Foothill Congregational Church The Rev. W. Matthew Broadbent

United Church of Christ Summer Services

461 Orange Ave., Los Altos, CA 94022 July 22, 2007

THERE IS ONLY ONE THING NEEDED

Luke 10:38-42

Martha and Mary are cultural icons. Martha is always fussing and Mary is listening. Martha is the hands on, practical woman getting dinner ready for her guests, while Mary is the “head in the clouds” dreamer sitting at the feet of Jesus. Or maybe Martha is doing what a woman does and Mary is doing what a man does. Conventional wisdom says, Martha is wrong and Mary is right.

Artistic images of Mary and Martha through the ages have pictured them as adversaries. Martha with her hands on her hips and stern look on her face, while Mary sits with beatific gleam in her eye for her master, are invariably pitted against one another. One has chosen correctly and Martha has been left to do the dishes.

But things are not always as they seem at first glance when we are glancing through eyes conditioned by centuries of cultural filters. Now, it should be said that when this story is reframed in the Gospel of John (11:1, 12:1-3) Martha gets much better treatment. This is why we do Bible Study, in order to wade through the layers of prejudice to get down to the raw truth and the essence of the teaching.

And as they were on there way Jesus entered a certain village

Where a woman, named Martha opened her home to him.

She had a sister, whose name was Mary,

who sat at the feet of the Lord listening to what he said.

But Martha was distracted by all the serving [diakonia];

She came to him and said: “Lord, does it no matter to you

That my sister has left me alone to serve? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered,

“you are anxious and disturbed about many things,

but only one thing is needed.

Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken from her.

Luke 10:38-42

We begin by remembering that this is not a story in isolation. Throughout Chapter 10 Luke has been establishing the theme of hospitality as the sign of life in the kin-dom of God. The seventy were sent out to heal and be a witness to the presence of God, and to declare “Peace – Shalom – to this house!” And to point out that “the kin-dom of God has come near to you.” While there was a judgment proclaimed on those who were not hospitable it is really a story of a radical welcome to those towns and people ready to receive the good news of God’s coming.

We learned in the second story of Chapter 10 that this was not a conflict story between a lawyer trying to trip up Jesus on a technical point of law, but a creative give and take with the surprising conclusion that even a non-observant Samaritan, could be a neighbor to the man in need - who would have thought? - this, too, was a sign of the coming kin-dom of God.

Over the year’s we have become accustomed to hear, in this third story in Luke 10, Mary and Martha bickering over their duties. We have reduced them to caricatures that get easily dismissed as the silly women. We hear this story through centuries of gender prejudice that assumes the place of women in the home, and specifically in the kitchen. As a companion piece to the Samaritan story, however, the Martha and Mary story has something to teach us that is unrelated to gender. If hospitality is the core issue, then, the question is for whom are we providing hospitality?

The story of the Good Samaritan goes on to illustrate how you love your neighbor. Hospitality is extended to those in need. Today the story of Martha and Mary becomes an illustration of how one loves God. Gos id our guest.

“Luke is working to define discipleship for the early church, and these two stories begin to pave the way. The Samaritan loves his neighbor, and Mary loves Jesus – and to be a disciple requires us to love both. And Luke’s choice of characters snap his community to attention. A Samaritan loving his neighbor [as Torah requires]? A woman sitting at the feet of Jesus – the place where the disciples are supposed to sit? [what will he think of next?] Scandalous!” (*Joy Douglas Strome)

Luke is standing with one foot in the Jewish world and one foot in the Gentile world, saying there is something new happening here. Can you see it? There is a place for everyone according to God’s hospitality.

Looking back from our post 20^th Century feminist perspective we may wish that Jesus had said something different, like: “You are absolutely right, Martha. What was I thinking? Why don’t we all come into the kitchen and help with the dishes and talk while we work?”

I know that’s what my mother would have wanted. Her favorite memories of our growing up years were the after dinner clean-ups. My brother, sister, and I rotated nights helping my mother dry the dishes and pots and pans. To this day I would rather wash than dry, but for my mother this was precious time because she had us, one-on one at a time, by her side, where she could talk with us about our day, our worries and our dreams. She cherished these moments with her children. My mother, who was a very intelligent woman, was Mary in Martha’s apron.

My mother also understood that the dinner party is not about the attendees and their roles and responsibilities, but about the guest of honor. The guest of honor demands our full attention, and if Jesus is the guest of honor in our home – if Jesus is the guest in this house - than he demands we give full attention to the love of God and love of neighbor. Everything else is secondary.

The scripture says, But Martha was distracted by all the serving. The word for serving is diakonia from which we get deacons, or diaconate, or those who serve the church. Do you ever get distracted by all your serving duties? Do you ever get tired of being asked to usher or take on some other church task? We actually had a family leave the church because every time they showed any interest in church someone was asking them to do something, or get on a committee. They had such a hunger to just be in worship that they couldn’t take the distractions of other responsibilities.

It’s a problem isn’t it? I don’t know how to solve it. We need people to do the work, (we are a congregational church after all, run by the members of the congregation ) but in doing the work we become anxious and disturbed about many things, and like Martha can’t get off the treadmill. We understand her predicament, very well.

Joy Douglas Strome, in a recent Christian Century article*, paints a vivid picture of modern day Martha. She says, “Today’s Martha could be working at a computer, checking her Blackberry or talking on her cell phone while driving and eating lunch. She could be on a treadmill while making appointments for the next day. She could be grading papers, her phone held between cheek and shoulder, checking in with the family about coming home late. She could be trying to have a business meeting in the middle of a crowded airplane while juggling a watery cup of Coke. She could have a baby on one hip and a textbook for a night class on the other. She could be receiving chemotherapy on her lunch hour and trying like crazy to save her job. She could be overscheduled, overbooked and overwhelmed. The pace could make her snap. The urgent demands of her life collide with the urgent demands of the gospel – and anyone’s trigger can be tripped. Martha, dear Martha, we know you well.”

We also know that Martha could well be Mark, Mike, or Matthew – anyone who has been caught up in the multi-tasking mania we call post-modern life. We all need to hear someone say, “Martha, Mark, Matthew, Mary, there are many things that demand our attention, but there is only one thing that is needed.”

I was liberated a few years back when I read Diane Ackerman’s exquisite book, Alchemy of Mind. She referred to multi-tasking as a reduction of brain function. She said the research shows that the brain does one thing well at a time. If, for example, you are focused on one project you may be using, say, 85% of your brain’s ability. But if you try to do two or three things at time you may be using only 20-30% (or less) of brain function on any one thing.

There are many things that demand our attention but there is only one thing that is needed. There are many things that go into creating a worship experience: bulletins, scripture readers, choir, organist, children’s story-teller, greeters, ushers, sound equipment people, child care, children’s church leaders, coffee server’s, preachers and teachers. It takes around 30+ people to prepare this simple summer service. There are many things that demand our attention on a Sunday morning but there is only one thing that is needed.

You may be sitting in your seat thinking of all the things you need to get done today: dinner to prepare, children to get after the service, picnics to go to, laundry to do, emails to return, the cell phone that has been buzzing in your pocket (thank you for turning off the ringer, by the way), golf game, tennis, shopping, errands, on and on….. There are many things that demand our attention in this moment but there is only one thing that is needed.

Distractions and anxieties pull us in all directions. Jesus says stop! Your worries will wait for you. They won’t go away. In this moment…, in this moment that you have given yourself on this bright Sunday morning…, in this moment stop and listen.

“For those of us caught in the never-ending swirl of priority-setting with too much to do and too little time, drowning in commitment fatigue, swamped with busyness overload…(Strome)” Stop! Breathe! Listen!

Shalom! Peace be to this house. Take a breath. Only one thing is needed. God is very near! Be present to the gift of God’s hospitality in this moment. You are welcome here. Now open your heart and welcome God.

*Joy Douglas Strome, “Kitchen Relief”, Christian Century, July 10, 2007