July 18, 2004/Proper 11, C/7 Pentecost/St. Paul's, Otis 
    
    "Martha, Martha." Jesus said those words with loving compassion, but also with loving criticism. 
    All over the world today, at least in our western culture,  as people hear this gospel, they will wonder why Jesus would criticize Martha. 
    Wasn't Martha the industrious one, the good one? 
Wasn't Martha the one who was doing the work of two people? Wasn't she the perfect hostess?
    Why did Jesus say that Mary chose the better part, what was the problem with Martha?
    The problem is described in another word from Jesus, he says that Martha is "distracted." 
    Distracted - what a modern concept! Let's see -- on any given day I can be distracted by the telephone, my cell phone, email, television, traffic, or my favorite "I'll just play solitaire for a couple of games while I think..." I can also be distracted by my cats playing, birds at the feeder, the books I am currently reading. Or I can just start thinking about other things, like plans for next week, or my vacation. 
    All these things can take me from the task at hand - but Martha was doing what she was supposed to be doing - right? What was she distracted from? 
    Martha was distracted from Jesus, which is to say that she was not paying attention to God right there in front of her. 
    But, we say, if Martha had sat with Mary, who would have fixed supper? And since hospitality was so important in that culture, what was Jesus talking about? 
    To best answer that question, we need to look at the gospel for last Sunday, among other messages in Luke's gospel. 
    In the passage just before this one about Mary and Martha, Jesus is accosted by a lawyer, trying to test him. 
    When the lawyer asks what he must do to inherit eternal life, Jesus asks him to interpret the law, and we hear, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart..soul..strength..mind, and your neighbor as yourself." 
    Then we hear the story we call “The Good Samaritan” in which Jesus answers another question, "who is my neighbor?" 
    Like many of Jesus' stories, that one turns things upside down. Our neighbor is seen to be our enemy - the one we love to hate and hate to love. That is precisely who we are called to love. 
    Of course, by showing love and mercy to others, we are showing love for God, but the story takes it even farther from our realm of understanding: in the story the Jesus figure is not the Samaritan who loved his enemy, the Jesus figure in the story is the man who was beaten and left half dead. 
    He was lying helpless, like Jesus on the Cross, and could do nothing to help himself, he was totally dependent on someone else.
    Totally dependent on someone else..a theme we can find throughout the gospels. 
    Eugene Peterson translates, "Don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or if the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your inner self than food...more to your outer appearance than clothes...Look at the ravens...carefree in the care of God..The Father wants to give you the very kingdom itself." 
    We cannot know how we can depend on God unless we listen to God, and we cannot know about God's kingdom unless we are willing to give up our distractions that keep us from it.
    So the story of Mary and Martha expands on and helps explain the question from the lawyer, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 
    The story of the man beaten and left half dead opens up our understanding of "love your neighbor as you love yourself." The story of Mary and Martha opens us our understanding of "Love the Lord your God...completely."
    When Mary sits at the feet of Jesus, listening, she is a disciple - she is learning from him. We can learn from this story that Jesus did not just talk about turning things upside down, he lived that way. 
    In the culture of the day, just as hospitality was important, often a matter of life or death, so it was only men who sat and listened to the teachings of the faith. 
    Jesus shows us that God's kingdom is open even to women. 
    What a shock! (It was, back then.) 
    Jesus is not telling Martha that her work doesn't matter. He IS inviting her to set some priorities and to put God first. Have you noticed that when you do that, put God first, everything else falls into place even better than you planned? 
    Jesus is saying that when God's presence is right in front of us, we might do well to pay attention! Lose the distractions. 
    I have two cats, a mother and daughter I adopted about two years ago from the shelter. The daughter, now grown, is very friendly and always runs downstairs to greet visitors (although, since she's a cat I think she wants them to greet her!) 
    Mama cat is not so outgoing, and has only recently begun to be affectionate. In her cat way, her show of affection is to jump on the table when I am having breakfast and sit on whatever I am reading. 
    At first I thought she was a distraction, and I would move her off my book. Then I realized that she is the main attraction, and I pay attention to her. 
    Often, when there is time for God, or when God's presence is in front of us, we look for something else to do. We seek distractions so that we don't have to pay attention to God. 
    We go out in the kitchen like Martha and rattle pots and pans and get angry when others don't join us. 
    Supper is important. We need to feed our bodies to keep them healthy, but our bodies can never be healthy if our souls are not being fed, too. 
    Compare Martha and Mary in our story. Martha is on fire with anger, whatever supper she eats will eat away at her. 
    Mary may be on fire, too, but on fire with God's love for her. She will not need the Tums later on.
    Eugene Peterson calls Mary's sitting and listening "the main course." Jesus said that Mary chose the better part - but he didn't mean that all we need to do is sit in quiet meditation. 
    We are called to bear fruit with what we hear from God. We are called to feed others so that they know of God's wonderful kingdom gift for them. 
    Next time you are sitting in God's presence (always!) sit and listen, feed yourself, then go and do, feed others. 
    
    In the busyness of this day
        grant me a stillness of seeing, O God.
    In the conflicting voices of my heart
        grant me a calmness of hearing.
    Let my seeing and hearing, my words and actions
        be rooted in a silent certainty of your presence.
    Let my passions for life
        and the longings for justice that stir within me
        be grounded in the experience of your stillness.
    Let my life be rooted in the ground of your peace, O God,
        let me be rooted in the depths of your peace. 
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