I Never You Ye: Mary, Martha and Today’s Society”
Good morning, St. Stephen’s! I greet you with all my heart since it truly is a good morning indeed as each and every one of you chooses to fellowship here in peace during this time where violence seems to have center stage in our society. You choose to come to the house of the Lord and raise your hands in praise during a time when both the temperature and national tensions seem to be rising higher and higher than usual. Each and every one of you are a blessing in this world today since you are demonstrating that no matter how high tensions and controversy may rise, we center our lives around a God who is the most high. We serve a God whose kingdom comes and whose will is being done even as we wrestle with the issues of our days and lives.
Through trials and tribulations alike, we take hope in the Most High God who sent the good news to us through a Gospel of salvation that shines as a lamp to our feet and a light to our path in times of uncertainty. And today, that glorious Gospel message is a special revelation from Luke the 10th chapter, verse 38-42.
In this morning’s Gospel story, we see Jesus inside the home of Martha along with her sister Mary. And as the two women interact with Jesus in two different but significant ways, Jesus sends a message about God’s will that has stood the test of time as a guiding life principle to this day. When given the opportunity to chill or lime with Jesus, Luke 10:39 says that Mary “sat at Jesus’ feet and heard his word” while verse 40 of the same chapter says that Martha “was cumbered about much serving.” Martha rolls up her sleeves and starts working, while Mary pulls up a seat near to Jesus to start talking. Put poetically, While Martha fixes food and drinks, Mary finds out what Jesus thinks.
And at first glance, most people might think that the one who was doing more for Jesus would make the better impression on the Lord. In fact, if it wasn’t for Jesus himself, Mary might have gotten written off by both her sister Martha and history as the rebel woman who did not lift a finger for Jesus. Whether her actions are criticized in the story based on stereotypes of a woman’s place being in the kitchen or whether Martha is simply judging Mary based on hospitality codes about how all householders should welcome strangers, Mary certainly arouses the anger of her sister by sitting with Jesus and creates a dilemma for believers aware of her situation both then and now:
Is it better to do things to serve God or it is best to simply be with God by spending time at the proverbial feet of God?
Fortunately for us, Martha uplifts this dilemma to Jesus in her own words. And by the grace of the Holy Spirit I hope that we can truly listen and hear Jesus’ answer so that we may apply this gospel teaching to our life and times. In Luke chapter 10 verse 40, when Martha cries out to Jesus with the words: “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” The Lord answered her in verse 41-42 by saying to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the better portion, which shall not be taken away from her.”
By the end of the Gospel, Martha is the one found to be lacking as Jesus corrects her for her wrongful stance against Mary while praising Mary for choosing the better way to approach the time that they had to spend with the Lord. Jesus says resoundingly that only one thing is necessary in our life and that one necessity is embodied by Mary sitting at the feet of the Lord, sharing time and love. Ultimately, Jesus says that the better portion which cannot be taken away is to be in loving relationship and communion with the Lord God above all else.
Now, while this teaching is crystal clear, it is still somewhat hard to swallow especially for those of us who love to get busy with the Lord’s work and hold dear another scripture in James saying that faith without works is dead be it alone. Like Martha, many of us understandably want to show our faith and beliefs through lots of activity and busy-ness; but the use of the word “better” shows that Jesus does not condemn action in and of itself; but rather emphasizes how finding time to meet our maker in this lifetime is the best starting point before any other actions can genuinely proceed. Brothers and sister, that word better in verse 42 implies that both being and doing are good but “being” best equips us for our ultimate path to Peace. Put more simply, if life were a Monopoly game, players do not pass go rightfully unless appropriate time has been spent being in whatever box-space where God is found. Being with God incorporates doing since faithfully presenting oursleves to our creator and fellow creatures is the only appropriate context for any action or activity in our lives according to Jesus. There is ultimately a false dichotomy between doing and being since true doing is the secondary step springing forth from relationally being with God and one another according to our Gospel.
This revelation from Luke concerning being and doing through the lens of our story about Mary and Martha may still be a little hard to swallow; but it is the skeleton key that unlocks even more baffling scriptures such as the controversial yet often-quoted proclamation found in Matthew 7:22-23. The Bible reports Jesus’s warning that “Many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”
Though these verses address the last judgment and an arguably different eschatalogical phase than the Gospel reading that we started with, the message is the same. In the eyes of God, what folk do is not necessarily the same as who folk are in God. The kingdom of heaven is a reality that constantly turns our assumptions and intuitive reactions upside down; so just because someone seems to be doing what is right on paper, the true measure of a person’s action is the root connection that anchors their souls and hearts to whatever activity that springs forth.
There are many people who do many things but our Gospel suggests that if it is not at the top of your checklist already, then what must come first from now on is having a prayer life and seeking God in places where God can be found among the poor and suffering so that true communion and fellowship with God can become a top priority for once and for all. Being with God versus doing for or even instead of God is an issue that plagues our society today and for many people this barrier between being with God and doing for God often comes from an approach to life that is reactionary rather than relational. In Guyana, there is a folk saying that is often used when children are found reacting to or mimicking what they see that goes by the phrase: “monkey see, monkey do; monkey get in trouble too.” Many times, and unconsciously, people merely mirror or react to the people, places and circumstances that surround them. History unfortunately repeats itself as fewer visionaries like Sojourner Truth or Ella Baker step forward and especially in America, there seems to be a pattern of regression on issues related to voting, the rights of women, and how we handle races that are different from our own. Due to the limits of human nature, we suffer many of the cyclical effects of injustice and violence; however, if you are a child of the most high God creator and you recognize that you are in the image and likeness of a being who created form out formlessness and does a new thing each and every day; you will not be content with merely reacting to or imitating life as it is presented to us. As a child of God you will understand that you are living beneath your privilege unless you take time to be at the feet of the creator God, looking into a more real mirror of what you can be capable of even as the Earth waits for more people to care about creation more deeply and with increased faithfulness to wide-scale repentance from our destructive history.
As Christians we believe in the God who can save this world and heal each and every broken person place or thing through the blood of the lamb and the words of our testimony. Let our testimony be powerful so that everyone can not only know what we do but also know clearly who we are as mirror images of the most High creator God. Being with our creator in prayer and through loving one another naturally gives us the proper foundation for all that we do.
Even as heat waves rush across this land alongside waves of social frustration concerning our nation and the plight of our youth; we stand together as a community of love. We stand together as the body of Christ and we stand our ground on Christ the solid rock of ages who has showed us that all other ground is sinking sand.
In the name OF THE Father, the SON and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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