Reading, Sermon and Prayers for 17 July 2022

READING: Luke Ch 10 v 38 – 42

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

SERMON: Luke 10. 38-42

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.”

These famous lines, which open A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, hints at the novel’s central tension between love and family, on the one hand, and oppression and hatred, on the other. The book suggests that good and evil, wisdom and foolishness, and light and darkness stand equally matched in their struggle. The book makes prominent use of “doubles” to get and keep the reader’s interest.

We have such a story in the New Testament that also uses “doubles”, as it were to teach us an important lesson. Luke contrasts two sisters, Mary & Martha and their relationship to Jesus on a particular occasion.

I don’t want to say that one sister did bad and the other sister did good. I would rather say one did that which was “good”, but the other did “better” or “best”.

The opening dialogue from Martha is showing anticipation and excitement of Jesus coming to town, a desire to give her best, the work and the anger she felt – the story from her perspective.

I wonder if Martha were here to today, would this be how she would tell her side of story? I like Martha and in some ways it seems she got a raw deal. How often do you say to yourselves whether it is at work, at school, at church. “Why do I have to be the one who always does the work?”

To be a Martha is to be a person on the go, to see a job that needs to be done, we get stuck in and do it. We love to serve the Lord, we like being busy and it gives us joy to see things getting done at least most of the time. Sometimes we do get tired of doing all the work and we find ourselves coming out with such comments like; Can’t others see what needs to be done? What about him or her can’t they do some work?

Why then does Jesus not take her side? After all, Jesus had earlier just told the parable of the Good Samaritan in which He told us to “go and do likewise”. Now he seems to say that we should not be busy doing things.

Let us take a look at what, if anything, Martha did wrong. Her intentions were good. She was sensitive to the needs of Jesus and disciples. She could have spent more time listening, but hoped to do that later. She tried to be a good hostess.

Some people think that Martha overdid it. Jesus didn’t need an elaborate meal – a simple one would have been enough. But vs. 30 doesn’t talk about the preparations she wanted to make but rather those she HAD to make.

Now Jesus did not mind people showing devotion to Him by going to extremes.

The problem was that Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She probably tried to listen to Jesus as she worked but could not do both at the same time.

Have you ever visited someone for dinner and the hostess is so worried about the meal that she/he is not relaxing at all and they couldn’t get into a good talk about anything. That’s the situation in this story.

Martha was being pulled into 2 directions. Her need to care for and be hospitable had become obsessive and exhausting for her. She could have easily asked Mary to help but she felt responsible to do it all herself.

She was being pulled one way because she felt compelled to do the work and pulled other way because she also wanted to be with Jesus. She may have even been mad with herself for taking on too much responsibility.

How many of us are not like that? It’s just as easy to go ahead and do the work ourselves. Why go through all the hassle of asking for volunteers, training them, and then wondering whether or not they will do a good job?

So we do it ourselves. Then we burn out and blame others for not doing their part.

The result is blame and anger. We even blame innocent bystanders. That’s what Martha did. She knows Jesus cares but she jumps on Him and complains to Him “Don’t you care?” accusing the one who cares for her more than anybody else, the one who would die for her.

Then she tells Jesus to tell Mary to help her asking Jesus to do that which she should have done herself?

Martha built up anger with sister and Mary is not even aware of Martha’s anger.

I have seen this in myself and others ‘I’m very upset with someone and other person is not even aware of it. Therefore the problem really lies with me.

How familiar we are with the words that Jesus answers her with “Martha, Martha,” “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed.”

The way that Jesus repeats her name shows that while he disapproves of her attitude and words, he also has love and concern for her because he cares for her.

Martha had begun the preparations out of devotion for her Lord but after a while her busyness and anger caused her to forget why she was doing the work.

Her thoughts begin to move her in the wrong direction. She starting feeling pride in herself for how much work she was doing. Wasn’t it much better than what Mary was doing?

She began to feel sorry for herself. She no longer carried out duties in love for God but out of pity and pride. Jesus pointed out her mistake to her. She was troubled and anxious about many things. If she did them for Lord she would not have been anxious.

Mary continued to abide in Jesus, to focus on Him, while Martha did not. This is the choice that Mary made that was better.

Jesus did not say that Mary did a better thing by not working but by listening. To be in touch with God, to dwell in His presence does not mean that we have to sit at His feet, nor does it mean that we have to be busy serving Him.

Whatever we are doing, we must not be overanxious and distracted as hard as that is. Not to be sulky or upset with others. As hard as that is. We are different – some are go getters and starters, some are not. Some see what needs to be done, others need to be asked. But remember that our service is to the Lord and remember His great love for Him.

There are times to serve and times to be still before the Lord. Martha loved God but God but was distracted from it. Two of most wonderful expressions of faith found in Bible come from Martha.

Are you a Martha and Mary, neither, bit of both?

Do you love Jesus but are sometimes distracted? By the busyness of life, TV, church activities, feelings toward others?

Let us focus on Christ whether we be busy or simply listening to Lord at His side. Amen

PRAYERS

Almighty and everlasting God, the wonders of your creation are constantly being revealed to us through man’s ingenuity, whether through the exploration of the solar system or the unravelling of our DNA. And yet there are still unanswered questions, not only on the world scale, but also in our everyday lives. As we strive to see both the big picture and the smaller personal one, we come to you as we ask for those things which seem beyond the bounds of our science and technology. We heed the words of Jesus who said we should ask of our heavenly Father who will supply our needs.