The Rev. Joseph Farnes
All Saints, Boise
Proper 11C
This Gospel passage of Martha vs Mary has bounced from interpretation to interpretation over the centuries. In the first centuries of Christianity, the interpretation was that the “contemplative” life of Mary was superior to the “active” life of Martha. To be contemplative, to focus on prayer and theology was the pinnacle of the Christian life in this world, and that being active was lower on the ladder.
The centuries change, though, and sometimes the theological teeter-totter tips the other way. Mary is too much navel-gazing, too passive. The needs of the world are important, and Christians are called to serve. Mary is the passive churchgoer, and Martha is the one who gets stuff done. Church communities rise and fall on the shoulders of Marthas.
But the teeter-totter tips again. Mary pushes back against the busy-ness of the world. She pushes back against the expectation for women to be stuck caring for things so the guys can be the ones focused on the important stuff. Mary plops herself right at Jesus’ feet and she will not sacrifice her spot as a disciple to clean the kitchen.
But the teeter-totter tips yet again. Martha is the one attentive to the needs of the world. The world is falling apart as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, as contempt and cruelty become the most known characteristics of so many who say they follow Jesus, as violence and lawlessness fester throughout the world. To flee from the world is to turn our heart away from the world that Jesus came to save.
And … then another tip of the totter. In the midst of noise and chaos, how do we listen to the voice of Jesus and the promptings of the Holy Spirit if we’re constantly on the move? Do we stop and listen, do we stop and pray and read and reflect … or do we bounce from need to need and drop dead from exhaustion? Will we stop to sit at the feet of Jesus like Mary, or are we going to collapse in the kitchen with Martha?
And… what will we discover when the theological teeter-totter tips again?
Mary is right to sit at the feet of Jesus. We should all do that – it truly is the better part. This is why coming together on Sundays and other feast days is important, this is why Bible study is important, this is why learning and praying throughout the week is so important. It’s sitting at the feet of Jesus.
And yet, Martha’s right, too. How else will the community eat, if no one is willing to go into the kitchen to start the coffee and set out the snacks? How else will the hungry be fed, if no one is willing to cook, serve, and set out food? How else will the welcome of God be proclaimed, if no one is willing to go share the Gospel with friends and family and invite strangers to sit with them, if no one is willing to sit at the Boise Pride booth? And that doesn’t even scratch the surface of all the other tasks… cleaning, weeding, serving on committees or taking part in all the other ministries of the church!
Two holy sisters, Mary and Martha – the tension where both sisters are right.
It’s a tension we all must face in our spiritual lives. On the teeter-totter we won’t get it perfectly balanced and then never have to think about it again; plus, would sitting perfectly still in mid-air be fun, anyway?
This tension between Mary and Martha shows up in all sorts of ways. Let me give you an example in how it shows up for parish clergy throughout the centuries.
In some parts of our Episcopal / Anglican tradition, there’s an emphasis on the Mary aspect of Christian life. Picture an old-timey, country English church. The priest prays Morning and Evening Prayer daily in the little country church, heralded by the bells. People may not show up, but they know the professional pray-er, the professional Mary, is there doing the praying for them. When they need advice and counsel, the laypeople can show up and ask the priest for some wisdom, but otherwise the spiritual life is left to the priest while daily life goes on as usual.
Then, on the other side, we have in our same tradition an emphasis on the Martha aspect of Christian life – priests who are always on the go. Priests who are the community organizers getting the protest action going, who are connecting different groups together, and advocating for every single social justice concern possible – they are professional Marthas, after all. They’re the ones with the vision and ideas and seemingly boundless energy. They might seem the epitome of the “servant leader” … until they crash out from exhaustion and heartbreak from the endless needs of the world.
In different generations, and in different congregations, and in different people in that congregation, the expectation of whether the priest fits the Mary mold or the Martha mold will differ.
But take another step back: doesn’t this model seem clergy-focused? What about the balance for the whole church, the whole worshipping community? Are congregations meant to be active in order to heal the world, love one another, and grow the church? Are congregations supposed to be a conglomeration of Marthas? Or are congregations meant to be a refuge from the storm, a hospital for healing, a holy fellowship to draw us closer to God? Are congregations supposed to be a multitude of Marys?
We might talk about “balance” – we Episcopalians do love being in a mushy middle most of the time. But, again, balance might not be easy to maintain, and we’d end up stuck in the middle of a teeter-totter, not moving at all.
So what might we be called to do and be?
Where do we need to take a page from Mary – how is our prayer life as a community, how is our spiritual learning as a community, and how do we share the refuge of peace we find together at the feet of Jesus? Jesus offers us this “better part” because he knows each of us, and all of us together, need it.
Where do we need to take a page from Martha – what are we called to do as a community, what things need to be done, and what things might we set down because we’re tired, and what tasks might we share with one another? Jesus rightly points out that we can be distracted by many things; maybe we can pick a few to do them well and with greater prayerfulness. To be Mary, to be Martha, to be both Mary and Martha as we follow Jesus. We bounce up, we float down on this theological teeter-totter, and in this movement we see the range of the Christian life – to be Mary, to be Martha, not looking at each other with frustration, but, as it were, playing together on this teeter-totter to invite the world to contemplation and service in the name of Jesus. Amen.