St. Paul’s United Church
Sunday, July 22, 2007
A Mary Heart in a Martha World – Rev. David Mundy
1 Samuel 3:1-11 Luke 10:38-42
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Many years ago when I served a congregation just south of Barrie,
Ontario, we invited members to purchase a set of audio tapes of the bible which
they could use in their homes or vehicles. Today there are CD’s of the bible
and it is available on the internet in many different versions, but at the time
this was quite innovative.
One fellow was enthusiastic about this offer and signed up immediately.
He ran a building management business in Toronto and spent a lot of time in the
car, both on the hour-long commute and going from site to site. He was new to
the Christian faith and wanted to know his bible better, so this would be the
perfect opportunity to do so.
It worked out well for a while and he pestered me with questions about
the things he was hearing on the tapes. I was impressed with his enthusiasm and
desire to learn and I could tell he was pleased with himself. One day it occurred to me that there hadn’t
been any questions or comments for a while so I asked him how the listening was
going.
He gave me a sheepish look and admitted that a new invention had got in
the way. It was called a car phone – do you recall that we didn’t use the term
cell phone for a while? – and he actually took me to see the clunky, unwieldy
device which was installed in his car, along with its own antenna on the
trunk. Now instead of starting work an
hour after he left his driveway he could start immediately. And one of the
casualties of this innovation was the “holy time” of prayerfully listening to
scripture.
I haven’t spoken with Ron in years but I have no doubt he has moved onto
the Blackberry or its equivalent so he can “multitask” as he makes his rounds.
Not only can he phone but he can text message and email. The bible tapes are probably gathering dust
in a drawer or found their way onto a yard sale table and I’m guessing they
weren’t replaced by the CD.
It’s curious, don’t you think? As fast as they come up with ways to get
to know God a little easier, the faster and more appealing the competition for
our time and energy gets.
This morning I will continue the series of sermons I began two weeks
ago, “preaching the windows” of our sanctuary at St. Paul’s. As you have
already heard and no doubt seen, there is a total of eight around us, four on
the east wall and four on the west. All of them focus on Jesus and seven of the
eight have a brief inscription that is actually a portion of a verse from
scripture.
Today we will turn our attention to the window which says “Mary heard
his word” which refers to her listening to Jesus. There are several places
in the gospels where we are given glimpses of
Jesus’ friendship with three siblings named Mary and Martha and Lazarus.
Jesus grew up in the northern province of Galilee, so it’s a little puzzling
that he was friends with this family which lived in Bethany, a village just
outside of Jerusalem. We get the sense that Jesus visited with them and perhaps
stayed with them when he made his pilgrimages to the holy city, much the way we
“mooch off” friends and family when we
are on the road!
The story we heard this morning is rather modest in some respects yet
so important in the way that it applies
to our everyday lives. Jesus responds to both of these sisters when he spends
time in the shelter of their home although in our stained glass window there is
only one woman in sight. It is Mary, the one who is hungry not for what her
sister Martha is going to put on the table but for what Jesus has to teach her.
In the window all we see is the edge of the table in another room, as though
neither Martha nor her act of hospitality were of any value.
This is unfair because it is not the intent of the story. Certainly Mary
is praised by Jesus for her desire to grow in her understanding of the reign of
God which is revealed in him. It has been argued that this exchange is clear
evidence of Jesus’ openness to a woman as a disciple. Remember that in Jesus’
day women weren’t included in the circles of followers which formed of rabbis
and teachers but Mary eagerly learns at his feet.
It is Martha who is invited to discover the deeper way of Christ, the “better
way” as Jesus puts it. In the reading today we’re told that “. . . Martha was distracted by her many tasks.” This really is the way of life, trying to be
focussed on the things that are important in the midst of many demands. We seek
to discover or create “a Mary heart in a Martha world.” That sermon title is
actually taken from a book called Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World
by Joanna Weaver. In her book she recognized that it can be difficult to focus
on what Christ is saying to us when there is so much to attend to from day to
day.
Then comes Jesus,
right into the midst of your busy Mary/Martha life-and he extends the same
invitation he issued long ago to the two sisters of Bethany. Tenderly he
invites you to choose "the better part"-a joyful life of
"living-room" intimacy with him that flows naturally into
"kitchen service" for him.
Actually, it is unlikely that there was a separate kitchen and living
room in a house of the first century, but we get the idea, even when it is
difficult to live it out. It is so easy to become distracted from the “main
course” of our relationship with Christ, even for what seems to be really good
reasons.
Earning a living can take up a lot of our time and energy and the
temptation is to make that task the most important in our lives, including our
relationships with God and family. Part of the challenge is that the more
successful we are in our work, the less time there is for everything else. We
try to convince ourselves that the upward career track is “just for a while”
but we develop patterns which can be hard to change. When Bill Gates married
his wife Melinda she tried to convince him to join her at worship because she
is a practising Roman Catholic. I don’t know if he has experienced a change of
heart, but back then he gently countered that this wasn’t an efficient use of
his time.
We can get sidetracked by our
other important relationships, including family. It’s hard to be a parent,
juggling work and family activities, as well as the life of faith. It can feel
like enough and more just to get to church on Sundays. Yet we all need a deeper
grounding in that time with God which comes from our personal devotion time and
the opportunities for study with others. How do we address this without feeling
a load of guilt?
The church itself can be a tremendously distracting place, don’t you
think? There is a pattern for those who come into the Christian community which
I have observed over the years. Often individuals will begin active church life
or return to the church because they experience God and Christ in a real and
meaningful way. Many of these people are enthusiastic about exploring this
renewed relationship and they engage me in conversation and borrow books
because they are eager to grow.
The congregations are always thrilled to have these folk get involved
and soon they are asked to take on tasks of various kinds. Eventually some of
them become so deeply immersed in the mechanics of the church that they seek me
out again, but for a different reason. They lament that the living faith that got them back in the first place
has now been crowded by busywork. How can they recapture some of that
enthusiasm and joy in experiencing Christ?
They are aware of what all of us should realize. In order to give we
also need to receive. We may think that we are busily and even frantically
doing God’s work without realising that part of our work is simply being with
Christ. Without eating at the table of spiritual renewal we slowly but surely
starve our relationship with Christ.
Just so you don’t get the wrong idea, God help us if there weren’t
people who were willing to work in the kitchen, as well as in the board room
and the Sunday School and in every place of service in church life. It’s just
that we must keep our “eyes on the prize” of our growth in Christ.
Perhaps that’s why in the bible God works through so often those are
open to hear the message of new life and renewal, even when they seem like
unlikely candidates. Mary, a woman, wants to know Jesus better. The other
passage this morning is the wonderful story of the boy Samuel who is called by
God in the middle of the night. Even though Samuel was only a child, God comes
to him rather than Eli, the priest who is sleeping near by. Even though Eli is
the official religious person, God is aware that it is Samuel who will be
receptive.
The rest of us can be rehabilitated! In reflecting on this passage Stephanie Frey offers these hopeful words: ”The good news is that Jesus the host grants permission for all distracted, frantic people to sit down and eat their fill of word and promise. When we join them and nourish ourselves at the table, we'll be ready to put hands and feet, hearts and minds to work.”
We can all ask the questions this morning which help us stay spiritually
focussed and renewed.
1. Do I get resentful or feel overburdened by
“churchiness?”
2. Have I made sure that along with the
busywork of congregational life there are opportunities for education and
prayer and worship?
3. As the years have gone by, has my relationship
with Christ become more distant or closer and more fulfilling?
We all want to experience that “soul feast” which will be the source of
strength and joy in our lives. The Good News is that Christ has the time for
you if you have the time for him.