Proper 11 :: Genesis 18: 1 – 10a; Psalm 15; Colossians
1: 15 – 28; Luke 10: 38 – 42
This is a homily
by Fr. Gene Tucker, given at St. John’s Church in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania on Sunday,
July 17, 2016.
“IMPORTANT STUFF AND EVERYDAY STUFF”
(Homily
text: Luke 10: 38 – 42)
Today’s
Gospel reading puts before us the issue of trying to keep our focus on the
really important stuff of life, even as we grapple with the reality of the
everyday stuff that often tends to choke off our focus on that really important
stuff, the stuff of God.
In
today’s Gospel, we read of a dinner party that was given at the home of Mary
and Martha (and their brother, Lazarus), who lived in the village of Bethany,
which is located about two miles southeast of Jerusalem. It is Luke alone who
tells us about the divided attentions of the two sisters as dinner is being
prepared: Mary sits at Jesus’ feet,
listening to His teaching, while Martha scurries around in the kitchen, trying
to get everything ready.
In
the culture of the day, Mary’s sitting at the Lord’s feet, and his willingness
to affirm that she has made the wiser choice in doing so, departs from the
expectations of that time and culture, for in normal circumstances, women would
not have been allowed to sit at a Rabbi’s feet to hear the teaching of the day.
Women’s roles in that cultural setting were quite often limited to having
children, to being a good mother and spouse. Little beyond those expectations
colored the aspirations of women in those days.
But
the Lord departs from the accepted customs of His day in His acceptance of Mary
and His affirmation of her choice to be present for His teaching. If we think
about it, His behaviors often buck against the cultural expectations of the
day.
So
the Lord affirms that Mary’s choice to hear and consider the things of God
constitute the best choice, indeed, the only choice, for the Lord says that
Mary has “chosen the better part.”
If
we look more closely at the Lord’s response to Martha’s plea, we see that He
does not tell her to put down her utensils and join her sister at His feet.
Perhaps the Lord is affirming the importance of what she is doing, even as he
also affirms that Mary has made the better choice. Perhaps this point is worthy
of consideration.
Today’s
account presents us with the matter of trying to balance the really important
stuff of life over and against the everyday stuff that often threatens to
obscure our ability to see and hold in view the things of God, for the things
of God are the ultimately important and lasting realities that will carry us
from this current, everyday world into the life of the world to come.
What
do we do with the fact that there are things we must accomplish, nearly each
and every day, in order to live?
Sometimes those details tend to consume our every waking moment and
nearly all our energies. Some of us make extensive lists to try to manage to
get it all done.[1]
Perhaps
this is a matter of perspective and focus.
Might
we approach the everyday, recognizing that we are God’s people, a people who
are called to infuse everyday tasks with the light of God? If we can hold this
truth in view, then everyday tasks take on a vastly different hue.
We
are called, as the baptized daughters and sons of God, to show by our attitudes
and actions that everything we do is done in God’s sight. Therefore, no task –
no matter how mundane or distasteful – escapes God’s concern and care.
So
we might ask ourselves quite frequently, “How is God present in what I am
doing?”
As
inheritors of the wonderful Anglican tradition, we Episcopalians are Christians
whose focus is a very practical one:
Even as we affirm the truth that the Lord Jesus will come again “in
power and great glory” (as the Creed states), we also acknowledge that our
primary concern is for the best ways to live a Christian life practically, day
in and day out. Our overriding question is often framed in this way: “What does
God want me to do today to live a faithful life as a disciple of Jesus?”
A
Collect which is found in the Office of Morning Prayer captures this double
focus quite well. Entitled a “Collect for Guidance”,[2]
it reads as follows:
“Heavenly Father, in whom we live and move and have our being: We humbly pray you so to guide and govern us by your Holy Spirit, that in all the cares and occupations of our life we may not forget you, but may remember that we are ever walking in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”
[1] A wonderful book, published by Waterbrook
Press in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 2000, deals with this problem. Written
by Joanna Weaver, it is entitled “Having
a Mary Heart in a Martha World: Finding Intimacy with God in the Busyness of
Life”.
[2] This collect may be found in its Rite I
version in The Book of Common Prayer, 1979, at page 57, and in its Rite II
version at page 100.
