The Bible is a book full of reversals of expected outcomes. You go into a situation expecting one thing and not long afterwards you realize you have obtained the reverse or opposite result. Jesus was a master of this strategy. The goal seems to be to keep us on our toes, to keep us thinking, and to give stress to something important. Take the title of this article today. It is borrowed from the Rev. Donald Schmidt, a United Church of Christ pastor in the state of Washington. It was the title of a sermon he gave on the story of Mary and Martha found in Luke's Gospel. Of course, you recognize the original statement we've heard many times in our lives from folks who think we ought to get busy -- "Dont' just stand there, do something!" The reverse is awkward and at first makes no sense, that is, until we let it sink in a bit.
Mary and Martha entertained Jesus one night at their home in Bethany. You are familiar with the details. Martha, the responsible one, is busy in the kitchen preparing a meal for her guests, attending to chores, and immersed in housework. Mary, the curious one, is sitting at Jesus' feet, listening to his every word, desiring to understand his teaching. Martha complains that she is doing all the work. She implores Jesus to get Mary to help. Jesus refuses, stating that there is only one needful thing, and Mary is focused on it at that moment. The one needful thing is to sit and listen to Jesus. I don't think that Jesus scolds Martha for her hard work, rather, he gently encourages her to take every opportunity she can to stop and listen to what God has to say to her.
None of us do that enough! We are entrenched in our busy-ness. We go from one thing to another, so occupied with the demands of life, wanting to be responsible and successful, that we have no time for our spiritual lives. Let's face it, there are times when we need to stop, sit and meditate, pray, go for a walk, go to a movie, laugh with friends, read a good book. Such things provide an opportunity to focus on some more important issues for our lives. God has difficulty entering a mind that is cluttered with busy-ness, worried about every little detail of what is being done. Pausing in the middle of our rushing around opens us up to the presence of God and a chance for learning and growing. This is what Mary chooses and what Martha and we are invited to choose.
We are called to listen to Jesus. Putting it off, making excuses, finding other things to do is never an excuse. If we will take the time to sit still for a moment and listen to what Jesus may have to say to us. we might find that the rest of the things in our lives will fall into place.
I have begun my sabbatical with the hope that I, like Mary, can sit at Jesus' feet and listen to his instruction. My prayer is that during this summer you too will take moments to do the same. Perhaps when we gather together in September, we can compare notes on what we've learned. Wouldn't that be great?! God bless each of you and God bless Bethany Christian Church!
