Trinity 5

Sermon preached by the Revd Ed Green

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He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Bethany, which we know from the Gospel of John to be the location of Mary and Martha’s house, was a standard stopping place for Galileans on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, in fact it was the last stop. Having circumvented much of Samaria owing to a lack of hospitality there, Jesus has arrived, and been welcomed into somebody’s home. Those of you who have been coming to church for a long time will probably have heard this story plenty of times. Martha is clearly a very good person, who takes seriously the love of neighbour, so important to Jesus’ teaching, in the form of hospitality. But Mary, her sister, is the one who attentively listens to Jesus. Are we supposed to reject Martha’s preoccupation with worldly concerns and hold up Mary’s discipleship as the ideal model for Christianity? Or, are we supposed to sympathise with Martha, who is, after all, trying to do the right thing?

Martha wants what most of us want when we welcome a guest into our homes. She wants everything to be perfect so that her honoured guest will be happy, comfortable and well-looked-after, and so she is working extra hard to make sure everything is just so. And this seems all the more pressing for us as readers - after all, we know that the person she is welcoming in is, as Saint Paul puts it, the one in whom ‘all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.’ For all I know about Jesus loving people for who they are, forgiving their failings, and his absolute humility, if the Incarnate Word of God came in the flesh to have dinner at my house, I would certainly hope to give him the best I had to offer. Besides, what Martha is doing - according to the Greek - is ministry. And ministry is certainly a good thing to be doing.

But her sister, Mary, doesn’t help with the preparation that would make their guest feel comfortable. Instead, she sits at his feet and listens to him attentively. And this is what we as Christians are supposed to do, is it not? The Book of Proverbs tells us “Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord.” Saint Paul says to the Romans “faith comes from hearing the message.” And Jesus himself (according to Matthew) quotes the Book of Deuteronomy, saying “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Sitting at the Lord’s feet and listening attentively is absolutely vital to the Christian life. And so, at the Eucharist we receive Christ’s Body and Blood, which are central to our worship, but we also listen to his Words through the Bible readings. But is this enough? “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says,” we are told by Saint James. Jesus’ words are usually really rather practical. When he tells us to love our neighbour, he doesn’t intend us to secretly love them, but never show it through acts of kindness. He frequently tells us that we should minister to the poor, the sick and the needy, which begins with attentive listening but is also expressed with solidarity, and working for justice. So then, the broader Biblical picture is that we should certainly sit at the Lord’s feet, attentively listening like Mary - but at the same time ought to be active in our ministry to others, according to our own ability and gifts.

It’s not the case that Martha is unwilling to listen to Jesus - indeed, she approaches him and asks him a question, so she clearly wants to listen to what he has to say. But her priority is her practical ministry, and she is hoping that Jesus will agree with her and tell Mary to join in with the work too. What Martha can’t see is that she has become so distracted by her duties as a host, that she is not able to enjoy the company of her guest. I remember when I was at university, we once threw a party, and I decided that I would make it more enjoyable for everybody by offering cocktails. This was met with great enthusiasm, and so I created a menu of drinks with bizarre-sounding names, and gathered the various ingredients and equipment. The night of the party arrived - and I work as a bartender throughout. I didn’t speak to any of the guests, except to ask them what drink they wanted. Like Martha, I was so preoccupied with providing good hospitality at the party, that I didn’t really attend it myself. And what is the reason for inviting your friends over for a party? It’s tospend time with them, enjoying their company. Our Gospel reading is not there to teach us that practical ministry is inferior to silently listening. Our relationship with Jesus - which is lived out through our relationship with one another - should be marked by spending time with him. Sometimes, this means listening quietly and prayerfully, but at other times it means ministering alongside him to people in need. What Martha’s work represents is ministry which tries to leave Jesus in the other room - or to put it in terms more applicable to us today, perhaps ministry which tries to leave Jesus inside the Church building.

But there’s Good News for Martha. Jesus replies to her, saying “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing.” It is tempting to read this as a rebuke, and perhaps there is an element of gentle criticism in what the Lord says. But what really matters is not the content. What matters is something wonderful that this tells us about Him. Just as Mary was being attentive to Jesus, and Martha to her tasks, Jesus is attentive to both of them, and all of us. It is easy to get so wrapped up in what we’re saying that we pay no attention to our listeners at all. But Jesus notices how intently Mary was listening to him. When others do things for us, like preparing food or drinks, it is sadly very easy to take them for granted. But Jesus notices how much effort Martha is putting in, and how distracted she is because of it.

When he tells Martha that her sister “has chosen the better part,” he is not comparing their value as people or as disciples, but rather showing care for Martha herself. The purpose of hospitality is not to work as hard as you possibly can for a guest. It’s about welcoming them into your home and being with them, enjoying their company. Yes, there is some work to be done, but when taken to such an extent that you never spend any time with your guest, the joy of hospitality is lost. Mary may not have worked hard on material comforts for Jesus, but she is the one who gets to spend time with him and enjoy his company. She has chosen the better part of hospitality, and it will not be taken away from her.

When we are conducting our own ministries - and we do all have our own ministry - it can sometimes seem like there is so much practical work to be done, preparation, travel, paperwork, whatever it might be, that there is no time for us to simply stop, stay still, and quietly listen to God. Equally, there can be times in life when we find ourselves so intent on listening, that we really don’t do all that much ministry in a practical sense. But we can choose the better part, and it shall not be take away from us; when we are listening to the Lord, we know that he is aware of us, and cares that we are with him. When we are tending to guests, or to the sick or the needy, or whoever we minister to, we know that he is ministering with us. Even the grave could not contain him - he rose from the dead. So we certainly can’t leave him behind in this building when we go out into the world.