Trinity VII - July 22, 2007

All Saints' Church -- Thomasville, GA

Proper 11C

Genesis 18:1-14

Psalm 15

Colossians 1:21-29

Luke 10:38-42

It must have been the funniest thing that she had heard in a long time.  There are funny jokes, and then there are downright unbelievable stories that you simply must laugh at.  This is the predicament that we find Sarah in this morning.

She has just overheard the most incredible thing in her life, all she could do is laugh to herself, and say, there’s no way this can be true.  Abraham did the exact same thing just the chapter before when God came to him and told him that he would be the father of a great nation, and that God would establish His covenant through him and his son Isaac.  Abraham bowed his face before God and laughed to himself in utter disbelief that he and Sarah would have a child.

Sarah did the exact same thing.

The patriarch and matriarch of God's Covenant both laughed, and questioned the ability of God to act in a manner totally unexplainable by human reason.

Now, I'm going to be a bit realistic here, and admit that if news came to me from God at age 99 that Robyn was going to have another child at age 98 I might wonder what I am hearing.  I think it's probably fair to say that everyone here would have some sense of doubt.

But, in the end who is the one laughing?

God is the one who laughs at the end -- not at our disbelief, but laughter of joy that His plan is breaking through in us.

If we listen long enough and hard enough, we might be tempted to laugh when we hear God speaking to us, but always keep in mind what happens when you do.

Luke is the only Gospel which contains this short encounter between Jesus and Mary and Martha.  It follows our story last week where Jesus turns things upside down by making a Samaritan the model for First Century Jews to emulate.

This story about Mary and Martha is going to take it one step further.  We hear that Jesus has entered the home of Martha and her sister Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus.

There are two huge problems with this picture.

First, why is Martha serving as a host to Jesus, and why would he enter her home as a guest?  Where is Lazarus who would normally serve as the host of the house?  Second, why is Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to him?

The term 'sitting at Jesus' feet' does not mean looking up 'goo-goo eyed' like someone adoring a pop star.  This phrase clearly means that she is taking the place of a disciple of a rabbi.  Disciples of rabbis were not women, they were men.

Not only has Jesus raised the status of Samaritans in the parable from last week, but he has also elevated the status of women to that of disciple today.  It becomes very easy to see why the strictest of law abiders in Jesus' day were a bit confused, uncertain, angry, and completely against what he was doing.  He was making a mockery of everything that they had known up to this point in time.  However, Jesus wanted them to realize that His Kingdom was breaking forth in their midst.  He wanted them to know that God had come to Earth in the flesh, and Jesus had every right to give them a new way of being the Covenant people of God.

So here we have two sisters, Martha and Mary who are serving Jesus.  They are doing it in two different manners.  We hear of Martha laboring over Jesus as a good hostess.  She is going about the business of showing hospitality, and she has had it with her sister Mary.

Mary has chosen to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to him.  Again, this is not casual listening, but rather, listening so that she can live out Jesus words in her life.

Martha comes to Jesus, and asks him if he is going to allow her to labor while Mary sits and listens.

Many commentators speak of this passage as a comparison of the 'contemplative' Christian embodied by Mary, and the 'active' Christian shown by Martha.

I tend to see this passage as a continuation of the theme that we hear throughout the New Testament.

I hear Jesus asking this question -

Are you letting other things get in the way of hearing me and following me?

Mary is sitting at Jesus feet, and listening with the ears of a disciple.  Martha is too busy with the minutiae of daily activities, to listen.  She lets her laboring get in the way of her listening.

Today is the feast of Mary Magdalene.

I chose not to use the Propers assigned for her feast day because I wanted us to hear the lessons appointed for this Sunday.  However, I do want to make mention of Mary of Magdala and her role in the New Testament.

We know very little about Mary, a woman who appears to have been from Magdala, a small town on the Sea of Galilee outside the New Testament.  One thing that is significant about Mary Magdalene is that the New Testament mentions her by name many times.  Both Mark and Luke attest to the fact that she is the woman from whom Jesus cast out 7 demons, and that she was one of his loyal followers.  All 4 Gospels list her as a witness to both the crucifixion and the resurrection.

She was loyal to Jesus when the others turned away.  In John's Gospel, she is the one who discovers the empty tomb, and runs to tell Peter and John.  The two of them go in, but when they do not find his body, return home.  Mary hangs around, stunned and weeping.  She is the first person to witness the risen Jesus, and He tells her to 'go to my brethren' and tell them 'I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God and your God.'

As such, many refer to her as the "Apostle to the Apostles"[1]

Mary Magdalene loved Jesus, and was loyal to him through everything.  This loyalty is manifest throughout all she endured in her life.

How then does this all fit together?

We have heard about Sarah's laughter.

Martha's laboring

Mary's listening

Mary Magdalene's loyalty

Throughout it all, we must hear the word LOVE.

God loved Abraham and Sarah that He established His Covenant through them.  That Covenant, as well as the New Covenant in Jesus' blood is dripping with the love of God.

Martha loved Jesus through her labors.  Her preparations were done in love, but she was missing the love in return because her chores were a source of distraction.

Mary's love came through her listening.  Jesus said that she had "chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her."  Her listening was the vehicle through which Jesus could show his love.

Mary Magdalene's love was manifest in her loyalty.  Her fierce loyalty to the one and only person who set her free from her previous life rings loudly in the pages of Scripture.  Her title as Apostle to the Apostles is the greatest testimony to her loyalty and love.

We as disciples should strive for a similar title.  Everyone we meet should know by our words and deeds that we are disciples to the disciples.

We are always walking in the midst of the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.  Jesus' last words on Earth were for us to teach all nations.  We have our marching orders to be the witnesses of Christ's love in the teaching of others.  Our witness receives its grounding in the Great Commandment.  We are to love God with all our heart, and our neighbors as ourselves.

May Almighty God give us the courage to laugh with Him!

The ability to labor for Him without losing our focus!

The ears to listen to Him!

The endurance to remain loyal to Him!

Finally may we receive the power to love Him as He loves us, so that we might be the disciples He has called us all to be!

Amen.