A Reflection for Sixth Sunday After Pentecost

Christ in the House of Martha and Mary - Johannes Vermeer.

Because I am a lot like Martha, I’ve always balked at the interpretations of this story that make it seem as if there is something intrinsically flawed in Martha’s nature, or something intrinsically superior in her sister’s. I’ve tried before to embrace the mindset that no matter how much my instincts tell me to get to the kitchen and get the supper ready, I should force myself to sit still at the Lord’s feet all the time, to claim the better portion, to do the one thing that is necessary.

But do you know what happens every single time? My brain screams, “Food! Food is necessary. Someone has to do the work!” I end up just like Martha did in this story, agitated and resentful, feeling as if Jesus is playing favorites and I am automatically on the losing end because of the way he chose to make me. And that seems unjust.

But the more I look at this story and Jesus’s words to Martha here, the more I am sure that Jesus never meant us to live in a world where we have to make a choice to be either a Martha or a Mary—where in order to seek holiness, we would have to change the temperament God gave us. I don’t think our Jesus requires us to be something we are not in order to meet his approval.

Jesus was offering Martha, who was stuck in her either-or mindset, another option, the “both-and” option. He was extending to her an invitation to the one necessary thing, the one thing we need to live in intimacy with him, no matter how we are wired. He was extending to her in that moment, just as he extends to us now, an invitation to contentment, to live unhurried and unafraid, knowing that he is present, right here in the chaos of our everyday lives. And we can embrace that contentment whether we are natural sitters or natural servers.

Jesus is an equal-access Savior.

Just the Way You Are

The truth is that any one of us could choose to sit at Jesus’s feet and still be anxious and worried, distracted, missing out on the grace of the Savior’s presence—just as we could also be in the kitchen contentedly laying supper out on a platter, while we tuned into Jesus’s presence right there in our midst and drank of all that he had to offer.

What Jesus wants for you and me has very little to do with whether we sit or stand, serve the supper or contemplate at his feet. What he wants for us is to be so keenly aware of his divine presence with us that whatever we do takes on the nature of the extraordinary, and we live in a sense of wild gratitude.

We can live knowing that we are completely surrounded by God, knowing that we are not working for his approval but for his pleasure. We can know that we are able to be utterly and completely confident and content in who we are and how we are wired because he is here, visiting us with his love and grace.

What great news, right? Jesus isn’t asking you to fit into a box that feels constricting and ill-fitting so that he can call you good and holy. That’s not the one thing that is necessary. Can you hear me exhaling with you?

What Jesus desires for us, more than he demands it from us, is for us to know that we belong to him. Whether we are the ones who by nature seek the spot at his feet, or the ones who tie up their apron strings and keep their hands busy, we can all be alert and attentive. We are all invited to be disciples…

Martha and Mary: Jesus Loves Them Both by Colleen C. Mitchell St. Anthony Messenger

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MAY GOD BLESS US TO GROW AND THRIVE – IN 2025!

May God Bless you and yours as we journey together through this Pentecost Season…

May God Awaken, Inspire and Challenge you with the Surprises of The Spirit!

As we see, appreciate and embrace the Great Gift of God with us

May God’s Spirit empower us to

“expect great things from God and to attempt great things for God”…

and

May God Continue to Bless Union Church!

-Pastor Mark