We were going to be late for dinner. After 10 hours of driving the day before followed by six hours of navigating construction… we simply were not going to make a five p.m. dinner time – which is when our 97 year old friend Peg eats dinner. Could I bring something? I asked.
She said,“Absolutely not. Call me when you get to your hotel. I’ll have my friend pick up dinner.” Peggy had a plan B.
We ran into more highway delays, but by 6 p.m. we finally made it to our Airbnb – which turned out to be a townhouse on a busy street. My plan was for us to run in and change quickly – I’d brought a nice dress and thought we would freshen up a bit before going to Peg’s. But, there were no parking spots for blocks due to a local festival in town. And it was getting later…. One of my family said, “Maybe we should just go to Peg’s first?” I looked like a mess. But he was right. It was getting late. And we were hungry.
Meanwhile Peggy’s friend had trouble too – the Amish dinner she planned to pick up was all sold out. So – plan C - she picked up sandwiches at the local grocery store.
So, we went in our shorts and t-shirts and sat on elegant furniture that will one day be in a museum and ate chicken sandwiches out of a box. And Peggy was delighted.
It made me realize – again - that what I wore and what we ate were not the most important things. What was important was that we were together. What mattered was the relationship – simply taking the time to listen to one another and care for each other.
This is what I think is happening in the Mary- Martha and Jesus story. Martha was doing exactly what she had been taught to do – she was cooking and cleaning and preparing for guests. That’s how she saw herself practicing hospitality.
Hospitality is an important cultural value – in Bible times and now. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with providing hospitality. It’s a good thing. This is what Abraham and Sarah provide for the three men who stop by their household. This is what the Good Samaritan does for the man lying on the side of the road. This is what Martha thought she was doing – and what her sister Mary was not doing. And so she complains to Jesus, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.”
It sounds like an honest complaint based on traditional values and traditional roles. But Jesus does not do what she wants. Instead, Jesus tells Martha that the problem is not that Mary is listening to him but that “you are worried and distracted by many things.”
Worry. Distraction. These are stronger forces than we often realize. In a sermon that I read by Debie Thomas, she calls it a spiritual problem and goes on explain that “the root meaning of the word ‘worry’ is ‘strangle’ or ‘seize by the throat and tear.’ The root meaning of the word “distraction” is ‘a separation or a dragging apart of something that should be whole.’ And then she says, “These are violent words. Words that wound and fracture.”1 I think she is right. Worry and distraction can lead us to speak and act in ways that do not reflect our best selves.
When she complained to Jesus, Martha wasn’t operating out of love and kindness. She was so distracted by what she thought were her duties – and her anger at her sister not doing these duties – that she wasn’t able to pay attention to Jesus, listen to His words or show love by her actions. Instead, as Debie Thomas points out, all Martha could do was “question his love (‘Lord, do you not care?’), fixate on herself (‘My sister has left me to do all the work by myself’) and triangulate (‘Tell her then to help me.’) 1
This is not the condition or state of mind, heart and soul that Jesus calls us into. Clearly, neither Martha nor we can focus on Jesus and his message if we are “worried and distracted by many things.”
Instead, Jesus tells Martha – and us: “there is need of only one thing.”
What is this “one thing?” This is what Jesus wants us to hear. Jesus tells parables about the one pearl of great price, the lost sheep, the lost son, the kingdom of God. And as Jesus taught, “‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. ‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”John 3:16-17 NRSVNE Jesus wants you to listen and to hear the extravagant love of God that is given – freely – for you. And Jesus wants you to fall as madly in love with Him as He loves you.
This is the message that Jesus wants Martha – and us – to hear. This is the message that Mary chose to sit at Jesus’ feet to hear. This is why Jesus commends her as choosing the better part – even though it went against the societal norms – women had not been allowed to sit and listen to rabbis. But Jesus made room for Mary – and for Martha and for you and for me and for all people. As the voice from heaven said at Jesus’ baptism, “Listen to him.” This is what God wants us to do because God wants us to hear how much Jesus loves you.
“Listen to him.” Listen to Jesus. It sounds easy enough – but… it is sometimes hard to hear when there is so much “noise” and so many voices trying to get your attention to “do this” buy that, listen to this or that.” Like Martha, it’s so easy for us to get distracted, to become overwhelmed, and to stop listening to the one voice who wants only the best for you. For the one thing that Jesus wants from you - is a relationship…with you. Because, Jesus loves you.
So I wonder…what did Martha do? Did she stomp back into the kitchen muttering how unfair her life was? That’s what I’ve always assumed that she did. But maybe she stopped short – and saw the love in Jesus’ eyes and heard his words – not as a condemnation of her work – but rather as a release from the busyness and worry and distractions that troubled her. Maybe she heard the invitation to come and sit down and listen. Maybe she said to Mary – “Move over, I want to listen too. It won’t hurt the stew to simmer awhile – and I think we will have enough pita bread to go around. We don’t need those extra dishes I was going to prepare. We can always order take-out.” (Ok, she couldn’t order takeout).
We don’t know what happened next, but it is clear that Martha did listen to Jesus. For after their brother Lazarus died, it was Martha who, still showing hospitality, went out of the house and down the road to greet Jesus. And it was Martha who had a conversation with Jesus about her belief in the resurrection. And it was to Martha that Jesus said, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’” John 11:25-26 At this, Martha makes one of the most profound statements of faith in the Bible. She replies, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”John 11:27
Martha listened to Jesus and was filled with faith. It was that faith that gave her the courage to act with true hospitality – and to proclaim her faith to Jesus and to us.
Brothers and sisters, friends in Christ, hear the invitation of Jesus to listen and to hear the Good News of the one thing that is needed. Be filled with the Good News of God’s love and care – for you. For Jesus wants you to know that you – and your neighbor – are God’s beloved child – and that he wants a relationship with you because God is smitten with love for you.
So come. Come and fill your ears with this message of God’s good news. If you have been waiting for the time to come back into church – you are invited to come on back. Or listen online. Make it a habit to read or listen to God’s Good News every single day. Because you need to hear it. I need it. We need to hear the Good News of God to combat all of the bad news that surrounds us. This is why God invites you to listen to Him. Listen to Jesus. For you need to hear the Good News of Jesus that is given for you.
And then… Come and eat. Come and taste. The banquet is ready and is prepared for you by Jesus Christ. Come and be filled with Christ’s body and blood, the sacrament that strengthens and nourishes us.
It is only after you are reminded that God loves you with an extravagant grace and after you have been filled with God’s word and strengthened with Christ’s body and blood… that you and I are sent out. We are sent out to listen and see what God is doing in the world around us – and to discover how we can be a part of God’s loving and redeeming work in our world. Thanks be to God! Amen.
Pastor Pam Stalheim Lane Faith-Lilac way Lutheran Church July 17, 2022