People23

Lk 10:38-42 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But 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!" "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

I sometimes think if we could watch frequent videos of ourselves, we would probably be very different people. This little episode before us today seems like a sort of short afternoon quarter-hour play on TV. It is very simple and very graphic.

We have two sons and although there are similarities, there are also great differences between them. That is often how it is with children. Our daughter has two children and, again, they are very different from each other. The good part of this is that we are each unique. Even identical twins, who are perhaps the most alike, nevertheless are unique and that uniqueness is added to by their own life experiences. So here we have an account of two very different sisters. They have a brother but he doesn't figure in this little cameo. The only other reference to this little family is found in John 11. Mary and Martha appear as alike as chalk and cheese. Let's see what happens.

Jesus arrives at a village which, John tells us, was Bethany . This isn't a story about healing, as in the recent meditations; this is about hospitality and about priorities. Jesus arrives in Bethany , and the word has no doubt gone out about him, and people are out in the road to see him arrive. Martha is one of those and she invites Jesus into her home to rest. Now of course how I have described it is purely speculation because Jesus could have invited himself in and she simply graciously welcomed him in, for all we are told is “Martha opened her home to him.” That conveys a beautiful picture of hospitality. Not everyone would be comfortable in having Jesus come into their home. Do you envisage Jesus coming into your home? Would he feel comfortable and at ease there? Would he find peace, order and blessing there, a place where it is easy to rest?

Now unfortunately there is a down side to this hospitality thing. We've had a few ‘big names' stay in our home and my wife on each occasion thoroughly cleaned throughout and made sure everything was just right. That was Martha, except she could only start doing it once Jesus had arrived because she had had no warning that he would come. So now she is in hyper-hospitality-mode, clearing up, getting food ready and so on. She is going to be a great hostess. I'm put in mind of weddings here, Christian weddings. I've been to quite a few and I think they resemble what went on here. Great preparations, lots of scurrying around to make sure everything is just right, but unfortunately it's not.

One of our preachers in our church recently spoke about our “upside down God”, God whose values are often so different from ours. Whether it be straight forward hospitality, preparing for a party, or preparing for a wedding, our priorities are to make sure the place is clean, the food is perfect and there are enough drinks and we've created just the right environment for people's enjoyment. We do all that – and leave Jesus out. Thus it becomes a godless or semi-godless occasion, and we miss out.

I can say all this in the light of the different reactions from the two sisters to Jesus coming into their home. Martha, we see, is into ‘hostess-of-the-year' mode, which we've just been considering, and many of us are identifying and empathising with her. But now look at Mary, the other sister. Mary was sitting at Jesus' feet listening to all he had to say. Martha is stressed by this and asks Jesus to scold her and get her to come and help. When you ask Jesus to do things for you, you always have to be prepared for him to point out a better course. Look; “ "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." Wow! Look what he is saying. There's only one thing needed here, and Mary has gone for it!

Let me take what might appear to be a slight diversion. Suppose you had such a thing as a time machine and could travel anywhere you liked in history – but you can only visit one person. Which of these would you go and visit: Einstein, Solomon, Gandhi, Jesus, or Florence Nightingale? Any answer other than Jesus shows you haven't understood who he is yet!

For Mary, having Jesus in her home was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, an opportunity that rarely comes and so when it does it must be grabbed. In years to come she would be able to tell of the words she had heard come from the very mouth of the Son of God in her own home. Martha would remain silent.

This is a story of hospitality versus opportunity. Hospitality is good; grabbing the opportunity is better. This, I suspect, applies to many circumstances in our lives. How often to we miss opportunities to encounter the Lord because we are too busy, too tired or whatever. I think of the times of worship or prayer etc. in our church that I have been in when the Lord has turned up, and I have grieved for those who were too busy or too tired to have got there and who, subsequently, missed out on meeting Him. We only have one life and we need to grab every opportunity that the Lord gives us. May it be so!