Preaching text: Luke 10:38-42
It feels to me like he’s belittling what you do for your church, for your pastor, and for your neighbors. What he says here strikes me as incongruent with most of his other teachings, which are frequently about going forth to preach the good news, heal the sick, take care of people in need, and all the stuff that makes for a good social justice gospel. In other words, doing stuff.
But Jesus is not incongruent. He is not inconsistent. When he does something, he does it with deliberate intent and it always aligns somehow with who he is and what else he’s taught. So that must be true here, but how?
To answer that, maybe we have to look at this story in the context of the world in which it is told. Martha is doing the right thing according to the standards of her society and times. Middle Eastern cultures, and desert people in general, place a very high value on hospitality. We see that in our first lesson when Abraham goes out of his way to welcome these strangers into his tent. To not roll out the red carpet and go all out for guests in one’s home would be serious faux pas. Shameful and Martha is determined to not let that happen.
But here’s the thing. Why is that hospitality so important to those people? Because without it, people would not survive in the hostile climate of a desert wilderness. That’s the reason the tradition came about. But is that the reason Martha is doing this? Or has it become rote tradition with no meaning to her other than “it’s the way we’ve always done it?”
Falling into the trap of doing things by rote is something we religious folk do all the time. We’re all familiar with that phrase about things being “the way we’ve always done it,” either because we or someone we know has uttered it in all seriousness or in mocking jest of the times we found ourselves in that trap or dangerously close to it.
But how do we avoid the trap? Well, that’s what Mary’s doing. Sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to his teaching. Hearing again the why of being a follower of Christ. Why do we do the things that we do? What purpose do they serve, or perhaps better, whom do they serve? Is it rote tradition or is the one who lived, died, and rose again for our sake and for the sake of the world?
The stuff I talk about all the time regarding changing the world and our society, that too can fall into the trap of rote tradition. The government can feed people. Corporations can offer medicine to the sick. (And there’s certainly a debate to be had about whether they’re the appropriate vehicles for such aid.) But why does the Church do these things? Why should the Church do these things?
Why do the things that you do around this building? What purpose do they serve? What reason are they done? Is it because no one else does it? Because Grandma passed down the task to you from of old? Or is it because of Jesus?
I think this story from Luke’s Gospel cautions us to not be too quick to answer those questions. Because as the history of religion has shown, it’s very easy to confuse rote tradition with holy writ. The Pharisees are a prime example. Most of them were not bad people. They were not evil. But they did follow the traditions of their forebears without asking why. And for that reason, they often missed the point of what Jesus was trying to show them. They had made an idol of tradition and forgot the God behind the tradition in the first place. A mistake we too often make.
Again, to avoid this, we too must make the choice of Mary from time to time. Dive into the teaching of Jesus. Why is social justice important? Because there are around 2000 verses in the Scriptures and in Jesus’ own words that speak to it. (Far more than the paltry 100 or so that speak to the sexual ethics most Christians seem to get so bent out of shape over.) But we wouldn’t know that if we didn’t READ THE BOOK. We wouldn’t know that if we didn’t listen to Jesus.
Why love our neighbors? Why do acts of service and charity for them? It’s in the book. It’s what Jesus teaches. Why do we do the tasks here in the church? Could that be one way we love our neighbors here within these walls? Certainly. But to understand that’s why we do it, we have to read the book and here what Jesus says to us. We have to choose the part of Mary before we can become Martha.
I think now there’s a very good reason this story is included in the Scriptures. So many Christians have gotten caught up in things that really don’t matter to God, but we think they do. And the reason that’s happened is because we haven’t taken the time to listen to the teachings of Jesus and of the rest of Scripture. We jump to conclusions, usually based on the traditions of the Church or practices of other Christian, and simply assume that must be what Jesus wants. But the only way to know for sure is to be Mary, sit at the feet of Jesus and listen. Listen to what he tells us. And only then shall we really go and do as he commands. Amen.
But here’s the thing. Why is that hospitality so important to those people? Because without it, people would not survive in the hostile climate of a desert wilderness. That’s the reason the tradition came about. But is that the reason Martha is doing this? Or has it become rote tradition with no meaning to her other than “it’s the way we’ve always done it?”
Falling into the trap of doing things by rote is something we religious folk do all the time. We’re all familiar with that phrase about things being “the way we’ve always done it,” either because we or someone we know has uttered it in all seriousness or in mocking jest of the times we found ourselves in that trap or dangerously close to it.
But how do we avoid the trap? Well, that’s what Mary’s doing. Sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to his teaching. Hearing again the why of being a follower of Christ. Why do we do the things that we do? What purpose do they serve, or perhaps better, whom do they serve? Is it rote tradition or is the one who lived, died, and rose again for our sake and for the sake of the world?
The stuff I talk about all the time regarding changing the world and our society, that too can fall into the trap of rote tradition. The government can feed people. Corporations can offer medicine to the sick. (And there’s certainly a debate to be had about whether they’re the appropriate vehicles for such aid.) But why does the Church do these things? Why should the Church do these things?
Why do the things that you do around this building? What purpose do they serve? What reason are they done? Is it because no one else does it? Because Grandma passed down the task to you from of old? Or is it because of Jesus?
I think this story from Luke’s Gospel cautions us to not be too quick to answer those questions. Because as the history of religion has shown, it’s very easy to confuse rote tradition with holy writ. The Pharisees are a prime example. Most of them were not bad people. They were not evil. But they did follow the traditions of their forebears without asking why. And for that reason, they often missed the point of what Jesus was trying to show them. They had made an idol of tradition and forgot the God behind the tradition in the first place. A mistake we too often make.
Again, to avoid this, we too must make the choice of Mary from time to time. Dive into the teaching of Jesus. Why is social justice important? Because there are around 2000 verses in the Scriptures and in Jesus’ own words that speak to it. (Far more than the paltry 100 or so that speak to the sexual ethics most Christians seem to get so bent out of shape over.) But we wouldn’t know that if we didn’t READ THE BOOK. We wouldn’t know that if we didn’t listen to Jesus.
Why love our neighbors? Why do acts of service and charity for them? It’s in the book. It’s what Jesus teaches. Why do we do the tasks here in the church? Could that be one way we love our neighbors here within these walls? Certainly. But to understand that’s why we do it, we have to read the book and here what Jesus says to us. We have to choose the part of Mary before we can become Martha.
I think now there’s a very good reason this story is included in the Scriptures. So many Christians have gotten caught up in things that really don’t matter to God, but we think they do. And the reason that’s happened is because we haven’t taken the time to listen to the teachings of Jesus and of the rest of Scripture. We jump to conclusions, usually based on the traditions of the Church or practices of other Christian, and simply assume that must be what Jesus wants. But the only way to know for sure is to be Mary, sit at the feet of Jesus and listen. Listen to what he tells us. And only then shall we really go and do as he commands. Amen.
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