Pentecost VIII

By The Rev. Martha Frances+
Year C, Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 11
22 July 2007

Text: Luke 10: 38-42, Other Readings:  Amos 8: 1-12; Colossians 1: 15-28; Psalm 52

            As I stood in the back of the beautiful white nave at Trinity Church here in Houston preparing to process into the service for my ordination to the priesthood in June of 2001, Bishop Leo Alard admonished me in a stage whisper, “Martha, Martha, you are worried & distracted by many things;” & he was exactly right.  Kitchen preparations had not gone well, the custodian had refused to let the Bishop into the rector’s office, my sister & mother had arrived only 5 minutes earlier, & Bill’s mother & brother were stuck at Intercontinental Airport.  As the Bishop was one of my champions in the ordination process, he had long anticipated this day, wanting it to go as well as I did.  He added with a twinkle in his eye, “I’ll ask you some of the ordination questions in Spanish,” & I quipped, “And I’ll answer in Spanish.”  He did, & I did.  His playfulness took my mind off all the anxieties I had about the many things which had distracted me. 

            I’ve always contended that those who aren’t nervous about an important event clearly don’t comprehend what’s really going on, & since liturgy & hospitality are two of the hallmarks of our identity as both Episcopalians & Christians, I was as nervous that night as I was when we greeted Bishop Wimberly several weeks ago with no air conditioning.  Yes, I’ll admit it!  I’m well-named, & my sister Mary’s ability to take daily time for meditation & journaling heightens my discomfort with this story.

            After years of being haunted by this passage, I have read enough & lived enough that I believe this story deals with a balanced life, not a choice of one way of life or another.  I am an active person & am told that I have a high energy level, but I can only accomplish good & healthy acts in my life out in the world if I am in fit spiritual condition.  Healthy activism must spring from hearing the Word of God & taking time to let it sink into the inner layers of one’s heart.  A favorite collect from the Prayer Book says, in part, “Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, & inwardly digest them, that we may embrace & ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life. . . .”  We can hear & read Scripture or other spiritual reading in public, but in order to mark, learn, & inwardly digest them, in order to embrace & ever hold fast to the hope we find in them, we need time & space & resting in God’s loving arms.  That’s not just true for the introverted Marys among us; but for all of us, even the Marthas.

            Each day I begin with prayer & meditation, scripture reading & journaling, especially since a group of us has been reading The Artist’s Way this summer.  After the retreat I took in Massachusetts in June, I’ve been much more aware of my need for Sabbath time, both on Mondays but also when I have time stuck in traffic or in a slow-moving line where I would ordinarily just be steaming that I am held up.  In the doctor’s office, I relax & breathe deeply, giving thanks or uttering a breath prayer rather than being uptight & frustrated that I can’t get what I want as soon as I want it.  Weekly time to prepare for worship with you, the larger community, is essential.  As I did just recently, every Christian needs a larger chunk of time to “rest in God’s arms” & let the Holy Spirit refresh our souls.  It’s not a vacation; I’m not vacating anything.  It’s part of my job to be spiritually fit.  Such spiritual renewal is necessary for you, too.  Many retreat houses are available much closer than Massachusetts, & I’ll be happy to help any of you find a fitting place for you to open the ears of your heart to Christ. 

            In this short story Luke gives us much useful in modern life.  Remember that Jesus recommends a balanced life.  After all, he has come to Martha’s home, according to the reading.  This single woman must have means to manage her own affairs and provide for a sister & brother, Mary & Lazarus.  Jesus regards Martha’s home as a place of hospitality, a place he can come to rest, perhaps his place of retreat.  Martha is a woman of hospitality.  She welcomes Jesus to her home, bustling about to make her guest comfortable.  She exhibits the ancient custom & virtue of hospitality which we often neglect in this society.  Sometimes it is very inconvenient to extend our hands & our table & our hearts to strangers, but that’s what we’re called to do.  We had a great example of our doing that yesterday with our Summer Festival.  Jesus calls us to be givers at some times in our lives &, as we discussed last week, other times we’re to be gracious receivers. 

            Speaking of last week, you may remember that we talked about the parable of the Good Samaritan & I said you had to come back this week to hear the rest of the story.  Why?  These 2 stories are set side by side for a reason.  Last week, we saw an unlikely person—a Samaritan—exhibiting the virtues of an active life.  This week we see another unlikely person—Mary, a woman—acting like a male disciple, sitting at Jesus’ feet to listen to him—a complementary contemplative life.  There’s nothing wrong with Martha’s actions—someone has to make the dinner—but rather in her over-zealousness to DO which overrides her ability to receive from Jesus. 

A modern-day example we can relate to is that all of us enjoy our coffee hour after church, but if someone has to miss worship—the central communal activity for our community—in order to set up coffee hour, then perhaps we overvalue coffee, little wieners, & cookies.  Our despair at what is happening in the parish, the community, or the larger church often is acted out by our “doing a Martha.”  Ouch!  That still hurts!  When we rush around distracted by many things, trying to fix whatever is amiss, as if God has abandoned us & left it all to us.  When we take the weight of the world, or at least our little corner of it, upon our own shoulders, kindness & charity to one another takes a back seat.  We end up not being very nice to each other; thus to God.

We neglect to live “in” Christ, to stop & take time to get to know Jesus & to learn from him.  Relationships take time & energy to build, but we often neglect the time needed to get to know God.  And then we accuse GOD of leaving us.  Who’s moved?  When we trust fully in God, it’s scary because we’re urged to lay our whole selves on the altar for God to revive & renew.  We are frightened not to be in control, to give it over to God.  We have an old hymn we’re singing during Communion today I hope you truly listen to.  Are you truly willing to lean on the everlasting arms which are always there to hold us, to catch us, to enfold us?  Try letting go as Mary did to let Jesus fully have your whole life.

            So here we have the rest of the story.  Jesus wants us always in the process of sitting at his feet as disciples.  In worship, we are nourished with his Body & Blood.   Then, we’re called to loving action.  As a Christian community, we’re reminded in a passage in Hebrews that we’re to “Let mutual love continue.  Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that, some have entertained angels without knowing it.” (Hebr. 13: 1-2)  When we show hospitality to others, we don’t do so to earn brownie points in God’s little black book but because we have been blessed so much by God that we must pass on the blessings.  This week with Vacation Bible School, we have another opportunity to be gracious in our hospitality, & further, we can bring our friends to experience this VBS for 3 nights, no matter what our age.  We all have friends who are not church-goers; let’s bring them to enjoy our lives together.

            So there, we have the rest of the story.  Once again, we’re caught in the tension between active & passive lives, & both are necessary.  It’s a both/and proposition, friends.  We’re all in this together.  Out of our prayer & study come Christ-led actions in our community & beyond which then leads us back to the altar & the community to be renewed & refreshed in worship & study & fellowship so we can return to the world to share with others.  There’s no time limit on this process, folks.  The warranty doesn’t wear out.  It’s a lifetime proposition!