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Either/Or; Both/And; (sermon 7/18/10)
Topic Started: Jul 17 2010, 09:48 AM (124 Views)
Dewey
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HOLY CARP!!!
Luke 10:38-42

Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, 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.”


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I remember being in my twenties, just out of college, backpacking around the cities of Germany and Italy, and visiting some of the great cathedrals – Cologne, Florence, Rome, and other places. I remember being moved in my spirit by the beautiful works of art and architecture dedicated to God’s glory, and sensing the sheer majesty of God just standing in those places in a way I’d never experienced before. There’s no question that these great works of human hands are more than just aesthetic extravagance. They have real, spiritual value that can speak to the heart and teach us about God.

Still, in the midst of all that, I could never completely shake the disturbing question of the cost of it all – the monetary cost, and the human cost – of the creation of these wonderful places and things. How much further the gospel could have been shared; how many more people in dire need could have been fed, clothed, sheltered, educated. I know that the grandeur isn’t necessary. I know that the God who is present and glorified in the awesome beauty of St. Peter’s Basilica is the very same God who is present and glorified in the metal-faced Mennonite Church just down the road.

I know that beauty is from God, and that God calls us to be co-creators of that beauty in our world, and for his glory; and that this concern for the physical things can have spiritual worth. But I wrestle with the argument that that much attention and expense lavished on these temporal things are truly what God would want of us. I think that argument would ring hollow to the ears of the millions of people who have endured lives of spiritual and physical desperation, who could have been helped with those same resources. The question isn’t an “either/or;” it’s a “both/and” kind of thing. To be faithful followers of Christ – to properly emphasize all aspects of our love and obedience to God – we need to pay attention to both sides of that debate, to properly balance these two seemingly conflicting priorities. Over the years, people have had different opinions about how that balance should work, where the line should be drawn. I admit that in my own beliefs, I’ve never reached a decision that I’m completely comfortable with about where that line should be.

And Jesus doesn’t make it easy to know where to draw that line. In the gospels, we read that he wasn’t opposed to having someone lavish luxuries on him, in the form of anointing him with very expensive ointment, even when it was pointed out that it could have been sold and the money could have been used to help the poor. Jesus brushed off that argument, saying that we’d have plenty of time to worry about the poor. At the same time, he had harsh words for anyone who would divert money away from taking care of their families in order to give to the church, calling that sinful, and contrary to the gospel.

This story about Martha and Mary is really a variation on that same question of balance, where to draw the line. It’s pretty easy for us to put ourselves in this story. We’ve all hosted people in our homes, people we wanted to extend our best hospitality to. Hospitality is important to us, and it was even more important in the social structure of Jesus’ time. Martha inviting the famous rabbi to dinner in her home would have been something very much like whipping up a Thanksgiving dinner on a moment’s notice. Planning what to make. Getting everything ready. Cleaning. Dusting. Making sure the house looks good. Figuring out the timing of what has to start when; juggling different dishes being prepared in a single oven. Making sure that everything’s done at just about the same time, so the meal will be hot. Getting the tablecloth ironed and the places set. Getting it all cleaned up afterward.

In the midst of all that work to be done, there’s Mary, Martha’s sister. Sitting in the living room, listening to their guest, laughing, smiling, socializing. Not lifting a finger to help. We can sympathize with Martha. It isn’t fair. Maybe if Mary helped out a bit, Martha could spend some time visiting with Jesus, too.

Even though he comes down on the other side of the argument at other times in the gospels, in this case Jesus tells Martha she’s missed the boat. Jesus knows that Martha views what she’s doing as service and devotion to him, but he tells her that in this case, she’s overemphasizing the physical trappings of the visit, at the expense of its real value – spending time in conversation, in fellowship with the Lord. He’s telling her that there’s a time and place for everything. That these very acts of service and hospitality – the physical efforts of preparing a beautiful setting, and a sumptuous feast – can very much be true expressions of love and worship. But if they become our primary focus, in and of themselves, then our efforts are misplaced. Contrary to the gospel. Destructive.

We can all make the same mistake Martha did in the story. We can allow ourselves to get worked up on the external trappings of our life in the church, forgetting that the purpose of the church is to worship God – and to sit at the Lord’s feet, and learn, and then live what we’ve learned about loving God, and loving others as ourselves, and helping those others to hear the same good news we’ve received.

Jesus didn’t tell Martha that logistics, planning, or even concern for aesthetics was wrong. It isn’t. We can’t just sit at Jesus’ feet all day long and ignore everything else around us. That’s as contrary to the full message of the gospel as the opposite. Jesus hasn’t called us to “either/or;” he’s called us to “both/and,” just in proper proportion. We have to remember what we’re called to do, and be, as believers – as the Church.

That’s true of the way we express our faith and live as members of the Church, but it’s also true of the way we prioritize all the run-of-the-mill things we’ve got to deal with in our daily lives. Christ calls us to examine those demands for our time, our loyalty, our efforts, our resources, and to keep our priorities straight. To live as God’s children, as Christ’s disciples, we have to set those priorities in ways that glorify God and allow us to hear, and live, the words spoken by the one we’ve invited not just into our homes, but into our very hearts.

Thanks be to God.
"By nature, i prefer brevity." - John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, p. 685.

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