Worried and Distracted

            

Emmanuel Church, Wakefield, Massachusetts

The Rev. Nancy E. Gossling

July 21, 2019  6 Pentecost

             It’s good to be with you again this morning in Wakefield. And thank you for your gracious and warm welcome last Sunday. Frankly, with almost 100 degrees of heat today, I was hoping you would welcome me with a little less warmth! But here we are - ready to worship God, to sit and listen to what the Spirit is saying to God’s people, and to be fed at Christ’s Table!

I had a delightful time this past week with my dear friends from Ireland. I had worked for the Dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin a few years ago, and Dermot and his wife Celia are currently traveling in the United States with the Cathedral choir. They started their tour in Washington D.C. at the National Cathedral, then came here to Old South Church in Boston, and this weekend they are singing at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in NYC. Despite the summer heat, thunderstorms and pouring rain, the Wednesday evening concert had about 200 people in attendance. With tears in my eyes, I sat and listened with awe and wonder to their music. It was heavenly.

Thank you also for some of your inquiries last Sunday about my grandsons and the Celtics basketball team. This afternoon, I will fly to Minnesota for a few days to be with my daughter and her husband to help them care for their 4 month old twin boys. Every three hours, the boys need food. Their diapers need changing. The dog needs walking. And Mom and Dad need more sleep and something to eat. I will sit and listen to my grandsons cry and suck and coo; and I will sit and listen to the joys and struggles of these first-time parents. I will also get up and do what is needed to help. I’ll go to the kitchen and make a meal, or two, or three.

In between working on things related to my vocation as a priest and a family member, I’ve also been listening to various comments about the Celtics basketball team. They’ve lost some super stars, and there are some lingering resentments. I have high hopes for the upcoming season and am excited about the new team members. No wonder I’ve been feeling a little distracted this week, a little bit like Martha in today’s gospel lesson; and yet, you know what they say, “if you can’t take the heat, then get out of the kitchen.”

 Last week, we heard Jesus tell the lawyer about the good Samaritan, the man who was moved by pity to stop and care for a wounded stranger lying on the side of the road. According to the story, neither a priest nor a Levite stopped, but Jesus doesn’t tell us why. The road to Jericho was known for its robbers, and maybe they thought he was a distraction, a decoy for an ambush by those lying in wait. Or maybe, like me, they were simply distracted by their “to do” lists, or perhaps worried about someone at home. I imagine them walking with their heads down, in deep thought or prayer, looking at their cell phones, and blind to the needs of those around them. Clearly these two men could have been worried and distracted by many things; but who knows? And who’s to judge? Not me!

 Not unlike them, or me, or perhaps you, Jesus accused Martha of being worried and distracted by many things as well. Now last week, Jesus told the lawyer to “Go and do like” the good Samaritan. Today, Jesus doesn’t tell Mary to get up and get going; but rather he tells Martha to get out of the kitchen and “Sit and listen.”  “So, which is it?” I ask myself. “Am I supposed to “go and do” or “sit and listen?”  “How do we inherit eternal life?” the lawyer asked Jesus last week. “Are we justified by our good works or by our faith?” I want to ask Jesus. "And which, exactly, is the better part?"

Joy Douglas Strome once wrote, “The story of the good Samaritan becomes the illustration of how (to) love one’s neighbor. The story of Martha and Mary (shows us how to) love God. Luke is (trying to) define discipleship for the early church, and these two stories begin to pave (the) way.” ( Xian Century, July 10 2007) Discipleship is a way of life that includes both receiving and giving, both sitting and doing. Both Martha and Mary are disciples; and today Jesus is saying that the only thing they need is to first receive God’s love and listen to what God is saying.

I must confess that we have a lot of Marthas in our family, all saints of God to be sure. You can find them in the kitchen, in our homes, at our desks, and on our jobs. As busy beavers, we are worried and distracted by many things, and so we multitask to get the job done. When Jesus says, “Go and do,” we can’t get going fast enough, that is, until we begin to feel resentful about the loads that we are carrying. Turning to Jesus, and pointing to a family member, we will say, “Please tell her to get up and help me." And yet Jesus may say to us, “Please, just sit down for a little while and listen to God.” This is the better part.

Our society and culture, indeed many of our families of origin, will encourage us to stay busy. They say that being “idle” is supposedly the devil’s playground, and being a Christian means being active. At times, we may feel unworthy if we aren’t helping like good Samaritans. We may only feel valuable if we can satisfy someone else’s needs or fix someone’s problems. And then there are those people who will just sit there and keep on taking, never lifting a hand to help, fueling our resentments.

 Fortunately, as this morning’s collect says, God knows our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking. God has compassion on our weakness, and mercifully will give us those things which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask. Jesus invites us to sit down for a little while, and listen to the voice of the Spirit, so that we know what we need, and how loved we are by God. Then Jesus invites us to get up and go, and to be good Samaritans.

Our family has struggled with many diseases over the course of our years together. We know about the challenges of alcoholism and lung cancer, mental illness and dementia. Like the prophet Amos, we know about lamentations and mourning, about fearful days and sleepless nights. We have seen our summer fruit turn into a bowl of pits, and have thirsted for springs of living water. In silence, we have strained to hear the words of our Lord, listening for answers to our questions, and looking for a balm for our wounds.

It is through both good times and hard times that I can relate to the story of Mary and Martha. When worried and distracted, I am reminded of Mary to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen. When I find myself demanding help from others, or begging for mercy, and when the kitchen gets too hot, I will turn to the serenity prayer, to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. I am also reminded of Martha, that it is good to get up and go, and to do something however small. I know how valuable the ministry of hospitality is, how good it feels to be warmly welcomed by friends into a home or church, and provided with food and drink.

Distractions and worries abound in all of us; and today Jesus calls us to stop. Stop what we are doing, and sit and listen, before we stand up and start doing once again. Anthony Robinson wrote that “the irony is that healing - whether of a disfiguring ailment of the flesh (like leprosy), or of diseases like alcoholism (or mental illness), or of a broken spirit (that leads us to despair), or of a crippling arrogance (that makes us think that we don’t need medication or help), always begins when we acknowledge our vulnerability, our inability to be in charge, when we encounter a grace and power beyond our own.” (p.9 Pulpit Resource, Vol 29, No. 3, Year C, July, August, September 2001) Our healing begins when we sit at the feet of Jesus; and our power to do something comes from God.

Initially, people may think that Jesus was saying that Mary is the better disciple, and yet this is not true. Rather Jesus is saying that everyone is called to be his disciples, and our discipleship will take many forms. It is not an either/or engagement - a “pots and pans Martha” versus a “googly-eyed listening Mary.” We are all diverse, multi-faceted, uniquely beautiful creations of God, who are called to receive God’s love and then to share God’s love in many and various ways. Sometimes we will go and do; other times we will sit and listen. “Don’t set up some abstract standard for how real discipleship is supposed to look,” said William Willimon. (p.17 Pulpit Resource)

Today’s story about Mary and Martha, indeed of the good Samaritan, is only a snapshot of our lives. If we watch our home movies, we will see ourselves leaving the kitchen in order to spend some time with Jesus. We will also see ourselves getting up to clean the pots and pans because someone else has done the cooking.

Today, be Mary. Sit down and listen to what the Spirit is saying to you. And then go and do something. Get back in that hot kitchen and be Martha. And do not worry. Jesus will give you food and drink for your journey.

Amos 8:1-12

Psalm 52

Colossians 1:15-28

Luke 10:38-42