Don't Just Do Something, Stand There!

Don't just Do Something, Stand There! (July 22, 2001)

Last week's gospel lesson was the familiar story of the Good Samaritan. This week continues the chapter with the story of Jesus at the home of Mary and Martha in Bethany. There is a sense in which these two familiar stories should be read together. The Good Samaritan puts his love into action and does something. But in today's story, Martha is so busy "doing something" that she misses the point that all Jesus really wanted was not to be fussed over but a simple meal and a chance to talk. Mary grasps that point and instead of being busy in the kitchen she grabs the chance to sit at Jesus' feet and learn from him. "Martha, Martha," Jesus gently chides, "you are worried and distracted by many things. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken from her." The Good Samaritan doesn't just stand there, he does something. Mary doesn't just do something, she stands - or sits - there.

The church would be nowhere without the Marthas of the world. These are the folks who do things - they volunteer to do the coffee hour, or the activity period, or sing in the choir, or provide child care, or take care of the flowers. In our church the Marthas have many names of both sexes: Gaby and Nadina and Karl and Will and Lucill and Clyde and Ebun and many, many others. Some people come to church and just think these things are automatically done, as if some angel comes out of the sky every Sunday morning and takes care of them. But - surprise ! --- that's not the way it is.

New Testament scholar Fred Craddock says it is important not to put too great a contrast between Martha and Mary. This is why the story must be read alongside the one of the Good Samaritan, who was clearly a "doer" while the other two who passed by the wounded man did nothing. If we censure Martha too much she may stop doing things, and then where would the church be? If we applaud Mary too much she may think all she has to do is "be spiritual" and "contemplate". This is really a story about finding balance in our lives, but it is also a story about what in the final analysis is the most important thing, receiving the words to live by, and then acting on them, rather than just acting without the words.

The story takes place, of course, in the Middle East. Hospitality is one of the great virtues in the Middle East. It is also commended numerous times in the Bible. The book of Hebrews said we should entertain strangers, for thereby "saints have been entertained unawares." It is a special kind of knack to entertain people who are not expected, which is apparently the case here.

And who cannot identify with Martha's annoyance. It appears she has been left in the lurch by her sister. Perhaps she was even annoyed with Jesus, though Luke will never go that far. But he surprisingly doesn't show much sympathy to her needs. She had good reason to be "distracted with much serving". It happens when you are serving. Who cannot relate to Martha? The Harvard minister Peter Gomes says "Martha is a sympathetic sister for our time because she is in the business of activity and anxiety: the two chief preoccupations of our age."

As the story is told by Luke it is unclear exactly what Jesus means when he says "one thing is needful". Is he saying Martha is making too elaborate a dinner and all he wants is something light, one dish? But even if the specific words are unclear, the symbolism is clear. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." We need the words of God for our souls. This is what Mary knew. It was important at that moment just to sit at Jesus' feet.

In the sixth chapter of John's gospel there comes a point when a number of people who had been following Jesus turned away. Jesus turns to the twelve and asks them, "will you also go away?" Simon Peter says to him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." The reason Peter gave for staying with Jesus was what Jesus was saying. It was not his miracles - in fact in John's gospel there is little emphasis on the miracles of Jesus - and it was not on his confrontations with the Pharisees. In other words, it was not on what he was doing, but on what he was saying. "You have the words of eternal life."

Think of some of the "words": "Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." "I am the bread of life." "I am the water of life". "Inasmuch as you have done it to the least of these you have done it to me." And many more. These are words of life.

If it is that the Church seems less important in many people's lives these days, I wonder if it is not that people just don't have the inclination to simply "sit and listen" as Mary did. They either want to be doing, or their lives are filled with so much activity and anxiety that they don't have time to do "the one thing needful", or they are looking for something spectacular. There is much emphasis in some churches these days on making worship more entertaining. It's called "worshiptainment". It involves lots of activity. Of course, church leaders can't forget that it is a major sin to be boring, as Dr. Reid at Madison Avenue church used to say. But we can go too far in trying to make everything "exciting". Whatever happened to just plain listening?

John Calvin used to preach sermons of six hours length. No one expects to go back to that (thank God!). But attention spans seem to be getting shorter and shorter.

Calvin said the true Church is "wherever the gospel is rightly preached and heard and the sacraments rightly administered." It is important to remember he said "and heard". The listening and hearing are crucial. These are "words of eternal life" and it takes hearing and hearing and hearing again for them to enter our souls. The various things we "do" in our worship on Sundays, the music and prayers and reading and proclamation of scripture, are really simply ways of sitting for a brief time at Jesus' feet and letting his word seep into our souls. If we can't give Him this time each week together, when exactly will we do it?

Charles Wesley wrote "Love divine all loves excelling. Joy of heaven to earth come down. Fix in us thy humble dwelling….." If we don't spend some time together each week listening to him, how in the world will he live within us? It is absolutely "the one thing needful".

Special acknowledgement to:

Fred Craddock, Luke, Interpretation series, John Knox Press, 1990
Peter Gomes, Sermons, Morrow, 1998