Scripture Luke10: 38-42

At the Home of Martha and Mary

    38As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. 40But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"

    41"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, 42but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

Do your part

What if you had an iPhone or iPad that would help you to know more about discipleship?  That is what our app is all about this week, discipleship and what part do we play in the larger scene here on earth under the directorship of Jesus Christ.  Let us pause for a moment this morning from our busy lives and activities and sit at the feet of the master and learn. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to guide us.  Let us pray, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you O lord, our rock and our redeemer, Amen. 

The first inclination that we have after reading this text is to figure out if we are Martha or are we Mary's.  Those us who have been brought up with siblings will certainly have no problem identifying with the characters in our story today but I wonder if we can hold off on that comparison for a while.  After all discipleship is not about competition, who can be the best disciple; I am better than you because I am like Mary and spend time listening and learning, or Jesus should have stood up for Martha, after all without the Martha's of this world nothing would ever get done, the poor would not be fed, the sick would not be healed, or the lonely would not be visited.  But this is not what our app is all about today, to see who is the better disciple; our app reveals more about Jesus than just which disciple he stood up for. 

First of all stories about Mary, Martha and their brother Lazarus are not commonly found in the synoptic of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.  Most the stories we have about these three are found in the fourth Gospel John.   So because they are so seldom mentioned we should stand up and take note about what Luke is telling us.  The stories of Jesus and the disciples are usually about Jesus and small groups of disciples.  Rarely do we find a story where all the 12 disciples are mentioned all being there the same time, usually it is small groups of men; Peter, James, and John, Peter and the sons of thunder, and so on.  One of the images we have all been brought up with is the pictures of Jesus surrounded by 12 men with the women in the background huddled up with the children.  This is consistent with how women were treated in those days.  But here we have right in the middle of Luke a story of Jesus and his disciples and the only ones who are mentioned are women, Martha and Mary.  I am sure there were many others in the room, this story follows the account where Jesus sends out 70 disciples into the various towns on a fairly successful mission project and so I image many of those were still hanging around to pick up more information from Jesus about what he want them to do next.  Maybe that is why Martha is so mad at Mary; she is trying to make a 6 course dinner for 71 people and instead of helping Mary just sits around with Jesus. 
Not only is Luke telling us that Jesus is coming to dinner he tells us that Martha invites him into her home.   What a minute this is the first century, if there were a man in the house i.e. Lazarus, why wasn't it called Lazarus's house?  Luke is putting Martha as head of household, but wait it gets even better.  What about Martha?   What is Martha doing?   She is sitting at the feet of Jesus.  This is the language of Rabbi and student.  Students sat at the feet of the Rabbi to learn and students were never women.  Luke has Mary in the traditional role of a man learning from a Rabbi.  Jesus' response to Martha about the timeliness of Mary's devotion is similar to the response that Jesus gives to Judas when he complains about the lavish display by the woman who anoints Jesus with costly perfume and Jesus replies to the disciples, "“Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” 

So if we look at what this app is telling us about discipleship we see that at one level there the need to get involved, to be actively involved in the business of caring for the poor, feeding the hungry, comforting the sick.  But at another level Jesus is telling us that there are also times when it is more appropriate to sit at the feet of the master, to meditate, to ponder what is means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.  The other thing that this app tells us is that discipleship is for all, men, women, and children.  It is obvious both in the gospels and later on even in the writings of Paul that the Church is composed of disciples regardless of gender. 

So, what kind of a disciple should we be?  Should we be like Martha and get the meals ready, make sure that everyone is cared for, get busy?  Or do we spend more time studying the Bible, praying, discussing how we can be a better Christian and spending some time like Mary sitting at Jesus feet and learning from Him?  Maybe it is both.  After all Jesus does not tell Martha to put down her dishrag and sit with Mary, he simply reminds her that there is also a time to be reflective about what we are doing.  Maybe if you have been too busy with Church activities and are getting tired of the meetings and schedules, it is time to switch to a Bible study or just sit back and let someone else do it for a while.  If you find that your Christian journey only includes attending worship and Bible study, maybe it is time to reach out and start working on a dinner, help out with Habitat for Humanity, volunteer at the Men's homeless shelter in Greenville.  I believe that we all need to find a balance.  John Wesley the founder of the Methodist Movement said that discipleship consisted of a balance between acts of piety and acts of mercy.  Piety is making yourself available to the means of God's Grace in the form of prayer, fasting, meditation.  Mercy is making yourself available to the means of God's Grace when we practice kindness, caring, gentleness, basically loving your neighbor.   

Some may be troubled by the response that Jesus gives to Martha, after all she is at least doing something and shouldn't we all help out, why is Jesus sticking up for Mary?  Today's app seems to be telling us that although being busy and active are all good qualities for a Christian, we must all spend time with the Master.  Like the old hymn says,

1.Take time to be holy, Speak oft with thy Lord;
Abide in Him always, And feed on His Word.
Make friends of God's children; Help those who are weak;
Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.
2.Take time to be holy, The world rushes on;
Much time spend in secret, With Jesus alone;
By looking to Jesus, Like Him thou shalt be;
Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.
3.Take time to be holy, Let Him be thy guide,
And run not before Him Whatever betide;
In joy or in sorrow Still follow the Lord,
And, looking to Jesus, Still trust in His Word.
4.Take time to be holy, Be calm in thy soul;
Each thought and each motive Beneath His control;
Thus led by His spirit To fountains of love,
Thou soon shalt be fitted For service above.