re welcome to listen in, but this one is for me. I normally reject the idea of shaping a sermon to preach to or at any one person in particular, however today is different today this one has a specific audience of one. OK, with that out of the way, let s take a look at what our readings for today have to share: Now today s scriptures start off great. The Psalmist is in full praise mode think Praise hymns of the Second Temple. These psalms were actually songs and by this late in the song book, we are starting to find some of the newer selections. And, like church folk everywhere, I suspect some folks liked them and some wanted to go back to the good ol hymns of the First Temple; some things never change. Anyway, we start off with a song of praise about the wonders of our God. Amen to that, or as the authors would have said, Selah! There is nothing to challenge there; we do, indeed, live in an unfolding creation that is marked by the wonders of our God. Each and every day reveals the glory and abundance of our Creator, if we only take the time to notice. But that s the rub, isn t it? And that takes us to our Gospel reading for today. The story of Mary and Martha is one of the best-known narratives of sisters in the Gospel. You already know the story and have just heard it read again: Martha invites Jesus over for dinner; her sister Mary is there as well. Jesus is teaching and both sisters are listening, but Mary is there are Jesus feet while Martha is listening from the kitchen as she is bustling around making sure everything is perfect for the Lord of Lords. Martha wants to be sure everything is right the table, the place settings, the food and she is getting a bit frantic. The Bible translates that as distracted. Somehow that seems far too mild a word for what I suspect was really going on in that household at the time. I would be willing to bet that this is part of a long story of family history between the sisters.

2 You know the family dynamics, you see them all around you: Martha was the oldest, the dependable one, the married one who has ALWAYS taken responsibilities seriously. Over booked and a touch of a perfectionist, Martha wants to honor this man in the way she knows best. Making sure that dinner is perfect is both her self-appointed job AND her pride. (And, on a tangent, Martha ALSO knows that if anything is LESS than perfect, there will always be someone ready to point out the flaw, explain how it was better in the old days or share in constructive criticism that is definitely criticism but far less than constructive!) However, if she is going to pull this off she needs a bit of help! After all, here she is busting her backside trying to take care of all the details and there is her sister, sitting and listening to Jesus. That s the younger sister, Mary; A nice girl, but definitely laid back the classic type B personality. She s mellow, easy going, maybe a bit of a dreamer, not at all sensible like her older sister. And it s obvious that there is a long history of love-hate conflict between these sisters. Yes, they re sisters. Yes, they do love each other but, but there have been many, many years when Martha has done what she considers more than her fair share of the work while Mary just got by. I can t imagine how many times Martha has gotten frustrated, even angry with her little sister. I can t imagine how many times there have been words between them. Enough times that today Martha doesn t even bother to say anything to Mary. She has probably hissed, mumbled, grumbled and the like, but finally, she s had it. She goes to Jesus, the man she wants with her whole heart to honor, and demands that He get involved. my sister has left me to do all the serving alone tell her to help me. Take THAT little sis! Can you blame her? Everyone else (make that little sister ) is sitting around, empowered by sitting at the feet of the master and here she is, stuck in the kitchen, AGAIN! Doesn t anybody care? Can t she get just a bit of help? So Martha says something and, of course, Jesus does the least expected thing and gently takes Martha to task, Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her. And there the chapter ends.

3 I always wondered what Martha did with that most-gentle rebuke, or how Mary reacted. We ll never know. Now I get it, I really do. We all understand the message it s easy to get distracted by all the things and busy-ness and activities around us and in the process to forget about the most important thing. And it preaches well: You ve heard the stories like I ve never known one business man who, on his death bed, would say, I wish I had spent a little more time at the office instead of watching my kids grow up. That sort of thing. And as we get older we become more aware of how easy it is to get caught up in making a life or choosing a life, rather than living a life. That message is a good one, an important one, but not the message of today. Today s message, as I said earlier, is aimed at only one person. For you see, although I WANT to be a Mary and sit at Jesus feet and listen and learn and be inspired and have my heart changed and really become the Christ follower I WANT to be I have to confess that I am a Martha. I have great sympathy for Martha. I didn t always, but I do more and more. When I was new in the ministry it was all about youth ministry and traveling choirs and lock-ins and good times and experiencing Christ. The first church I served wanted me to build up a youth program and, after 2 years we had 70 youth! But they tended to leave soda cans around, were loud at times, dresses funny and, well, could be disruptive. That was the Mary me and that was cool! But now, all these years later, the Martha me has come out: all about order and organization and making sure there is no room for criticism So I get it, I have serious sympathy for Martha. I mean, think about it: Martha is worried about something good. She s having Jesus over for dinner. She is literally serving God! Her aim is to please Jesus, to show her love in the way she knows best. She feels good about what she can do and wants to use that talent to honor Jesus. But she makes a common but dangerous mistake. As she began to work for Him, her work became more important than her Lord. What began as a way to serve Jesus slowly and subtly became a way to serve self somewhere along the way she has forgotten that the meal is to honor Jesus, not Martha. Now, it s not all black and white. This isn t a story about being half-hearted in your work. Nor is it a story to justify expecting others to do all the work for you.

4 You know as well as I do that if things aren t just so tongues will wag. If the dinner isn t excellent, someone will complain. If the food isn t outstanding, someone will make a sly comment, or decide that Martha doesn t care because she isn t doing her best. And someone will certainly comment that it would have been better at someone else s house. And Martha knows that she can hear the comments even now. She s doing her best, but it s not going to get done and, in frustration, she goes to Jesus to no avail. Martha, Martha, I know, heaven knows I know; for we are kindred spirits, you and me. Some commentaries suggest your mistake was to forget who the servant is and who is being served. Well, maybe but I don t think that s it. It s possible, of course, that you wanted to steal the spotlight, but I really think you wanted to be appreciated, you wanted approval, you wanted to respond in the way you knew best. I understand Martha, you see, because we ARE kindred spirits. More than once I have been taken to task about this same issue. Yeah, Martha, sister, I m with you! You see, I sometimes I find myself feeling like, here I am I m the pastor of the church, and the custodian, and the fellowship chair, and the missions chair and the worship chair and the organizer of d viners and (supposedly) the adult bible teacher and I m worried about places to store things and, and, And I worry about getting the hymnals out and the bulletin getting done and the fact that if things are not just-so visitors won t return or our active members will wander away. I stress about finding time to write a meaningful sermon, to organize pastor s classes and keep a forward looking vision for spiritual development for all of us. I worry about the temperature in the sanctuary or moving to the Fellowship Hall and getting it set up so it is inviting and making sure it is a good place for our members and a welcoming place for our visitors and, well, Jesus, can t you tell them to come and help me? Yeah, Martha, I get it. But then I run smack dab into Jesus, and His words to Martha. Let it fail (hmmm maybe I should make a contemporary reference here and say, let it go ) you are worried and bothered about so many things only a few things are necessary, really only one Yeah, I get that.

5 I DO worry that if things aren t right people won t come back to the church, or will leave, or will drift away, or won t hear the message or decide I m not doing enough. I DO worry that somehow everything that isn t right eventually falls on me. And in more than 40 years of ministry, too often that has been the way of it. The challenge for me is to find the point of balance. I think it is a mis-read of the Gospel to see this as an either/or you sit at Jesus feet and listen OR you do the work. I think it s an issue of priority and balance a matter of keeping the first things first. Like Martha, I m insecure enough to realize that I m driven to do more in hopes of being appreciated. Somehow, I hope that if I do more and more eventually someone will come along and say, let me help you, instead of letting me do more and more. Like Martha, I suspect I can t really hear when someone DOES offer (sorry about that) and, like Martha, I can lose vision along the way I suspect snacks for sustenance would have been every bit as good as a full meal or perhaps she could have waited until the end and let everyone help out a bit. But that is so much easier said than done. And I wonder if Paul wasn t making a theological argument about this very topic when he proclaimed that salvation was not by works, but by grace. But the result of that salvation is works. In other words, ladies, sisters, learn from each other. Mary, you got it right, you got the first things first take time to BE in the presence of Jesus. Martha, learn from her. But Martha, you re not totally wrong, it takes workers like you to make things happen and keep them happening. Mary, learn from her and when Jesus is done teaching, lend a willing hand in the kitchen. As for me, with no Frozen pun intended, I am trying to learn to let it go. I m trying to get my Martha under control. Let others do the work, or not, and not stress about everything. Be about my calling as pastor and spiritual director of this congregation. Help where I can, but not at the cost of completely losing my Mary. Learn to nurture my Mary, to allow that part of me the time and space to BE present in our Lord s presence. What will happen? Only time will tell.

Holy Father, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of every heart be acceptable unto You, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.

1 Sermon Text: Luke 10:38-42 Holy Father, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of every heart be acceptable unto You, our rock and our redeemer. Amen. Now, there is an old joke that I have told