Can we withdraw from the competition and trust that listening will draw us into the Kingdom?
Gospel Reading: Luke 10:38-42
For Sunday, July 18, 2010: Year C - Ordinary 16
Martha, nobody likes a snitch, a tattletale, a fink, a narc, a rat. Your mom and dad don’t like it, Guido and the boys don’t like it. Jesus doesn’t like it. But why? You’d think any information on some breach of the rules or norms, or the report of some injustice would be appreciated. You’d think your mom would want you to tell her that your little brother is dipping a stick of butter in sugar and eating it like a banana—but you know, telling on someone just never goes over that well. Why is that?
I ain’t no Martha
The meaning sitting on the surface of this text makes me feel good about myself—justified, you could say: I ain’t no Martha. I am not distracted by the everyday tasks like doing the dishes or cleaning the bathroom—I rarely get to mowing the lawn or putting my dirty clothes in the hamper (ask anyone who has lived with me for a complete list). Martha whines to Jesus, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her to help me.”
Jesus responds, “Martha, Martha (is Jesus shaking his head patronizingly?)…There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part.” Oh, snap! You can almost see Mary turn and stick out her tongue when Jesus isn’t looking. Aside from my adolescent projections on this text, the meaning is clear: don’t be distracted by the mundane tasks of everyday life; instead, sit with Jesus and listen to him, for he has the words that lead to eternal life.
Pushed in Another Direction
What is also implicit in this text is that Martha and Mary are being treated as disciples of Jesus. Try exchanging Mary and Martha for James and John. Jesus is teaching them in private. They are not one of the crowd, but part of his inner circle. I could go off on the cultural mores that might be responsible for the many women in the gospels not being included on the “official disciples list” (for example,the Marys and Martha, who sure get a lot more face time than Bartholomew and the other Judas, son of James!), but I am being pushed (pulled?) in another direction.
Is Jesus really calling people from their domestic duties in favor of a life of contemplation at his feet—to meditation on his words? That seems to me a reading for the privileged. A single parent or a subsistence farmer is very distracted by the work of everyday life. Not only distracted, but harried, overwhelmed, and exhausted. Someone has to feed the kids and make sure there are clothes to wear. If I can just sit at Jesus’ feet and not worry about who is putting the meal on the table, that means someone else is doing it for me. I think Jesus must be responding to something else here.
It’s the Rivalry
Between Mary’s choice to sit and listen to Jesus, and the voice of God telling Peter, James and John, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” a chapter earlier, the disciples have had to fish or cut bait. Jesus also tells them, “Let these words sink into your ears; the Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands.” This is a real gut check. But by getting in an argument over which one of them is the greatest, followed by them “telling on” some well-meaning folks who were casting out demons in Jesus’ name, this Martha and Mary story is just another in a series of instances of the disciples letting rivalry get in the way. Ultimately, it's Martha’s rivalry with Mary that Jesus is responding to.
The rivalries that we live in are the things that distract us. Living our lives in competition with, in opposition to, in judgment of, institutions and individuals, keeps us worried and out of earshot of the words which lead to the fullness of the life of the Kingdom of God. Jesus calls us out of these rivalistic relationships and into the Kingdom. Without the rivalry we can still attended to the daily demands of life, but maybe without seeing ourselves as victims of someone, without muttering curses under our breath at some “other." We can still be in the kitchen and listen to Jesus; his voice is loud enough.
The Hardest Question
Who are we in rivalry with? Are we willing to withdraw from the competition, to lose by forfeit, and trust that listening will draw us into the Kingdom of God?
Russell Rathbun is a preacher at House of Mercy in St. Paul, Minnesota and the curator of The Hardest Question. Watch his live videocast about the week's lectionary texts every week at 11:30am Eastern Time right here at THQ.
