7th Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 11
Luke 10:38-42
What would you do if when you left church this morning and upon arriving home found out Jesus was waiting at your door? Would you invite him in? Probably you would. Then the man of the house would try to make him feel at home, and most likely the woman of the house would be working fast and feverously in the kitchen making a feast fit for a king. There would be 2 kinds of meat, plenty of potatoes, a couple of salads, corn on the cob, and of course apple pie and ice cream plus plenty of coffee or lemonade. I would imagine the lady of the house wanting every thing to be all right. She probably in fact would be so nervous that she wouldn’t have time to visit or even speak with Jesus.
That might be one scene. Another would maybe be like this. Jesus was at your door, you knew he would be there only a short time, and since this man was the possessor of many truths, since this man had knowledge and truth beyond any that we would hope to have, you would invite him in, explain to him that you would like to hear his teaching and suggest that you send out for pizza or something that wouldn’t take too much time away from what was really important, Jesus’ words, his teaching. Jesus probably wouldn’t be at your house for a spread, a feast to eat, but he probably came for a simple farm picnic, he probably came to get acquainted, to tell you about his love for you, to let your learn more about him.
But how many of us would respond in the second manner? How many of us would send out for pizza or something similar, or fix a quick meal so that we would have plenty of time to spend with Jesus one on one? I would venture to say not many of us! And that is just the point of our gospel lesson this morning. This story of Mary and Martha. Jesus was passing through a village on his way to Jerusalem. He stopped by a good friends house for a rest and probably to say good-bye because he knew he would not be leaving Jerusalem the same way he would entered. Martha having such famous people in her house decided she would treat them in a royal way. She calls to her sister Mary to help, but Mary decides to sit down for a moment and visit with Jesus. Mary becomes so engrossed with Jesus’ words, she forgets all about helping her sister. So her sister has to work even harder. She become more and more upset and goes to Jesus and tells him that Mary has not been nice, and he should ask Mary, no tell Mary, to get up and get to work. But, Jesus sensing that Martha was so engrossed in her own idea of what Jesus wanted, instead Jesus told Martha that Mary was doing right at this moment.
The right thing at thing moment was not a lavish feast, with food fit for a king, the right thing at this moment would-have been-a simple picnic, with everyone helping themselves, and listening to the words of Jesus and saying their final good-byes. Mary understood what the purpose of Jesus visit was all about Martha embossed her own standards of what she thought a visit by Jesus was all about and missed the boat. She was out in the kitchen cooking when she should have been in the living room, eating cheese, and crackers, breaking bread and sharing the conversation with Jesus.
This story follows the parable of the Good Samaritan and together these two events in Jesus’ life gives the Christian an example of how one should live one’s life. Jesus is showing us very clearly the balance that is needed in one lives, ones life of faith. There is a balance between service and worship. A balance between doing and listening. A balance between my faith being active in love and my faith being made stronger by the word of God.
Jesus is pointing out very clearly it is the responsibility for each of us to decide in each situation what shall we do. Last week it would have been not very appropriate for the Samaritan upon seeing that man in the ditch to say first I shall pray about this matter, then, I will act. No, an act,of worship, an act of prayer, an act to strengthening one’s faith was not needed, but Christian service, love and compassion were needed.
In Martha’s case, she decided that service was more important than worship, or listening or prayer. But she decided wrong. She didn’t understand the situation. Jesus didn’t need that much Christian service, what he needed, what he wanted was someone to listen, to pay heed, to share with him in the suffering that was going to come in Jerusalem.
You are I are caught in that same paradox too. The question we need to ask ourselves is, What must I do ??? What is needed in this situation? Is it service, or is it worship?
In the past one could say that our churches on the whole put more emphasis on worship than service, but today with the mainline church loosing membership each year, our worship and our service are being called into question. I think there is a connection between being able to service and worship. Worship gives us the courage, the confidence the conviction to be able to serve. During the worship we listen to the words of Jesus, we feel his presence, we become stronger in our own faith so that we might be able to share that faith with others. But I would venture to say, that as our worshiping community has fallen off throughout the years, so has our Christian service.
The church, the people, you and I have not taken very seriously the kind of life Jesus has called us to live. We have pushed off many of the responsibilities of the caring Christian community to others , the government, social work agencies, private business or have just plain neglected some all together.
We are like 12 people in a life-boat and it begins to leak. There’s no doubt about who’s responsible to do something about that leak. The first person who discovers it usually does what is necessary. But what if the person nearest says, "Well, I didn’t make that hole, I’m not responsible. If he knows there’s a leak and then doesn’t do something a about it, he might as well have put it there, himself." We see the "leaks" the holes.in the society all around us. We see crime, we see poverty,we see injustice, we see hunger, we see people living in broken relationships, we see all the inhumanity that humans do to one another and sadly we say, well I am responsible, didn’t make that mess. But we all did. We are responsible.
I think for us to get back on the right track, to be the kind of people Jesus has called us to be, people who have a balance between worship and serving, we need to get our worship act together and at the same time open our eyes to all that needs to be done in the world around us. Notice, I did not say that worship comes first, then service but it is one in the same importance. I don’t think one can fully worship unless one has been serving and I don’t think one can fully serve unless one has worshiped. They are two sides to the same coin.
We are called this morning by this story of Mary and Martha to be both a worshiper and a worshiper. We are called to commit our selves again to a truly worshipful life that will be reflected in our service.
Notice. Mary took the time to worship. She made conscious effort to be at the feet of Jesus. Worship is more than habit, it is act of commitment. It is a conscious decision on our part to be in the presence of Jesus where we might be restored, made new, recreated for a life of service. But sadly, our church has lost that sense of commitment we once had. Worship is seen by many as something to do when there is nothing else better to do.
A pastor wrote the following in his church newsletter. Listen carefully.
I as your pastor quit sports. Your pastor has been an avid sports fan all his life. But I’ve had it!!! I quit. You can’t get me near one of those places again. Want to know why!!!!
1. Every time I went, they asked me for money.
2. The people with whom I had to sit didn’t seem very friendly.
3. I went to many games. but the coach never came to call.
4. The referee made a decision with which I could not agree.
5. I suspected that I was sitting with some hypocrites-they
came to see their friends and what other were wearing rather
than to see the game.
6. The band played some numbers that I had never heard before.
7. It seems that the games are scheduled when I want to do other things.
8. Boring
9. Too long
10. Not entertaining
As you listen to that list, did you realize that many of those same reason for the pastor quitting sports are the same reasons people give for not attending worship. But worship is more than that list. It is a relationship with Jesus Christ. Worship is more than the building in which it is held, it is more than the people who attend, it is more than the pastor who conducts it, worship is our contact with the Almighty through his son. Worship is our contact with the loving God who cares for us. Worship is our link to the salvation that is our’s through Jesus Christ.
Also remember, worship is also our time to bring to God the cares of this world. In our worship we bring to God the acts of service we have done. We place them on his altar we hand them over to him, so that he might have part, so that his presence will be felt in that act of service. As we unburden ourselves with this week’s service we make ourselves ready to assume the burdens of service that come our way next week, Worship is coming into the presence of the almighty not only to be filled, but to be unburdened. We come to find rest, we come to be given comfort, we come to unload, so that we might be the kind of people he has called us to be, a worshipful people who serve in a world of brokenness.
amen
