Collect
Great God who sits enthroned among the cherubim, Your Son commended Mary when she sat in simplicity at His feet. Grant us today the grace to know that we must sit with Christ before we can serve Christ, so that when we go forth in Jesus’ name, we will also go forth in Jesus’ presence and power. In the name of Him who promises rest for our souls, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.
Right Panel: The World in the Text
An apocryphal story tells of a group of Englishmen who hired some native Bushmen to guide them through the Kalahari desert of Africa. The whites pushed to complete the journey as soon as possible; to their dismay, the Bushmen sat down after a couple of days and refused to budge. No amount of threatened punishment or promised rewards could shift them. They were, they explained to their bosses, waiting for their souls to catch up.
Central Panel
In the passage before us today, Martha has outrun her soul while Mary waits for hers to catch up. Mary’s inaction in the face of Martha’s compulsion, and Jesus’ gentle decision in favor of the former, teach us the critical lesson that the soul advances fastest when it sits at Jesus' feet.
Before we talk about Mary, take a moment to look at Martha. Why does Jesus rebuke her? Why does he set aside her service and hold up the seeming inactivity of her sister? Martha does many right things, and she does those things right, but she misses the one right thing. In Martha’s hurry to serve the Lord, she has outrun her soul.
Consider Martha’s condition. We have three verbs to describe her state of mind (v.40-41): She was distracted, worried, and distracted. (The first and third are actually different words in the original; the English Standard version says Martha was distracted, anxious, and troubled.)
Consider Martha’s action. Martha went up to him. The phrase implies an impulsive and explosive action; the desire to be with Jesus did not push her beyond the social conventions of her day, but the desire to drag someone else away from Jesus overcame her sense of social etiquette.
Consider Martha’s prayer. She said to him, Tell her to help me. The command shows that her first question was merely rhetorical. Of course Jesus agreed with her about the problem and the solution. She wasn’t seeking information; she was giving orders.
In Martha’s hurry to serve the Lord, she has outrun her soul.
Now watch as Jesus offers gentle spiritual direction to Martha. But one thing is necessary. Some ancient manuscripts have Jesus saying, Only a few things are necessary, really only one, as if Jesus means, “Martha! There’s no need for the seven-course banquet. Just zap a frozen pizza in the microwave or something.” In other words, stop trying to be Martha Stewart of Bethany. Yes, society says that your only access to worth is through fulfilling a certain role. Never mind: dare to be a second-rate hostess and a first-rate disciple. But I think there is also a deeper meaning in Jesus’ words: Martha, only one thing matters, and that is to let my teaching transform you. After that, you may do many things, but you will do them all differently; you will do them like a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven and not like the president of the Junior League. Martha, your soul advances fastest when it sits at my feet.
In Mary’s stillness at the feet of Jesus, she waits for her soul to arrive. Mary only does one thing, and she not only does that one thing right, she does the one right thing. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. Don’t miss what it means that she sat at the Lord’s feet. That is the position of discipleship; that is the position of an apostle (Acts 22.3). The rabbinic teaching of the day held that it was better to burn the Torah scrolls than to allow a woman to read them, yet here sits Mary, not reading the written Word of God but listening to the words of the Word which became flesh and dwelt among us (Jo 1.14). Mary’s still soul leads her to perform a radically counter-cultural act. She abandons the kitchen for the position of an apostle and I don’t care what that great theologian Kirk Cameron says, Jesus not only does not condemn her but publicly defends her.
Mary leaves the social space that her culture said she should occupy and invades spaces where she supposedly does not belong. She does not set out to be a radical, only to be a disciple; she does not seek to gain attention from the world, only to pay attention to Jesus; by sitting still before Jesus she boldly marches where women had not yet gone. Mary’s soul advances fastest when it sits at Jesus’ feet.
Left Panel: Bearing Witness
The soul advances fastest when it sits at Jesus' feet. If we want to get it right as Christians, we must display spiritual sensitivity and courageous hospitality. We must receive Jesus, make him the center of our homes and hearts. When so many around us see the Christian faith as a yellow brick road to the opulent Oz of consumerism we must see it as a hard road to the cross. When others reject Jesus because he sets his face toward suffering, we must welcome him and turn our faces in the same direction. And like Mary, we can manage to do this only if we are willing to waste time at the feet of Jesus, and willing to breach social standards in order to do so. We should all keep a mental Martha List to let us know when we’ve outrun our souls.
When I share Martha’s language, then I’ve probably outrun my soul. When it takes three words to describe my distraction, then I’ve outrun my soul. When I find my vocabulary consists largely of words about my fatigue, my frustration, my distraction, and my division, I need to pause and wait for my soul to catch up.
When I commit Martha’s action, then I’ve probably outrun my soul. When I would rather keep others away from Jesus than be with Jesus myself, then I’ve outrun my soul. When I worry more about whether other people are allowed to be Christians than about whether I am seeking Christ, then I’ve outrun my soul. When I spend more time and energy rebuking others for ministering in Jesus’ name than ministering in Jesus’ name myself, then I’ve outrun my soul.
When I pray Martha’s prayer, then I’ve probably outrun my soul. When all of my prayers consist of rhetorical questions, then I’ve outrun my soul. When most of my prayer consists of giving good advice to God on how to run the world, then I’ve outrun my soul. When I automatically assume that God shares my anger at others, then I’ve outrun my soul. As Anne Lamott says in her book Traveling Mercies, “You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.”
So how do I respond when I check the Martha List and realize that I’ve gone 0-for-3? What do I do when I realize I’ve outrun my soul? When I’ve outrun my own soul in the service of the Savior, I must look at the example of Mary.
When I accidentally violate the rules because I intentionally seek Jesus, there’s a good chance I’m waiting for my soul. Mary has chosen. We’ve seen that Mary is sitting where she does not belong, but she’s not some radical feminazi hell-bent on making trouble; she’s just a woman so focused on being where Jesus is that other boundaries become invisible. Christians are not called to break rules; we are called to follow Christ. If we do that, we’ll break plenty of rules in the process but at least we’ll know they were the right ones to break.
When I do less in order to do more, there’s a good chance I’m waiting for my, soul. Mary has chosen the better part. When I’ve outrun my soul, I may have to sacrifice efficiency on the altar of prayer and let go of the praises and prizes I could win if I produce the goods and services that people desire.
When I let Jesus do the talking, there’s a good chance I’m waiting for my soul: It will not be taken away from her. Notice that Mary never says a word in this entire story. She does not defend herself against Martha’s accusations. She simply sits at the feet of Jesus and lets her Lord be her defender. The last thing that many of our own Christian brothers and sisters would ever understand would be a church full of people who decided to take Jesus’ teachings seriously. It will put us in the wrong place at the wrong time doing the wrong things for the wrong reasons. And sometimes we’ll just have to smile and let Jesus do the talking.
Martha hurries to failure. Mary sits still and succeeds. The soul advances fastest when it sits at Jesus' feet.
Conclusion
Brother Lawrence was a great man of prayer who lived in France in the seventeenth century. In a letter to a friend, he offered the following assessment of a mutual acquaintance: “She seems to me full of good will, but she would go faster than grace. One does not become holy all at once.”
Sometimes, in our zeal to be holy, to serve Christ, we try to go faster than grace; we try to become holy all at once; we outrun our souls. May this story be our reminder, as individual believers and as a congregation, that the soul advances fastest when it sits at Jesus' feet. Amen.
Benediction
When Jesus comes to us walking in the way of the cross,
May we welcome him as our unseen guest.
When Jesus comes to us walking in the way of the cross,
May we offer him the gift of our service.
When Jesus comes to us walking in the way of the cross,
May we sit to learn and rise to serve,
And join Jesus in walking in the way of the cross.
In the name
Of the Father,
And of the Son,
And of the Holy Spirit,
One God now and forever,
Amen.
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