A Sermon for the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

Genesis 18:1-14
Psalm 15
Colossians 1:21-29
Luke 10:38-42

Please be seated for the sermon.

the preacher kneels facing the altar in SILENCE for about three minutes.

"Get to work, Pat! We came to hear you preach, not to watch you kneel there in silence. You're wasting time; we've got better things to do."

Sounds kinda familiar, doesn't it? "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me." . . . "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her."

How easy it is to identify with Martha. We are a culture that values hard work, accomplishment, and success. We work hard, and it is annoying when we have too much to do to see someone who appears to be doing nothing. And it would have been especially difficult for Martha to see her sister sitting at Jesus feet -- because learning from a rabbi was not something that a woman was supposed to be doing.

We have our neat categories of appropriate behavior, then Jesus comes along and turns everything upside down. Jesus breaks those narrow definitions of who we can be. Sometimes there's part of me that wants to break a few more assumptions and imagine the story continuing in the kitchen, where Jesus and Mary and the disciples all roll up their sleeves and chop vegetables.

Jesus isn't saying that the service Martha offers is bad, or even ‘less good' than Mary's actions. In fact the word used here for what Martha does is "diakonian." Martha is ‘deaconing' -- serving her Lord -- ministering just as a deacon would at worship service. It is her calling and her gift. A gift necessary to the community.

Listen again to what Jesus says to Martha: "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things;... " Martha's trouble is not the service she offers but her distraction and worry. Her attention is distracted by worrying about what others are doing -- or not doing -- instead of focusing her attention on her guest.

So Jesus says "Mary has chosen the better part." Not that Mary's quiet nature or her individual abilities are better than those of Martha. But Mary has centered her attention on her guest. Mary's quiet, thoughtful nature could also have been distracted from Jesus with her own worries -- our thoughts can be as busy and distracting as our hands. But instead Mary has done the one thing that is necessary.

So just what is this "one thing" that Jesus says is needed? It's not a matter of choosing active or contemplative behavior. I think it has to do with hospitality, with how we welcome Christ into our lives. Being a disciple -- following Jesus and working for Jesus -- is important, But we cannot follow until we have heard his call. We need first to listen -- to welcome Christ into our lives.

Mary's actions were centered on Jesus. He had her full attention. She sat at his feet and listened. Martha's focus was on Mary and on herself. Before we can know what is "the better part" for us -- the way in which we each as unique individuals are called to welcome and follow Jesus -- we need to focus on Christ, to welcome Christ into our lives. We need to listen.

Sarah and Abraham welcomed and listened to God's messengers. Although understandably, being in past 90 and told to expect a child, when they listened, they both laughed. But they listened attentively, just as Mary did at Jesus' feet.

The people of this parish of Our Saviour listened as did all those involved in beginning the ministry of The Living Waters. They listened to the stories of people who did not feel listened to be the established church and they listened to God's word in Scripture and prayer before taking action and planning these worship services.

We, too, need to listen -- to take time to focus our attention on God.

Listening isn't easy. Silence is hard for us. It seems like wasted, useless time when compared to our busy lives.

Even when we think of prayer, we usually think of words. Most often of asking for what we need -- like Martha asking Jesus for the help she really did need. And God loves those prayers of petition and intercession, just as God loves prayers of praise and thanksgiving.

But prayer is a two-way street, a dialog. No dialog or relationship gets very far if one of those involved never listens. And unless we sometimes stop filling the silence with words we will not be able to hear what God is saying to us.

Silence is hard for us. But listening in the silence is the "only one thing" that is necessary to hear God's word for us so that we can follow Jesus in the actions of our lives.

Mary listened. And her unconventional response -- sitting at Jesus feet, being taught by a rabbi -- was affirmed and not taken from her. Sarah and Abraham listened. And they were promised and given the miracle of new and continuing life.

Our God is full of surprises. What unexpected miracle might God have in mind and heart for you? Is anything too wonderful for God? Listen.