Homily
by The Rev. Marcia McRae
St.
Francis Episcopal Church, Goldsboro, NC; 9th
Sunday after Pentecost, 17 July 2016
Proper 11
Year C RCL: Amos
8:1-12; Psalm 52; Colossians 1:15-28; Luke 10:38-4
Martha's
busy-ness in our Gospel reminds me of this cookbook
Being
Dead Is No excuse: The Official Southern Ladies Guide to Hosting the
Perfect Funeral. [It
would not have surprised me to have Martha listed in the book's
credits!]
Some
people know how to handle special occasions, how to attend to guests.
Some of us work ourselves to
death handling what's urgent so that we miss what is important.
Martha
is
right busy, & rightfully so, stirring up supper for Jesus &
her other guests. She follows the laws of hospitality in her
culture.1
What else is a hostess to do?
Creatively,
in The Magdalene Gospel: Meeting Women Who Followed Jesus, author Mary Ellen Ashcroft has Martha say these
words about
her encounter with Jesus when she complains that she needs help in
the kitchen:
“When
I spoke to Jesus, I expected a quick solution. I thought he would
tell (Mary) to help me. I should have known him better. He knew this
was no minor issue; in fact, it touched to the heart of who I was,
how I was spending my life, what made me feel worthwhile.
It
touched the center of my relationship with God.”2
So
surprised at Jesus' response, she sits down, listens & realizes
she can take a break from work to listen to Jesus, to learn, asks
questions, ponder.3
Martha
says: “The world would go on if we had a simple meal...I would
learn to survive without compliments to feed me, without frantic
efforts to prove myself...I could just be
in the presence of (Jesus).”4
The
author asks, “How many women have missed God's visitation – have
swept (God) out of the kitchen because (God) was distracting
them?...(We are) ALL...to put (our) discipleship first.”5
My
Sisters & Brothers, we are ALL to put
our discipleship first. The Gospel lesson is about ALL of us:
the
Marthas & the Marys AND the Marks & the Matthews.
In
Luke’s Gospel, we meet Jesus' disciple Matthew in chapter 6.
Matthew has a ready will & a ready heart6
(as the
Collect in Holy
Women, Holy Men
says for Sept. 21, the day we remember him).
He is at work when Jesus calls him & immediately drops everything
to follow Jesus,7
to be
with Jesus.
Matthew’s
Gospel teaches us about “faith & eternal life,”8
subjects Mary would relish to hear about as she sits at Jesus' feet.
Matthew gives us a balance in his Gospel: he writes about “duties
toward...neighbors, family, & even enemies.”9
The duties part sounds like Martha.
The
disciple Mark is like Martha. He goes working “with Paul &
Barnabas on their 1st
missionary journey, but (for some reason) turns back,” which breaks
their relationship.10 I hear in this echoes of Martha's to-do list, her complaining &
irritation with Mary.
The
Bible says the damage to the relationship of Mark & Paul does
heal.11
Their relationship returns to balance.
Balance
is
the essence of today's scriptures.
We hear people are out of balance
in Amos' day, so caught up in to-dos to make money that they drift
away from God. Paul
tells us about the balance between heaven & earth, about the
Mystery of God's Love that makes peace through the blood of Jesus on
the hard wood of the cross. Paul tells us about heavenly thoughts &
harsh realities.
Our
news tells us about harsh realities.
We
gather here & in private prayer to focus on heavenly thoughts, so
that we can put our discipleship first, so that we can make a
positive difference in this world's harsh realities.
The
Gospel teaches us about balancing our to-do lists
&
our contemplative lives.
In
our busy lives we can reflect the beauty of God's handiwork, cherish
& rely on the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which gives us a
profound spiritual anchor to stabilize us for joyous service for
Jesus' sake.
My
Brothers & Sisters, God's Beloved Marks & Matthews, God's
Beloved Marthas & Marys, God guides us to balance in our lives.
Balance
requires action & stillness.
Balance is essential to life.
When
it seems impossible to achieve balance, we
must trust God to guide us.
We
must wait upon the Lord.
Bibliography
Ashcroft,
Mary Ellen. The
Magdalene Gospel: Meeting Women Who followed Jesus.
Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress. 2002.
Freeman,
Lindsay Hardin. Bible
Women: All Their Words and Why They Matter.
USA: Forward Movement. 2015.
Harper’s
Bible Commentary.
General Ed.: James. L. Mays. San Francisco: Harper & Row
Publishers. 1988.
Holy
Bible. New Revised
Standard Version. New York: Oxford University Press. 1989.
Holy
Bible with the Apocrypha.
New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford University Press.
1989.
Holy
Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the
Saints.
New York: Church Publishing. 2010.
Jewish
Study Bible: Jewish Publication Society TANAKH Translation.
New York: Oxford University Press. 2004.
Partnoy,
Frank. Wait:
The Art and Science of Delay.
New York: Public Affairs (Perseus Book Group). 2012.
Whitley,
Katerina Katsarka. Seeing
for Ourselves: Biblical Women Who Met Jesus.
Harrisburg: Morehouse Publishing. 2001.
New
Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha.
Eds.: Herbert G. May, Bruce M. Metzger. New York: Oxford University
Press, Incorporated, 1977.
3
Ibid. P. 64.
4
Ibid.
5
Ibid.
7
Ibid. P. 596.
8
Ibid.
9
Ibid.
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