'Jesus in the house of Martha and Mary'
A sermon given by our Assistant Curate, Revd Tessa Stephens
Earlier this week I was at a family funeral. The clan had gathered to bury my husband’s grandmother: Martha Slone. Gerard’s parents were responsible for most of the arrangements and I was impressed by the way that they worked to involve as many of the family as possible. Different relatives had been asked to read, to give a tribute or to prepare the orders of service. It was a good example of a family working together at a difficult time. But we all know that family life isn’t always harmonious. In my own family, big gatherings, especially at Christmas sometimes seem to end up with those present sliding back into their childhood roles.
I wonder if that is what is happening in our gospel reading today, as Mary and Martha start to quarrel over their domestic arrangements? Perhaps Martha feels that she always ends up doing all the hard work and that Mary has never done her fair share? Perhaps Mary feels that Martha is always fussing around and making more of her role as host than is necessary?
Let’s start by looking at the story again. We are told that Jesus and his disciples come to a “certain village”. From stories in the gospel of John about the two sisters and their brother Lazarus, we know that the village is likely to be Bethany. This is only about two miles from Jerusalem, near to the Mount of Olives.
Jesus is welcomed by Martha who is clearly the mistress of the house. She is the one who opens her home to Jesus and she takes responsibility for looking after him. Martha is rushing around, getting everything ready for a meal. At the same time, instead of helping, Mary is sitting at Jesus’ feet listening to him as he teaches his disciples.
This was a radical thing for Mary to do. To sit at someone’s feet meant to become their disciple and to learn from them. So Mary is leaving the traditional women’s sphere of the kitchen and claiming her right to sit with the men and to learn directly from Jesus. She doesn’t do this with any great fanfare or fuss – she simply sits at Jesus’ feet and learns from him so that she might be able to share that teaching with others.
So how does Martha respond to Mary’s radical act of discipleship? Does she rejoice at her sister’s confidence or even seek to join her?
In fact, as we know, she’s upset and angry. She is doing all the work and not getting any help from her sister, who ought to be at her side. She appeals to Jesus to tell Mary to help her. Surely Mary will listen to him?
But Jesus response is surprising. He acknowledges Martha’s distress saying, “you are worried and upset about many things but only one thing is needed” Perhaps initially Martha may have thought that Jesus meant that there was no need for more than one dish for the meal. But then it becomes clear that Jesus is thinking more about spiritual nourishment than about food as he says “Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her.”
In other words, Jesus is affirming Mary’s choice to listen to the word of God. She has the right and the duty as a disciple to learn from Jesus as her religious teacher. Jesus may seem to be rebuking Martha, but he is also reaching out to her. For what Mary has chosen can also be a choice for Martha. Both are called to listen to the word of God.
For those of us who have any kind of practical inclination this is a difficult story to hear. After all, someone has to do the shopping and cleaning and make sure that there is enough food for the family and for guests. And in a church context, it’s important that the building is cared for and that we’re ready to welcome people in. So, is Jesus saying that care for practical things doesn’t matter and that we should focus on listening to his word to the exclusion of everything else?
I think that we can go someone way to understanding what this text means by looking at where it appears in the Gospel of Luke. At this point in Luke’s story Jesus has begun his journey towards Jerusalem and the shadow of the cross is starting to make its presence felt. In the previous chapter, Jesus “sets his face to go to Jerusalem” and tells those who wish to follow him there that they need to make this journey their number one priority. Just before stopping at Martha’s house, Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan. This shows how dangerous travelling in that part of the world could be. And Jesus would be well aware not only of the normal dangers of making a journey but also of the ultimate danger that faces him in Jerusalem.
So perhaps we need to see Jesus’ response to Mary and Martha in the light of his mission and the ultimate purpose of his journey to Jerusalem. His presence in Martha’s house as a guest is a sign of the coming of God’s kingdom. As Jesus’ ministry on earth nears its end there is an increasing urgency in everything that he does. In extraordinary times such as these, the ordinary questions of housekeeping and catering become less important that would normally be the case. Indeed they may even act as distractions from the coming of God’s kingdom.
There may also be a double context here: as Luke was writing his gospel he would have been thinking not only about writing an accurate account but also about the churches who would meet to read and share his words. At the time that the gospel was written churches still met in private homes and the issue of finding the right balance between hospitality and listening to the word of God would have been just as important as it was for Mary and Martha.
So what does this story say to us today? All of us have times, when, like Martha, we are worried and upset about many things. So perhaps we are all called, as both Mary and Martha are called, to listen to Jesus, to hear his word and to know his peace in our hearts.
I don’t think it’s helpful to see this story primarily as a conflict between the spiritual and the practical. But I think that it does challenge us to look at where our priorities are. It is right to take time to deal with the practicalities of church life or running our households and to do those things as well as we can.
What is important is that at the same time we remember why we are doing those things. We meet together to offer the hospitality of Christ to everyone, both to those who are already friends and to those whom we don’t yet know well. But we are only able to offer that gift because we have first received it from him. Let us rejoice in the gift that we have received and approach the practical difficulties that trouble us in the knowledge that God is the one who loves and cares for us always.
Amen.