Proper 11 :: Genesis 18:1 – 10a / Psalm 15 / Colossians 1:15 – 28 / Luke 10:38 – 42
This is the homily given at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania by Fr. Gene Tucker on Sunday, July 17, 2022.
“EVERYDAY THINGS
AND SPIRITUAL THINGS”
(Homily
text: Luke 10:38 - 42)
This
morning, we catch a glimpse of the home life of Mary and Martha, two sisters
who shared their home with their brother, Lazarus, living in the suburb of
Jerusalem called Bethany.[1]
It
is dinner time, and Martha is busy getting things ready for the meal. Mary,
however, sits at Jesus’ feet, listening to Him talk. Perhaps because there was
a lot to do, or perhaps because Martha thought that Mary shouldn’t be
interested in hearing what the Lord had to say, she complains, telling the Lord
to instruct Mary to assist her with the preparation of the meal.
We
would do well to stop at this point and remind ourselves of a few things.
For
one thing, in the culture of the day, women weren’t expected to learn – or to
be able to learn - the basics of the faith. In fact, some men thought that
women didn’t even have souls. Religious truths were reserved for men, mostly. If a woman had an interest in the faith, they
were expected to ask their husbands for information and guidance.
The
other thing we might notice is that it is Luke, alone, who recounts to us this
incident in the lives of Mary and Martha. Luke is fond of telling us about the
prominent place of women in Jesus’ ministry, for accounts of those sorts of
things are to be found throughout his writing.
Mary,
then, defying the conventions of the time, wants to hear what Jesus has to say,
and to learn them. Mary is keen to know about the things of God, the things
that will assist her in this life, and the things that will last into eternity.
The Lord confirms this, saying, “Mary has chosen the better portion.”
In
this incident, we have two contrasting concerns: Martha is concerned with the
everyday demands of life, while Mary is concentrating on the things of God.
To
be truthful, we live in a “Martha” world, a world whose demands must be met on
a daily basis for life to proceed. There are tasks to be done, obligations to
be met, and so forth.
Very
few of us are blessed enough to be able to spend the bulk of our time and
attention on the things of God, not even, I would guess, those who are in
monasteries. For even there, the demands of keeping the place going are often
met by the residents of the place themselves. So, for example, a monk or a nun
might spend part of their day scrubbing floors or doing some other sorts of
“Martha” tasks.
Not
too many years ago, a wonderful book came out which was based on this incident
in the Lord’s life. It’s entitled “Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World”, and
it’s still available. (I commend it to you.)
The
book’s goal is to assist us to be able to live in an everyday, Martha-type
world, where the demands of life, day in and day out, can easily crowd out the
things of God. The blunt truth is that those everyday demands are tangible,
which is to say that they are seen, they are objects, or they are concrete
actions we must take in order to live life. The things of the spirit, the
things of God, aren’t so easily seen or noticed.
Perhaps
it’s important then, to take time, as Mary did, to deliberately focus in on the
things of God. We can do this by engaging in regular Bible reading, in engaging
in an active prayer life, and in learning. In fact, one aspect of our Sunday
morning worship encourages us to think about and to focus in on the things of
God, and to learn them and to appropriate them into everyday life.
That
kind of focus is going to take effort and a commitment to deliberately setting
time apart to spend on the things of eternity.
Perhaps
that’s the lesson Mary has for us today.
AMEN.
[1] This family is featured in Luke’s Gospel account, and also in John’s account, specifically in chapter eleven with the raising of Lazarus from the dead. The other two Gospels, Matthew and Mark, do not mention any of these three at all.
