“I
know that the Lord should be my priority in life. I want the Lord to be my priority in
life. But, I find that there is so much
that just needs to get done that I just do not find the time.”
This
young father’s desire for the Lord is pure, but like many of us, he struggles
to connect with God as he lives out his life in the real world.
Been
there?
To
the young man, and to us who struggle with him, Jesus whispers, “You are worried
and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing.”
These
words were spoken to Martha just short of 2000 years ago, but it is as if they
were spoken directly to today’s busy world with all of its expectations.
Two
thousand years ago hosts were expected to provide safe lodging and a hearty
meal to travelers. In a world with very
few inns, cold nights, and a remarkable lack of supermarkets or even mom and
pop grocery stores, the only way to travel (and stay alive) was to trust in the
graciousness of people along the way.
Martha, in our gospel story for today, was one of those gracious hosts,
and the sudden arrival of a guest has thrown a load of expectation onto her
shoulders.
In
today’s world of convenient hotels and supermarkets we have very different
expectations placed upon us, but we have expectations none-the-less. Remember when the Smartphone first came out,
how it was going to make our lives so much easier? Instead of driving into work or waiting for
the desktop computer to load up in the home office, one could simply open the
email app, answer the quick question, and then you would be done and well on
your way to a relaxed day and (for intense Christians have more possibilities
of contemplating on the Lord). What we
never expected was that this technology would instead demand new time consuming
etiquette.
How
many of you make certain to answer emails or texts as soon as they pop up on
your devises?
It
is no surprise to many of you that I break this etiquette of timely response
all the time. I know for a fact that some
people consider me the epitome of rude in this regard. I tend to respond in a Smartphone world with
the timing of yesterday’s mail order delivery.
Remember when you had to wait 6-8 weeks for your amazing, new
spatula? However, in the business world
anyway, if an email or text is not at least acknowledged as being received
within moments, you are rude and inconsiderate.
To
us who are ensnared by this type of cultural expectation Jesus whispers, “You
are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing.”
Just
to be absolutely clear, there is nothing wrong with getting things done. Jesus teaches us that the most important
thing in life is to love God and love neighbor.
So, Martha’s concern that Jesus is treated well as a guest, that he is
well fed, and that he has a comfortable bed prepared clearly falls in the
loving neighbor category. Jesus makes no
negative remarks concerning her loving devotion.
When
Jesus’ hackles do get raised is when Martha forgets half of that most important
thing in life. I remind you that Jesus
teaches us that the most important thing in life is to love God and love
neighbor. Martha chastises Mary for
doing the first half.
"Lord,
do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell
her then to help me," Martha complains.
It
is the same chastising that we whisper to ourselves continually which leads us
to say things like, “I know that the Lord should be my priority in life. I want the Lord to be my priority in life. But, I find that there is so much that just
needs to get done that I just do not find the time.”
To
our accusations of laziness placed upon others, but also, most importantly, placed
upon ourselves, Jesus says, “You are worried and distracted by many things; there
is need of only one thing.”
“Distracted.”
Jesus
says that we are distracted. If we want
to take our faith seriously, then maybe we should take this word from the Bible
seriously. Being “distracted,” of course,
is placing your attention on something other than the thing you should be
concentrating upon.
“Distracted.”
How
many of you are “distracted” right now?
How many of you have already in just a few minutes allowed your minds to
wander to getting the lawn mowed or how you are going to get along with a
relative during your vacation?
Jesus
says that we are “distracted.” We have
allowed our minds to wander from what is important.
So,
now that we have put our minds back on track, what exactly is important to
Jesus? If we hear anything in Jesus’
message to us this morning what should it be?
The
answer comes from the story just previous to this one in Luke. You probably know it quite well. Some of you were even required to memorize it.
“You shall love the Lord your God with
all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all
your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
It
appears that Jesus is inviting us to love the Lord our God as the first thing
in our lives. It appears that Jesus is
inviting Martha (and us) to take some time to sit next to Mary at the feet of
Jesus and find all that will give our lives meaning and direction and
salvation. When we allow Jesus to speak to
us, the equally important and holy task of loving and serving the neighbor will
come.
Martha
criticizes Mary for doing the right thing: loving the Lord with all her heart,
soul, strength, and mind. Mary is not
failing to love her neighbor in this situation; she is just putting first things
first in her life. She is allowing God
to speak to her first. After God speaks to
her, loving the neighbor will certainly follow.
That
is all well and good, but we are still distracted. What are we, the distracted, to do?
We
listen to what Jesus says: “You are worried and distracted by many things; there
is need of only one thing. Mary has
chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”
Therefore,
let us take the time to choose the better part first, before any other thing. First
before work, first before school, and even first before getting out of bed we will
try to literally put Jesus before anything else.
Try
this little devotional practice ever morning as you first open your eyes. How about you try it and practice it with me right
now?
1.
Take three deep long breaths in and
out. As you take those breaths in and
out, say to yourself that Easter promise, “Christ Lives!”
2.
Now open your hands and stretch your
fingers, repeating to yourself this phrase: “You are the potter, I am the
clay.”
3.
Take another deep breath in saying to
yourself, “Create in me a clean heart , O God…”
And, as you breathe out, say to yourself, “…and renew a right spirit
within me.”
4.
Stretch your arms like Jesus on the
cross and say to yourself, “God is love.
God forgives.”
5.
Tilt your head to the left, putting your
ear low and remind yourself to listen for the lonely and poor.
6.
Tilt your head to the right, putting
your ear low and remind yourself to listen for the sick and oppressed.
7.
Stretch your arms high and say to
yourself, “To you O Lord I lift up my soul.”
8.
Then, finish this morning stretch with
another deep breath saying to yourself, “Give thanks to the Lord, for the Lord
is good.”
Of
course, this is not some magical formula that needs to be done in order to put
Christ first in your life, but it is a nice reminder to “choose the better
part” and sit with Mary at the feet of Jesus.
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