Sit there and Listen

Jesus while on his way to Jerusalem accepted an invitation to a meal in Martha's home, probably in Bethany.  It was not very far from Jerusalem.  Martha had a younger sister, Mary, but as the head of the house she was in charge.  It was Martha’s decision about who was invited as well as the quality of the hospitality that was offered.  Jesus was invited for dinner and accepted the invitation because it was a place for rest and refreshment. 

At some point Martha was distracted from her guest by having to do so many tasks in preparing the meal.  She asked Jesus to tell her sister Mary to help her.  Jesus, however, pointed out that Martha’s preoccupation with preparing the meal may have caused her to miss what Mary was doing.  He said, “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.”  What Mary had chosen was to listen and learn from her engagement in conversation with Jesus.  Instead of doing something Mary just sat and listened. 

Mary may have been spellbound by what Jesus had to say.  If someone important came to your house wouldn’t you want to spend time in conversation with them?  However, for women in the early days of the first century it was not a socially accepted custom.  Lingering in conversation was a custom only for men.  It was a patriarchal society.  The Mishnah states, "Let thy house be a meeting-house for the Sages and sit amid the dust of their feet and drink in their words with thirst but talk not much with womankind."  What Mary was doing was unthinkable and unacceptable.  There was a social barrier to be respected.  A woman should know her place and that place was in the kitchen! 

The gospels are filled with stories about Jesus overturning many social barriers and customs that were oppressive and demeaned people. We heard in last week’s gospel that Jesus used a foreigner, an outcast, an unclean Samaritan as a model of love of neighbor.  It was not so surprising then that he allowed and encouraged a woman to do what society told her she should not do.

Martha responded to Jesus as she would to any guest in her house.  There was nothing new in his visit.  It may be that Luke, in writing this story, wanted to focus on the impact that Jesus had on the lives of others.  Jesus told Martha that she should let Mary do what she can do well – sit and listen.  Mary is portrayed as a person of patience and loving care.

Martha, on the other hand, was doing exactly what was expected. She was distracted by many tasks in making sure that all was prepared for her guest.  After all, it was not everyday that you had Jesus in your home so she wanted everything to be just right.  In her own way she was showing her love for Jesus but she was getting no help from her little sister!  She wanted Jesus to set Mary straight, to tell Mary where her place was and what her role was, to help out in the kitchen.

Mary’s act of sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to what he was saying could possibly bring shame on their family. The word, "distracted" means in this case to be over-burdened.  Martha was in a stressful situation.  There was so much to do and Jesus, by encouraging Mary's inactivity, wasn’t helping matters.  Jesus said, "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." 

Mary, by sitting, enjoying and listening to Jesus, chose an act that took precedence and priority over everything else.  There are times when we need to hear, "Don't just do something, sit there and listen!"  There are times for being quiet, for sitting down to listen and learn from others.  In this case we, like Mary, are invited to sit at the feet of Jesus and learn from him.

There are many people today who are forced to work long hours or overtime in order to earn enough income to pay the bills.  We can easily forget why we chose to accept a particular job or what our goals were before we entered the work force.  The only things that release us are vacations, ill health, or being laid off.

Without finding time for recreation or rejuvenating ourselves we can become depressed or experience burnout.  In today’s stressful environment we need to find room in our busy schedules to relax, to sit and listen.

Mary chose to stay where she was and listen.  But many of us are more like Martha and are distracted by many things. There is also a sense among many religious people who believe they know what God wants them to do.  Christian history is full of examples of charging ahead: the crusades; the inquisition; witch-hunting, slavery, the suppression of women, oppression of homosexual and transgendered persons, economic injustice, systems that perpetuate poverty.  These are all examples of societal ills that result from forging ahead and not taking the time to listen to what Jesus taught.

Jesus cared for Martha who did all the work of preparing and serving him as her guest.  He also cared for Mary who sat at his feet and listened.  Where do we need to direct our energy?  Do we need to “don’t just sit there, do something?”  Or, do we need to “don’t just do something, sit there and listen?”  Amen.

Show Mercy and Act

There are a number of television shows featuring lawyers.  One that I enjoyed watching was “The Good Wife.” It was filled with interesting cases, conflicts among various lawyers, law firms and politicians, and many ethical dilemmas that left the viewer wondering whether justice would prevail.  As cases unfolded there were reactions made on the basis of the information at hand, but as more evidence was introduced especially during trial sessions reactions faded in favor of more informed and more ethical decisions.

Today’s gospel passage is about a lawyer who questioned Jesus.  When Jesus replied that he should love his neighbor as himself, the lawyer pressed him and asked, “Who is my neighbor?”  In reviewing some sources about this exchange, I came across a comment by Frederick Buechner, theologian and writer.  I was struck by his almost laughable legal discourse: The lawyer “wanted a legal definition he could refer to in case the question of loving one ever happened to come up.  He presumably wanted something on the order of: ‘A neighbor (hereinafter referred to as the party of the first part) is to be construed as meaning a person of Jewish descent whose legal residence is within a radius of no more than three statute miles from one's own legal residence unless there is another person of Jewish descent (hereinafter to be referred to as the party of the second part) living closer to the party of the first part than one is oneself, in which case the party of the second part is to be construed as neighbor to the party of the first part and one is oneself relieved of all responsibility of any sort or kind whatsoever.’"

You can almost hear an actor playing the role of a lawyer on a television show debating this question of defining a neighbor.  Jesus however was not to be drawn into this debate.  Instead he told the story of the Good Samaritan, a story that points out that a neighbor is anyone in need.  After the lawyer heard this story the text does not record his response.  No doubt he was silenced.

After a priest and a Levite had passed by, Jesus' listeners did not expect that a Samaritan would come along and stop to care for the victim.  Samaritans were outcasts, essentially foreigners who were often subjected to ethnic jokes.  The word, "neighbor" did not apply to them.  Jesus cut through all this by suggesting that the outcast does in fact act as a neighbor.

Hospitality and being a neighbor is about action, not simply words.  It is about the ordinary act of caring for someone in obvious need, regardless of who that person is or where he or she comes from.   Jesus told the lawyer and others who heard him, "Go and do likewise" Take a chance, do what is needed.  It doesn’t matter who the person is, who people are, where they come from, or their  religion, race, ethnicity, or gender.  What matters is how we care for others in need, how we show mercy.   

The people who heard Jesus tell this story might have asked, had they been in the victim's place, whether they would receive help from a stranger, especially an outcast.  Jesus asked them if they would accept an act of kindness from a Samaritan.  Put yourself in the place of the person who was robbed.  Would you accept help from a stranger?  Again, whether from the perspective of the Good Samaritan or from the plight of the individual who was robbed and left half dead, Jesus challenged his hearers to recognize that all people are bound together in a common humanity.

There is a story told by the late Mother Teresa of Calcutta that speaks to our need today in knowing our neighbor and acting with mercy.  It is important because of the recent attacks by ISIS during this past month of Ramadan on Muslims and their sacred sites in Medina and elsewhere

“I had the most extraordinary experience of love of neighbor with a Hindu family. A gentleman came to our house and said: ‘Mother Teresa, there is a family who have not eaten for so long. Do something.’" Mother Teresa took some rice and went there immediately. She saw the children - their eyes shining with hunger.  She said, “I don't know if you have ever seen hunger, but I have seen it very often.  The mother of the family took the rice I gave her and went out.  When she came back, I asked her: ‘Where did you go? What did you do?’"  The mother gave a very simple answer: "They are hungry also."  And she knew they were a Muslim family.

Christians have many different attitudes, beliefs and opinions about what is right or wrong, what is a correct interpretation of biblical text, and what is needed for upholding respect and dignity for every human being.  Jesus, in the parable of the Good Samaritan, said, “What matters is returning to God with all your heart and soul, and going forth to do as the Samaritan did."  Prejudice, bigotry and stereotypes must be broken and ended.  Courage, imagination, risk-taking, caring and mercy are what is needed. Especially in the wake of gun violence in Minnesota, Louisiana, and Texas, we need God’s mercy and healing of our nation that all may live in peace and safety.

God asks us to be fully human, to treat others as neighbors, and to see every person as a sister or brother.  Who was a neighbor to the person who fell into the hands of the robbers?  “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said, “Go and do llkewise.”  Amen. 

Leading the Way with Joy

Today’s Gospel passage from Luke tells us that Jesus, in addition to his twelve disciples, appointed seventy others and sent them in teams of two to every town and place where he intended to go.  They were to bring a message of peace to the places they visited, to eat and drink whatever their hosts provided, to cure the sick, and proclaim the coming kingdom of God.

Following their journey the seventy returned.  They were joyful because the people they met listened to them.  Jesus, however, warned them not to rejoice that even the demons submitted to them, but only to rejoice that their names are written in heaven.

What is striking about this story is the fact that the seventy disciples were sent in pairs to minister to those in need.  It was a team ministry, a mutual sharing in their mission.  They were probably a support for each other because they were told that there was danger along the way.  As Jesus said, “I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves.”  They were also to travel with as little as possible, “Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals.”

Jesus, in sending the disciples in pairs, reflected the belief that two persons working together can achieve far more than the sum of individual efforts.  This suggests a paradigm for the mission of the church.  We are to be in relationship with one another, and we are to foster mutual caring and loving relationships not only in our churches, but in all our relationships at home and abroad.

Two events that offer mutual caring and loving relationships happened recently that I want to share with you:  First, on Saturday, June 25^th, World Refugee Day was observed downtown at Burnside Park.  Dorcas International and the Refugee Dream Center organized the event to honor the perseverance of refugees and to celebrate "the many incredible contributions they make to our society,"

Refugees come to Rhode Island having fled persecution, violence and oppression.  At the event there were bands and dancers from more than 20 countries who performed.  Refugees come to Rhode Island because we offer hospitality and a safe haven.  The diversity that results among people of many different places, races, and religions adds greatly to our appreciation for all of our global relationships.

A second event occurred at our Episcopal Conference Center on Friday, June 24^th.  I have been serving as a member of the Diocesan College Task Force to write a report for the Bishop and Diocesan Council about what we might do with respect to ministry on our college and university campuses.  The task force has been engaged in research about the needs of our colleges and universities in Rhode Island, what neighboring dioceses are doing, and how the experience of chaplains, faculty members and students reflect desires and hopes for the future.

At the Conference Center (ECC), counselors were in training for the summer programs.  They are college students or new high school graduates on their way to college.  There were three of us from the task force who met with fifteen camp counselors.  We asked about their religious experience and what was most important to them.  Another question focused on what they would like to see with respect to ministry on the college campus.

“In their responses, several themes predominated: the presence of joy, the promise of a sustaining community, and (very poignantly) the role of religious belief, with its assurance of the ultimate victory over sin, death and tragedy as an antidote to futility and despair. These were, clearly, what the young people hoped to find in campus ministry, and again and again they came back to these characteristics.  But they also had some observations to share about church services: The times of services should be flexible, with more than one weekly opportunity to participate.

“They saw the value of being part of a diverse congregation, and agreed that the community needed to be large enough to incorporate multiple viewpoints, while remaining small enough for intimacy, the kind of sharing that leads to growth. Finally, they endorsed on-going outreach.

“When the discussion turned to present religious home bases, they were equally frank. When one young adult described the parish “celebrations” as “boring”, it was clear he spoke for several of the others. They suggested using music that speaks to and for its audience. They like the idea of varying sacred spaces. They advocated for an environment that raises consciousness of human need – and does something to address it, but, balancing this, they cited a ministry of presence, and a context in which their interior lives could be fed and flourish. One word that took in all of the above was “authenticity”, to widespread agreement. ‘Campus ministry, if it is to work, must be non-judgmental,” one young woman added, noting that many students feel unwelcome if their lifestyle choices are out of sync with traditional values.’”

Wherever we go we are to bring a message of peace to those we meet, to proclaim the kingdom of God, and to minister to the needs of others.  Whether we meet refugees or college students, as the Anglican Bishop  N.T. Wright has said, “Our task as image-bearing, God-loving, Christ-shaped, Spirit-filled Christians, following Christ and shaping our world, is to announce redemption to a world that has discovered its fallenness, to announce healing to a world that has discovered its brokenness, to proclaim love and trust to a world that knows only exploitation, fear and suspicion…. The gospel of Jesus points us and indeed urges us to be at the leading edge of the whole culture, articulating in story and music and art and philosophy and education and poetry and politics and theology and even--heaven help us--Biblical studies, a worldview that will mount the historically-rooted Christian challenge … leading the way...with joy and humor and gentleness and good judgment and true wisdom.” (N.T. Wright, The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is)  Amen.