Ninth Sunday After Pentecost (Series C)
July 17th, 2016
Gospel: Luke 10:38-42
Epistle: Colossians 1:21-29
Lesson: Genesis 18:1-10a (10b-14)
Psalm: Psalm 27:(1-6) 7-14
CLB Commentary – Rev. Gary Witkop
This is a story we all know well and have likely preached on before. Mary and Martha were sisters of Lazarus and close friend of Jesus. They lived in Bethany, just a couple of miles from Jerusalem and likely a place where Jesus and his disciples stayed when visiting Jerusalem. To that fact, a guide I had in Israel, when I toured there, stood on the Mt. of Olives and pointed down to the Temple Mount and then at where we were standing and then along the Mt of Olives and said this is where Jesus and his disciples walked whenever they visited Jerusalem. They would walk right here going from the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus over there on their way to the Temple and Jerusalem down below. He may have been correct. He did have a PhD in Israeli Biblical Studies.
The basics of this text are that many people came with Jesus to the home of Jesus’ three friends. The two sisters, Mary and Martha, were expected to serve them as the women of the home. So Martha started serving. We aren’t told what she served, a meal or a snack or what, but just that she was busy serving. At the same time Mary sat near Jesus at his feet listening to him and taking in all that he was saying.
Martha became upset with her sister and called on Jesus to tell her to help in the serving.
This much we all know. Here’s one thing I have noticed in this text. Nowhere does Jesus say Martha’s serving was wrong. What was wrong was her anxiety and worry (or being troubled). It is always wrong to worry or be anxious about things. We are told in many places in the bible not to worry or be anxious. Instead we should trust, and so obviously Martha was not trusting that things would work out. She was distracted and worried and so was missing something very good: the teachings of Jesus.
Serving is a good thing, it puts others first. We need servants in the church. But like all things, serving is wrong when it gets in the way of something better. Like Ecclesiastes 3 says, there is a time for everything and everything in its time is beautiful. This wasn’t the time for serving. It was the time for sitting at the feet of Jesus.
What is it that was good that Mary had chosen? Sitting at the feet of Jesus and learning from him. Why was that good? It was good for at least two reasons, the first being that it is always good to learn from the Lord. Bible study, daily devotions, going to church, etc. is all good and important. The second reason is that Jesus would not remain on earth for long. The opportunities for Mary or Martha or anyone to sit as the feet of Jesus and learn were limited. This they could not have known, but Jesus knew.
In preaching this text, it is easy to toss around guilt. We need to avoid that. That is what Martha was trying to do, guilt her sister into serving. We also need to avoid glorifying Mary. She chose right here, but it may be that she had a history of avoiding doing her daily duties. We need to avoid adding more to the story than is here in the text.
So what is the good portion that we can take away from these verses? To avoid worry and anxiety. To do everything in the proper time as both sitting at the feet of Jesus and serving would have been good at their respective right times. Another point is to take advantage of opportunities to grow in our faith when they are presented to us. And maybe one more thing, to have our homes be places of hospitality like Mary and Martha’s home.