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The Gospel for this Sunday (July 22, 2007) is Luke 10:38-42:
Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him as a guest into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat down beside Jesus’ feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was driven to distraction by much serving; so she came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, don’t you 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 anxious and disturbed by many things, but only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen what is best, and it will not be taken away from her.” (My paraphrase)
The first thing to say about this passage is that it is not about elevating the contemplative lifestyle above a more action or work-oriented one. After all, this brief scene takes place immediately after Jesus has told the oft mis-named parable of “The Good Samaritan.” And you know how it ends, right? “Go, and do likewise,” Jesus tells the scholar of the law and us. Go and do.
The problem with Martha is not her work ethic. Instead, the problem has to do with the many distractions she allows into her heart and her home, along with Jesus. Martha becomes so preoccupied with her duties as the hostess that she all but forgets about her guest. As Jesus tells her, “You are anxious and disturbed by many things.”
How often can the same thing be said of us? I know that for me the job of being a pastor often interferes with me spending time at the foot of Jesus. I can, and I bet the same is true for many followers of Jesus, become so worked up and busy with the job description of discipleship - checking off items on my to-do list, and otherwise running around trying to earn my Lord’s and my congregation’s praise and acceptance - that I find myself neglecting what should be the primary relationship in my life. I forget the one thing that is necessary for me to remember at all times, and instead of choosing the best, I merely settle for the good.
So what is the one thing necessary? Some may say that this “one thing” would vary from person to person. That it is relative or situational in nature. I, however, don’t think this. To me, the one thing necessary is to recognize the presence of Jesus in my life and to cultivate my relationship with Jesus at all times and places. Of course, this is a tall order, and I almost never am able to fill it. Nevertheless, that is the one thing necessary. That is why Mary is where she is in this story. She is with Jesus.
In the same way, it can be said that the “Good Samaritan” was “with Jesus” as well when he saw and had mercy on the man who fell among thieves. It’s not about whether one is doing or contemplating, it’s all about being in the kind of relationship with Jesus that makes me constantly on the lookout for ways I can encounter him. This can happen in prayer, in Bible study, in worship; but it can also occur when I am going about my business (or should I say, “My Father’s business”) and reach out in love or compassion or mercy or forgiveness to another in his or her needs.
When Jesus says in Matthew’s gospel ”Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:40), he is elaborating on what it means to choose the best in those verses just as much as he does in this passage from Luke.
Jesus says there is “one thing that is necessary.” He then adds that “Mary has chosen what is best.” And to put is simply, what he means is that Martha is focusing on too many things and on the wrong things. Some of you may remember the movie City Slickers. About mid-way through the film, Curly, played by Jack Palance, is riding next to Mitch, played by Billy Crystal. Mitch and two of his New York buddies have come to northern New Mexico to work through their mutual mid-life crises by driving cattle up to Colorado. But Curly can only shake his head at their anxieties and worries.
“You city folk! You spend 50 weeks a year getting knots in your rope,” Curly uncomprehendingly observes. “Then you think two weeks up here will straighten it out.”
The horses pause beneath them.
“Do you know what the secret of life is?” Curly asks Mitch.
“No, what?” Mitch asks eagerly.
“This,” Curly answers holding up one gloved index finger.
“Your finger?” Mitch asks, thrown off a little.
“One thing,” Curly answers. “It is just one thing. You stick to this and anything else don’t mean beans.”
“That’s great,” Mitch enthuses, “but what’s the one thing?”
“That is what you got to figure out,” Curly cryptically responds before
riding away.
Unlike Mitch, we followers of Jesus know what that one thing is. We know that it is to seek and to dwell in Jesus’ presence, whether we are literally or figuratively sitting at his feet or whether we are tending to the sick and wounded and dying folks we encounter along the way. It is all the same.
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Technorati tags: Luke 10:38-42, Jesus’ teaching, One Thing, choosing the best, choosing the better part, reflection, lectionary, Ordinary 16C, Proper 11C, Pentecost 8C
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