By Faith Alone

 

12th Sunday after Pentecost

Hebrews 11                           

11 August 2013

Elizabeth M. Deibert                   

There is a very good chance that the book of Hebrews was written by a woman named Priscilla, who with her husband Aquilla, was leading a church in Rome.  Although for many years, thanks to the dominance of the King James Version, Hebrews was falsely attributed to Paul, there was documented doubt of his authorship as early as the 3rd century.   Hebrews could have been written by Barnabas, Apollos, or even Luke, but I put my faith in Priscilla, especially as female authorship would be a good reason for early scribes to remove the name and turn it into an unsolved mystery.

The central theme of the epistle is the doctrine of the Person of Christ and his role as mediator between God and humanity, but among the most inspiring chapters, we have 11, 12, 13 – our readings for the next several weeks.   Today’s reading invites us to sit down and hear the recitation of our faith family’s history.   It is a long, because there are so many people of faith who came before us, and this is a short list.   So we read them to remember our heritage, much like you would go to Ancestry.com to discover your own personal heritage, or even better, you would listen to your parents or grandparents tell stories about the family, some which get exaggerated in the telling.   

My mom loves to tell the story of her grandfather who lived to be 92 and walked the post office every day of his life, including the day he died.   I enjoy walking and hope to be like able to stay active like this man I never knew.   My mom talks about her mother singing solos in church.   I was named for that grandmother and though I do not remember her, I know we can connect via music.   Not all our family stories are positive – my grandmother Elizabeth suffered from mental illness in the days when shock treatment and long hospitalizations were commonly practiced.   She had lots of support but still it must have been a hard life for her and her husband.  It is the same with the Biblical narrative. Some of the stories are the history of struggle, of pain.  Thereby, they teach us to cling to the faith, by which alone we live.  Some of the stories are exaggerated through years of oral history, thereby teaching us not to worry as much about the facts as the faith they impart.   Hear now the stories of the faithful in our reading from Hebrews 11:  

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible. 4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain's… 5 By faith Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death… 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 7 By faith Noah, warned by God about events as yet unseen, respected the warning and built an ark to save his household… 8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old-- and Sarah herself was barren-- because he considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, "as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore." 13 All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them… 17 By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son... 20 By faith Isaac invoked blessings for the future on Jacob and Esau. 21 By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, "bowing in worship over the top of his staff." 22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions about his burial. 23 By faith Moses was hidden by his parents for three months after his birth, because they saw that the child was beautiful; and they were not afraid of the king's edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called a son of Pharaoh's daughter, 25 choosing rather to share ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin… 29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land… 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace. 32 And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets-- 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented-- 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. 39 Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect. 

(New Revised Standard Version)  

What is faith and how do you know if you really have it?   Most of us have considered that at one point or another.   Hebrews 11 opens, Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.

Young’s Literal Translation (Greek word for word) puts it like this:  And faith is of things hoped for a confidence, of matters not seen, a conviction.   The Common English Bible, says, Faith is the reality of what we hope for, the proof of what we don’t see.   The New Century Version:  Faith means being sure of things we hope for and knowing that something is real even if we do not see it.    And the New Living Translation:  What is faith?  It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen.   It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see.

Faith is at the center of Christian life. We profess that we have been saved by faith, and that we now live by faith. But what does it really mean to have faith? What does it really mean to believe?

This is an important question, especially in our day, because for a great many people, faith has first and foremost to do with the assent of the mind. For them, to have faith means to give our intellectual agreement to a proposition, to believe that a claim or statement is true. There are a great many Christians who understand their faith in this way. They have given intellectual approval to certain claims or statements about God, about Jesus, about the Bible, and about the human condition. But when faith is understood primarily in this way, it becomes a just matter of the head rather than of the heart. When Christian faith is seen as an assent of the mind, the emphasis shifts to holding the correct views, believing the right things to be true.

Genuine faith involves trust. Christian faith, Christian belief, has to do with a radical trust in God which grows with the practice of trusting. It does not mean trusting in the truth of a set of statements about God; it means trusting in God.

Example:  When our firstborn Emily first went away to college, we had to trust in God that she was okay, even though we could not verify that with our eyes, with our own experience.   We had to trust, as we have with the other children, between phone conversations, that all would be well.  We got to practice even more trust in God when she went to Greece to study abroad – just about the time that the movie, Taken, was in the theatres.   I did not see it then because my trust was too fragile, but I have seen it now. 

   

Then there was the year in Korea, and many of you remember that fretful night when we had to trust in God that Catherine, barely 21, in Korea visiting, would find a way to get for Emily would get the medical attention she needed, after a seizure-like experience in the middle of the night.   Emily is now in Switzerland for a few weeks, visiting her boyfriend.   There was a mishap in the surprise visit she was paying him, and so she got stuck alone in Milan and he did not know she was there. Last I heard, which was 1:00 pm on Friday, she had still made no connection with him or his sister who was to pick her up.   But I have been practicing my trust in God that Emily is fine, even with no evidence that this is the case.    Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

I have never seen God.  I have only seen evidence of God’s goodness.  I have felt God’s love in a mysterious sort of way.   But I have chosen to commit myself to a life of faith.  I have felt sufficiently inspired by the Spirit of Jesus Christ to give myself over to this faith.   What about you?   Have you made that conscious choice?  All people have passions/causes/relationship into which they pour themselves.  Whatever it is, this new person/thing/cause captures our attention and awakens our devotion.  We believe in what we are doing, and we commit ourselves to it with our whole being.  We continue to push forward even when obstacles arise or doors close.  Because we believe in it, we persevere.   

That’s what it means to have faith in God – it is to make that relationship foremost.   This act of commitment, of devotion, can happen suddenly or gradually, but it is surely renewed by repetition -  such as participating in worship, saying prayers, reciting creeds or other statements of faith, hearing sermons, singing hymns, taking communion, making offerings.   All these activities provide space for building the faith to stay convinced of things we cannot see, and assured of things for which we hope.   For some it is easier to believe in mysteries, for others, there is a desire for fact. Yet what we have is faith, ours along with witness of so many others who have gone before us.   When your faith is weak, remember the faith of those who came before you.   By faith alone we live.

Our Foolishness

 

11th Sunday after Pentecost

Luke 12:13-31                       

4 August 2013

Elizabeth M. Deibert                   

Do you know how much money I have spent in the last month?   Andrew’s fall tuition for college came due.   Two ten year old AC units in our house needed replacement.  If I stop to think about how much money we have spent and what that money could have done for the poor, I wonder just what God is trying to teach me, as I work on this parable of the rich fool.  Now it is not that I think I should not pay for my children’s college education.   It is not that I think I should live without air conditioning in Florida.   But what choices can I make in my own life that will enable me to be generous toward others.   It is troubling to me that our Mission Beth-El is having to close its Mission Peniel, a ministry to migrant farmworkers in Immokalee where at 400-700 people would come for a hot meal of beans and rice every Friday night – due to a shortage of funds.   We who live in middle-upper class USA, are caught up in a vicious cycle of bigger/better supersize me foolishness that makes us prisoners of a lifestyle that is more complicated and decadent than it needs to be.   We are trapped in sin by the extravagance of our lifestyle and competitive drive and luxurious desires, but the good news is God’s forgives us and invites us to be transformed, day-by-day, into people whose generosity is greater than our sin, whose freedom and joy is found in giving not getting.  

Hear the Gospel:            Luke 12:13-31

13 Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me."  14 But he said to him, "Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?"  15 And he said to them, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions."

16 Then he told them a parable: "The land of a rich man produced abundantly.  17 And he thought to himself, 'What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?'  18 Then he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.  19 And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.'  

20 But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?'  21 So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God."  22 He said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.

24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!  25 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?   26 If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest?  27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.

28 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you -- you of little faith!  29 And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying.  30 For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them.  31 Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

(New Revised Standard Version)  

Hymn – Bigger Barns

You ever think about what it will be like to share an eternal life with children who died early, due to simple diseases we could have prevented or cured, with the kind of medical attention we consider a given?   You ever wonder what it will be like to sit at Christ’s banqueting table in the heavenly realm and eat with people who spent their entire lives consuming daily mush while we were going to fancy restaurants eating rich food, and letting good vegetables spoil in our refrigerators?   You ever wonder how it will be to converse in an eternal dialogue with those who lived in mud huts while we lived in extravagant, carefully decorated houses?  I do, and I think that my conversations about AC trouble or closets too small or garages too crowded will be sort of awkward in that context.

Stop and think with me for a moment about what attitude Jesus challenges in the scripture we read.   A man wants Jesus to intercede for him – to get his brother to share the inheritance.  Remember in the first century, a first-born son would have nearly total control over the inheritance.   So it seems this younger brother wants his fair share.   His mistake was to think Jesus preferred him to his brother.  And Jesus says to the crowd, not just the man, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions."

Be on your guard against all kinds of greed.   Whether your context is a village mud huts or a gated community of houses valued at half a million and up, greed is a potential.   One’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.   I expect God will have more to say to me about greed than the person who lived in the mud hut.   I figure God’s love will be overwhelming, and my sin, well, I’ll wish  I’d been more generous.   So why not start today.  The parable is about a farmer who produces more than food than expected, or we might say an investment that produced more than expected, or a family that had more than needed.   Do the farmer, the investor, and the family, increase their own capacity to keep the extras, or do the farmer, the investor, and the family say, “Wow, God has given me more than I actually need.  Instead of a bigger barn, bigger house or bigger retirement account, perhaps there is someone who needs this more than I do.”   

Some of you did just that when you decided to give to the Peace building fund.   You saw that God could use to accomplish far greater more, if you shared what you had, rather than guarding your life’s earnings so zealously.   More people will find peace with God through your generous giving, and you yourselves will have more peace because of trusting God enough to let go and give.   

The parable says the rich fool dies right after building his super-sized barn.   And Jesus comments, “So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God."   It is not that God smited him for building the bigger barn, but that those who aspire to “eat, drink, and be merry” find that what they were trying to achieve – this perfect lifestyle of ease – is not really going to happen.   How many celebrities who are dripping with money, seem very content?   Their lives are usually a mess.  Much money is made by the gossipy news created by rich people’s messy lives.  It’s sad, really, but we all keep buying the myth that with enough money we’d be happy.  

It is really a matter of being both content with what you have and generous to share with others.   We should be concerned with collecting meaningful experiences, memorable moments, special friends, not stuff, not things.   

This brings us to the second half of the passage, the part where Jesus is talking to his disciples and he says, “Don’t worry about your life – what you will eat or drink – what you will wear.”   It is not a bad thing to eat cereal for dinner.   It is not a bad thing to wear clothing that is out of style.  Styles are so crazy, you can wear nearly anthing with anything these days, so who really cares.   Find your freedom.   Find some contentment.   Be more like the sparrows and ravens and the beautiful lilies of the field.  

Start somewhere and simplify a little piece of your life.   Simplify your possessions by giving away stuff so you have less to keep organized, less to manage.  Get rid of stuff while someone else might actually want it.   If you hang on too long, it is of no use to anyone.   Simplify your time commitments, so that the people and things that really matter get your focus.  Just like you cannot have it all, you cannot do it all.  Simplify, so that you have time for what really matters.   Simplify your debt.   If you are paying too much interest because of previous judgment errors, stop and re-organize your budget, so you have more control.  There are experts who can help with that – for free.   Ask me, if you don’t know who.   Simplify so you’re not stressed out always about money.  

Simplify your pleasures – not everything that is fun and relaxing costs money.   Stop entertaining yourself with purchases – that’s a bottomless pit.  You will never be satisfied.   If you find shopping for things you don’t need tempting, stay away from stores and internet shopping.   Find ways to enjoy what you already have at your fingertips.   

Simplify your eating and exercising.  Eat more real food than processed.  Eat proteins and veggies and if the ingredient list is long, don’t eat it.   Walk places – even if inside your own home.  Get up and move, bend over and stretch, and stop keeping unhealthy things in your house to tempt you.   Simplify your screen time.   I don’t know how to tell you what that looks like for you, but for me it is stopping all computer time for a full day every week, and making sure I’m not watching much tv news or tv garbage during the week.   Limit yourself to certain times of the day or night, but don’t leave that screen running all the time.  Take a short walk.   Make contact with a friend.   Pray for fifteen minutes.   Simplify your life.   

And when you’ve simplified, you will have more energy for what matters, which includes being generous of spirit, generous of time, generous with money.  That is a life of abundance.   When I first looked the scripture this week, I thought, “Oh my, how do we approach this?  The simple life is not simple.   But simplifying life is liberating.  It gives life to others.   We cannot change overnight, but with daily adjustments, we grow into the glory of Jesus Christ, who was willing to give us his all.  

So don’t be discouraged or overwhelmed with what you have, the decisions and choices you have already made, the financial traps in which you presently find yourself.   But begin today to trust God and be more generous, because with God you are free to be different going forward.   With God you have everything you need, so you do not have to be trapped in anxiety.  With God you have forgiveness and healing and the potential for transformation and peace.   With God you always have hope, because what seems impossible is possible with God.   With God, sacrifice and simplicity leads to abundance, not scarcity.  

So instead of living loaded with shame over our crowded closets and garages, instead of living loaded with shame over our lifestyle choices, our poor eating and exercise habits or our lame tv watching and internet surfing, let us keep turning to God and being generous with God’s people in need.  Consciously and daily give up worrying about having a perfect meal, or having a perfect wardrobe or perfect house or car or yard or vacation or retirement plan.   Join me as I commit again today to find in God my refuge and my strength, to find in God the contentment that always seems to elude me.  With God I can say to myself, I am content.   I have everything I need, so “Why should I feel discouraged?   Why should the shadows come?  Why should my heart be lonely and long for heaven and home?  When Jesus is my portion, a constant friend is He.  His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.  I sing because I’m happy.  I sing because I’m free.   For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.”

Faithful Friend and Father

 

10th Sunday after Pentecost

Luke 11:1-13                       

28 July 2013

Elizabeth M. Deibert                   

(The Lord’s Prayer – dramatic form – precedes this sermon)

So often we say it.   We repeat the words and yes, there’s great value in repeating something so many times that you can recite it by heart – in two or three different versions.   Sometimes we are aware of the content our words and really mean what we say, but how often do we really stop to reflect on this magnificent prayer?   Thank you, Jane and Richard, for waking us up to the casual way in which we wear these words.   Martin Luther once said “To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.”  Jesus was praying, and his disciples wanted to learn how.  

Luke 11:1-13

He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him,

"Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples."

2 He said to them, "When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come.   3 Give us each day our daily bread.  

4 And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.

And do not bring us to the time of trial."

5 And he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.'  7 And he answers from within, 'Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.'  8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

9 "So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.  10 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.  11 Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish?  12 Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion?  13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

(New Revised Standard Version)  

Be persistent in prayer, trusting that God is good.   Begin all prayer by appreciating the wonder of being a child of God.   Glorifying God is our highest goal.   When we pray hallowed be your name, we are asking that we and others recognize God as God really is.   When we pray “your kingdom come” we are asking that God will rule in our hearts through faith, in our relationships through love, and in our institutional affairs through justice.   We are praying for the world to become that which God intends it to be – peaceable.

The third petition of the prayer, your will be done, on earth as in heaven, is missing from Luke’s version.   But I have a story to tell you about the will of God on earth as in heaven, or God’s kingdom coming to earth.   Jenny, Michelle, and I heard a Haitian pastor talk about the exciting church and community development work he is doing there.   A medical missionary from Duke Hospital was there, an OB-Gyn.    He was seeing patients in a makeshift room, which was really a tree with sheets hanging down.   Exasperated one day, he came to Pastor Leon and said, “I cannot do pelvic exams in this outdoor space.   You have to help me out, if you want me to keep coming.”   Pastor Leon gave him his office.   But it was small and very hot in there, so again this OB-Gyn doctor was complaining, “Pastor Leon.  This has to change.   You must do something about this problem.”   And Pastor Leon said, “I think God is telling you that YOU must do something about this problem.”   So the doctor went back to Duke, did some fund-raising, and eventually, a small medical center was built there in Haiti.  If we are praying for God’s will and kingdom we must be open to the ways God want to use us to bring his reign on the earth.  

The fourth petition in the Lord’s Prayer is “Give us this day or each day, our daily bread.”  Christ asks us to pray for what we need each day and no more, so that we will learn to completely rely on God.   Having more than enough tends to make us trust in our savings, in our own ability to provide for ourselves.  It also distances us from the poor, who live day-by-day.    Those who take mission trips to impoverished parts of the world are usually amazed at the spirit of people who live on far less than we have, and how generous and joyful they can be, under such circumstances.

And now for the line of the Lord’s Prayer that has divided the church since the 16th century when English translations became readily available.  Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.   Now the Gospel of Matthew uses the Greek word for “being indebted/owing someone something” in the prayer, but then goes on after the prayer to talk about how we must forgive the trespasses of others if we ourselves want to be forgiven our trespasses.  Luke uses two different words.  He says, “Forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.”  You can read more about these words and the 1526 English translation by William Tyndale which set Presbyterians against nearly everyone else in the translation of debts and trespasses.  A couple of years ago Richard put a three-page history – The Lord’s Prayer:  Why the Differences.  Sadly the difference in three words may distract us from the more significant issue.  Our forgiveness by God is related to our forgiving others.   It is tied together with one little word “as” or “for.”  Whether the connecting word is “as” or “for” the implication is, as Matthew makes clear in his trespasses addendum to the prayer, is the same as what Paul also says in Colossians 3:  “Forgive one another, just as God has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”   I find it is a circular thing.   When I am humble enough to acknowledge how far short I fall of God’s glory, how much I need forgiveness, my gratitude for God’s bountiful mercy makes it easier for me to forgive others.   It is the arrogant/insecure spirit in me that clings to hurt because hurt feeds my need to prop myself up.   A person secured by God is humble, with no need for elevation.   Philippians 2:  “Christ, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied himself.”

And the last petition in Luke’s version of the prayer, “Save us from the time of trial.”  We ask God to protect us from our own worst impulses and temptations, that we might not yield to the temptation to live as people without hope.  

We do have hope because we have a loving parent, who is not male or female, but is our loving, protector, who like a good parent, gives us freedom appropriate for our growth, so we are not puppets.  

But in that freedom is the opportunity to break covenant with God, to damage the earth, to wound one another, and to ignore God’s intentions.   In all ways, we believe God works for good, even through the consequences of our sin or the painful circumstances in which we often find ourselves.   More than any good mother or father, what God wants is for us to grow up and make good choices. 

 

That’s why most of this communication, this prayer is about aligning our will with God’s will.  God desires that we live with integrity – to be faithful and true, generous and forgiving, loving and kind.   What loving parent or friend would not want that?

Just Sit and Listen!

 

9th Sunday after Pentecost

Luke 10:38-42                      

21 July 2013

Elizabeth M. Deibert                

We live in a fast-paced world. People are rushing here and there with phones attached to their bodies.  We have any number of time-saving devices which for some reason keep us busy for hours. We thought computers would simplify our lives, and they do, but they have made us busier at all hours.  We thought Iphones and Ipads would make it easier to keep up with texts, calls, and even email, but they just keep us busier in more places.   We cannot even sit still and do nothing while waiting for an appointment or at a stoplight.   Every spare moment can be filled with some accomplishment or some entertainment.   

Stores used to close at 6:00, preserving quiet time for shoppers and employees.   Then they started keeping late hours, sometimes never closing, and now we can shop online for nearly anything from a car to a bottle of cleaner.   We can do anything almost any time. And so what do we do?   We busy ourselves

constantly.  We never stop. We’re working, we’re playing, we’re entertaining ourselves, we’re occupying ourselves, we doing, doing, doing and going, going, going.   We don’t know how to be still and quiet.

Any of you have finding enough time to manage all your time-saving devices? Any of you have trouble turning off the television or computer or music, so that there’s complete quiet in the house?  Any of you have trouble finding time to sit down and pray?   Too busy with screens to enjoy the great outdoors.  Hard to sit still and read your Bible, even your online one?  

In the U.S., 86 percent of males and 67 percent of females work more than 40 hours per week.   There’s just too much to get done, too many distractions to keep us from listening to Jesus.   Martha lived in a time when preparing a meal took a long time. She did not have the luxury of eating out or ordering take out.   She could not buy de-boned chicken or fish.   She couldn’t pick up a rotisserie chicken at Publix.  If bread were going to be on the table, it had to be kneaded, allowed to rise, and baked. Martha had a lot to accomplish when important company like Jesus Christ came for dinner. She didn’t have running water in her house. She had crude tools and she had a fire over which to cook, not an oven or a microwave.  

Hear the word of the Lord from Luke 10 but before you hear it, I want you to know that this story comes after the parable of the Good Samaritan, which tells us we should be busy doing good works. This is story which provides balance to those of us who would always want to be accomplishing something, helping someone. The Story of Mary and Martha.

Luke 10:38-42

38 Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village,

where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home.

39 She had a sister named Mary,

who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying.

40 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."

41 But the Lord answered her,

"Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things;

42 there is need of only one thing.

Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her."

(New Revised Standard Version)  

Don’t just sit there! Do something! Get up and be helpful. You know some of the

most irritating people are the people who will not do anything. Fortunately in this

church, everyone pitches in to help do something, to help out, to share the load, to make their contribution to the life of this church.  Good ole Martha. She was accomplishing something. If we had lots of Marys around we might never get anything done.

The church needs people who can accomplish things:  people who can teach the children, make the coffee, welcome the visitors, visit the sick, send notes to college students, orchestrate activities, help us get into a building, move tables and chairs, clean the bathrooms, count the money, write policies for the church, organize the storage rooms, encourage giving, plan missions, share good news.  

The church needs active do-ers of the word. Good hard working people like Martha are what we need. Male and female Marthas getting the jobs done, making the church proud, making the pastor happy. Jesus might not have even come over that night if Martha had not invited him. And it was Martha was at the door welcoming, offering hospitality. Martha is an active greeter, making sure everyone who comes in feels at home. Where would we be without Martha? She gets things done.

Martha’s problem is her many tasks have distracted her from the primary task of

loving. She has grown resentful of her sister. Can’t you hear her back in the kitchen with the dishes, getting noisier and nosier the more angry she is at having to work alone? She is pulled in so many different directions, she can no longer hold in her frustration. She is so busy doing things for Jesus that she has not stopped to listen to him. So she storms out and embarrasses Mary, makes Jesus uncomfortable, and shames herself. Martha is out of touch with the people in her midst because she is too focused on the tasks at hand.

Martha’s service has become disconnected to the primary aim of loving, of caring.

She is lost in her endless work. And she’s consumed by comparison. It’s not fair.  “I loaded the dishwasher last night!” or “she hasn’t done anything today.” I doubt Jesus would have corrected Martha if she had not come to complain to him about Mary.  

In fact, if Mary had complained to Jesus about Martha being too much of a busybody, never sitting down, then maybe Jesus would have said to Mary, “When have you been helpful to your sister? Are you going to sit there and let her do all the work?” “Go help your sister. Let her come sit with me” he might have said.

It is actually remarkable that Jesus thought it important for a woman to sit and

listen because in the 1 century, women were servants, not conversationalists. Martha was doing, you see, what was expected of women. It was particularly annoying in the 1st century for a woman to sit down to talk as if she were a man. He apparently didn’t think that a woman’s place was in the kitchen. He wanted to be in an authentic relationship with Mary and Martha.

And that is what Jesus wants with you – a genuine relationship. Yes, he appreciates all you do, especially if your busyness is in service to others and in some way furthers the love, peace, and justice Jesus came to bring to earth.  You might be doing very important work, but Christ wants YOU more than your work.  More than any accomplishment or service you can provide, Christ wants you sitting at his feet listening, adoring, worshiping.   As CS Lewis said, God doesn’t want something from us.   God wants US.

That’s why every time a ministry team gets together to do church work, we begin by meditating on a short passage of scripture – listening for the Spirit of Jesus speaking to us first.   With all the time-saving devices we have in this life, we are perhaps more worried and distracted than any generation before us. Some of us have a hard time even setting aside one full hour for worship each week, even though we call ourselves Christian.   How many teens cannot make it through a one hour worship service without texting a friend?  Most of us do not take enough time each day to meditate on the goodness of God, to just sit and listen. We too are worried and distracted by many things.   Our full schedules make us feel important or allow us to avoid serious self-examination.   Our endless options for entertainment numb us to our need to connect with Christ.   I’m not saying you cannot connect with Christ via technology but watch out for the distractions.   

Barry Schwartz has written a book, called “The Paradox of Choice: Why More is

Less.” In it he makes it clear that Americans place high value on having many options but that options have become a problem for us.   We have so many choices, we spend an enormous amount of time choosing and then are less happy with our selection.   Think about grocery shopping. In a typical grocery store, there are 85 varieties of crackers and 285 types of cookies, 230 different cans of soup, 120 pasta sauces and 175 kinds of salad dressing. If you send someone to the store for you, you cannot simply put “Tide” or “Cheerios” or  “Colgate” on the list because there are so many different varieties of Tide, Cheerios, and Colgate. We are distracted with many things. We have a hundred channels on TV to surf before we can decide that none of them are really worth watching. The truth is: we are bombarded with choices all day long and yet we are not satisfied with life.

We are miserable like Martha because we have not chosen the “better part” as

Jesus puts it. The better part is the part which as he says “can never be taken away.”

We need to learn to sit.   Deep thinker Winnie the Pooh once said, “Sometimes I sits and thinks and sometimes I just sits.” We need to stop all our running from one thing to the next, flipping from one channel to the next, from one activity to another until we collapse in our beds.   We need Sabbath time – time to stop and let God be God. We need to sit, talk a walk, talk to one another. We need to pray and worship. We need some quiet space in our lives. Our highest goal, our chief purpose in life is to glorify and enjoy God forever – not to impress God or anyone else with how much we can accomplish.   Sabbath is stopping.   Stopping all our regular routines to inhabit a different realm, a spiritual pace of resting, trusting, listening, and wasting time with God.   It is looking for and valuing the goodness of God in everything, not just numbing ourselves with entertainment, as Tilden Edwards explains in his book Sabbath Time.

Our ability to accomplish things will inevitably diminish if we live long enough.

We will be forced by physical limitation to stop our feverish busyness. The better part is the relational part – the listening to Jesus, praying and worshiping – that can never be taken away from us.

How much different it might have been for Trayvon Martin and for George Zimmerman, if they had been quiet, reflective, and aware of the peace of Christ and the dignity of human life?   Instead of being fearful, reactive, and angry, they might have taken time to listen to one another, instead of pre-judging.   

Don’t just do something. Sit there. Sit there long enough to love God and love one another deeply, quietly, reverently, peacefully.   Be like Mary today. Stop and listen.