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July 22, 2007
The Balancing Act
Luke 10:38-42
Believe it or not, real estate and Bible study share a very important guideline:
Location, location, location!
In real estate, the location of a particular house-the schools, the crime rate, the proximity to stores and main roads and bike trails-affects not only how desirable a house is, but what the house is valued at. We don't just buy a house, we buy a neighborhood.
The location of a bible story does not affect its value, but it certainly affects its meaning. The Germans call this a text's sitz im leben , or literally, its position or fit in life.
This is a new idea for us because the way most of us read the Bible is one short section, one paragraph-sometimes one verse-at a time. It can be done this way, but it is certainly not the ideal.
For example, like thousands of others, I bought Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows yesterday, the final book in the series, and knowing that I needed to finish this sermon, I read a few chapters (let's just say they were out of order). Now, I was able to make sense out of them and satisfy my burning curiosity, but I have no doubt I will find even more meaning and understanding when I have been able to read the whole book.
The same is true for reading the Bible, and especially the Gospels. The Gospels were not put together in some crazy quilt style, with one story placed next to another without any concern for whether or not they go together. No. In fact, the Gospels were intended to be read like a novel, or like a biography, starting at the beginning and going all the way to the end. They make the most sense when each of the Gospels is read as a whole, so we can see more clearly how all of the parts relate to one another.
And here's where the importance of location comes in-none of the Gospels tells the story of Jesus of Nazareth in exactly the same way. Which stories are included, what details are emphasized, the order in which they are put together-each Gospel writer does it in his own way, for his own reasons.
The story of Martha and Mary is a perfect example of this. Luke is the only Gospel writer who tells this story. It was intentionally placed by Luke in this particular place. So why did Luke choose this story, and what might he be trying to tell us?
To find out, let's look at its location.
Chapter 10 in Luke begins with Jesus sending out seventy followers in pairs. Again, Luke is the only one who tells this story. In the other Gospels, it is only the twelve disciples whom Jesus sends out. Luke places a great deal of emphasis on what it means to be a disciple.
A bit later on in chapter 10, and just before the story of Martha and Mary, is the parable of the Good Samaritan. As you may recall, Jesus tells the story in response to a conversation he has with a lawyer who asks him what he must do to inherit eternal life (10:25). The answer is, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." (10:27)
This teaching-that the greatest commandments are to love God and love our neighbor-appear in Matthew (22:34-40) and Mark (12:28-31) as well. For many years, I have thought of these two commandments as being "directional", forming a cross. First, there is the vertical movement in my relationship with God, and second, the horizontal movement of my relationship with my neighbors. Both of these movements are important, and hopefully, each one supports and strengthens the other.
Now, of course, these two great commandments are important in all three Gospels, but Luke seems to take them a step further, illustrating what it means by what follows.
Because after settling with Jesus on these two commandments that he must follow in order to inherit eternal life, the lawyer asks, "Well, who is my neighbor?"
It is in response to the question about just who our neighbor is that Jesus tells the parable of how the Samaritan, a man from an ethnic group despised by the Jews, was the only one willing to help a man who had been attacked by robbers and left on the road to die, after the priest and the Levite saw the man but passed him by. The moral of the parable is , my neighbor is anyone who is in need.
Then comes the story of Martha and Mary. Although it may seem to be about sibling rivalry and an argument over who is going to do the dishes, there are echoes of questions of discipleship here.
Mary is described as sitting at the Lord's feet and listening. She may not have literally been sitting at Jesus' feet; to sit at someone's feet meant to be their student. Mary is choosing to be a disciple of Jesus.
Martha, on the other hand, is described as being distracted by her many tasks. No doubt she was preparing a meal for the unexpected guest who has just arrived, in what would have been an expected show of hospitality. The word Luke uses to describe Martha's tasks comes from the Greek, diakonia , and means literally "service." This is also the root for deacons, those whom we ordain to serve and care for others in our congregation.
Martha is serving, while Mary is listening. Both are good things. But Martha is so consumed by her serving that she is distracted, too busy to learn from Jesus who is right there in her midst. Which is why, when she tries to get Jesus to get Mary to help her, Jesus tells 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."
In no way is Jesus suggesting here that doing things for others is not important. Serving our neighbors is central to what we do as disciples of Jesus Christ. But what the story of Martha and Mary does suggest is that we take a careful look at our priorities, and how we give order to our days. The most important thing we can do is make our relationship with God-our listening to God, our learning, our devotion, our discipleship-our top priority.
And to make things even more interesting, what follows this story is the disciples asking Jesus to teach them to pray, and Jesus giving them the words to the Lord's Prayer (11:1-4). It's almost an exclamation mark in Luke's point about the importance of sitting and listening in the presence of God. When Luke wrote his Gospel, Jesus was already gone. How else were Christ's disciples to sit at his feet except by praying?
It is almost as if the story of Martha and Mary is what connects the parable of the Good Samaritan and the question about how to pray, as if the story is the balancing act between the two.
Now, again, I want to be clear that Jesus is in no way saying that the act of serving is not important. But we as disciples have always been called to serve in response to God's love for us through Christ. When we take the time to contemplate, explore, understand, and rest in that love, we find the equilibrium out of which we are able to respond and serve.
The night before I was ordained eight years ago, I received a phone call from one of my mentors. He wasn't able to make it to the ordination, but wanted to offer his congratulations and best wishes. He also gave me a bit of advice: There will always be more to do than you can get done, so be sure you make time for yourself. No one else will do that for you.
Now, I have never forgotten this bit of advice. But I have not often enough followed it. When I don't, I predictably feel (like Martha) distracted by my many tasks, pulled in too many different directions, tired, and irritable. The enjoyment I usually feel in doing my work evaporates, and it can begin to feel like a burden.
What my wise, older friend told me is absolutely true. There is always more to do than I, or any of us, can get done. What makes all the difference in dealing with that reality is how centered I am in my relationship with God. When I have made time for devotional reading and prayer, when I consciously keep that connection with God throughout the day, everything goes more smoothly. It certainly does not mean that unexpected things don't happen or work doesn't pile up, but it does mean that I am much more likely to maintain the ability to deal with it all with, hopefully, grace and good humor.
This is why keeping the Sabbath is part of the ten commandments . At the heart of the practice of Sabbath is the idea that-despite what we may believe-the world does not depend entirely upon us. That's God's job. So it's okay for us to take a rest every now and again. To rest from our work, and rest in the presence of God. Which allows us to be refreshed and renewed and rejuvenated for our work.
Does this ever happen to you? Right before I am leaving town-whether for vacation or a conference-I run around frantically, trying to get ready, always thinking what a bad time it is for me to be gone. Then for several hours or even the first day after I have left, I remember all the loose ends and worry about them. But when I come back, after I have given my body and mind and spirit rest, those loose ends I was so worried about have either tied themselves up or just don't seem that important any more. There is still a lot to do, but I am able to handle it. Without rest, my sense of perspective and proportion gets out of whack and out of balance.
The practice of Sabbath, or being in communion with God, does not have to look like 24 hours of doing no work, or going away for several days. Most of us-with work and children and parents to care for-do not have the luxury of finding 24 hours we can have all to ourselves. Hopefully, being here on Sunday mornings is one of the ways you find Sabbath. But most of us need more than this to truly make it through the week.
What I encourage you to do is to find moments of Sabbath throughout the day and week. If you can find 10 or 15 minutes-even 5-at the beginning of the day to pray, that's wonderful! Pray while you're in the shower. Keep a daily devotional book at your desk at work and take a moment to read it on your lunch break. Or perhaps you can find a moment when you're sitting at a stoplight, or traveling between appointments, or some other regularly occurring moment in your day when you can say a quick prayer, and breathe deeply and "be still and know that I am God."
The point is, to begin taking whatever opportunities your schedule allows to choose to put yourself in the presence of God, to deepen whatever connection you feel to Christ.
Doing so gives us the ability to keep our balance in whatever may come our way.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
End Notes
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First Presbyterian
Church of Cedar Rapids
310 Fifth Street SE Cedar Rapids, IA 52401
Phone: 319-364-6148
E-mail: church@fpccr.org
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