<\/p>\n
So, \u201cThere is need of only one thing\u201d, eh!<\/p>\n
That reminds me of the comedy movie, \u201cCity Slickers\u201d in which a couple of city folk go out West In order to sort things out in their lives.\u00a0 They try to get away from the humdrum of daily life and return to nature so they can focus on what\u2019s really important in life.\u00a0 They mount horses, ride out into the wild, and participate in a real Cattle drive.\u00a0 Their hope is that they can figure out what life is all about.\u00a0 Now all throughout the cattle drive, the trail boss keeps saying that just \u201cone thing\u201d is important in life.\u00a0 And so, the city slickers keep asking themselves the question- \u201cwhat is that \u201cone thing?\u201d\u201d\u00a0 But the \u201cone thing\u201d keeps eluding them; it is like a mystery to them because they are immersed in a flood of competing distractions.\u00a0 You see, these City folk are used to a comfortable and modern way of living; but they find themselves out in the middle of nowhere preoccupied with just trying to cope with multiple aspects of primitive camping in the wilderness.\u00a0 Getting away from it all was supposed to help them reflect and come to grips with life.\u00a0 But they were still so occupied with coping with the world that they didn\u2019t know where to look for that \u201cone thing\u201d.<\/p>\n
Now I think it is helpful to recognize at this point that our Gospel story today is part of a sequence of events.\u00a0 Earlier in Luke Chapter 10, Jesus identifies the greatest Commandment:\u00a0 to love God with all of one\u2019s heart, being, strength, and mind; and to love one\u2019s neighbor as himself.\u00a0 Then, Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan to identify who one\u2019s neighbor is.\u00a0 A Priest and a Levite just pass by a poor victim on the highway; but a foreigner, an unbeliever, a hated Samaritan, moved with pity, stops and takes care of the poor guy.\u00a0 Who acted as the neighbor?\u00a0 Not the holy priest or Levite, but rather, the unbeliever, the Samaritan.<\/p>\n
Then, after focusing on who our neighbor is, Luke moves on to the story we just read.\u00a0 Now the story opens as Martha welcomes Jesus, and presumably a number of others, to her home.\u00a0 You see, the crowds sought Jesus because He had something important to say about God and salvation.\u00a0 We know from the Gospel of John that Martha and Mary were Lazarus\u2019 sisters and that Jesus loved Lazarus.\u00a0 So, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus must have had some sort of standing relationship with Jesus.\u00a0 When the story of Lazarus being raised from the tomb is told in John\u2019s Gospel, Martha and Mary acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah there.\u00a0 So, it would seem that they knew Jesus as the Messiah and the source of salvation.<\/p>\n
So why exactly did Martha welcome Jesus into her home?\u00a0 Maybe Martha wanted others to hear about Jesus the Messiah.\u00a0 Maybe she just wanted to be the one who had the privilege of welcoming this special person who she thought was the Messiah, into her home; or maybe she wanted to hear more of what he had to say.\u00a0 Maybe it was all of those things.\u00a0 In any event, having Jesus in her home was the perfect way to assure that God and his word would be available to her.\u00a0 The environment was right, just like the \u201cget away from it all\u201d environment in City Slickers.<\/p>\n
Now Martha is described as the very picture of a good neighbor to Jesus and his party.\u00a0 In fact, the words in the Gospel emphasize the term \u201cservice\u201d.\u00a0 Martha is dedicated to serving her guests, as a hostess should.\u00a0 So much so that she was \u201cburdened\u201d by this service.\u00a0 We don\u2019t know what that means exactly, whether it means overwhelmed, consumed, preoccupied, or what.\u00a0 But it\u2019s easy to speculate that she was preparing a meal for the whole group, and not just a simple meal either, but a big celebration- a feast. \u00a0\u00a0And that meant that she was unable to take advantage of the whole reason Jesus was welcomed into her home.\u00a0 And so, just like the city slickers in the movie, she was so preoccupied with the things of the world that she was not able to focus on Jesus or his message even though the environment was right<\/p>\n
In contrast, we hear about Mary.\u00a0 Mary is pictured as sitting at Jesus feet.\u00a0 She is \u201cdown for the count\u201d so to speak.\u00a0 She is in position to take full advantage of what the guest has to say, and she clearly doesn\u2019t plan to move.\u00a0 Remember, she and her sister acknowledge that Jesus is the Messiah- the Son of God.\u00a0 Mary is giving full and undivided attention to Jesus as the guest and as the bearer of the Word of God.\u00a0 She is taking full advantage of the opportunity.<\/p>\n
Now in the Jewish culture of the time, when a guest came to your home, all the women were supposed to tend to the guest\u2019s needs.\u00a0 So, quite understandably, Martha is upset that Mary is not helping.\u00a0 Martha basically interrupts Jesus and asks him to tell Mary to help him.\u00a0 She is asking Jesus to take sides.<\/p>\n
Now, let me pause here for a moment.\u00a0 Recall that the Greatest Commandment is to Love God with your whole self, and then to love one\u2019s neighbor as one\u2019s self.\u00a0 Clearly, the priority of this commandment is to love God first, and then our neighbor.\u00a0 So, what was the priority of the two sisters in our story?\u00a0 Isn\u2019t Martha\u2019s priority love of neighbor?\u00a0 Martha is concerned with Jesus as a guest, yes; but also as a hostess to a larger group of which Jesus is just one member.\u00a0 She is not so much focused on welcoming Jesus or hearing what he has to say as she is on throwing the party.\u00a0 She is concerned with things of this life and on fulfilling the expectations for hospitality by the world\u2019s standards.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, Mary is concerned with welcoming Jesus personally, and being attentive to him.\u00a0 In fact, she is hungry for the message that Jesus is bringing to the people.\u00a0 Mary\u2019s priority is on loving Jesus as God.<\/p>\n
And so, one way of looking at this story is this:\u00a0 Martha is focused on loving her neighbor first within the context of living in the world; whereas Mary is focused on loving God first and on life in the Kingdom of God.<\/p>\n
The Bible scholars tell us that Jesus response to Martha is affectionate because he responds to her by name, and repeats her name.\u00a0 So, even though he sides with Mary, he is attempting to do so lovingly.\u00a0 Jesus says that there is need of only \u201cone thing\u201d rather than being burdened by the many things of the world.\u00a0 He then says that Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken from her.<\/p>\n
Ah, yes- Mary has chosen to hear God and love God first, and to focus on the one thing that cannot be taken from her when she does hear and heed the Word of God- the Kingdom of God.<\/p>\n
What does this mean for all of us today as we sit here and ponder this story?\u00a0 It seems to me that we are all challenged to achieve a sense of balance between Loving God first, and also loving our neighbor as ourselves.\u00a0 Sometimes we get in a rut as Christians.\u00a0 We think we are on the right track.\u00a0 In fact, we think we understand the message and are honestly trying to apply it.\u00a0 But we can become \u201cMarthas\u201d in the process.\u00a0 In our enthusiasm, we move out and do something.\u00a0 We are committed to being an honest, loving, neighbor to all we meet.\u00a0 We honestly try to be \u201cengaged\u201d as a committed Christian.\u00a0 And being engaged means being involved.\u00a0 Even though we may be encumbered and burdened by life\u2019s cares- aches and pains, limitations of mind and body- we participate in this group; attend these services; do acts of kindness for this or that person.\u00a0 And all of that is all well and good.\u00a0 But the fact is, we may not be focused on \u201cthe one thing\u201d, because of the many things that we are involved in deflect our focus.<\/p>\n
Unlike the Jesus in the story of Martha and Mary, God is not sitting in our homes in real flesh and blood, so that we can talk to him directly and listen to his Word as Mary was able to do.\u00a0 Rather, he is only available to us if we turn our direct attention to him in prayer; getting away, even for just a little bit, from the combination of our worldly aches and pains, our worldly interests; and our commitment to service.\u00a0 But we need to constantly reflect on what God is saying to us.\u00a0 We need to do that regularly, or we may become distracted and lose touch with His voice. \u00a0\u00a0And yet, all the while, we still need to be engaged in the world with love and kindness.\u00a0 It is a sense of balance that we need- a lot of Mary; and a healthy dose of Martha as well.<\/p>\n
And so, let us all resolve to seek \u201cthe one thing\u201d that really matters.\u00a0 And that is to recognize God as the highest priority.\u00a0 Then we will be grounded in the message of Jesus and the kingdom of God, the \u201cbetter part\u201d.\u00a0 It involves quiet time and prayer- prayer in which we listen to God no matter how soft his voice in the clamor of our everyday life, in the intensity of the world\u2019s distractions, and in even our efforts to be good, loving Christians.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Westminster Tower Ecumenical Service From Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Luke 10: 38-42 Dc. Larry Brockman So, \u201cThere is need of only one thing\u201d, eh! That reminds me of the comedy movie, \u201cCity Slickers\u201d in which a couple of city folk go out West In order to sort things out in their lives.\u00a0 They […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[218],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=356"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":424,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356\/revisions\/424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}