"Jesus entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. 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 to help me.' 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.'"
--Luke 10: 38-42
One of my best friends, a fella that I actually worked with
in my days as a baseball coach and sports information director, is a Freewill
Baptist. I won't get into all the ways
that a Freewill Baptist is different from an Episcopalian, but suffice it to
say, there's more than a couple of things that we disagree on. Still, almost every time I go home I see my friend, and we have lunch--usually about 3 hours long--and talk about everything from what God is up to in the world, to the latest
baseball news, and all points in-between.
One time, after having a pretty long and heated conversation, he turns
to me and says, "You know, I'm glad we disagree." I asked him why, and he replied, "Because if we believed
exactly the same things, just imagine all the folks that wouldn't get to hear
the Good News."
With my favorite Freewill Baptist, Rick Bentley, who always shows me how diverse the Body of Christ can be.
Wise words from that Freewill Baptist buddy of mine. He's right, after all. There are things that
he and I are able to teach each other, things that he understands about God
that I never could and vice versa. Our
temperaments, our ways of expressing who God is in the world, may be different,
but God needs them both and uses them both. Odds are I could never go into his little church in eastern Kentucky and preach the way I do, nor could his pastor come and to so with my congregation. God uses both of us in our own ways, just like God used both Mary and Martha.
I don't think there are patron saints of theological disagreements, but Mary and Martha could certainly qualify. They are likely best known for their brother Lazarus, who was a good friend of Jesus and was raised from the dead by Jesus in the Gospel Gospel of John, but here in Luke's
Gospel we meet only the two sisters--their brother is never mentioned--and we get a
glimpse of two very different responses to Jesus being in their midst.
An icon of Sts. Mary, Marth, and Lazarus of Bethany.
Mary kneels down at Jesus' feet during the bulk of their
visit. We can see her with bright eyes,
hanging on to every single word. Many of
us might think that that's exactly how we would respond were Jesus to come into
our house and have a meal, just sit there at his feet, listening to him speak,
mouth gaped open, trying to pick up some little nugget of grace that he might
drop. Then there is Martha, who, instead of sitting next to Jesus or hanging on to every word,
greets Jesus and his friends at the door and waits on them during their
visit. We can see the sweat running down
her brow as she cooks and runs back and forth, trying to take care of her
guests. No doubt there are many of us
who know what it's like to show this kind of hospitality, those who run
to and fro trying to get everything in order for guests and make sure everything is just right.
These two sisters show two very different
responses to Jesus being in their midst.
The former is quiet and contemplative, probably a heart person, while
the latter is organized and meticulous, a head person, most likely. Mary could be compared with folks folks who come to church and just sit in the pew, taking it all in and praying silently, while Martha is more like the person in church who feels the need to put her faith into action by serving on altar guild or as a eucharistic minister.
We see how much Mary frustrates Martha, don't we? Martha even exclaims to Jesus, "Tell her
to help me!" Tell this dreamer to
get up and actually do something productive.
Have you ever been frustrated with someone because of the way that they
interact with Jesus? That's what Martha is doing here. She's looking at her sister and arguing that Mary is not doing it right, that she should be responding to Jesus the way Martha is. Have you done that? Have you ever been
to a service in a different denomination and said, "Please Lord, tell them
they are doing it all wrong!" Of course not! Well, I have! It's natural when such temperaments are in conflict with one another. Sometimes it's hard for us to understand how someone else interacts with Jesus--whether the conflict is between a contemplative person and an active person, or between a Freewill Baptist and an Episcopalian. To be sure, sometimes it can be frustrating when we try to understand how and why someone else responds to Jesus in a particular manner.
Yet, like my Freewill Baptist friend is always reminding
me, there is no right or wrong in this.
The ways in which we connect to Jesus, that we allow his voice to stir
in our lives, and that we respond to that voice are as varied as the number of
folks who fill up our churches on Sunday mornings.
We are all so very different. God
made us so very different. Why then
would God want us all doing precisely the same things when it comes to our
relationship with Jesus? Yes, there are
constants--we Episcopalians have our Book of Common Prayer and the ancient creeds, for example. But even within the Episcopal Church the ways
in which we worship and work are different--some prefer to stand for prayer,
others prefer to kneel, some believe that the bread and wine are actually turned into the Body and Blood of Christ, others believe it is just a memorial that we do for Jesus, some prefer we sing hymns that have beautiful, theologically-sound lyrics,
others prefer the hymns that are just plain easy to sing, some prefer Rite One, others
prefer Rite Two. And that's just in my congregation alone! The Body of Christ
is so much bigger than any of us. We must,
therefore, be willing to listen to one another, to understand that there is a
place for all of us because there is only one head of that body: Jesus Christ.
We cannot forget this!
Whether you are a contemplative Mary or a fast-paced
Martha, God needs you. Whether you are a
heart person like my Freewill Baptist friend, or you're a head person like
me, God needs you. Whether you like Rite Two or wish we would
just go back to the 1928 Prayer Book,
God needs you. God needs us all because
each of us has a story, each of us has a way of connecting to God, and there is
someone else out there who needs your story, needs your perspective, because
you might be the only one who will connect them to God. That's what my friend meant when he said, "Imagine all the people who wouldn't get to hear the Good News." Somewhere out there is someone who cannot hear anyone's voice but yours. It doesn't matter who you are, doesn't matter
what your perspective is, God needs you, and God will work with you to connect with others and sow the
seeds of the kingdom.
Jesus said to Martha, "There is only need of one thing." He doesn't say what that is. What's your one thing? What's your unique story or perspective that only you bring? And how will you respect the stories and perspectives of others?
Thanks be to God for Mary and Martha, for the different ways that they encounter Jesus, and for the reminder that they provide for us that Jesus needs all of our perspectives. Blessed Mary and Martha, pray for us!
For more information and for the readings and prayers for the occasion of the Feast of Sts. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, click here
