Pentecost+6/Proper 11C (Amos 8:1-12; Ps 52; Col 1:15-28; Lk 10:38-42)

This morning, we hear the story of Martha and Mary. A small dispute between siblings is not uncommon. I remember my arguments and fights with my older sister. It seems at first what Martha is doing to Mary is nothing more than typical sibling rivalry. Martha tries to triangulate Jesus in her dissatisfaction with Mary by telling on her that Mary is not helping her at all. Martha is unhappy and quite upset that she’s doing all the work while Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus. But let’s not judge Martha as petty or small-minded or jealous. Mary sitting at the Lord’s feet and listening to his words means much more than just sitting next to Jesus and listening to him. It is Mary’s decision to become Jesus’s disciples. 

In the time of Jesus, women’s social roles were limited, meaning they were not able to do what men could do. So it’s not too surprising why Jesus only selected the twelve men as his disciples or why only the twelve disciples were named and recorded in the gospels if we consider this sociohistorical context. What matters to us is that Jesus welcomed all at the end. Having been born into the patriarchal system of his time, Jesus learned to break that framework by listening to the socially marginalized such as the sick, gentiles, and women. Historically, St Luke is considered to have been a gentile himself. Biblical scholars pretty much agree on that his gospel account and the Book of Acts was written for the audience that included both gentiles and Jews. 

Mary’s decision to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to his words closely is a radical and seemingly provocative move. She chooses to break free from her old role of women in her time. When we hear a sermon on this story of Martha and Mary, almost always the focus is on what is really important for us Christians between action and contemplation. Often, it is said that listening to the Word of God is more important and must come first than any action or service of hospitality. I remember in my Korean American church community, this pastor loved today’s gospel lesson to complain about those who did not attend the entire service. They were mostly women. They came to church early to prepare lunch and left in the middle of the service to prepare it again for others. The pastor simply didn’t like the fact that they weren’t fully present until the end. So he used to use this gospel story as a weapon. Listening to God’s word, yet in this case, listening to his sermon is more important than preparing lunch for the entire church community. Obviously, he is very wrong about the gospel message. 

Now, let’s focus on how Jesus responds to Martha’s complaint. Also, keep in mind this saying of Jesus is more important than what Martha at that time was about to hear since Jesus’s words to Martha is what we’re left with! Jesus says to Martha not in a rebuking manner but in a loving, kind, and compassionate way, “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.” As Jesus recognizes Martha has many tasks and she is worried and distracted by them, he understands where her frustration comes from. He gets it. Yet, he sees something much deeper and more essential in Martha’s case. He says, “There is need of only one thing.” Now, what’s tricky is his saying of Mary choosing the “better” part. Many pastors get caught up in this “better” and apply it to Mary’s intention to listen to Jesus’s words. I’m not convinced if that’s what Jesus actually meant. Jesus’s emphasis is more on that need of “only one thing.” Jesus teaches Martha she doesn’t need to focus on many things but only one thing. That’s what Mary did. 

Why is Martha distracted by her many tasks? Is it because of her workload? No. The fact is that she has many tasks. What disturbs her, however is not that she has many tasks. She gets frustrated as she looks at Mary. Can we say that it is Mary who upsets Martha? No. It is Martha who chooses to feel frustrated, angry, and pissed. She can, of course, choose to feel otherwise. She can choose not to feel upset. She can choose not to be bothered by whatever Mary does. But this is only possible when she owns her decision to serve Jesus and his friends. This is only possible when she becomes the master of her feelings and thoughts. What I mean by Martha being the master or driver of what goes in her mind is that she realizes her God-given free will to pick and choose her behaviors, thoughts, and feelings rather than being enslaved and imprisoned by them. 

What Jesus would’ve expected from Martha, that is, focusing on only one thing, is that Martha is not bothered by whatever Mary does for herself. This requires that Martha has willingly decided to provide hospitality. She has freely chosen to exercise her spirituality of welcoming and serving guests out of her own desire. When she owns and becomes responsible for what she has chosen to do, she wouldn’t even have to look at Mary and compare herself. There’s no reason for Martha to complain about Mary to Jesus. Which means there’s no reason for Martha to have her egoistic desire to change someone in the way she wants. This might sound like “Martha should mind her own business.” In a way, it is but how she can do that is what’s most important. 

Mary does what Martha doesn’t. That’s not so much about sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to his words but her determination to do what she has decided to do. Mary realizes that it is her life of which she becomes the driver or master. She chooses the better part of being the master of her own feelings and thoughts. She doesn’t stop there but goes beyond, which is to make the right choice to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to him. As she takes the ownership of her life, she chooses to commit herself to become Jesus’s disciple. This choice to devote her entire life to Jesus will never be taken away as Jesus declares. All this decision and action of Mary is empowered and made possible by Jesus who sets her free from all kinds of social and spiritual obstacles and regulations that used to enslave her. Seeing Jesus, meeting him, encountering him always brings eternal freedom to us because he is God incarnate. 

Martha’s spiritual state may be what St Paul talks about in the second lesson. He says, “You were once estranged and hostile in mind…” Martha is distracted and disturbed by her own choice without knowing she made that choice. She is enslaved by her feelings and thoughts that are out of her control. She's estranged from herself. She becomes a slave of her temper or her habit of missing the mark. Being aware of oneself, noticing one’s movement of thoughts and feelings, however, is being awaken to oneself. When Jesus says the kingdom of God is not above or somewhere in heaven but among us, it requires our awareness of sins or habits of missing the mark as well as the Original Sin that is socially transmitted to us, the Sin that we haven’t committed ourselves but into which we have been born, In this reality of the Original Sin and our continuing habit of missing the mark, Jesus has come to us. Encountering Jesus in this midst is how the Kingdom of God breaks in among us. St Paul thus says, “...you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him-- provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel.” 

My friends, I ask you to consider three things to take into contemplation and action this morning. Ask the Holy Spirit to encounter Jesus again and again who sets you free from imprisonment of inessential and unnecessary matters. This is also to acknowledge God’s gift of free will in each one of us through Jesus who shows us his free will to obey God’s will. Look into yourself what habits of missing the mark, that is the habit of estranging yourself from yourself, from others, and from God while keeping in mind Jesus is the one who makes it straight, who makes you holy, blameless, and irreproachable before God. And lastly, commit yourself, your whole being to Jesus. Align your will and intellect to Jesus freely, lovingly, and faithfully with the help of the Holy Spirit. Your commitment to become a servant of the gospel of Jesus Christ will never be taken away from you. Because you have chosen not just the better part but the best. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.