Are We Martha or Mary?

Amos 8: 1-12
Luke 10: 38-42

When Jesus decided to drop in on Martha and her sister Mary, Martha’s first impulse was to get something going in the kitchen. In doing this, she was being faithful to the tradition of hospitality begun long ago when Father Abraham welcomed three guests into his tent. Just as Abraham turned to Sarah to assist with the duties of hospitality, Martha expected Mary to do the same. Martha’s expectations did not include Mary’s plopping down on the rug at Jesus’ feet and leaving all the work for her.

That is however, exactly what her sister did. Mary was in no hurry to come into the kitchen. While Martha was flipping through cookbooks, boiling the water, chopping up the vegetables, and setting the table for three, Mary settled down at the feet of their friend and guest, attentive to what he was saying. In fact, by sitting at Jesus’ feet, Mary had taken the posture of a disciple. Who could blame Martha for banging a few pots and putting the plates on the table with steady thumps?

Perhaps Jesus heard the bustling around back there and, after a while, even the muttering. Martha was not a person who kept her feelings under a tight lid. Since Jesus was pretty sharp at gauging what was going on in people’s hearts, he knew what the muttering was all about, long before Martha’s frustration exploded into words, but he waited until Martha spoke.

“Lord,” Martha began, “don’t you care..” showing that Mary wasn’t the only one under scrutiny here – “don’t you care” she repeated, and then the gaze fell on her sister Mary, “that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?”

As a matter of fact, Jesus did not care. I like to think he smiled when he said, “Martha, dear friend, you are worried and distracted by many things.” This is an important moment to notice in the story. He is not going after Busy Martha, but Worried and Distracted Martha. He is speaking to his dear friend Martha, who has worked herself into a state of anxious distraction over the meal she wanted to have for him. She has focused her frustration not only on her sister but now also on her friend and guest, and lost sight of the one she significantly calls “Lord”. Jesus is gently calling her to refocus. Hospitality is not primarily about the food because what is more important is the focus on the guest and making them feel welcome and cared about.

Mary has chosen to focus on her connection to God who is the good in the world. Through Jesus we act with effectiveness and are grounded in love and compassion. You see, Martha has become so distracted in being hospitable that she has forgotten her guest and began to concentrate solely on her own needs and desires. As she prepares the meal, without any help from her sister, she begins to resent her sister and Jesus too. She resents the work she is putting in, and the hot kitchen that is making her sweat and ruining her hair and staining her clothes while Mary and Jesus sit comfortably talking in the other room.

In trying to make Jesus welcome, Martha inadvertently does the opposite with her distracted busyness. Mary has taken the time to ask their guest to sit down and put his feet up. She has inquired about his journey and all the people he has met along the way. She has taken the time to connect to Jesus and allow him to feel comfortable in their home. Martha has forgotten to take the time to connect with her guest before she began to get busy.

Now what can that tell us about our lives in the church? First of all, each of us has a role to fulfill. Some of us are excellent listeners while others of us are fabulous behind the scenes. We need to appreciate what each of us can do and not take it for granted. However, it is also a reminder to each of us that sometimes we get so focused on a problem or so caught up in that we have guests that we begin to scramble around to prepare a meal or get them comfortable, and we have forget to take a moment to connect with them.

We see this most especially in struggling churches when a new person arrives. Suddenly, the person is swarmed with people that want to show them the best places to sit and to show them the wonderful nursery in case they have children and the fellowship hall where all the pictures are and they are so caught up in doing that they forget to listen. Churches also do that with their programs and committees. If there is a problem we can address it by creating a new program! Or let’s have a meeting about it! Or better yet, let’s form a committee that is a subcommittee of that other committee.

We get frazzled and nervous and anxious and distracted, so we begin to do things. We run around with our arms in the air as our feet move us from place to place and our minds spin with words and grumbles and complaints. We become just like Martha when we need to be like Mary. There will be time for action soon enough. Sometimes the best thing we as a church and as individuals can do is to step back and do nothing. Sit down beside your guest and listen to where they have come from and where they are heading. Sit down and discuss with the people having the problem in our church and see what might be done before trying to do it. Listen and connect instead of acting without thought.

We need to reconnect. As a church and as people we need to stop doing things all the time and instead take a moment to listen. What does this church want for its future? What do you want for your life? How are we keeping ourselves and our church close to Jesus? Are we praying enough? Are we reading scripture and meditating on it? Are we praying several times a day and during our meetings and creating opportunities to talk about what we have learned?

Jesus rebukes Martha when she comes to him asking if he cares because of course Jesus cares about Martha and what she is feeling, but he does not care about the food she is preparing. That is just busy work. Jesus wants Martha to take time to be with him; to laugh and love with him instead of running around grumbling. Jesus knows his time on earth is precious and finite, just as our time on earth is precious and finite.

This summer we have been asked to take some time and listen to our hearts and listen to the people outside these walls of the church before we begin any major changes to what we do here. First, we must LISTEN to our community if we want to be able to CONNECT with them. We cannot assume we know what they need because other churches have tried that and failed. Now is our time to prove that we can stop with the distracted busyness and instead take a moment to talk and laugh and connect with the people we want to invite into our church home.

Grange Fair is coming up soon. That is a time when the whole community comes together to enjoy the fair and each other. That is a great time to start listening and asking questions of the people around you. It’s a great time to bring up how Trinity is making some changes and wants feedback. Ask your children that do not come often and ask your cousin who has never been here. Ask your neighbor who seems spiritual but never attends church. What would it take to make them come here? What is the most important thing they want from a church?

As a church that wants to welcome new people into it consistently, we need to stop running around grumbling and instead take a moment to listen. What does the outside world want from Trinity? What do we want for the outside world? And most important of all – what does God want for all of us?

Amen