Loading...Sermon July 17, 2016
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, LSW
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen, Newport, PA
Ninth Sunday after Pentecost Track 2 Proper 11
Commissioning of Fredric William Rohm as Verger
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.’ Luke 10:41-42
Please be seated.
Most of you know I sang with a volunteer choir at the Washington National Cathedral called Cathedral Voices. Our rehearsals were on Thursday evenings at 7pm. Washington being what it is with traffic and my busy job, I usually just left work about 5:30 or so and took the metro to the closest stop (which is quite a few blocks away) where another choir member picked me up and took me to the two-hour rehearsal.
Needless to say, it was a Long and tiring day and I loved singing, especially with this choir, so gladly did it.
One Thursday evening we were rehearsing an arrangement of the hymn, People Look East. We were going to sing this at the upcoming Advent Lessons and Carols service. The first verse goes like this:
People, look east. The time is near
Of the crowning of the year.
Make your house fair as you are able,
Trim the hearth and set the table.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the guest, is on the way. Hymn 724, Wonder, Love and Praise
After singing through the arrangement a couple of times, Director Mike McCarthy said we needed to be peppier and happy when we sang it. I whispered to the singer next to me, “He’s obviously never prepared a meal for 14 people before.” Unfortunately, I said that a little louder than I’d planned, which drew some laughs, but also a stern look from the Director.
Yes, planning, cooking and serving a meal for a large group – I’d say about 6 or more – takes a lot of work. A large meal is the context of our Gospel today. Theologian Dr. Renita J. Weems in her book, Just a Sister Away, gives an account of what Martha may have been going through as Jesus was in her home.
Imagine Jesus as a guest at your home, and perhaps you will understand why I was so anxious to make sure everything was perfect. Oh, I will admit that my temper got the best of me and I probably spoke too harshly. But imagine what it’s like to be saddled unexpectedly with twelve extra mouths to feed! Of course, any woman worth her weight in salt can prepare a meal for four. And four was all I was expecting: the Stranger, Jesus; my brother, Lazarus; my sister, Mary; and myself. But my brother failed to mention that wherever the Galilean Stranger went, his twelve disciples were sure to follow.
I ended up having to figure out how to make a fowl only large enough to feed six, stretch to feed sixteen. Not to mention the fact that more cucumbers, beans, lentils, onions, leeks, vegetable marrow, and garlic had to be chopped up. As I scurried from pot to pot, from broth to bread, trying to keep the breeze outside from extinguishing the fire in the oven, worrying whether there was enough water and who would go down to the well to fetch more, I found myself growing increasingly annoyed at my younger sister, Mary, for leaving me to worry and serve alone. There was so much to do, so many to do it for, and so little time to do it. As usual, Mary was engrossed with the conversations of the men. She had even forgotten to offer our travel-weary guests the opportunity to wash their hands and feet after a day’s journey. (p. 39-40)
Martha is anxious. She wants everyone to be fed. Hospitality and preparing a meal properly are important to her. Most likely, she also believed they were a reflection of who she was. Her identity was wrapped up in properly being a host….in properly preparing a meal…in properly serving a meal.
Martha was worried about whether everything would go well. Anne Wilson Schaeff in the forward to her meditation book, Meditations for People Who (May) Worry Too Much said she wrote the book because she observed many of us worry, and it robs us of our ability to be fully alive. (Introduction first page) Martha’s worry and frustration and anger in preparing this meal for Jesus and his followers distracted her from the life-giving teaching, love, and communion with Jesus.
Mary, and Lazarus, too, sat at Jesus’ feet. Here’s how Dr. Weems envisions Martha seeing the scene.
There Mary sat at Jesus’ feet, gazing intently up into his face, looking as though her life depended on his word, oblivious to the dirt and grime on his feet. He sat before her speaking with intense urgency, as though his own life depended on getting out what he held inside. The two of them, Jesus and my sister, were only a few feet away from me, but they looked as if they were miles away from my broth and lentils. (p. 40)
“There Mary sat at Jesus’ feet….” How many times do our distractions, worries and anxieties pull us away from sitting at Jesus’ feet? Those who sat at Jesus’ feet last week heard him say, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27) Those who sat at Jesus’ feet two weeks ago heard Him send his followers out “like lambs in the midst of wolves” because “the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” (Luke 10:2-3)
This morning after the Nicene Creed, we’ll commission Fredric William Rohm, whom we call Bill, as a Verger. Bill is sitting at the feet of Jesus and heard Jesus’ call to serve the church in this new way. In this new ministry for him, he’ll help organize our services and make sure everything is ready and taken care of for the services. He’ll encourage all of us to hear whether God is calling us to serve as Lectors, Readers, Lay Eucharistic Ministers, Preachers, Altar Guild Members, and Acolytes. He’ll help prepare us for those ministries.
We all face numerous distractions from the very normal activities of our daily lives to the anxieties and concerns of our world. I mean, the last thirty days have felt like one sad, sad event after another.
Yet, today in our Gospel Jesus reminds all of us that we need to sit at his feet as if our very lives depend upon it. We need to sit at Jesus feet, hear his teachings and take them into our hearts. We need to put aside our distractions and our anxieties. That’s what sitting at Jesus’ feet does. It puts our lives and our world into the proper perspective. It puts our lives and our world into the proper balance. When we sit at Jesus’ feet, we choose “the better part,” which will not be taken away from us.
Amen
