Episode 4: 10/24/08

Readings:

Psalm 35
Ezra 3:1-13
Rev 9:1-21
Luke 10:38-42


Sermon:

Today’s gospel reading is one of the most familiar, and beloved, stories in Scripture, the story of the two sisters Martha and Mary. As a little girl, I loved the thought of being able to sit at Jesus’s feet and enjoy his undivided attention and to hear his words of approval: “You have chosen the best thing.” To my great disappointment, however, this argument never carried much weight with my very Martha-like mother: “Well, Jesus probably wouldn’t have been visiting very often if Martha hadn’t fixed such a good dinner and kept such a nice house. Now stop daydreaming and go wash the dishes.”

As I got older, however, I, like most women found myself turning into my mother and getting more in touch with the Martha side of my personality. It’s easy to get stressed and frazzled from trying to take on too many responsibilities and worries, and to forget the joy of sitting at Jesus’s feet and basking in his love.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Mary and Martha themselves probably weren’t such simplistic characters as we may assume from the reading. I’m sure Mary did her share of the housework most of the time, and I’m sure Martha was able to kick back and relax after doing everything necessary to ensure that her guest had a good meal and a comfortable place to sleep for the night. Jesus usually had no place to lay his head, so he probably looked forward to these visits with his friends. And they undoubtedly looked forward to the chances they had to lavish their love on him in the ways they knew best.

Today we may not be able to invite Jesus over for dinner as Mary and Martha could, but we can still have the chance to lavish our love on him and to bask in his love. Jesus reminds us that whatever we do for the least of our brothers and sisters, we do for him. He calls us to be servants, and to love one another as he loves us. In that ideal of Christian servanthood, we see the best aspects of Mary and Martha combined, loving Jesus by loving our neighbors with both our prayers and our hands-on help.

As we approach the holiday season, many opportunities to serve our brothers and sisters present themselves, though we shouldn’t limit ourselves to thinking of them only at Thanksgiving or Christmas. There are food banks to be stocked, shelters to be supplied, hospitals and retirement homes to be visited, and when done with a spirit of love and joy, these tasks become a holy offering to our Lord.

My dear friend Cyberpastor Ed Boston of Do the Right Thing has come up with an idea that combines both of these ideals of love and service. He is challenging his friends and listeners to adopt the family of an active-duty military person for Thanksgiving. He suggests that we buy that family everything they need to enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner: turkey, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, the works. But he has a few more ideas to make that even more special.

First, he says, tell the family in advance that you will be providing their dinner for Thanksgiving. Not in a spirit of making them feel obligated, but to let them relax and know that that is taken care of, that they won’t have to wonder how they will manage it. Next, he says, don’t just give a gift card to the grocery store. Do the shopping yourself and pick out something nicer than they would probably pick out for themselves. Deliver the groceries yourself, and see the joy on their faces, not just for the food but for the care that went into it.

And don’t just drop off your bags of groceries and then drop that family from your life. Come back at Christmas, and build a relationship with them. Let them know you will be there for them during the year. And let the joy of serving our brothers and sisters open your heart to spreading God’s love to others, just as he lavishes his love upon us.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.