Students & Servants Amos 8:1-12; Luke 10:38-42 "Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying." So begins our gospel reading today contrasting two different ways of living. Here, deep in summertime, many people in the congregation are taking vacations. From what I've observed, there are "Mary Vacations" and there are "Martha Vacations." Some people love to take a vacation in which they try to see six European countries in six days. Or they have only two weeks to engage in every single outdoor sport at least once during their vacation and they make the best of it. "Rest? I can rest at home when I get back from my vacation," they say. Other people are of the "Mary Vacation" type. They want to "get away from it all." For them, a great vacation is lying upon a beach somewhere and doing absolutely nothing. They are into serenity, contemplation, quiet relaxation. That's their idea of a vacation. One type of vacation is no better than another. They are just very different. One vacation puts a premium upon rest and rejuvenation; the other upon adventure and surprise. Either can be a great way to renewal. Those of you who know me well, know where I fit in the story of Mary & Martha. I am Martha. I have always been a task-oriented, goal-seeking, high-achieving person. I rarely move from one point to another without careful planning and preparation. Life in this world can be fairly unpredictable. I like to know where I'm going. I do best when there is structure and order, where I know what is expected of me. Early on in my education I learned to think 1
through the steps to completing a task I try to move carefully throughout the day step-bypremeditated step. Trouble is, there is part of me that is Mary also. The last three of us in my family were born very close together. I was 2 ½ when my youngest brother was born and my sister had not celebrated her first birthday until a week after his arrival in the world. My Mom said that she was glad that I was a good baby because it meant that I spent a lot of time by myself as she was very busy with the other two. I think that because I was alone so much, I learned to enjoy times of solitude. Perhaps that's why now, when my life is busy, when I am speaking to a group in public, when I am performing the tasks of ministry, I find that I must have times where I am absolutely quiet and absolutely alone. Somebody told me that Gandhi always spent two or three days in complete silence for every day that he spent leading a religious and political movement in public. The silence enabled him to reconstitute himself. I'm sure that one reason why I enjoy being a minister so much is that the pastoral ministry affords times when one is busy, moving forward, setting goals, going to meetings, and interacting with other people. Being a minister is a very public job. That's the Martha in me. And yet there is also the necessity for a minister to be alone, in prayer, studying the scriptures, reflecting upon the word of God. That's the Mary in me. As a young minister I learned that it was important for a minister to be well-organized and punctual. A minister has got to be on time for meetings with people. A minister has got to organize the entire week knowing that a sermon will be required by the end of that week. Constructing sermons is both a very public and a very private endeavor. It is important to talk with people and to listen to people, to interact with others, to find out what concerns them and 2
what makes them tick. And yet it is also important for a preacher to be alone, in quiet and in prayer. A minister needs to work hard to be available to people in need. You've got to be willing to go out in the middle of the night when there is some tragedy in your congregation. You've got to schedule your day in such a way that there is time to meet with all the people who require pastoral support and guidance. That's Martha. And yet, a minister must also be like Mary. Sometimes the most important thing a minister does is not to do anything, but just to be there. We clergy call this the "ministry of presence." That means that sometimes we are there just standing beside someone, not saying or doing anything, but simply present with them. As I say, part of me is like Martha - busy, organized, goal-oriented, moving forward, getting the job done. And yet part of me is also like Mary - quiet, reflective, solitary, and simply sitting there, meditatively. And what I'm saying is what this story of Jesus at the home of Mary and Martha teaches us is that Jesus blesses both sides of our personality. The Christian life involves times of frenetic activity. But the Christian life also involves times of quiet meditation. In fact, I think many of you could testify that the harder you work at being a Christian, the more tough assignments you take on, the more desperately you need times of quiet and reflection, times like this service of worship. You are not here working at being a Christian right now; you are listening to me. You are reflecting upon your life and the demands of the gospel. You are at rest. Some of you may even be half asleep! And that s OK. You see, I think that we do this story of Jesus at the home of Mary and Martha a disservice if we interpret it in such a way that we contrast one of the sisters with the other. The 3
challenge here is not to decide which of the sisters got discipleship right. The message here might not be that Martha is doing something wrong and Mary is doing something right. The struggle here is not that Martha is a busy bee who can't stay still long enough to enjoy Jesus and that Mary is the adoring, perfect disciple who sits quietly at Jesus' feet, hanging on his every word. When Jesus says that Mary has "chosen the better part," I think it's a mistake to stress that word "better." One of the presenters at Worship Matters earlier this summer at Grosvenor Park Church had us do a little exercise to show us how changing the word we put stress on changes the entire meaning of what we say. In this case, probably we ought to stress the word "part." In the New Testament Greek, this little phrase is perhaps better translated that Mary is playing at a "good part." It is not that Martha's part is a bad part. Martha is just playing her part, busy doing good things, getting ready to show Jesus warm hospitality. And her part is good. And Mary, reflecting upon the significance of what Jesus is saying, listening to his every word, is also playing her part. It's a role that is different from that of Martha, but it's a good role for someone to play. It's a necessary part of the whole picture of discipleship. One of the great aspects of Jesus is that he blesses each of us and our various parts. I can tell you as a minister that I have learned that every church badly needs some people who are mainly Martha and others who were mainly Mary. We need people who are good at organizing and doing, and we need people who are good at reflecting, praying, and not doing. Some of us are either Mary or Martha. But probably most of us have some of Mary and some of Martha within us. And Jesus blesses both. Frankly, it is a bit of a surprise to see Jesus bless Mary, who simply sits there and listens to Jesus. For so much of the Gospels, Jesus is always calling people to get up and to 4
follow him, to walk with him, to give a cup of cold water in his name, reach out to those in need, go, do, work, and act. But here, Jesus also blesses Mary, that part of us that simply wants to be with Jesus, to enjoy his presence, to sit at his feet and to drink in his every word, to adore him and to praise him. Following Jesus is a demanding task. Sometimes it takes energy, resourcefulness, and lots of bold, hard work. And sometimes it means simply being with him, listening to him, enjoying him, and hanging on his every word. That evening, Jesus did not simply go to the home of Mary and avoid Martha. He did not talk to one sister and ignore the other. He loved and blessed them both by his presence with them both. Teaching both of the sisters, he blessed them both as his disciples. And so he blesses all of us. Thanks be to God. Amen. 5