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Genesis 18:1-10-14, Colossians 1:21-29, Luke 10:38-42
St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, West Valley City, UT
The Rev'd W. Lee Shaw
There is a wonderful earthiness which runs through the Hebrew
Scriptures, and that is not counting the Song of Solomon
which is yet a step or two beyond earthiness. You can just see
the wry smile on Sarah's wrinkled face that slowly broadens into
unexpected laugher: After I have grown old, and my husband is
old, shall I have pleasure?
It is as much about Abraham as it
is about Sarah being old and having pleasure.
But as Abraham plays host to the three men, sometimes seen as angels, or even a hint of the Trinity as in the Rublev icon, Sarah is incredulous. She cannot move into the moment of recognition and belief. Right now she sees only the reality of her world, not the possibility of God's word to her. She is not there yet.
It is similar with Mary and Martha, sisters of Lazarus. This is our first introduction to this family of siblings who become friends with Jesus. My guess is that Martha is the oldest of the three, the one who gets things done. She is always doing. Mary is the younger sister fascinated by this young rabbi and what he has to say. His words take her from the ordinary into a new realm of ideas and possibilities while Martha resents that she is the one left doing all the work. As I think all of us would.
Martha wants the perfect evening with all the right food. Jesus calls her to feast on the word he has for her. Martha, like Sarah, can see only the reality of her world, not the possibility of God's word to her. So Jesus gently reminds her to be present to the moment, accept his invitation to stop and listen and just be present.
There is a Martha and Mary in each of us, contending between doing and being. Both are important. Both need to be part of our lives. Our challenge is to know when and how to do and when to be. There is great wisdom in the Benedictine spirituality of the balance between worship, work, study, and rest. Here is when we are called to be very discerning about where we are and what we are about.
Jesus invites us into the mystery of God's word for us.
I use the term mystery intentionally, for it is never given
for us to comprehend it fully and totally. A mystery cannot
be answered or solved, it is something we move into; it is a
way we frame the ambiguities and unknowns of the Divine in our
lives through faith. We use the term mystery a lot in church.
It is as Paul wrote, We see through a glass darkly.
We do not know the fullness of God's will and purpose for us,
we move into it in faith. I often use the image of pilgrimage
and journey as a metaphor for our movement into the mystery
to know God and to discern God's will for us.
Abraham and Sarah, Mary and Martha all saw and experienced
the Divine differently. Each was invited to move into the
moment of God's presence in their lives. We are invited to
practice the presence of God
(Brother Lawrence), to seek
to discern God's presence in our day to day life. There is
a balance to be found between our doing and our being.
This is a continual process of discernment of balance and insight. We, as Sarah and Martha, sometimes become so caught up in the hard realities of our life that we fail to see other possibilities, the practice of the presence of God in our lives.
As Americans we are very goal oriented, task centered, with work to be done. It has been said of us that we too often Play at Worship, Work at Play and Worship Work. Rather than Worship at Worship, Work at Work, Play at Play.
It is God's invitation to us, as to Sarah and Martha, to move into the moment of the awareness of God's presence in our lives. We are invited to move beyond the realities of our world to the possibilities of God's word for us. This is an invitation to begin the journey into God's presence through the discernment of balance in all parts of our lives. To do and to be need not compete with one another, rather to be held in creative tension and balance in our lives as we faithfully journey toward God and discern God's will for us.
My friend Sam Portaro phrases it thusly: In this
task-oriented, product driven world, it is a point worth
pondering—it is the vocation of the Christian in this
world ever to seek and yet never to attain. It is our joy
and our glory never to possess truth absolutely, yet ever to
know the companionship of wisdom. It is resurrection wisdom
to know that there is no goal, no glory worth more than the
road that takes us there,
(Brightest and Best).
Go in peace to follow the good road.