“NECESSITIES”
Ninth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 11)
July 17, 2016
Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church
Glenshaw, Pennsylvania
TEXT:
The Lord [said:] “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about
many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good
portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
Luke 10:41, 42 (ESV)
It would be more than an understatement to say that we live in a busy
world. I, for one, never cease to be amazed over the fact that we
have more time-saving conveniences today than ever before and yet we
seem to be more pressed for time than ever before. We find that it is
impossible for us to do everything that we are supposed to be doing,
so we end up having to prioritize--having to arrange the things that
we have to do in such an order as to make certain that the most
important things--the necessary things--are sure to be taken care of
first. Our reasoning is that, if we do that, then it’s okay if we
don’t get to the less important items on our agenda. All of this is
fine and good, but the problem that we face is in determining what
things are important and what things are not. And as we go about
doing this, we as Christians have to ask ourselves: Are our
priorities the same as God’s?
Jesus’ visit to His friends Mary and Martha in this morning’s Gospel
is a very enlightening episode in the earthly travels of our Lord,
because this story sheds a lot of divine light on our dilemma of
having more things to do than we have time in which to do them. The
Lord was a frequent Visitor to this home in Bethany, where He enjoyed
the fellowship and company of these two sisters and their brother
Lazarus, whom Jesus would later raise from the dead. This family
apparently enjoyed His company as well, since they were always
hospitable to Him when He would come to visit. On this particular
occasion we see Mary and Martha both showing respect toward their
Guest, but each of them had her own unique way of showing that
respect. Martha frantically busied herself in the kitchen to prepare
a meal fit to set before such a special Visitor, while her sister Mary
sat at the Lord’s feet and eagerly took in everything that He had to
teach. As the events of this story unfold before us, let’s pay
careful attention to what the Lord is not saying here as well as to
what He is saying.
You might think it strange that I would want to start by discussing
what Jesus is not saying in this incident at Bethany. There is a
reason for this. We often read into a Biblical text (particularly a
familiar one like this) a lot of things that are not there. So before
we go any further, we need to realize and understand in no uncertain
terms that Jesus is not saying here (or anywhere else in Scripture,
for that matter) that it’s okay for us to be lazy or indifferent when
it comes to helping others with mundane and routine tasks. Contrary
to our wishes, He is not making it any easier for those of us who
would rather just sit back and wait until all the work is done before
we join in as a participant. But in choosing to sit at the Savior’s
feet and listen attentively to His words, Mary was not trying to avoid
helping her sister in the kitchen. So no matter how creative we may
try to be as Bible interpreters, we cannot legitimately find in this
passage any excuse for laziness or indifference.
Neither is our Lord in any way demeaning the gift of hospitality.
Jesus does not in any way imply that Martha was doing something wrong
by busily preparing food to place in front of her Guest. His words to
her were spoken in defense of her sister Mary, not in condemnation of
her. He was not suggesting that she shouldn’t be doing what she was
doing, nor was He trying to give the impression that what she was
doing didn’t matter. Martha’s problem was not with what she was
doing; it was with the fact that she was so busy with the cares of
this life that she was missing out on the spiritual food that
nourishes a person for everlasting life. Jesus wasn’t condemning her
at all; He was feeling sorry for her. In fact, you can sense the love
and compassion in His words: “Martha, Martha . . . “ He was grieved
that she had made herself so busy with her earthly preparations that
she neglected the spiritual preparation that really matters.
If all of this is what our Lord is not saying here, then just what is
He saying? In His defense of Mary Jesus is saying that what she has
chosen to do is to attend to the only real spiritual necessity. She
had decided that, since she couldn’t do everything, she would do the
most important thing--and that was to sit at the feet of her Lord and
Savior and listen attentively to His Word. Being the good Lutherans
that we are, we might generalize this and say that Mary chose to make
faithful use of the means of grace. These means--the Word of God
(particularly the Gospel of Christ) and the Sacraments (which are
nothing more or less than the Gospel expressed in action)--are what
the Holy Spirit uses to create and nurture saving faith in the hearts
of sinners. It is in the Gospel that we receive the forgiveness and
reconciliation with God that Jesus accomplished for us in His death
and resurrection. Whether we are able to remember it or not, there
was a time in the life of each and every one of us when we were
enemies of God--moving away from Him, not toward Him. It was the Holy
Spirit who turned us around, since no one or nothing else can. The
Spirit worked that miracle of conversion in us either through our
Baptism or through our hearing of the Gospel of Christ.
But the Spirit’s work in us doesn’t stop there. The same Spirit who
brought us to faith in Christ through Word and Sacrament uses those
same means to cause us to grow in the grace of Christ. Whenever we
hear the Word of God as we gather together in Jesus’ Name--whenever we
personally read and study the Word and meditate on it--whenever we
receive the true body and blood of Christ in the Sacrament of the
Altar--the Holy Spirit is feeding our souls so that the faith that He
gave us might grow and mature, guarding and protecting us from the
relentless attempts of Satan to destroy our faith and also moving us
day by day a little closer to what God wants us to be, as He conforms
us to the image of Christ. Being in the Lord’s presence through Word
and Sacrament is essential for these things to take place. Choosing
to be in the Word is choosing what Mary chose in today’s
Gospel--choosing what Jesus calls “the good portion.”
Our busy world challenges us to arrange our busy lives in such a way
that the important things--the things that really matter--are taken
care of. There are so many things in our lives that we think we “have
to” do that we really don’t. On the other hand, to many people in our
day and age--even many Christian people--spending time in the Word is
not a very high priority--not a “must do” kind of thing. Nothing
could be further from the truth. Of all the concerns in our lives,
this is the most important of all--the only real necessity. We can
make sure that we eat properly and get enough sleep and exercise but,
even with all of that, in the end we will still get sick and die. But
in Word and Sacrament the Holy Spirit gives us the life that will
never end. That same Spirit moves us to follow Mary’s example in
choosing “the good portion,” with the promise that, through the
Gospel, He will cause us to grow in the grace of Christ and eventually
inherit the kingdom that He prepares--even now--for us and for all who
live and die trusting in Him.
Amen.
May the Lord bless your hearing of His Word, using it to accomplish in
you those things for which He gave it. May you be enriched and
strengthened in faith that you may leave here today to go out into our
world armed with the whole armor of God, prepared to be able
ambassadors of your Savior Jesus Christ. He who calls you is
faithful, and He will do it. Amen.