St. Paul’s United Church Sunday, July 18, 2010

Working Up a Sweat for Jesus – Rev. David Mundy

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

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Preachers like to tell stories, which shouldn’t be surprising because our boss liked to tell stories. Besides, people’s faces light up when they hear a good story, especially one about individuals they know, or figure they know I’m amazed and frankly a little concerned that some individuals turn into Sherlock Holmes when it comes to figuring out who a story is about, and some of you here today are very good at it!

Well, put on your deerstalker caps and pull out your Meerschaum pipes and listen to this homegrown story. A couple of years ago the Wednesday morning bible study gang was gathering here at St. Paul’s and I noticed that one of the regulars was out in the hall chatting with another church member who doesn’t attend the study. I could see that it was a friendly conversation and there was even some laughter. Of course all conversations at St. Paul’s are amiable and never a harsh or unkind word is ever spoken.

The bible study member eventually joined the rest of the group and she told us that the person she was speaking with was heading for the kitchen. Some event in our busy life together required preparation. The kitchen person had said to her with a smile “I suppose I am a Martha rather than a Mary” and then headed off.

The study member is no slouch herself when it comes to doing good deeds around our church, and she declared “I would like to think that I am a Mary and a Martha.” The rest of the group laughed, and in fact most of the others who were there have got major Frequent Flyer miles when it comes to hands-on involvement in our community life.

This little exchange struck me for two reasons. One is that everyone who was listening understood what she meant when she spoke of Mary and Martha. I’m sure you appreciate that those weren’t their actual names, but they all knew the gospel story from which they came.

The other is that both of these women, and then the rest of us engaged in a brief and informal theological reflection which may have been as important as anything else that was said in bible study that day.

This morning we listened to a passage of scripture from the gospel of Luke for the third week in a row. Actually this is the third successive week where we have heard from the same chapter of Luke, chapter ten. This doesn’t happen often in the lectionary, the table of lessons we follow through the Christian year.

Fortunately this is a really interesting chapter. You might recall that two weeks we were told that Jesus sent out seventy of his followers in pairs to share the Good News in villages and towns all over Galilee. He told this gang that there would be a wonderful harvest out there if they did their job right.

Then last week Jesus offered a parable about a Samaritan whose practical compassion and love are examples for others who figure they are very religious but are more talk than action.

And what was our story today? Well there they are, Mary and Martha, the sisters from the village of Bethany, just outside of Jerusalem. The passage we just heard doesn’t actually tell us where they are from, or that they are friends of Jesus, but we have another story from the gospel of John which fills us in on some of these details. You will recall that the brother of these two women whose name is Lazarus died, and in chapter eleven of John there is the dramatic account of Jesus calling the dead man out of the tomb and back into life.

Today’s story is boring by comparison. Jesus shows up for a meal at Mary and Martha’s home, which wouldn’t warrant recording at all except that Martha got a little wound up and fairly cranky as the gathering progressed. She was the one who was actually preparing the meal and we can imagine this woman toiling away to do her best in a small, hot house while her sister, Mary, chats it up with Jesus and thinks deep spiritual thoughts.

Do any of you remember the movie Yentl starring Barbara Striesand? It is about a young Jewish woman in early twentieth century Poland who yearns to study her faith the way young men were encouraged to do. She has to be conniving to accomplish that goal, because it is prohibited for women. Well, Mary was a first century Yentl – or maybe it is the other way around – stepping out of the conventional role for women. Both of them are working up a sweat, but for one it is intellectually and spiritually rather than physically. Martha is not impressed and says to Jesus, “Hello? Do you notice that I’m slaving and sweating up a storm over a hot stove here?”

When Jesus seems to criticize Martha in response it is not because she is working so hard in the kitchen. After all, the parable of the Good Samaritan demonstrates that Jesus admired the hands-on expression of faith. It is Martha’s anxiety about it all, and her resentment that he challenges.

It’s interesting that we hear this story at a time of the year when congregational life is somewhat quieter, although there is still a lot that is going on around here. In these hot days we can work up a sweat just sitting still in a pew during worship, let alone running around doing this job and that.

Is one way of working up a sweat better than another? It’s important that every Christian have an understanding of his or her faith and to grow in faith through the years. But there is no glory in being so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good.

I have supervised a number of students for the ministry through the years and as you can appreciate, each one is different. I’ll tell you about a fellow I’m going to call Bill, because his name was Bill! He started his internship with the congregation and our first couple of supervision sessions were exciting because he was obviously a very astute person, theologically. But as the weeks wore on, I realized that Bill often failed to follow through on practical assignments and he was regularly MIA – missing in action. I became so concerned that I made an appointment with his supervisor at the seminary to work this out, because conversations with him weren’t getting anywhere. She just rolled her eyes and shared that he was great in the classroom but just didn’t follow through with his papers and assignments. Fortunately he responded to the encouragement to adjust his attitude and actions.

It wouldn’t be much good if everyone in congregations sat around thinking lofty thoughts and wouldn’t find their place of practical service.

At the same time we can expect so much of individuals that they just get worn out. A lot of older stalwarts in churches admit that they are getting to an age when they simply can’t do the work they once did.

We can’t assume that there is a new generation enthusiastic to take over. In congregation after congregation I have served there have been younger people who began attending worship because they want to have a deeper, fuller relationship with God. So what happens? They take on a job and before you know it they have six jobs – they may feel that they can make a real difference and they are genuinely interested. But after cooking up a storm, figuratively, they burn out and then mysteriously disappear.

There is a verse in the letter to the Galatians which says

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. NIV

So let's not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don't give up, or quit. THE MESSAGE

Don’t you think the senior citizen who said “I would like to think that I am a Mary and a Martha” had it right? When we invite Jesus into our home, which is our congregation, we can sit at his feet and learn, and we can demonstrate our faith through service.

There are congregations that give up all committee and board meetings for the season of Lent which is meant to be a time of spiritual preparation and reflection leading up to Easter. People are encouraged to attend study and discussion groups during that time so that they can recharge their spiritual batteries. Recently I read about a congregation in the United States that decided to give up committee work for an entire year, entrusting decision-making to a small leadership group during that time. Of course a United Church congregation couldn’t do something as sacrilegious as that! God would surely smite us!

I am fond of telling congregations about my experience as a nineteen-year-old in the year between high school and my first year of university. For several months in the winter I worked at a Christian camp north of Kingston which was a hive of activity in the summer but much quieter in the off season. Still, I got glamorous jobs such as running the dishwasher for weekend groups, and scrubbing the toilets after they left. I also worked alongside the founder of this camp, a wonderful Christian man who had the vision to establish the camp, then spent more than 40 years building and maintaining its infrastructure. There was no job too menial for Charlie, and he assumed I would have the same attitude.

Some mornings when we were having our devotional time at the breakfast table, or even as we were labouring away at some task, he would stop and say “boy” (it was actually a term of affection) “boy, why are we doing this?” I learned that he wasn’t asking about fixing plumbing in a cold basement or cutting up firewood. He wanted me to “connect the dots” between the “grunt work” we were doing and sharing the Good News of Christ with those who attended activities at the camp. He was a huge influence on my decision to answer a call to minister.

We can’t know for sure, but it feels as though Jesus is challenging the sisters who are his hosts to do the same thing, to realize that we are called into a new and abundant life which brings both these spheres together. And of course it is our challenge as well.

So, we will “work up a sweat for Jesus” in ways that are life-giving and life-changing. And we can thank God for the opportunity.