Reflection: "The Right Thing"Just when we think we’ve got the formula all worked out - the path to success is all laid out before us - the one easy answer that will earn us an A-plus for discipleship is within our grasp – Jesus throws a spanner into the works.
Last week we heard the well-known story of the Good Samaritan, in which the lesson was: “Go and do likewise“. The Samaritan saw, helped, bandaged, lifted, took, gave, payed and promised, all of which are “doing” words. This week we have Martha, who is doing and doing and doing – and all to exercise the virtue of showing hospitality. But this time, “doing” doesn’t seem to be the preferred course of action - “Stop and listen” seems to be the answer. So, what’s happened? What’s different? Jesus has come to visit his good friends Martha and Mary and, as usual, Martha rolls up her sleeves and goes to work, preparing the dinner, chopping vegetables, setting the bread out to rise, making the salad, and changing her mind three times about which dishes to use - one set is too formal, but the everyday plates seem too plain. She’s put the soup on the fire, but isn’t sure the seasoning is quite right. She’s called Mary in to give it a taste, but so far, Mary’s shown little interest in helping. Martha knows that the lamb could get tough if she leaves it too long, and she doesn’t want to over-bake the bread. Perhaps it was a mistake to try a new recipe on such an important guest, but since Mary wouldn’t help her decide on the menu, she’s going to try it and hope for the best. Should she have gone to the trouble of making seating assignments? Maybe she should switch Mary’s place to farther down the table, since it seems she’s already spending so much time with Jesus. Phew! Then, Martha pokes her head into the living room, hoping to get Mary’s attention, but Mary’s still just sitting and listening to Jesus, so Martha goes back to stir the soup, which has started to simmer. I think Martha’s showing signs of simmering, too! This story from Luke can really irk some of us and it seems so natural for the story to turn into an exercise of choosing between the two sisters – should we choose Mary or Martha? Which of the sisters are we like most? Who is more important? More faithful? More valuable? It’s so tempting to launch into an enthusiastic defence of Martha. Where would we be as a church without all the Marthas? Those who act and give and plan and budget and do and shop and cook and organize and sort and hold garage sales and scrape the wax off of brass candlesticks and make sure there’s enough wine for communion and unjam the photocopier and set up the coffee and cut the cake and make the name tags and ……. sigh! All this, so that the rest of us can be like Mary and listen at the feet of Jesus, then, when the worship is over, we can go enjoy a nice morning tea which, if we haven’t noticed, someone else prepared. Our common life in the church is dependent on the activity of many. Martha wants help - and is that so wrong? “Lord,” she asks, “do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Then tell her to help me.” Jesus simply says: “Martha, Martha, you’re worried and distracted by many things. There is need of only one thing.” We know, we understand, Martha isn’t just busy, she’s not just multitasking, she’s not just over-booked, over-scheduled and over-whelmed. In fact, she’s distracted by doing a lot of serving - distracted by too much, and too many …... things. But Jesus tells us that there’s need of only one thing. Unfortunately, some days, it’s so hard to remember what the right thing is. What if the point of the story isn’t to further divide Martha from Mary, or vice versa. Not to pit the sisters against each other, not to choose either of them, but instead, to choose Jesus? What if this isn’t a story about choosing between bible study and outreach ministries, between making time for nightly devotional study and hands-on service to others? What if it’s not a story asking us to choose between being a Mary or being a Martha, but one of keeping our focus on Jesus, choosing Jesus, choosing the thing he’s asking of us, or offering to us, just now? But what is that thing? In the book of Matthew, Jesus was asked the question “Which commandment in the law is the greatest?” “This one,” he answers. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment and a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” Hang on, that’s two things, isn’t it? Do this – but also do that. Do this one thing: love the Lord your God completely, and, also love your neighbour as yourself. The story of the Good Samaritan shows how one loves one’s neighbour with actions of compassion and mercy, going and doing, but then Jesus goes to visit Mary and Martha and we see Mary loving God without distraction, without worry, just resting and listening. Martha was also serving and loving her Lord, but in a different way. How will we know when it’s time to do and when it’s time to sit? When to listen and when to act? When will we meet Jesus in serving the wounded stranger and when will we meet him in our time of quiet contemplation and prayer? “Do this and you will live.” Jesus doesn’t exactly spell it all out. He doesn’t give us all the details - but listen one more time to how he helps Martha, or tries to. Community is important in this story. In the story of Mary and Martha, Martha does the right thing. She invites Jesus into her home, but she doesn’t spend time with Jesus, or with Mary. And at least within the narrative of the story as we have it, rather than speak with Mary directly and ask Mary directly for help, Martha does what we are all warned against for the well-being of community. She triangulates: “Jesus, make Mary help me”, which is a divisive move. In asking Martha to choose the one needful thing, Jesus is inviting Martha back into community. He doesn’t command her, he doesn’t shame her, instead, he invites her, giving her a choice. Come into the living room, because I want to be with you. Will you choose me? Because in choosing me, you’ll also gain back your sister. In choosing me, you may see your way clear to loving yourself, as well as your neighbour. In her frantic rush, in her distraction by much serving, Martha is showing neither love to Jesus, nor love to herself. Sometimes we need to say “Put down the lamb roast, Martha, and come join us by the fire. There’s nothing you need to do to earn God’s love, or impress God, or prove anything to God – nothing! There’s nothing you can do, or not do, to make God love you any less, or any more, than he already does. Jesus looks upon you with compassion.” I guess you have realised by now that we can’t really exist at either end of the spectrum. We can’t be totally Mary, ignoring the tasks that need to be done, but neither can we be totally Martha, rushing around and not taking the time to listen to what Jesus has to say. The hard thing for us to determine is where we should be on the Mary-Martha line and we need to be a bit of both. Hopefully, the time and the circumstances will determine what actions we should be taking to totally honour Jesus. If we can work these out, we can be true to his command and love God, our neighbours and also ourselves, by being more like him. So, is there just one right thing? I think it’s a balancing act and if we’re prepared to put ourselves in the background and focus on Jesus, then we have a chance of making the right choices and honouring his name in all that we say and do. Blessings…………..Pastor Rick
1 Comment
Lena Beryl Blok
15/7/2022 06:43:09 pm
Thank you Rick for another fine and helpful message.
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