Loading...We went to Indy on Friday. Jeff was there to run in an eight-hour relay on Saturday with a team of people he used to run with when we lived there.
I wasn’t sure if I would go along. All week, I was looking at the 10-pound box of peaches on the counter. And it seemed like we were adding at least one zucchini to the basket every day. They were piling up.
Then, the peaches got ripe all at once and I knew I had to do something with them. I spent time looking up options. It has been too hot to pull out the canner, and I didn’t really want to make jam. On Thursday evening, I made Peach Cobbler, packed a few in the fridge to eat fresh, and froze the rest.
We had zucchini boats with our dinner, getting two of them out of the basket. We’ve been eating a lot of zucchini over the past few weeks. I baked two loaves of pineapple zucchini bread, and we decided the rest will need to wait.
Once I had the bread in the oven I texted our daughter. I said, “I have the peaches under control. The zucchini bread is in the oven (at least the first two loaves). I should be able to get my sermon written tomorrow. I think I will have my chores done, so I can come with Dad, if you want to spend Saturday with me.” She responded, “Sounds great, see you tomorrow!”
Friday came and I woke up thinking I absolutely needed to get my car in for its very delayed service, so I made the appointment online. Then I spent some time perusing Facebook, checking emails, reading articles, drinking coffee and eating breakfast.
I went out to the garden and decided I needed to move some herbs that were drowning after the 4 inches of rain we got this week. I remembered I wanted to harvest some lettuce to take to Indy but got distracted when I saw there were a few beans to pick. Once I was done with the beans, I got a bowl and scissors for the lettuce and took care of that. Of course, then the lettuce needed to be washed.
I learned a while back that using the water from washing vegetables is good for watering indoor plants. Being that this was the day I water plants, I stopped working with the lettuce, poured the water I used for the lettuce into the watering can, and watered the plants, picking dead leaves along the way. I spun the lettuce, put it away, and then, finally, started writing.
That whole time, I knew I “should” be writing my sermon. I knew that to be fully present with Jeff and Erin this weekend I needed to get it done. Yet, I was distracted with the tasks, the responsibilities, the interruptions—not of shiny things—but of the mundane priorities of maintaining a life.
Also, during this whole time, I was thinking about how Martha and I are so alike.
Here’s the deal. I love doing most of all the things I do. Much of what I do is because I want to provide some help, some joy for others. By giving time to both the mundane tasks and my talents to the people I love, I believe I am doing the work of God. I believe I am sharing God’s love. I believe God has given me skills and talents to use and share. I believe all these things are wrapped in prayer and meditation and contemplation. I believe these are ways I tell God how I’m feeling and how much I love being in relationship with God. And I do believe I am in the presence of the Holy Trinity throughout my daily life.
But sometimes I get a little cranky. Sometimes I just want someone else to think about how they can help me, because, of course, what I believe I am doing is for the good of the community, whether that community is made up of immediate family, friends, or the broader community. Because in sharing the load in community, we remember that we are to treat others the way we want to be treated. But even when I remember that, sometimes, I want some help!
So, I get it when Martha becomes a little cranky and complains that Mary seems selfish and oblivious to the needs of the rest of the world. That she can so easily sit at the feet of Jesus, lingering with and soaking up every one of his words without considering his creature comforts, like a clean bed and good food. Listening to Mary ask questions, gasp at a story, or laugh at a joke, when there were other needs to be addressed. I get how Martha felt.
I can also relate to the idea that Martha might be a little jealous of Mary’s way of simply being with Jesus.
We often look at this story and think there is a “right” and a “wrong,” and an “either” and an “or” and we forget that there is a “both” and an “and.”
I kind of blame the writers of this Gospel for making it sound like Jesus would talk like that. It feels like they want us to think he is telling Martha that Mary is better. But that’s the easy way to look at it.
Mary isn’t better. Martha isn’t doing anything wrong. Jesus simply wants Martha to rethink how she shows hospitality.
I’m confident that Jesus appreciates Martha’s efforts to ensure he has a nice meal and a clean place to sleep when he comes for a visit.
What he wants is more of her time. His desire is to be together, talking, crying, laughing, sharing. When she is so distracted by the tidiness of her home and the presentation of the meal, when she is focused on these things, she is missing the best part—the time together.
Oh, how I recognize this behavior in myself. As much as I try to have everything prepared for guests before they arrive so I can be present when they are with me, there is always something to distract me from that goal. Even this weekend, I wanted to ensure that when I went to Indy I would not be distracted by the produce on my counters or the sermon I needed to write, so that I could be present for Jeff and Erin.
Sometimes it works, like it did this weekend.
I believe that everything Martha did was out of love for her family and for Jesus. And yet, Jesus reminded her that part of her devotion to God, and to him, required her to commit time and energy to him. He reminded her that she needed to stop all the distractions and spend intentional time with him.
I want to believe that her commitment to her family and her guests is expressed through the way she offers hospitality, through opening her home, fixing nutritious meals, providing a place to rest. I want these to all be ways she shows her love for Jesus. I can imagine that while she remains busy, she is in prayer or singing praises to God or is listening for that still small voice. But I need to recognize that there are times that the busy-ness can be a distraction, or a way to avoid, or to hide from the deeper responsibilities of loving God and loving neighbor.
And when Mary is expressing her love for Jesus in a vastly different way, devoted to study and prayer and complete attention at his feet, it can feel like there are right and wrong ways to be in relationship with Jesus.
Spoiler alert—there are no right or wrong ways. But I suspect there are times we all need to rethink the way we spend our time expressing love to Jesus. There are times when we might need to evaluate if we are looking for or allowing distractions to keep us from focusing on God.
I know I can do better. I must confess, I can let myself be busy for the sake of being busy, even when what keeps me busy is a part of living into my responsibilities as your rector. I recognize that sometimes intentionally or unintentionally I avoid doing something because it feels out of my comfort zone, even when I know it is a way to express God’s love to the world. And sometimes I deliberately allow myself to be distracted when instead, I should be taking the path that will lead me to a closer walk with Jesus.
I want to do better.
Ultimately, I need to remember that Jesus’s response to Martha was not a scolding or a chastising. It was him telling her what he needed. He needed to spend time with her. He wanted to spend time with her. He was there to see and be with her. While he would appreciate her hospitality of a good place to sleep and eat, he was there because she was there. And all those things that were separating Martha, distracting Martha from Jesus that day, were just things she could do to express love, but in the end, were distracting her from the “best part.” They were distracting her from being with Jesus, from being with Jesus.
That’s what loving God is all about. It’s about spending time with God and Jesus, and in listening for and being with the Holy Spirit.
All the things we “do” that we think express our love for God, all the “doing” of those things that are worthy and worthwhile—and are certainly good ways to express God’s love to the world, matter. They do matter. We shouldn’t stop doing any of them.
But first, before we get to the tasks of being the hands and feet of Jesus, we need to “be” with Jesus.
Because, as Jesus told Martha that day, that’s the best part. Amen.
