Today's sermon is something that I needed to hear. I'm grateful for + George, who is helping our curate {assistant priest} with preaching and pastoral duties while our rector {head priest} is on sabbatical this summer.
Today's Gospel lesson is a familiar story, when Jesus visits His friends Mary and Martha of Bethany. It is a familiar story, one sister is acting as the good Jewish housewife, busy making sure ALL the food is prepared and the table set with the best tableware. Her sister, on the other hand, spends time listening intently to their guest as He shares wisdom.
Two sisters show us two opposite ways of being with Jesus.
Is one way REALLY " better" than the other? Perhaps each sister in this story argued with each other over Mary's lack of help in the kitchen versus Martha's constant busy-ness that kept her away from enjoying their guest's company.
Who has the " better way"? This is an ages-old question which Christians banter around for centuries.
As +George pondered: maybe the Christian life is not either/or {Mary or Martha} but both/and { Martha and Mary as equally important in our walk with God through Christ.
This story shows the " both/and nature of following Jesus. As Christians, we are called to contemplation and action. We are asked to spend time in worship, prayer, study and fellowship with our faith communities.
However, life in Christ also demands that we move out of our safe zones in order to serve others who may never enter our pretty red doors. A healthy Christian community {which mine is-- thanks be to God} does well.
Living according to this dichotomy is not easy. od calls us to love people as God loves each of us. We are called to love those whose life closely resembles ours. But we are also called to love those whose politics, religion, or lifestyle greatly differs with our own. We are called to love people -- even those who reject us due to differing political or moral views. This is A TALL ORDER for sure-- especially when our beloveds choose to withhold love from us.
We are called to love. Full stop.
Jesus knows how hurtful family and friends can be when it comes to following The Way of Love versus The Way of The World. The World says, Retaliate. Love bids us to shake the proverbial {or literal if you live in Florida} dust from our sandals and move on.
We're called to love, and we are also called to be agents of social change. Look at the public ministry of Jesus: His life's work was not about making people comfortable with the status quo. Yet He acted out of a place of Love, a Love that only The Creator of the Universe can give.
Being a Christian means constantly living within a " both/and".
Thanks, be to Adonai.
Amen.
Sarah McCarren
17 July 2022
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