I was being guided through a hospital on Monday to visit someone, and my guide, who had an English accent, very politely, asked if he could tell me a story about religion. Internally I rolled my eyes, but since he had such a lovely accent and was so polite, I said, “Of course!”
He told me that he was Jewish and had heard a story about a Rabbi who could recite the entire Old Testament while standing on one leg. He continued that a group of Christians came to visit this Rabbi to see if he was up to the challenge. They approached him and asked to see him recite the Old Testament on one leg. The Rabbi lifted his leg and said this “Love God with all your heart soul and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. All the rest is commentary.”
I was impressed, especially since last week’s Gospel touched so profoundly on that verse of scripture. I thanked the man after the story and went on with my visit.
Today we heard one of the most famous stories in the Gospels. The story of Mary and Martha, which is so well known that, in popular culture, you will hear even nonreligious people ask questions like, “So, are you a Mary or a Martha?” An essential part of this piece of scripture is that Mary would have been forbidden from sitting at the feet of a rabbi in the first century. Only males were allowed to sit at the feet of a teaching Rabbi. So not only is Mary guilty of not being a good host to the many visiting disciples in her house, and Jesus himself, but she is breaking a significant social norm at the same time! Jesus however, describes Mary’s actions as “the good portion.” By calling her actions “the good portion,” Jesus is saying “a believer can have no greater role than being Jesus’s disciple.”[1] And Mary firmly took her place as a disciple, at the feet of Jesus. What does being a disciple of Jesus look like for each of us?
Mary breaking the chains of such a strong standing societal norm got me thinking. What are the societal norms today that would cause Jesus to roll his eyes, and that bind each of us in chains?
Here is a list of norms I came up with, I’m sure you all can come up with some as well.
- In order to be successful, we must be so busy with work that we have no time for rest or family.
- Winning is all that matters
- Our children’s success determines our value
- It doesn’t matter how we really look or feel, as long as our Instagram and Facebook filters and stories make us look like superstars
- Our possessions determine our value
- How others view us determines our worth
- Truth is relative
If we were to say those things to Jesus how would he respond?
- Making time for rest and time to relax is important, and being with family should be how we spend a lot of our energy
- Death is our victory
- Our children determine their own success, as do we
- We are all beautiful and loved just the way we are and for who we are in the eyes of our Creator
- Our possessions don’t matter
- God already determined our value when He died for us on a cross
- Jesus’s life and teachings are the truth
Like my new Jewish friend with the British accent said, a core of Jesus’s teaching is the summary of the law. The key to the summary of the law is the ability to love self.
Just as Mary did in today’s Gospel.
We cannot love others until we learn to love who we are and see ourselves as the object of God’s love. Every single one of us is the object of God’s love. Martha worried about how other people saw her and failed to realize how Jesus saw her, as the object of his Love.
To prevent ourselves from making that same mistake, we must love ourselves for God’s sake, love ourselves as a cafeteria worker, as a police officer, as a doctor, as a lawyer, as a construction worker, as a retired person, as a priest, as a mom, as a dad.
When we love ourselves, we allow ourselves to sit at the feet of our Lord and break the chains of our culture just like Mary did. We have to learn look at ourselves the same way Jesus looks at us. Picture yourself in Mary’s seat, replace Mary in today’s Gospel with yourself, choosing the good portion, see yourself as Jesus sees you. When we do that, the good portion cannot be taken away from us, not even by ourselves.
Do you want to live into the summary of the law?
Do you want to be Mary in a world of Martha’s?
Love yourself enough to sit at our Lord’s feet and cast all your worry, all your fears, all your anger, all the things you cannot control, onto his powerful shoulders.
When we do that, we are true disciples of Jesus.
Sermon preached by the Rev. Christian M. Wood
Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota Florida
6th Sunday of Pentecost
21 July 2019
[1] (NIV Cultural background study bible)