The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost ---- 21 July 2019

Luke 10:38-42

38 Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. 40 But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me." 41 But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; 42 there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her."

there is need of only one thing.

·       I’d like to ask you a question: Whose head is on the front of the 25 cent coin? (the Queen) And what is on the other side? (a caribou)

·       This holds for all the coins minted here in Canada; the Queen’s profile is on the front and something else – a caribou, a beaver, a ship, a loon, a polar bear – is on the other. Yet there still is one coin.

·       We could say there are two sides to every story, like there are two sides to every coin. In the Gospel passage today, the two sides are Mary and Martha.

·       Martha is doing all the things around the house that hospitality requires. You all know about that. She is also “distracted” from Jesus’ presence by the household chores. She goes and tells Jesus to have Mary help her, only to have Jesus tell her that Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.

·       Such an answer could be a sore point for so many who have worked so hard, especially in the service of their congregations. It almost sounds like those who teach, lead groups, make cabbage rolls and meat pies, run the food banks and yard sales, or do all the other things that congregations do today are taking a back seat to someone who sits and listens.

·       We can’t condemn Martha for what she is doing; she has done nothing wrong. In fact she is the image and example of what a disciple is supposed to be. Let’s face it; if not for her, Jesus would have gone hungry on that day. Martha probably could have used Mary’s help in doing all that welcoming Jesus (and probably his disciples) would require.

·       Mary sits at Jesus’ feet and listens to what he had to say. That’s a good thing, isn’t it? It is also offensive to the surrounding culture. As a woman of the time, she would not be expected to sit at the feet of her teacher and listen. Probably, she would not have been permitted to do that. So she broke expectations and the constraints of the society

·       … just like Jesus.

·       Last week’s Gospel told us the parable of the so-called Good Samaritan. The story shattered the expectations of the listeners by making the hated outsider the hero of the story. Here, the woman who would be expected to cook, serve, and clean up sat at Jesus’ feet and listened, going against what was expected of her. There’s a reason these stories are related one after the other. In their own way, both tell of the coming of God’s Kingdom in ways that would not be expected and in ways that reset any expectations we might have… except for the expectation that we love God and love our neighbor.

·       Martha and Mary are two sides of the same coin. As disciples, we are called to serve and as disciples, we are called to listen and hear the Good News. What Mary does is said to be the one thing needed because it is what inspires and strengthens us to serve. It is what give us our mission as Christians. We listen and then act in ways that show and advance the Kingdom. We need to be both listeners and do-ers of the Word.

·       When we use a coin to pay for something, we see there are two sides to each coin. When we hear the Word of God as a disciple, we know there are two sides there as well. We are called to act and we are called to listen. As disciples of Jesus, we cannot do one without the other. This following of Jesus may cause us to do things out of the ordinary for the world around us. That’s what discipleship could cost us, but that cost will be worth it, since it is a life of grace and grace leads to salvation and eternal life.

But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her."