Gracious God, root us in your love in this moment. Help us find stillness, rest, and renewal in this sacred time together as we listen for your word of guidance and inspiration to us today. Amen.
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Today, we continue with our sermon series on stories from Luke’s gospel in which Jesus illustrates the nature of radical grace that meets us in times of need, challenges us to deeper and perhaps more courageous faith, and urges us to grow broader and more generous in our practice of extending grace and love to others.
And so, we find Jesus at the home of his friends, Mary and Martha. Martha welcomes him in and then gets to work to provide some hospitality, probably preparing a meal. Jesus had been traveling with his disciples, so it’s likely that some of them are there too (though we’re not told). So, Martha might have assumed that lunch was expected. Afterall, providing hospitality to anyone who stopped by was part of the culture. And women were often the ones who did that. So, Martha’s response to her visitors is conventional and expected.
But Mary, instead of helping her sister, does a more unconventional and unexpected thing and sits down at Jesus’ feet (as a disciple and student), perhaps along with some of the men, to listen to what he has to say.
But then a tense moment erupts. “Lord, don’t you care that she’s left me to do all the work?” exclaims an exasperated Martha. “Tell her to help!”
“Martha, Martha, you’re worried and distracted by many things. But only one thing matters. Mary has chosen the better part. And it won’t be taken from her.” Not the reply from Jesus that she was looking for, I’m sure.
But rather than a rebuke of Martha, I read this reaction of Jesus as an invitation. A challenge, yes, but not a scolding. For one, Jesus isn’t going to let Martha interfere with Mary’s choice to be a disciple and a student in this moment. Mary’s choice is good. And he isn’t going to just give into cultural expectations for women. I love that. I doubly love that if this happened in front of all the dudes.
And second, Jesus addresses the heart of Martha’s issue, which is not that she is busy working, but that she is distracted and worried. Her tasks have become a burden. Perhaps Jesus is inviting her to stop and rest too. She’s been plenty hospitable already. Perhaps what she needs for her soul is to join her sister and Jesus as a disciple and student as well.
We’re left to finish this story for ourselves. We don’t know how Martha responded. Did she sit down and listen? Did the two sisters reconcile their differences? Did Jesus send Peter out for takeout, so the women didn’t have to cook? Who knows! But I like to think that Martha accepted Jesus’ invitation.
Now, I want to caution us against a couple of things. One, perhaps we should back off from the temptation to divide up our families, our workplaces, our church and our other communities into Marthas and Marys and start pointing out who’s who. Second, we shouldn’t assume that Martha was a bitter workaholic, and Mary was lazy and careless toward her sister. No need to pigeonhole them based on this one interaction.
That said, I confess that I’ve often found this short little story to be both beautifully inspiring and a bit bothersome. And that is because my inner Mary and my inner Martha are in constant dialogue with one another. And sometimes that dialogue rises to the level of a passionate argument. Maybe you can relate?
We can all harness some strong inner Martha energy in order to get stuff done. It’s how we survive and thrive.
My inner Martha is solid and dependable. She loves both her paper and electronic calendars, checking things off her to do lists, and clearing out her email inbox. She’s most at ease when the dishwasher is empty, the laundry is done, and the house is clean and tidy. She enjoys meaningful work and finds God in service.
But sometimes my inner Martha gets worn out. She can get overly worried about what others think and overly self-critical. She can get irritable when tasks fall through the cracks. She can get lost in the details.
We can also harness some strong inner Mary energy in order to live a life worth living. It’s how we grow, learn, and enjoy the world arounds us.
My inner Mary is a creative spirit and an eager learner. She loves her art supplies; reading, studying, or watching something educational or inspirational; and communing with nature. She’s most at ease when she’s so absorbed by something that she loses track of time. She enjoys beauty and finds God in moments of deep connection.
But sometimes my inner Mary procrastinates. She can neglect the things she doesn’t want to do. She can gripe about the to do lists. And she starts a lot of projects that may or may not ever get finished.
These two always talking to each other.
And, though it may not always be comfortable, I’ve come to realize that I actually need the ongoing dialogue and push and pull of my inner Martha and Mary energies. Perhaps you have too?
At their best, when functioning together, our inner Marys and Marthas can bring balance.
And perhaps, when things get out of balance Jesus can help bring them back together.
Jesus told Martha that Mary chose the “better part” and invited her to do the same. It’s not that Mary was better than her sister. It’s that she made a better choice in that moment. I suspect Mary was just as likely to get out of balance as her sister. Aren’t we all?
There’s plenty that can cause us to lose our balance, after all. Personal stuff. Interpersonal stuff. Societal, political, and world stuff. The tasks and to do lists. The everyday, mundane stuff. But also, serious stuff, important stuff – the stuff that can really stress us out. Too much stuff some days!
Sometimes I feel like I have so many things spinning around in my head and heart, that I have trouble figuring out where to put my attention and which way is up. I can feel like Dorothy and toto swirling around all topsy turvy in a tornado watching pieces of their uprooted Kansas life, fly past the bedroom window. Anyone else?
I had this long, doomscroll of a list going on in my head as I was writing this sermon. But I decided not to take you up into my angry stress tornado today. You’re welcome! But if anyone wants to talk about yours, let me know. I feel you and I’m here for you.
Sometimes it can be hard to find the ground. Where is God in all of this? How do we find center again when we feel like we’re being tossed around?
Finding balance is not always easy. One thing I have learned from ballet, yoga, and a very brief stint in gymnastics as a kid, is that physical balance can take a lot of effort, focus, and willingness to adjust to the moment. Balancing is actually quite a dynamic process, not a static one. Stopping all movement for a moment and regrouping can help. But if you let yourself get too rigid, too stiff, too unwilling to adjust, the slightest thing can knock you off center again. And remember to breathe through it all!
I think this is true of mental, emotional, and spiritual balance too. Sometimes when we’re off kilter we have to stop, regroup, adjust to the moment, find the ground, find center, and catch our breath. Only then can we move forward and get back to work in meaningful, healthy, and helpful ways.
We’re not told what else Jesus was teaching that day at Martha and Mary’s house. But, given his track record, I’m guessing it had something to do with the love that animated and inspired his life – God’s radical, gracious, expansive, all-encompassing, life-giving, soul-nourishing love – the love that can fill us up and flow through our lives into the world.
Mary, Martha, and all of us can return to this love at any time and find our grounding, our rooting, our center. And though the angry stress tornado may still be swirling around us, perhaps it won’t succeed in totally knocking us off our feet or sucking us in.
Anything you do (or choose not to do) in your daily living that helps ground you, root you, center you in this love is time well spent, I think. Honestly, I don’t know how we can truly take on some of the big challenges of our day and age and make any positive progress together without this grounding in love. At least I know I can’t.
And we all need to practice the rhythm of life that does ground us and help us be our best, most loving selves. When we find a balance and rhythm of work and rest, contemplation and action, service and prayer, speaking our mind out of the truth of our understanding and experience and listening to others, good things can happen in our lives, relationships, communities, society, and world.
We also need joy. We need fun and laughter. We need to take notice of beauty.
This summer when my husband and I were up in the central coast, we happened upon some otters one evening. The sun was sinking, and it was nearing that gorgeous golden hour. They were pretty close into shore so we could see them really well. They were in their evening otter zone just doing their thing, swimming, hunting for food, floating on their backs eating. It was a simple moment, really. But I was positively giddy. What a joy to spend a few precious, perfect moments with these awesome critters.
When life hands you a moment like that, you otter take notice!
In addition to finding our rhythm and balance in life, I think we can also seek an attitude of harmony and integration in everything we do. We can strive to bring prayerful intention, a positive and loving attitude, and a mindful approach to our daily living, even to the tedious tasks we just have to get done.
I find some inspiration for this in the life of Brother Lawrence. Maybe some of you have heard of him. He was a 17th century French Carmelite monk. As a young man, he was wounded in war and dealt with a permanent disability and chronic pain for the rest of his life as a result.
At the monastery Brother Lawrence spent many of his days working in the kitchen cooking and caring for his community. After his death, some of his writings and ideas were collected into a book entitled The Practice of the Presence of God, in which he spoke about prayer as primarily being about paying attention and finding God’s presence in each moment.
The editor Joseph de Beaufort wrote:
It was observed, that in the greatest hurry of business in the kitchen, [Brother Lawrence] still preserved his recollection and heavenly-mindedness. He was never hasty nor loitering, but did each thing in its season with an even uninterrupted composure and tranquility of spirit. “The time of business,” said he, “does not with me differ from the time of prayer. In the noise and clutter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the Blessed Supper.”
(The Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence, ed. Joseph de Beaufort)
The preparation and eating of every meal became a sacrament, became communion, for him.
Brother Lawrence had some strong Martha and Mary energies and seemed to be able to bring them into harmony with one another by looking for and finding God’s presence in all things.
I’m not going to act like this is always easy. And I’m sure Brother Lawrence didn’t do this perfectly. Part of the point is that life gives us lots of opportunities to practice along the way.
So, whatever it is that helps you find harmony, balance, and centers you in the radical gracious love of God, do it. It’s time well spent. Amen.