Kingdom Building

July 20, 2019

Scripture Reading: Luke 10:38-42

Now as they went on their way, he 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.’

When I read this scripture today, I thought of Ecclesiastes 3: For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: Jesus is not saying that we should all drop everything we are doing and spend all our time listening to his teachings. I think he is saying that being busy for the sake of being busy is pointless. Our culture often defines who we are and what we do rather than delving into our relationship with God and understanding the talents and skills with which we were created and how we can best use them to the glory of God. I do think we have a choice. I think even Jesus had a choice regarding whether he would go to the cross. His decision is what makes it so meaningful.

Martha most likely was concerned about how others would judge her by the expectations for women in that time and place to offer hospitality. That reminded me of the story when God sent Samuel to look for a new king to anoint. When Samuel saw the oldest son, Samuel judged the man by societies measures But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.’ (1 Samuel 16:7)

Martha was probably a little jealous of Mary when after all Martha was doing the right thing related to their culture. There is nothing good or bad with culture and we all live in a least one and most of us live in more than one. Our place of worship has its own culture as does our family and place of work and even our friendship groups. Problems arise when our culture runs counter to the teachings of Jesus. Just because something is the way we have always done it does not mean it is the right thing to do. Identifying those things in our culture that may be harmful to ourselves or others can be hard to do. Examining such activities and altering them when necessary is important in the work we do in the name of Christ.

Prayer: Lord, grant us the insight we need into our cultural heritage to continue to cherish those activities that are in sync with your ways and the courage to remove any harmful things that we may identify. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.