Busyness ≠ Holiness

Proper 11C

Luke 10:38-42

July 21, 2019

St. Matthias

           This morning maybe a first because I don’t know that I have ever mentioned my brother, Steven, in a sermon.  In case you didn’t know, I am the oldest of three with my sister, Laurie, being the middle child and my brother the youngest.  Steven is 2½ years younger than I am and lives in Champaign, IL.  We have some things in common.  We are both about 5 feet 8 inches tall.  We both raise money for a living.   Phyllis says we are both crazy.  There are also a lot of things different about us.  I’m obviously Episcopalian and he is a Presbyterian.  He has 3 daughters and I have 1, but I have a granddaughter and he doesn’t.  He is smarter – but I’m better looking!  He looks more like our mom and I look more like our dad.  There’s probably a lot more that we have in common and a lot more that makes us different, but you get the picture.

          

           In the Gospel of Luke this morning – we are introduced to Mary and Martha – who are sisters - and they live in the town of Bethany with their brother Lazarus.  You will remember that Lazarus will later die and be brought back to life by Jesus.  But in this story, we are concerned only with Mary and Martha, and Jesus.  And it is obvious from the story that there are a lot of differences between the 2 sisters on this day.  We have 2 different people approaching a particular situation from opposite directions. 

Jesus has stopped in Bethany for a visit on his way to Jerusalem.  This is a big deal.  It’s not every day the Messiah stops by to chat.  Martha invites Jesus to come in and immediately begins to prepare something to eat.  It was the custom in Jesus’s day that when an honored guest entered your home – you were socially obligated to immediately put together a small feast so you would not be thought impolite.  The guest on the other hand was equally obliged to eat so as not be thought rude or ungrateful.  So, given all that – Martha got right to work in the kitchen.

Mary on the other hand has decided to sit at Jesus’s feet and listen to him teach.  No doubt she thought that it was NOT every day that the Messiah comes to town and such an opportunity should not be wasted.  But herein lies the problem.  Martha is rather annoyed that she is having to do all the work while her sister relaxes in the living room with Jesus.  She comes to Jesus and asks him to tell Mary to get up and HELP.  Jesus – however – turns the tables and I would bet that Martha was shocked when Jesus says to 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.

Now it seems to me that WHAT Jesus was trying to tell Martha that day was that she was missing the forest for the trees.  And how often I am guilty of the same thing.  There seems to be so many PARTS and PIECES to this Christian life.  We are commanded to love God and our neighbors.  We are to gather as the Body of Christ and break bread and share the common cup.  We are to reach out and spread the love of Christ with a world that is looking for hope.  You and I are called to feed the hungry, care for the sick, and to be the face of Christ in the world.  But how often do we mistake being busy with being holy?

          

And then there are the normal things that fill our days.  There are work and family.  There are bills to pay and the grass that needs to be mowed and kids to take to soccer practice.  All of us in one way or another live way too busy lives.  And we want to be spiritual, religious, even holy.  We tell ourselves that someday we will find the time to read the Bible, to learn to pray, to be a better Christian.  But is time the problem?  I don’t know how many times I find myself sitting in front of the TV flipping through channels – with nothing on except commercials.  I waste time surfing the web, flipping through social media, and listening to robocalls that are coming more and more often.  There is plenty of time because I seem to be always busy and a lot of that being busy is really just wasting time. So, we need to ask, “Do we have time for one more thing?  Do we have time for God?”

           Martha was busy with all the things of life.  Jesus reminded her that HE is the source of life.  Jesus was saying that before we feed the hungry or sing in the choir or mow the lawn or do anything in life, we need to start with the very source of love and grace and salvation.  We need to live our life filled with eternal life.  And we do that through prayer, by reading the scriptures, and by coming to this Church to worship together.  In order to do the work of Christ - we must be with Christ.  We must sit at the feet of a Savior and listen.  We must proclaim in word and deed that WE BELIEVE.  We must experience the very LOVE of God here in this church.  Then we can go out and spread that LOVE.  The Good News of Christ is simple – God loves you and me just as we are.  It doesn’t matter if you are Mary or Martha.  Whether you are younger or older.  God loves us and that is the better part which can never be taken away.  AMEN.