"Productivity vs. Fruitfulness (Mary and Martha)"
Ecclesiastes 3:1-7; Luke 10:38-42
Oak Grove Presbyterian Church
August 30, 2009
Bill Chadwick
One of my favorite bumper stickers reads, “Jesus is coming. Look busy!”
Today’s gospel, the story of Mary and Martha is a story about, among other things,
being busy. How many of you identify with Martha? (forty hands go up.) How many
are more like Mary? (Ten hands.)
A lot of people don’t like this story. The Marthas of the world.
Let me note that without the Marthas of the world the Church would be in rough shape,
perhaps out of existence. Marthas get things done, make things happen. We need
organizers and doers. This strong, competent, unselfish woman is the embodiment of
the saying, “If you want something done, ask a busy person.”
And Jesus had a great appreciation for folks who threw parties.
Yet Martha is the one rebuked by Jesus, not Mary.
Good grief. Martha is busy at the kitchen fire. She’s making a fabulous meal for at
least 13 hungry men. It’s a little-known fact that Martha’s last name is…Stewart.
Martha is doing all the work. When she complains we expect Jesus not only to take her
side and ask Mary to help with dinner but we would like him to say, “In fact, what can I
do to help?”
To find the living word for us today it will be helpful, as usual, to see the context, both
literarily and historically.
Literarily. I have reminded us several times that the four gospels are not mere
chronological journals of Jesus’ life. They have been carefully edited to make important
points. In Luke’s gospel—and it’s the only gospel in which we find the Mary/Martha
narrative—this story is found right after the parable of the Good Samaritan. The Good
Samaritan story begins with the lawyer asking Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal
life?” and Jesus tells the story of the Samaritan who does the good work of saving the
beaten Jewish man and Jesus concludes with, “Go and do likewise.”
That sounds exactly like works righteousness: we earn our way to heaven.
Luke inserts the Mary/Martha story right here, no doubt as a corrective. Biblical
scholars declare that this is no accident.
Historically, there are two things to note. First is the importance of hospitality in that
culture. Carl Schenck (“Many Anxieties—One Need”) notes if you consider what it was
like to live in the harsh environment of the Middle East in the ancient world, (you realize
that) this law of hospitality developed out of the reality that travelers were always in
danger. Sometimes they were in danger from bandits and brigands, and always in
danger from the elements. If you were a traveler, you were engaged in an activity that
was treacherous…, the act of taking in a traveler implied a readiness to provide for the
traveler's needs because those were often life or death issues. So, in the Middle East,
in the first century, (if you invited someone into your home you simply provided every
courtesy. It was not just a matter of courtesy, it was the law of the society.
Martha was busy doing what was expected, not just out of hospitality in the superficial
sense; she was doing what was demanded of her by one of the deepest and most
profound and most binding customs of her era. With that in mind then, Mary's frivolous
attitude towards the law of hospitality would have to be seen as almost scandalous.
And there was another scandal as well. It’s not just that Mary is not helping with dinner,
it’s that she is sitting at the feet of Jesus, acting for all the world like one of his disciples,
as she listens to him teach. “Indeed, in that day and age, there was controversy over
whether women should be allowed to study the scriptures at all; and they certainly were
forbidden from having public discussions about them with men. One first-century rabbi
wrote, "Rather should the words of the Torah be burned than entrusted to a woman.”
(David Leininger)
Well.
But here Mary sits at Jesus’ feet, listening to his teaching, and is praised by Jesus for it.
Once again we see Jesus’ radical inclusivity.
But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do
you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to
help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted
by many things; there is need of only one thing.” Mary has chosen the better part,
which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10: 40-42
“Worried and distracted by many things.” One definition of a saint is someone who “is
not afflicted with hurry, flurry and worry.” Someone who is centered. (Now, if you are
the primary caregiver of two or three preschoolers you get a pass. Survival may be all
that can be expected.)
How do we get everything done? Hurry, flurry and worry afflicts even retired folks. I
remember a former parishioner who had been retired a couple years but was
unbelievably busy. He told me, “I’m thinking of going back to work, because at least
then I got my weekends off.”
“Martha’s distracted by her many tasks. Her relationships—with Jesus, with her sister—
suffer as a result. This otherwise admirable person appears as a big headache. All of
us suffer when the Marthas of this world are not simply busy, but busy in the wrong way,
a way that lacks a center.” (Charles Hoffacker.)
The marvelous Christian author Richard Foster has written about the difference
between productivity and fruitfulness. Productivity is crossing things off lists and looking
at the near-term bottom line. Fruitfulness is long-term, doing what God calls us to do
today, for results well in the future.
I have already confessed my love affair with crossing things off lists. Time management
experts talk about A, B and C Priorities. Stephen Covey, author of Seven Habits of
Effective People notes the difference between Urgent and Important Tasks. If we are
always dealing with the urgent we never get to what’s important for the long-term.
As we read in Ecclesiastes, “There is a time for every purpose under heaven.”
When our daughter Anji was about five or six I was trying to hurry her to bed, no doubt
so I could do my stuff. Feeling a tad guilty I offered, “How about a quick game of Uno?”
She replied, “How about a slow game of Sorry?”
One thing is needful. The thing for Mary and the thing for Martha and the thing for you
and me: to sit at Jesus’ feet.
Our doing the word must proceed out of our first hearing the word. I’ve preached a
couple sermons recently on interpreting scripture and using the scripture as part of our
decision-making and in both I said, as we read scripture we do so through the lens of
Jesus, which means we need to know the story of Jesus. Which means we need to
know the gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, John—inside and out.
To sit at Jesus’ feet. Do we start our days that way? Reading the story of Jesus and
sitting in silence in the presence of the Risen Christ.
Some days I think I don’t have time. But time is quite elastic. When I begin my day with
a time of prayer I am focused and calm through the day and I am much more efficient.
Luther reportedly said, “I pray for an hour each morning. When I know my day will be
really busy and stressful I pray for two hours.” Now, I’m not saying you have to pray an
hour every morning, but having a quiet time will make our days go better.
A missionary was on a fast-paced journey to his station, with the assistance of some
native baggage carriers. He was surprised one morning when they refused to move on
and sat quietly in a circle. When he asked them why, they replied that they needed to let
their souls catch up with their bodies. (Carveth Mitchell)
Isn’t that a powerful statement? We need to let our souls catch up with our bodies.
Tuesday is September 1. Just saying that aloud makes my blood pressure rise. Our
calendars are filling up with things to do. Do we have time with Jesus also scheduled
in? I hope that Sunday worship and daily prayer are givens. How about retreats?
Conferences? Time to read?
Our chapel has gone through many changes over the years and now it is once again
not just a library, but a room for meditation. And it’s quite nice. I hope you will use it.
We’ll give you a key and you can use it any time.
I hope to be facilitating some classes on prayer later this year. Not that I’m a great
expert, but we can teach one another and encourage one another.
Mary and Martha. David Leininger tells another story of two sisters. These two were
very close in many ways. They had many of the same interests, many of the same
experiences. Both had been raised in the church, and both drifted away a bit as they
reached college age. Both married fine men, neither had children. But as the years went
along, one came back to church and became very involved. The other just never
managed to come back.
The sister who came back to church suddenly and unexpectedly lost her husband. The
pastor rushed over to her house, she met him at the door. She was in tears, to be sure,
but she said, "This is terrible. But I feel as if I have been preparing for this moment for
most of my life." She was right. She had sat through countless Sundays, heard dozens
of sermons that involved dealing with the disasters we all experience from time to time,
had a rich prayer life, as if she were in training for just such a moment as this.
Not long after, the husband of the other sister died unexpectedly as well. She had no
involvement with the church so that was a resource upon which she would not have
thought of calling. She became more and more distressed and depressed, and finally
needed to be institutionalized so she could get professional care. Her sister's comment,
after visiting her in the hospital was, "Poor thing. When it came time for her to let down
her bucket, deep down, she found out that she had no water in the well."
Leininger concludes: I honestly believe that this is what Jesus was referring to when he
gently chastised Martha and credited Mary for choosing wisely, for taking Priority A
instead of B or C. The truth is there ARE moments in life when we need to "let down our
bucket," to return to the wellsprings of courage and hope. If we have not previously
prepared, disaster awaits. What we do here, week in and week out, year in and year
out, as we gather for worship and study, is insure that when the bucket is let down, it will
come up with the refreshing we need.
Friends, we must not split Mary and Martha into good and bad, but look for both within
ourselves. This story does not teach us that it is better to sit than to do. It teaches us to
discern. Right now, what is the one thing needful for me? Right now, what is needful
for us as a church?
May we be Marthas when God calls us to be Marthas and may we be Marys, when God calls us to be Marys.
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