July 22, 2007
The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 11, Year C)
Amos 8:1-12; Psalm 52; Colossians 1:15-28; Luke 10:38-42
This story of Martha and Mary is a familiar one to all of us, and in the four or so commentaries that I read this week, one thing is clear: those who interpret these stories for us believe that Martha and Mary represent the balance that we all need to find in our lives.
That balance is between being and doing.
Almost all of us can relate to Martha for we live in a culture of hospitality and hard work. We like to invite folks over, throw something on the Bar-B-Que, and have a pleasant evening of conversation, sometimes games, or other activity, but with the sense that we have provided sustenance for our guests and they will leave fed and happy.
Martha was that way too. She was in awe of the prophet Jesus and wanted to treat him and his entourage as the special guests that she saw them to be. And given first century
So almost every one of us can understand her frustration with her sister who joined the men and even acted like one of them, sitting at the feet of the prophet and listening.
Then Jesus, who had already broken the social mores of the day by allowing Mary, a woman, to listen and be part of the conversation which was normally reserved for men, went so far as to say she was doing the “better part.” This was, of course, a very radical thing to say, and it was against all the customs of the day.
Note that Jesus held up the “better thing” as being in relationship with him in a specific way, but he didn’t balk at the food and hospitality that Martha provided either. And isn’t that like life?
We need to have a balance of the material realities of life. Someone needs to cook and clean and earn the money so that the conversations and guests and relationships can be nurtured. Indeed, the truth is that not only do we need balance in community, but we need balance in our own lives between the doing and the being.
This seems like such common sense to me that when I read this story this time through the lectionary, I wanted to find something new, to hear it as if “for the first time.” Well, I didn’t hear anything new; but, instead, I heard something very, very old.
I observed Martha, busy, ever busy, Martha the saintly, hard working one, pointing a finger at her sister. She pointed that finger and whined about her lot in life.
And I laughed because when I think of conflict in the church or in the world, I observe that we often point fingers at one another and hold ourselves blameless. Martha wanted to follow the rules, the rules dictated by the religious and cultural traditions and mores of her day. And our twenty-first century finger pointing is not much different from hers. Our culture and religious traditions might give us less confined or defined roles, but our instinct to make sure our way is seen by authorities as the right way, the only way, the best served way, is no less today than it was when Martha pointed a finger at her sister and asked that Jesus “fix” her to be more like Martha wanted her to be.
My children did this endlessly when growing up. I imagine yours did or do too, “Mom, she isn’t cleaning up her side of the room!”
This instinct to finger point at the other while holding our own selves in our own high regard, to make ourselves look like the hardest working, or the most traveled, or the most busy, or the most flat out, or the most authoritative, most knowledgeable, is one of the less attractive features of our modern culture. And I think busyness is becoming a more prized attribute than it was even in Jesus’ time. We have even made a project out of being healthy, eating right, exercising enough, meditating, praying, yoga. All these are good things, but often people make them part of their routine of “doing” and not part of their routine of “being.” Life in our culture is being lived from one “checked off the list” accomplishment to the next, even the praying time or the relaxation time or the vacation time.
And we measure those times like we measure every other part of our lives, for achievement, accomplishment and productivity. We live in a Martha oriented culture, and a culture that rewards “Martha-esque” behavior.
My friends, “Be.”
We need to learn to truly be, be in the presence of God, quietly, reverently, deliberately, not because we will earn our way to heaven by so doing and not because it will make us feel better or because it’s good for us (though it is!), but because we need that balance of God’s presence in our lives to inform the incessant activity of the rest of our lives.
And we must get out of the habit of pointing our fingers at those who choose to “be” in ways that are different from our ways. And we must get out of the habit of pointing fingers at those who are less productive or helpful or who simply don’t see it our way at all.
We are all both Martha and Mary when we are at our healthiest, best selves. We are only that best self when the Martha and the Mary within are balanced. And we need to help each other find ways to keep that balance. Encourage each other. Celebrate each other when we observe each other finding that balance. Sometimes we will need to take on one another’s tasks so that they can achieve the balance they need with the little help from us. Martha might have felt less stressed if Mary had been able to say, “You sit for a while and I will finish up in the kitchen.” How different this story would be if there were two balanced sisters instead of one hassled and one sitting rather self-righteously with the rabbi’s approval? I imagine that is the way Jesus meant it, even though it is not the way it has been interpreted over the ages. I say that because I know that Jesus loves us all, even when we are unbalanced. But Jesus’ plan for each of us is to become fully whom God created us to be, and that “be”-ing would find the balance between the internal, faithful, quiet life and the external, serving, helping, creative, doing life.
So what does this mean to little Keira whom we will baptize this morning? In a few minutes we will promise to do all in our power to uphold her in her life in Christ. And I think one of the ways we can fulfill that promise is to work on the imbalances in our own lives, to model for her what it is to be human, how we do not have to be perfect. We are not called to perfection, only faithfulness.
And I would suggest that part of the faithfulness we are called into is to create a space here and a community here that doesn’t point fingers or set one way of “being” as better than another, that encourages our doing, serving in Christ’s name, honors that in one another in the many ways there are now to do servant ministry. I would suggest that part of the faithfulness we are called into is to set apart time and space for people to be, as God calls them to be, recognizing that we won’t all be at the same place at the same time. Some will be serving in their own way and others will be listening to God in their own way. Both are valued by this community and both are necessary for every single member of this community.
So Keira, welcome to the church, a place of hard work, a place of reflecting, and a place where no finger will be pointed at you, but hopefully a place where you will be applauded and rewarded just for being you.
Amen.
The Rev. Dr. Gale Davis Morris
Church of the Good Shepherd