never let your fears

decide your fate

 

 

 

The Holy Gospel According to St. Luke the10th Chapter!

This is one of those stories that it serves us well to just really slow down, and listen to as if we've never heard it before.

 

The truth is, this is probably one of the Bible stories that has made its way into popular culture.

All too often we hear things like;

'are you a Mary or a Martha;'

or 'without Martha, Mary would not have been able to sit there at Jesus' feet.'

You know, things like that.

 

The problem with reading the Gospel through such formulas, though, is that aside from being boringly formulaic, it falsely pits Mary against Martha, it mistakenly pits time of rest against action.

In other words, this simplistic reading misses the real power of this story in some sorry attempt to boil this rich instant down to some lesson on how best to and not to behave.

 

Whenever the Gospel becomes a list of dos and don'ts, we should get suspicions, friends.

The biggest problem with such a simple take on today's Gospel-scene between Martha and Mary, is that it robs this story of its power to speak to us, speak to us today.

What I propose is that these words of Jesus are a kind of prophecy, and a kind of prophecy that has come true.

Now, the truth is this prophecy comes true in many different ways, but today I would like to speak about how it has come true at a sort of institutional level.

I don't need to tell you all about all the handwringing that has occurred as attendance at church after church has dropped.

There is story after story about the possibility of a future without faith, there is book after book on the topic of "post-modern christianity," and of course we could also just look around us.

More and more, Christian faith has become a marginal movement - unseated from its social position of power and glory.

A position, I would suggest, that was never becoming of Christianity in the first place.

For those who can remember the glory days of yore, or for those trained in making the church a relevant place somehow; the task is to figure out what, exactly, it is that we need to do to boost attendance, lower our age and increase our budgets.

Goals that most serious christians should be suspicious of; have more, stay young, and get wealthy...

The possible solutions people come up with the answer those questions of how the church can do what no Christian should, range from the innovative to the pathetic.

The truth is, friends, that there is nothing wrong with us spending time and using creativity to consider how we can tell others, how we can share this good news with a world waiting for reason to hope.

But as you may have been able to infer from my sarcasm thus far; I guess I have to confess, occasionally I do get suspicious about the attempts to boost attendance, become relevant or what have you...

The problem with these pursuits is all too often the question that is actually being asked is:

• what can we do to save, not the world, but the ELCA

• or what can we do to save, not others, but Trinity

• essentially what can we do to save ourselves.

Let us never mind inconvenient things, like the certain kind of wisdom to Jesus' words that those who try to save their own lives will lose them. There are two major problems with this question of what can we do to get more folks here:

First, it is all about what we can do,

Secondly, and more importantly, the question is all about our survival.

See, both of these questions are all about ourselves - as if the point of Christianity is us.

All that running around trying to save our own skin makes me want to shout, "Jesus did not die for the ELCA, Jesus didn't even die for Trinity Evangelical!

Jesus died for people, for God's empire, for the world, for folks like me and you."

The problem is that our attempts to grow the church, to be relevant, to stave off decline are all about us; not about others, not about this gospel message we have to share for the good news of the world.

It is in that reality, the reality of church-people running from one thing to another, that today's Gospel-scene of Martha and Mary really has power. The truth is, I think we can relate to Martha.

Here's Martha trying to get ready, trying to be prepared, trying to make sure every dot and tiddle is taken care of.

And in the midst of that Jesus interrupts, interrupts and says Mary has chosen the better part.

We get that, don't we?

As we've noticed Sunday School is smaller, attendance is down, the budget is tight, we've run to this - that - and the other thing.

We run to what we can do to fix this, what can we do to get more people here, what can we do to take money from one place and put in our budget, and on and on - it never stops.

 

We get Martha's running, don't we?

The question the Gospel prompts us to wonder then is, in the midst of our frantic running could Jesus step in and say there is another, a better way for us too.

Jesus not only could offer us an alternative to haggard racing to save ourselves, Jesus does.

 

The reason Jesus intercedes in this scene between Martha and Mary is not because Martha is doing anything wrong. No, the Gospel is very clear about that. The reason that Jesus weighs in is because Martha is worried and distracted.

In other words, Martha is doing all the right things for the wrong reasons!

So these words of Jesus could speak not only to Martha, they can speak to all of us, to us today.

Trying to figure out how to share this good news is a worthy enterprise, but when we're doing it to save our own skin; we, like Martha, could be doing all the right things for all the wrong reasons.

That is the trouble Jesus speaks to right there!

As we run from one program or another, one crisis to another, trying to save ourselves, it is easy to become worried and distracted.

In our worry and our distraction we forget what brought us here in the first place.

In our worry and distraction, we forget why we're here in the first place.

Finally, in our worry and distraction, church -Trinity Evangelical- ceases to be a place we gather to encounter the risen Lord, and just becomes a never-ending to-do list, a place we need to fix, save, or whatever...

Since we need someone to interrupt our running, let's hear the Gospel of today's Gospel.

Here's the thing, Jesus finally didn't interrupt Martha's worry and distraction because her motives were misplaced. No, Jesus interrupted Martha's running because in the midst of all that had her worried and distracted, Jesus had something to give that would never be taken away.

That's why Jesus weighed in, not to correct Martha but to offer her something that would not be taken away - himself.

It is right there that I think we can relate best!

 

As the Christian faith becomes more and more of a marginal band of followers, we've seen how so many things have been taken away - the world has a way of doing that.

As stuff has been taken away; we, like Martha, have become worried and distracted, running from one thing or another to fix our budget, stay relevant, stay young, grow.

And just like Martha, into our distracted running Jesus does interrupt -Jesus interrupts and gives something that will not be taken away.

Think of it, there have been many changes; changes in the world, in technology, in the church; but amidst all of those changes the Gospel has continued to be preached here, communion has still been shared.

In those places where we run, like Martha, worried and distracted; Jesus does show up and tell us there is another way, tell us that he offers himself to us, which will never be taken away - no matter what changes we may face.

That finally is the thing; it is true that Martha was right to welcome her guest and it is true that if we believe we have a life-giving message to proclaim we should find creative and faithful ways to share it.

When our efforts, though, are merely a thinly veiled disguise to save ourselves, then like Martha we've become distracted and worried, missing the point of what we're about in the first place.

 

I want to tell you all something; at this point I've been "lutheran" for about seven years.

Only seven years! This is well after the decline that we all know so much about, has occurred.

You see it wasn't how many people were gathered, it wasn't how big the budget was, it wasn't gimmicks that attracted me to this tradition.

 

What drew me in was the witness of so many faithful people.

What drew me in was the witness of all the other folks I had the occasion to sit in the pews with, who practiced their faith for so many years, and who welcomed me.

 

What drew me in was the witness of passionate pastors and professors who were convinced that this message of being saved by grace was good news, good news that begged to be shared, to be proclaimed.

 

What drew me in were other folks grasped by this good news who were interested in figuring out what living out, what gathering around this message looked like in the 21st century.

 

It was not any of that other stuff that we all too often run to and that Jesus was right about, it wasn't any of that other stuff that will be taken away that drew me in.

What drew me in, and what I suspect draws you in, is those folks who like Mary are captivated by this promise of Jesus that will not be taken away.

What drew me in, and what I suspect draws you in, is that very-same message that Jesus promises will not be taken away.

So what if today's Gospel isn't about how we should behave, but about a promise. What if today's Gospel is about a promise that no matter what has us running worried and distracted, Jesus is there. What if the Gospel today is about the promise that Jesus' word is worth our attention, and it doesn't need us to save it

-

so much as we could be saved by it.

Amen