Year C
\u00a0Genesis 18:1-10a
\u00a0Psalm 15
\u00a0Colossians 1:15-28
\u00a0Luke 10:38-42<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May the words of my mouth O God\u2026 speak your truth\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre\u2026 and he looked up and saw three men<\/em>\u2026 one Hebrew commentary I have\u2026 says that as in some Canaanite literature\u2026 as was often the case\u2026 the deity was accompanied by his two attendants\u2026 but Abraham doesn’t even stop to ask them who they are\u2026 he immediately begins to extend Middle Eastern hospitality\u2026 becoming a Martha as it were\u2026 bringing water so they can wash the dust off their feet\u2026 and promising refreshment before they continued on\u2026 and he runs around\u2026 asking Sarah to take three measures\u2026 not of any old flour\u2026 but of choice flour\u2026 so she can make cakes of bread\u2026 and he takes from the herd a calf that is tender and good… and he serves the three curds and milk along with the calf that had been prepared\u2026 this was not\u2026 by the way\u2026 a kosher meal<\/em>\u2026 and like a preeminent host\u2026 like a fine waiter\u2026 he stands by while they eat\u2026 against the possibility that something else might be needed\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Abraham and Sarah didn’t have any advance notice of their visitors\u2026 but they rose to the occasion\u2026 they put on their best\u2026 and likewise\u2026 when many of us are expecting guests\u2026 whether for dinner or an evening visit\u2026 we may ask about any beverage and food preferences\u2026 or allergies\u2026 we tidy up the house\u2026 we clean the guest bathroom if there is one\u2026 and put out fresh towels\u2026 we know how to be hospitable\u2026 but there is risk in being hospitable\u2026 there is risk in being welcoming\u2026 over and over again in scripture\u2026 we read stories about Jesus welcoming and eating with those who others would not\u2026 but we sometimes ask ourselves\u2026 how well do we know these people\u2026 how well do those we know\u2026 know them\u2026 are they people we can trust\u2026 letting them into our homes\u2026 or given the chance\u2026 will they look in our medicine cabinet\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n But this time\u2026 it’s Martha\u2026 a homeowner\u2026 who welcomes Jesus\u2026 and we suppose the disciples too\u2026 into her home\u2026 and offers them hospitality\u2026 while her sister Mary sits at Jesus’ feet… and listens to what he says\u2026 or teaches\u2026 or simply basks in his presence\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And the text says\u2026 Martha was distracted by her many tasks<\/em>\u2026 and since one of the meanings of the Greek word that’s translated as distracted<\/em>\u2026 also means\u2026 to be driven about mentally<\/em>\u2026 and so I think the nugget here is less about the number of tasks for which Martha feels responsible\u2026 and more on Martha’s state of mind… she laments\u2026 Lord\u2026 do you not care\u2026 that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself<\/em>\u2026 and her words remind me of Mark’s version of the Stilling of the Storm\u2026 in Ch. 4:38\u2026 when the disciples cry out\u2026 Teacher\u2026 do you not care that we are perishing<\/em>\u2026 forgetting perhaps\u2026 that with them was the One\u2026 who in the beginning\u2026 separated the waters from the land\u2026 turned chaos into order\u2026 and who even the winds and the seas obey\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n But unfortunately\u2026 again\u2026 we have been set up by the translation itself into a shallow meaning and rigid duality of sorts\u2026 of believing that what Mary is doing\u2026 is better than what Martha is doing\u2026 of wondering why\u2026 even though it was Martha’s home\u2026 why Mary didn’t just jump in and help her sister\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the Greek word\u2026 agathos<\/em>\u2026 which the NRSV translates as better<\/em>\u2026 can also be translated simply as good<\/em>\u2026 and if it’s not better\u2026 but just good\u2026 then it also becomes difficult to believe that what Mary is doing\u2026 sitting at Jesus’ feet\u2026 being more of a contemplative\u2026 is better than what Martha is doing… and when we think about what Martha is doing\u2026 rushing around as Abraham did\u2026 and being more of a householder\u2026 is worse than what Mary is doing\u2026 or not doing\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now there’s an expression in one of Hinduism’s sacred texts\u2026 the Bhagavad Gita\u2026 which has a parallel in Christian thought\u2026 in the Sanskrit it says\u2026 Yogas-thah kuru karmani<\/em>\u2026 which means\u2026 Established in Being\u2026 perform action<\/em>\u2026 in other words\u2026 first become established in the Ground of Being\u2026 in the silent presence of Wisdom\u2026 of the Christ Mind\u2026 and from that state of being\u2026 from that place of knowledge\u2026 then act\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And while it may be possible to think of Mary as aligned with thoughts and prayers\u2026 and of Martha as aligned with actions\u2026 when we understand that our actions arise out of our inner awareness\u2026 then we can understand that the more awake we are\u2026 the more our actions will honor the archetypes of both Mary and Martha\u2026 and be more in line with God’s will\u2026 and God’s justice\u2026 for all people\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Rev. Phil Hooper\u2026 Curate at Trinity Episcopal Church in Fort Wayne\u2026 Indiana\u2026 writes\u2026 when we hear Luke\u2019s Gospel today\u2026 we might still ask ourselves\u2026 which one am I\u2026 Martha or Mary\u2026 busy or mindful\u2026 striving or tranquil\u2026 perhaps\u2026 even as you hear the question right now… you can feel the pressure of needing to have the right answer\u2026 to measure up\u2026 to choose the better part\u2026 but before you get too lost in all of that\u2026 let me tell you\u2026 spoiler alert\u2026 it\u2019s a trick question\u2026 it’s a false choice\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s false… quite simply… because it is not the choice that Jesus\u2026 by way of this text… asks us to make\u2026 Jesus is not pitting the sisters against each another… nor is he creating a hierarchy of types of disciples\u2026 the duality that we read into the text is our own creation\u2026 borne of our own desire to make the world more comprehensible\u2026 and perhaps more controllable\u2026 through categories and labels\u2026 we do this all the time\u2026 in ways both benign\u2026 like the roles we take on in a group of friends<\/em>\u2026 and destructive\u2026 like the reductive stereotypes that continue to harm people at the margins<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n But this is not Jesus\u2019 agenda\u2026 when he tells Martha that Mary has chosen the better part\u2026 he is not challenging Martha\u2019s personality\u2026 nor is he even rejecting Martha\u2019s present busyness… but is instead gently calling her back to the fullness of herself\u2026 reminding her of both the Ground of her Being\u2026 and the telos<\/em>\u2026 which means the intentional endpoint\u2026 of all of this good\u2026 hard\u2026 and necessary work\u2026 namely himself\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Martha lives and serves\u2026 as we all do\u2026 in the name of Jesus\u2026 the One who has knocked upon her door and who now abides in the midst of her activities\u2026 the cooking and the cleaning and the mending and the tending of small daily things\u2026 all of this holds the possibility of divine in-breaking\u2026 but only when those things are done in mindfulness of God\u2019s ever-present love\u2026 that mindfulness is what we must bring to the table as disciples\u2026 and so Jesus simply wants Martha not to lose sight of him\u2026 knowing\u2026 as he does\u2026 how easy it is to become\u2026 worried and distracted by many things\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And we too are called\u2026 not to a rigid duality\u2026 but a fluid and dynamic one\u2026 one that waxes and wanes as we take care of ourselves\u2026 and those around us\u2026 from a place of deep silence… our need for self-care\u2026 for the physical\u2026 emotional\u2026 psychological\u2026 and spiritual aspects of ourselves\u2026 is paramount\u2026 but the need for each of us to become Established in Being is critical too\u2026 because we cannot offer an unconditional welcome to those who are different from us\u2026 we cannot offer in God’s name what we do not possess\u2026 but when we invite Jesus into our inner reality\u2026 we can experience this boundlessness as our true Nature\u2026 we can welcome everyone\u2026 resting in the certainty that God protects us in our vulnerability\u2026 so that we too can lavish hospitality on each and every one who knocks on our door\u2026 as though they were Christ himself\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Year C\u00a0Genesis 18:1-10a\u00a0Psalm 15\u00a0Colossians 1:15-28\u00a0Luke 10:38-42 May the words of my mouth O God\u2026 speak your truth\u2026 The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre\u2026 and he looked up and saw three men\u2026 one Hebrew commentary I have\u2026 says that as in some Canaanite literature\u2026 as was often the case\u2026 the deity was accompanied by his two attendants\u2026 but Abraham doesn’t even stop to ask them who they are\u2026 he immediately begins to extend Middle Eastern hospitality\u2026 becoming a Martha as it were\u2026 bringing water so they can wash the dust off their feet\u2026 and promising refreshment before they continued on\u2026 and he runs around\u2026 asking Sarah to take three measures\u2026 not of any old flour\u2026 but of choice flour\u2026 so she can make cakes of bread\u2026 and he takes from the herd a calf that is tender and good… and he serves the three curds and milk along with the calf that had been prepared\u2026 this was not\u2026 by the way\u2026 a kosher meal\u2026 and like a preeminent host\u2026 like a fine waiter\u2026 he stands by while they eat\u2026 against the possibility that something else might be needed\u2026 Abraham and Sarah didn’t have any advance notice of their visitors\u2026 but they rose to the occasion\u2026 they put on their best\u2026 and likewise\u2026 when many of us are expecting guests\u2026 whether for dinner or an evening visit\u2026 we may ask about any beverage and food preferences\u2026 or allergies\u2026 we tidy up the house\u2026 we clean the guest bathroom if there is one\u2026 and put out fresh towels\u2026 we know how to be hospitable\u2026 but there is risk in being hospitable\u2026 there is risk in being welcoming\u2026 over and over again in scripture\u2026 we read stories about Jesus welcoming and eating with those who others would not\u2026 but we sometimes ask ourselves\u2026 how well do we know these people\u2026 how well do those we know\u2026 know them\u2026 are they people we can trust\u2026 letting them into our homes\u2026 or given the chance\u2026 will they look in our medicine cabinet\u2026 But this time\u2026 it’s Martha\u2026 a homeowner\u2026 who welcomes Jesus\u2026 and we suppose the disciples too\u2026 into her home\u2026 and offers them hospitality\u2026 while her sister Mary sits at Jesus’ feet… and listens to what he says\u2026 or teaches\u2026 or simply basks in his presence\u2026 And the text says\u2026 Martha was distracted by her many tasks\u2026 and since one of the meanings of the Greek word that’s translated as distracted\u2026 also means\u2026 to be driven about mentally\u2026 and so I think the nugget here is less about the number of tasks for which Martha feels responsible\u2026 and more on Martha’s state of mind… she laments\u2026 Lord\u2026 do you not care\u2026 that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself\u2026 and her words remind me of Mark’s version of the Stilling of the Storm\u2026 in Ch. 4:38\u2026 when the disciples cry out\u2026 Teacher\u2026 do you not care that we are perishing\u2026 forgetting perhaps\u2026 that with them was the One\u2026 who in the beginning\u2026 separated the waters from the land\u2026 turned chaos into order\u2026 and who even the winds and the seas obey\u2026 But unfortunately\u2026 again\u2026 we have been set up by the translation itself into a shallow meaning and rigid duality of sorts\u2026 of believing that what Mary is doing\u2026 is better than what Martha is doing\u2026 of wondering why\u2026 even though it was Martha’s home\u2026 why Mary didn’t just jump in and help her sister\u2026 But the Greek word\u2026 agathos\u2026 which the NRSV translates as better\u2026 can also be translated simply as good\u2026 and if it’s not better\u2026 but just good\u2026 then it also becomes difficult to believe that what Mary is doing\u2026 sitting at Jesus’ feet\u2026 being more of a contemplative\u2026 is better than what Martha is doing… and when we think about what Martha is doing\u2026 rushing around as Abraham did\u2026 and being more of a householder\u2026 is worse than what Mary is doing\u2026 or not doing\u2026 Now there’s an expression in one of Hinduism’s sacred texts\u2026 the Bhagavad Gita\u2026 which has a parallel in Christian thought\u2026 in the Sanskrit it says\u2026 Yogas-thah kuru karmani\u2026 which means\u2026 Established in Being\u2026 perform action\u2026 in other words\u2026 first become established in the Ground of Being\u2026 in the silent presence of Wisdom\u2026 of the Christ Mind\u2026 and from that state of being\u2026 from that place of knowledge\u2026 then act\u2026 And while it may be possible to think of Mary as aligned with thoughts and prayers\u2026 and of Martha as aligned with actions\u2026 when we understand that our actions arise out of our inner awareness\u2026 then we can understand that the more awake we are\u2026 the more our actions will honor the archetypes of both Mary and Martha\u2026 and be more in line with God’s will\u2026 and God’s justice\u2026 for all people\u2026 The Rev. Phil Hooper\u2026 Curate at Trinity Episcopal Church in Fort Wayne\u2026 Indiana\u2026 writes\u2026 when we hear Luke\u2019s Gospel today\u2026 we might still ask ourselves\u2026 which one am I\u2026 Martha or Mary\u2026 busy or mindful\u2026 striving or tranquil\u2026 perhaps\u2026 even as you hear the question right now… you can feel the pressure of needing to have the right answer\u2026 to measure up\u2026 to choose the better part\u2026 but before you get too lost in all of that\u2026 let me tell you\u2026 spoiler alert\u2026 it\u2019s a trick question\u2026 it’s a false choice\u2026 It’s false… quite simply… because it is not the choice that Jesus\u2026 by way of this text… asks us to make\u2026 Jesus is not pitting the sisters against each another… nor is he creating a hierarchy of types of disciples\u2026 the duality that we read into the text is our own creation\u2026 borne of our own desire to make the world more comprehensible\u2026 and perhaps more controllable\u2026 through categories and labels\u2026 we do this all the time\u2026 in ways both benign\u2026 like the roles we take on in a group of friends\u2026 and destructive\u2026 like the reductive stereotypes that continue to harm people at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[154,157,153],"class_list":["post-1710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons","tag-hospitality","tag-jesus-unconditional-welcome","tag-mary-and-martha"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1710"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1711,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1710\/revisions\/1711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}