Gospel text for Sunday 14 July 2019

Luke 10,25-37        Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?" He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." And he said to him, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live."

But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 

Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, `Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.' Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" He said, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise.”

Reflection        A lawyer who is interested in protecting the conventions of  Hebrew law, not to mention his personal elite status,  stands up to test Jesus asking, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus, being a wise rabbi, responds to the lawyer with another question, “Well, you are a lawyer, what does the law say?” 

Without missing a beat the lawyer quotes two texts from the Torah. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”  Jesus replies, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live." Ten points for the lawyer. He knows the letter of the law. 

But Jesus does not reply, “Congratulations you have rightly quoted the summary of the law and the prophets as written in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Jesus says, “DO this and you will live.” It seems the pharisaic lawyer is deaf to Jesus’ message and decides to argue a fine point, “Who is my neighbor?” No one would blame Jesus for shaking his head and walking away muttering, “What’s the use?” But, Jesus is merciful, does not give up on the self-satisfied lawyer and offers  him a teaching tale.

A man is destitute, on the verge of death, desperately in need of help on a lonely stretch of desert. The situation seems utterly hopeless until a priest comes by and for a moment we breath a sigh of hope. But wait. The priest, who protects the orthodoxy of the Hebrew scripture crosses to the other side of the road and shows no mercy. At this very moment we take a collective breath and proclaim, “Isn’t that awful? Surely we would never do that.” Let us not be so quick to judge. There are Hebrew prohibitions against touching a corpse, the priest was merely being cautious. If  the destitute man dies and the priest touches his corpse, the priest would be unclean.

Once again our hope for the destitute man rises when a Levite whose job is to assist the priests in worship in the temple but alas and alack, this presumptive holy Levite also crosses to the other side of the road and shows no mercy to the destitute man. Now our ire is really piqued. “How heartless? No doubt this pious Levite considers himself a righteous man. How could he be so callous?”

Are we beginning to sound a bit smug and sanctimonious? Is it time for us to pause and be honest with ourselves lest we don the mantle of self righteousness displayed by the lawyer, the priest and the Levite? How often do we cross the road, look the other way, drive by, change the channel, turn the page, silence the radio or ignore the opportunity to DO mercy?  Let’s be honest. The way to live rightly is to "do mercy" which puts us in right relationship with God and with our neighbors. Whom have we passed by?

Here is the thing. Jesus does not commend us to go, study the law and the prophets like the lawyer. He does not charge us to enforce the orthodoxy of the faith like the priest nor does he direct us to master the traditions of worship like the Levite. No. Jesus commands us to “do mercy” by caring for whomever shows up along our way. “Do mercy” here and now because the Kingdom of Heaven is here, now, and we are intended to be the purveyors of God’s mercy.

Jesus teaches that it is more important to pay attention to this life than be concerned about an afterlife. When Jesus says to the lawyer, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live,” he does not say, do this and you will have a happily ever afterlife. Jesus says, “Do this, and you will live…”  in right relationship with God, right here, right now, on earth.

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Gospel text for Sunday 17 July 2016

                                                          Luke 10:38-42        As Jesus and his disciples went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. 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." But the Lord answered her, "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.”

Reflection      Even though Martha got the first part right, inviting Jesus into her home, it was not long before her concern about preparing Jesus a proper meal drove her to distraction and resentment of her sister Mary.  Can you hear Martha clanging her pots and pans while muttering, “Sure must be nice to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to his stories while I mash chickpeas in the kitchen!”

I have heard many commentaries play off Martha against Mary and I believe they miss an important point. Let me suggest that Martha and Mary represent two aspects of our selves, both of which are essential for us to be whole; the listening heart of Mary and the serving heart of Martha.  Mary and Martha go hand in hand. Contemplation and action belong together.

For Martha’s actions to be sensitive they must arise from the receptive state represented by Mary.  For Mary’s reflection to be productive it must lead to effective action. Jesus sees that Martha’s actions are rooted in worry and distress and consequently are neither sensitive nor effective. She identifies with being busy, “I am the responsible one. If it was not for me nothing would get done around here.” Martha’s interior state is unsettled, worried and accusatory which undermines anything she does.

By contrast Mary’s interior state is quiet and attentive. Her listening heart is open to experience the presence of Jesus, God with her.  There is, however, a hazard possible for Mary as well. Some may call it quietude or self-indulgent navel gazing. Eventually Mary must stand up and allow her relationship with God to effect the way she lives her life. When she does her actions will be sensitive and effective.

Most of the time most of us find our ordinary state of awareness is much like distraught Martha. In that fazed and fuddled state we are incapable of living the Way of Jesus; loving God and loving our neighbors. What we need are both sisters, holding hands and showing us the way of a sensitive listening heart compelled to effective action. Then, in the words of Cynthia Bourgault we will have “the capacity to be fully engaged at every level of (our) being: alive and simultaneously present to both God and the situation at hand.” (Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, p 117)

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Gospel text for Sunday 21 July 2013

Luke 10:38-42        As Jesus and his disciples went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. 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." But the Lord answered her, "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."

Reflection           The story of Martha and Mary is so familiar that when I began to reflect on it I heard echoes of hundreds of sermons bouncing off the walls of my mind. I could imagine the cover of a book on my office bookshelf, Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World. But it was my Sabbath day and I was not at my office. I wracked my brain to remember the author which led me down a few twisted dead ends before I googled trusty Amazon and ‘remembered,’ the author is Joanna Weaver. All of this led me far from my engagement with the story. Feeling a bit anxious I wondered, “However will I sort through all of this to discover how the Spirit is speaking through the text to me today? How will I get this reflection written and everything else I have planned to do on my Sabbath day today done?” 

And there it was. I was thinking, feeling and acting like my sister Martha who was distracted by all the things she had done and the things she thought she knew or had to do. Even though it is the day the Lord visits Martha and her sister, both Martha and I are still trying to take charge and run our agendas. Oops! I decided to sit, meditate and wait for the storm to pass and the dust to settle. I set my “Insight Timer,” relaxed my body and followed my breath. A train of disconnected thoughts burbled to the surface of my consciousness. The good news is, I cannot recall any of them now. 

Three Kangsé chimes called me to conclude my time of waiting and listening. Having ‘heard’ nothing to write about Martha and Mary I recalled what Jesus said to the disciples while instructing them about prayer a bit later in Luke’s text. “Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.” (Luke 11.9) I decided to persist in my prayer. This time I didn’t set the timer. I just joined Mary at Jesus’ feet and offered this prayer. “OK, here I am Lord. If there is anything for me to write and share with your people, please let me know. I’ll just wait here.” 

I have no idea how much time passed before Zachariah the cat decided to check on my status. I do know that I felt incredibly good resting in God’s presence. As I realized that my time of waiting was over (Zachariah relentlessly insisted that I get up and open the door to let him go outside) I cast around my mind for words to write and realized all I had to tell was my story. So there it is. The story of a distracted woman, persistent prayer and an insistant cat.