Who are you? Mary? Martha?

Depending on where I am in my life when I read this story about Mary and Martha, I identify with either one. There are times when I sympathize with Martha; she is doing as she has always done. She is the consummate host extending hospitality to Jesus and catering to him as is her duty in that time and place. She is irritated at her sister Mary who she thinks is slacking in her duties, just sitting there listening to Jesus. There would have been a lot of little details for Martha to attend to and having the extra set of hands of Mary would have been helpful. Sometimes I sympathize with Mary. Martha seems like a bit of a taskmaster and it couldn't have been easy for Mary to work under her when it appears that they have very different personalities. Mary wants to take advantage of the rare opportunity to listen to the words Jesus is sharing at her own table. I always think it must have been humiliating for Mary when Martha drags Jesus in to her dramatic display and asks him to make Mary work. We (in the church) frequently talk about the need for action when we are talking about doing God's work.  We preach mission and involvement and those are both action items. One could argue that the church has been a bit idle in the past and has neglected doing the "get your hands dirty" work required for mission; this is a good thing. Just not the way Martha is doing it. Martha is doing this hard work because she is supposed to - it is her station in life as a woman in this context. Martha is not doing this hospitality for the glory of God. She is worried and she is distracted by trivial details.  We too get worried and distracted by all the to-do's and task lists. Mission doesn't happen by itself - we must work at it and not be idle. However, when we lose focus of the big picture, too distracted to hear the directions, we are doing the work but at the expense of listening to the word of God. How often do we long to be like Mary; to quietly listen to the voice of Jesus? To mindfully focus on only one thing? To lay aside the worries and drudgery of work in favor of the peace and good news that Jesus brings? Being like Mary is a possibility for all of us if we can learn that it is ok to rest and meditate and simply listen for the voice of God. We need to give ourselves permission to close our eyes, to step away from the work distraction and listen. How else can we ensure that we are on the right path? I think in many ways it is easier to be like Martha - ticking items off her to-do list one by one. She feels that Mary was sitting idly, but quietly listening, focusing and absorbing is not easy to do. And yet, Jesus says, "Mary has chosen the better part." Mary and Martha are a good balance for each other, but I feel like it's important for both of these aspects to be present in each of us - to know when to get our hands dirty, to work hard for the big picture and for the glory of God but also to know when to simply sit and listen. thanks to Samantha Rossi, guest blogger and seminarian from Upstate NY Synod. This first appeared in the Upstate Update Midweek Musings.

What does freedom look like?

"If you continually live in my Word....you will know the truth and the truth will set you free"  Jn8.31

Freedom.
To a 2 year old it looks like an open space where running is encouraged.
To a 14 year old it looks like a weekend without parental restraints.
To a 30 year old it looks like a job you like doing.
To a 45 year old it looks like no more college education to finance.
To a 60 year old it looks like retirement.
To a 80 year old it looks like a ride to the grocery store.

To a Christian it looks like the cross.  There we learn that God's love frees us from the crippling of sin in our lives and sets us totally free to be God's people everywhere, every time, and with every person.  We've got nothing to prove and God's love isn't going to run out.

Freed to be a child of God.  To love.  To serve.  To heal.  To forgive.  To share.

Lord, help me to live
as the person you know me to be.  Amen

Mustard seed faith

Some days being faithful, a 'good' Christian resembles running a marathon:  most of us know that 26.3 miles of running is beyond our ability.  Even as we honor our Lord Jesus and want to be transformed by him, we are acutely aware of how often we fall short.  We, like the disciples in Luke 17, cry out, "Lord, increase our faith."

David Lose, a professor at Luther Seminary, helps us gain a more balanced perspective:

"Faith, as Jesus describes it, is just doing your job, just doing your duty, not because of any sense of reward but simply because it needs doing. Faith, in other words, is doing what needs to be done right in front of you and this, Jesus says, the disciples can already do. Folks who feel daunted by discipleship need to hear that sometimes faith can be pretty ordinary. That’s what Jesus means, I think, by saying that if they had the faith even of a mustard seed, they could uproot and move a mulberry tree -- that it really doesn’t take all that much faith to be, well, faithful." **

You have heard Jesus teach; you have been anointed by the Spirit in your baptism, so you treat others with grace and mercy.  You keep reconciliation and forgiveness as first (rather than last) options.  You pray for those in need and share your bounty with those who have not.  You honor your spouse and care and guide your children.  You look on the folks you meet (sometimes more, sometimes less) as neighbors and children of God.

You don't these things perfectly.  You know you fall short....and yet you fall forward, following Jesus, striving for that day of transformation when you are made whole in Jesus.  

You have faith the size of a mustard seed.  Continue to nurture and feed it on God's Word, on prayer and service to others, on worship and the Holy Supper.  Go into the world and whatever you do, do in God's name for the sake of your neighbor.  That's your call.  You can do it.

** read this and more of David Lose's wisdom at www.workingpreacher.org.

"Your humble servant....."

Is it possible to trust humility? 

Don't we really think that there is some hidden agenda that we just can't discern yet?

Could it be that we have no idea how to act around true humility?

Can you name someone you know that you'd describe as 'humble'?

What in God's name are you doing?

Perhaps you've been asked that question at some time; perhaps with a bit of an edge in the tone.  But let's think about it this way

What....in God's name....are YOU doing? 

When folks want a deeper prayer life, or a stronger faith, this is a very good question to ask.

What....in God's name....are you doing?

Don't over think it.  Go, and do in Christ's name for the sake of those whom Christ loved.
Amen

"Is she feeding the poor, again?"

"I really don't get it."
"She's one of those religious fanatics."
"One of these days she'll get burned, and then she won't be giving so generously."
"I was always taught that charity begins at home."
"Right, well, she might do all that, but I heard her yell at her kids."
"She just thinks she's better than us."

Not everyone understands why people of faith live and serve the way they do.  They will often dismiss or denigrate their work, their intentions or their character.  Should you attempt to explain that the point is not the 'feel good' result of helping others, but a perspective on how to live in this world, then the understanding quotient goes way down.

Or to put it more succinctly, No Good Deed Goes Unpunished or at least, un-remarked on!  (don't think that is a real word).

Sunday Jesus returns to his home town and meets just this kind of hostile reception.  It is hostility born in insecurity but it is hostility just the same.  "Where did this man get all this?  What is this wisdom that has been given to him?  What deeds of power are being done by his hands!  Is not this he carpenter, the son of Mary ..."  Mk6.2

The result stuns some readers of Mark  "And he could do no deed of power there....and he was amazed at their unbelief." v. 5   Notice it says 'could' not 'would'.  Their unbelief became a barrier to the great gifts Jesus had to offer.

So, my friends, when your family or friends or neighbors or even complete strangers fail to understand your work for the gospel.....in fact, when they are downright snarky, know that you are in good company.  It happened to Jesus as well.

Need some care? Need a calling?

I read an insightful reflection on this week's Gospel text, Mark 1.29-39 on the website Working Preacher.  Insight is helpful since, as usual, Mark either gives us too much (three distinct portions to the larger assigned text) or too little (Mark always skimps on details).

Dr. David Lose, of the Luther Theological Seminary in Minnesota, points out two ways to distinguish individuals:  either people are in need of help, or they are in the position to help others.  Another way to put this:  either we are in need of care, or we are in need of a calling.  On any given day, you and I could be one or the other....or maybe on a particularly active day, each in sucession.

We understand the part about being in need of help.  In fact, it appears too often that when we speak of faith we speak about God's ever present help in times of trouble.  In fact, in the Old Testament text of Isaiah, the term 'everlasting God' is (according to the scholar, not me) a translation for "God of forever".

I like the sound of that. Like everyone else, I know what it means to be in need of care.  In the moments when I am hanging on by a thread, when I need someone/some being larger than I to provide strength and sustenance, then I am ever grateful for the God who loves and cares for me. 

But, in 'need of a calling' - that might require more explanation.  Dr. Lose is responding to the portion of Mark's story where Jesus' heals Simon's mother-in-law (MIL) and she gets up and serves them.  At first glance, this whole healing story looks a little self serving on the part of the disciples and Jesus, and not all that flattering to we women of the church who have worked long and hard to be accepted as more than altar guild attendants. (and thanks be to God for the altar guild!)

Dr. Lose, however, points out that while Simon's MIL is laid low with a fever, she cannot participate in her world as she is called.  She cannot show hospitality to her guests; she cannot make their day more pleasant.  A fever has cost her her place in the community.  When Jesus heals her, she is able to rise up and be who she is called to be for the sake of the community and in entertaining Jesus, for the sake of the gospel.  Many commentators refer to this unnamed woman as the first model disciple of Mark's gospel.

I quote the website:  Through Jesus' healing "new strength is imparted to those laid low by illness, unclean spirits, even death, so they may rise up and take their place in the world."  The woman is restored to health, community, and her calling.  You and I know that any extended illness pulls you out of the current of life around you.  You lose touch; you cannot participate; your calling is gone.

To serve is our calling.  Just as Jesus came 'not to be served, but to serve others' God preserves us so we might continue to serve in his name. 

Here is an old prayer (found in the hymnal) that includes that thought

O Lord, suport us all the day long of this troubled life, until the shadows lengthen and the evening comes and the busy world is hused, the fever of life is over, and our work is done.  then, in your mercy, grant us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last through Christ our Lord. 
AMEN

Peace