Preacher: Revd Dr Joe Mottram
Date: 17/07/2022
Being more Mary
5th Sunday after Trinity
Readings: Genesis 18:1-10a, Colossians 1:15-28, Luke 10:38-end
Opening Prayer:
As I speak, may the Holy Spirit stir our hearts to follow the example of Jesus Christ in loving our heavenly Father with all that we are. Amen.
Introduction: Entertaining Guests
Hosting guests can be a tricky balancing act, can’t it?
Personally, I find it all a bit stressful – I think I’m probably more of a Martha than a Mary, really. You’ve got to make sure that the house is clean and tidy before people come around. Then, when people arrive you want to pay attention to your guests, talk to them, spend time with them, be present with them. However, in order to serve their needs, there are also practical considerations.
To be a good host you at least offer them a drink, perhaps some cake or a biscuit. Someone’s got to go and put the kettle on, choose whether this is an occasion for the best China or the regular mugs, clear away unwanted empties and offer refills. If you’re hosting people for a meal then there’s even more call on the time of at least one person to get the food ready, especially if you’re preparing something that should be hot or fresh.
How do you balance time being present with your guests with time attending to their needs?
When I was growing up, everyone was expected to pitch in to help do as much as possible before a meal. At first my younger brother and I would be tasked with setting the table or tidying the dining room, but as we got older we also got given jobs in the kitchen. While Mum and Dad attended to the main course, we might be tasked with cutting vegetables, slicing bread, or making the topping for a crumble.
When guests, friends, or family arrived, someone would probably have to pop into the kitchen to finish things off while everyone else chatted and sorted out drinks. However, there was also a rule – if you did the cooking then someone else did the washing up. This balanced out the workload and meant that the cook could spend time with guests while everyone relaxed after dinner. My brother and I were often tasked with tidying up, one washing and one drying.
Sounds good in theory, doesn’t it? In practise, however, my brother soon realised that if he did a bad job of the washing up then someone else would end up doing it, and generally he could just leave most of the drying up to dry by itself. Once or twice I nearly reached the ‘it’s not fair’ moment that Martha expresses to Jesus in our Gospel reading this morning, though not in front of guests.
Every time I read or hear the story of Mary and Martha, I naturally identify and sympathise with Martha. Jesus’ answer, however kindly we might imagine it being said, therefore leaves a bit of a sting, and some questions – Is Jesus really saying that Martha should have simply ignored the needs of her guests? What am I missing?
Mary and Martha – scriptural context
Whenever I get these moments of uncertainty, the first think I try to do is look at the context of the surrounding text. Sometimes even seemingly isolated and self-contained parts of the Bible make much more sense or gain added meaning when compared to what comes before or after them.
In the case of our Gospel reading today, this story follows directly on from our Gospel reading last Sunday, where we had the declaration of the law – Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind, and your neighbour as yourself – followed by the parable of the Good Samaritan.
The story of Mary and Martha is told by the narrator, in contrast to the parable of the Good Samaritan, which is told by Jesus, but there are also a number of similarities.
Both are set in the context of journeying. Both are concise tales which are vague on details of the key characters – we’re only told Mary and Martha’s names, that they are sisters, and that they live in ‘a certain village’. Similarly, the parable of the Good Samaritan is about ‘a certain man’ who is attacked by bandits on a well-known dangerous route between two main cities, with the other characters identified by their roles or ethnicity. These features invite and enable the listener to place themselves within the story, and so compare how they would respond.
Jesus uses the parable of the Good Samaritan to challenge and expand on the idea of who our neighbour might be regarding the commandment to love our neighbour as ourselves. Given the similarities and lack of a sharp transition between the parable of the Good Samaritan and our Gospel reading today, it seems reasonable that the story of Mary and Martha is intended to similarly challenge our understanding of what it means to hold the greatest and first commandment – to love the Lord with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength.
So, with that in mind, let’s take another, closer look at the passage.
Mary and Martha – a closer second look
Martha welcomes Jesus into her home – so far so good. Welcoming Jesus is the first step in being faithful to God within Gospel thinking.
Her sister Mary sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. Jesus has said earlier in chapter 10, no-one knows who the God the Father is except his Son and those he chooses to reveal him to. Jesus reveals who God is through his teaching, as his disciples sit at his feet and listen. With the context of the first commandment in mind, to sit at Jesus feet, to learn from his teaching, is to strive to love God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength.
The twist is that, in Jewish society of Jesus time only Men could be disciples. Like the Samaritan showing neighbourliness, the boundaries are stretched by the choice of Mary, someone who Jewish society would not have expected to be a source of revelation, as the person whose choices and actions are held up as the example to follow. This is implicit at this point in the story but Jesus will make it explicit soon enough.
The attention shifts back to Martha for contrast. Instead of listening to Jesus is distracted by many tasks. It is not the tasks per-se that are highlighted as the issue, but instead the distraction from Jesus teaching. To use another of Jesus’ parables as a metaphor, Martha is like the seeds of the kingdom sown on thorny ground which are choked by the cares of the world.
It is not that seeking to serve her guests is wrong, but instead that she gets so caught up in all her various tasks and worries that she fails to listen to spend time with Jesus, to hear his teaching. Instead she comes to tell Jesus what to do. She is focusing on her own priorities, her sense of obligation as the most important thing, rather than starting from God’s priorities and will.
Mary and Martha and the Good Samaritan – contrasts
It is worth noting the contrasts and tensions between the story of Mary and Martha, and that of the Good Samaritan. While the emphasis in our Gospel reading today is on hearing and waiting, the emphasis in the parable of the Good Samaritan is about seeing and acting. There is a tension here which we find all over the New Testament.
In chapter 2 of the Letter to the Ephesians and in chapter 2 of the letter of James, the phrasing would be about faith and works. Faith is not justified by good work, we cannot buy our salvation, but works do come as a natural consequence and in response to faith and salvation.
It is therefore important that we don’t take the points made in either the Good Samaritan or the story of Mary and Martha in isolation. Viewed together, we are called to listen to God, to hear and internalise the teaching of Jesus, loving God with all of our being, and then responding to God’s love and call through the right sort of actions. It’s not about picking one or the other but about a right combination and motivation of each, the right balance of being and doing.
Mary and Martha – challenge for us today
I have to say that, as someone who is more of a Martha, I find this challenging. It’s so easy to slip into the mindset where we prioritise getting things done on our to-do lists, even worthy things, over spending time with God.
So, how can we be a bit more Mary? What does it mean, what does it look like to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and our neighbour as our self?
From our Gospel reading today, it means sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to his teaching, studying it, making it our first priority, and then acting in love to everyone, whoever they are, as we are directed and lead by God. It means ensuring we give due time and attention to the fundamentals of Christian discipleship – studying the Bible so that we may know God better, and praying so that we may hear God’s call on our lives. It is about not just doing for or to people, but being present alongside them because that is an extension of how God expresses his love for us – by being present with us through Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
So, my challenge for all of us is to think about how we might be a little more present with God this week.
It might mean chatting with God as we do something life-giving, like painting, listening to music, or watching the birds. It might mean setting aside 10 minutes with a cup of tea to simply be quiet and listen to God. It might mean hearing, reflecting on and praying about a daily Bible reading using a Scripture Union daily reading booklet. You could listen to the pray-as-you-go app on the way to work or while doing the housework.
There are plenty of ways, and they don’t take as much time as you think, even when we’re on the go and have lots to do. However, if we want to love God with all our heart, mind, body, and soul, it is through nurturing these little holy habits, these simple, practical ways of sitting at Jesus feet, that are the place to start.
In this way, we can all be a little less Martha and a little more Mary.