Luke 10:38-42

Posted by DJL on Oct 5, 2013 in Daily Bread | 1 comment

Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at 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 then 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.”

Few passages have occasioned more consternation and at times hurt than this short description of Jesus’ visit with two beloved women.

Why the confusion and hurt? Simply because it seems like Jesus favors one of the sisters and chides the other for being worried about the wrong things. Moreover, those “wrong things” have been precisely the things that women have often been charged with in our society and culture – the tasks of hospitality and organization and preparing for guests. So many women have who have heard this passage over the years have felt like it places them in something of a double bind – first they are told that they are to do “women’s work” and then they hear Jesus say this work is not “the better part.”

Two or three thoughts in response. First, the church could not get by without Martha. Neither could our households or society at large. And by Martha I don’t mean just this one faithful woman or even the countless women who have served their Lord and church ever since by sharing their gifts for hospitality, organization, and responsibility. I mean that we could not get by if there were not a multitude of people – both women and men – in our congregation and world who regularly and gladly rolled up their sleeves and got the work that needed doing done.

Second, the issue for Jesus in this moment, I think, is one of timing. Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem and to the cross. He will not be with his friends and followers for much longer. He eagerly desires that they hear what he has to say, receive what he brings, and be drawn into the fellowship and abundant life he offers. In this moment, at this time, the “better part” is simply being attentive to God’s divine Word as it walks this earth enfleshed in our flesh for a little longer. Jesus is there, right there in front of Martha, and yet she misses him in her zeal to serve him. Perhaps Jesus is chiding her. Or perhaps he is inviting her to greater freedom, not denigrating her care and hospitality but blessing her with freedom to seize choice moments in which to live beyond as well as among her responsibilities.

I’ve been told many times that life happens in the interruptions, when we pull out of the regular responsibilities that are both important and consuming to be caught up in a moment of unexpected joy. I think that’s part of what is going on here. Jesus is urging Martha – and, even more, all of us – not to miss those moments where God’s grace bursts through the canopy of our everyday duties to surprise us, once again, with the depth of God’s love and the poignancy of God’s mercy.

There is more to say about this challenging passage and these two remarkable women, but for now let it suffice to serve as an invitation to us to recognize the sanctity of our daily routines but also to see among and beyond them the very presence of the God who comes to love, save, and bless the whole world, including us.

Prayer: Dear God, bless us with eyes to see and ears to hear your surprising presence, even and especially when you are right in front of us. Amen.

 

Post image: He Qi, Martha and Mary.