July 20, 2025 Sermon
Sermon title: “Mary and Martha”
Scripture: Luke 10:38-42
(Other lectionary suggestions include Amos 8:1-12, Psalm 52, and Colossians 1:15-28.)
Luke 10:38-42
Jesus Visits Martha and Mary
38Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. 40But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” 41But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; 42there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”
If you were here last week, you heard the Rev. Drak Druella preach on this topic, Mary and Martha, and you may hear me quote from what Drak said! But first, a thank you to Drak for filling in for me. And I want to say this: I believe Drak is more “spiritual” than I am, and that is neither a good thing nor a bad thing. It’s just a fact, I believe. And maybe I can learn from him.
But before I proceed, I want to say this. It’s from a Lutheran minister I have quoted before, the Rev. Andrea La Sonde Anastos. She is from the upper Midwest, such as Minnesota or Wisconsin. For the past 30 years or so, she has been a member of the Consultation on Common Texts. She is an artist, and also an author. One of her books is called “Outside the Lines: Meditations on an Expansive God.” And to us clergy, she says this: “(M)eeting God is something that should cause all of us to fall on our faces with fear and trembling. God allowed Moses to see only God’s hindquarters because anything less mundane would have killed him instantly. The point is that the mandate of Jesus - which is about seeing and being God’s presence in the world - is profoundly subversive and radical (outrageous, in fact). It should scare us silly. The point is that the word of God is not polite: it is scandalous. Our words spoken on behalf of ‘the word’ should paint that awe-full, subversive, radical, scandalous picture with unflinching honesty. We are painting God’s portrait.” Didn’t I say she is an artist?!
Rev. Andrea used words such as “subversive” and “radical.” I’m glad she did because I believe she is right! Jesus acted in a quite RADICAL manner when he treated Mary as a MAN and not a woman. He acted in a RADICAL way when he treated her the same as the MALE disciples! Do you wonder why Jesus was crucified? Because he brought all of our assumptions out into the open, and it was easier to kill the messenger than for us to change. Look at the story of the Good Samaritan. His listeners had assumed that Samaritans were the bad guys. But here was a Samaritan who acted in a neighborly fashion. And how did Jesus end this parable? He said, “Go and do likewise.” Be nice to women because they are supposedly the weaker sex. Be nice to those whose religion is NOT yours.
Like Drak, when I first heard this Scripture way back when, I thought, “Hey, yeah! Martha shouldn’t do ALL the work!” But my own prejudice about MEN wouldn’t let me think of MEN helping out! It’s women’s work, for heaven’s sake! I apologize for thinking that way. I was WRONG. Sidebar: as I have gotten older, I have begun to realize that I have some prejudices that I never should have had. For example, are people of other races LAZY? Did my wonderful parents accidentally inflict me with some prejudices that they didn’t realize THEY had? I think about this all the time. My father had a wonderful sense of humor, and he did not want to pass along any prejudices he might have had. But who knows? To be a follower of Jesus means to look seriously at oneself in the mirror. And maybe what we see isn’t always pleasant to behold.
If you recall Drak’s sermon from last week, you’ll remember that he quoted the hymn, “Take Time to be Holy.” I’m glad he did that. We really do need to make time for God, or however you might put it. It says in Exodus somewhere - I looked but I couldn’t find it! - that parents shall teach and train their children. the ways of God, “When they rise up in the morning and when they lay down at night.” Isn’t that the Old Testament way of reminding us to “Take Time to be Holy”? I think it is, and I think that’s what Mary was doing when she was sitting at Jesus’s feet while Martha did all the work! She was taking time to be holy, and Jesus was commending her for her choice.
Now – don’t we need people like Martha and Jo and Gwen and Yvonne to get things done? Yes, of course. But we need to keep things in perspective. We also need Tami and Jill to be sure we have smooth services. We also need people like Sherri to keep track of the money! All those things are important, and even St. Paul tells us that all things should be done decently and with order. But what’s the most important thing? Our relationship with God. What’s the church but the Body of Christ? And we need folks to help us run it smoothly. But the well-oiled machine is here to make sure that our relationship with God is strong.
There is this story which I heard from a minister years ago. There was this family that would read the Sunday morning comics together, and then the mother would take the kids to church. One of the kids said, “I can’t wait until I’m as old as Daddy so that I can stay home, too.” The father thought a minute, and then said, “Wait a minute, son. I’m coming with you!”
Scripture is great, isn’t it? It’s partly historical and partly – what’s the word I want? - instructive. It tells us how things were (Jesus visits Mary and Martha) and also how WE should behave (Take time to be holy). Making sure things run smoothly in church is good, but not better than being sure that we have a good relationship with God.
Says N. T. Wright, the British scholar, “Jesus’ evaluation of each human being is based not on abstract egalitariani ideals, but on the overflowing love of God, which, like a great river breaking its banks into a parched countryside, irrigates those parts of human society which until now had remained barren and unfruitful. Mary stands for all those women, who, when they hear Jesus speaking about the kingdom, know that God is calling them to listen carefully so that they can speak of it, too.” Amen.
Pastor Skip
