I suppose we have the
summer to thank for the heavy emphasis on travel in Luke’s gospel so far.
Certainly gas prices tell us more folk are on the road going and coming. Jesus
has been on the move too.
This summer he set out
for Jerusalem, sent 70 in pairs to every town and place he intended to go, and
then we traveled with him along the road where the Samaritan showed mercy to
his neighbor.
With him we have taken
the road less traveled. We have been on the road of the Holy Other. The road
that has made all the difference for Jesus and for us. Because Jesus’ road
follows along the way of God’s Kingdom.
We learn a lot
traveling with Jesus on summer break. He has shown us that it is God alone who
has chosen us to be on God’s road where our savior, Jesus Christ, has topped to
be our good Samaritan. Where again and again Jesus has stopped along our road
of life to lovingly and graciously attend to us and love us as his children.
Along this way we have
also learned there is a particular way we are to live. We are to live a new life
grounded in Christ’s love. We now know this new life will form us to become a
disciple of Jesus Christ.
Being so formed, ours is
to be a life seeking God’s will. A life doing love. A life accepting God’s
grace and doing service to all whom God places along our way.
This morning, with
Jesus, we take a rest from our traveling. With him we enter a certain village
where a woman named Martha welcomes us. As Jesus settles into the house Martha
is busy attending to her work. It is obvious she takes her work seriously.
While her work is
important we quickly learn the many things she is doing distracted her from
attending to Jesus. Obviously duty and obligation requires workers and Martha
was such a worker. Just as obviously, to attend solely to some work results in
our neglecting others.
Mary, her sister, was
not a worker. No, Mary was a listener. She sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to
what he was saying. Mary was attracted to attend to Jesus. She was not
distracted to the many tasks or the many things as was Martha.
This did not sit well
with Martha. She was after all a task driven woman and what Mary was doing made
her angry. Angry enough to go to Jesus and complain that Mary was leaving all
the work for her. Angry enough to even be upset with Jesus.
She says to him “Lord,
do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself?” I can
just see her with both hands on her hips as she burns her gaze into Jesus’
eyes.
We should not be
surprised to then hear Mary say, “Martha, you are upset with me because you are
distracted from spending quality time with Jesus. I am not distracted. I show
my faithfulness by attending to his presence. I am not angry with anyone
because I have chosen the better way in life, the one thing that really
matters, fully attending to Jesus. So do not be angry with me or with Jesus
because of what you are feeling guilty about! Own you own decision!
Jesus may have added,
“Martha, do not try and force Mary to follow your path. There are many ways to
be faithful. She has chosen the better part.”
Mary is not being
lazy. Mary is doing something, she is active. Her activity is just different
than Martha’s. Mary is showing us that her life with Jesus has become relational,
and as such, it has become her passion.
Mary is being faithful to Jesus. She is living the active
life style of a faithful Christian. She is living a life of worship and
service.
“In his book, “The
Life of God in the Soul of Man,” Henry Scougal laments that so few people seem
to understand what true Christianity is. Some imagine that all God wants is for
us to have the correct mental understanding of Christianity. Others think it is
a matter of external duties – obeying the laws of the bible, keeping busy doing
the right things. Still others believe that real Christianity is having the
right affections and feelings toward God.
Each of these misses the point, according to
Scougal. The essence of Christianity
lies not in the realm of thought, performance, or feelings. Real Christianity
is a union of the soul with God. The apostle Paul describes it as Christ
“formed in” us. (Gal. 4:19)
“A union of the soul
with God.” We have heard it said that Jesus is in our midst. That Jesus is
here, in our heart and soul. There are classically two ways for Jesus to be set
in our soul, and both ways involve prayer. They are taken from Paul’s advice to
the Thessalonians that they should “Pray without ceasing”
We may have the best
example of the practical nature of Paul’s advice in Brother Lawrence’s little
book, “Practicing the Presence of God.”
Brother Lawrence
assures us, “We do not have to be constantly in church to be with God. We can
make our heart a prayer room into which we can retire from time to time to
speak with God gently, humbly, and lovingly. Everyone is capable of these
familiar conversations with God – some more, some less. God knows what our
capabilities are. Let us begin, for perhaps God is only awaiting a generous
resolve on our part.”
Practicing the
presence of God is as easy as keeping an ongoing conversation with God
throughout the day. I know how ironic that sounds. Nothing with God is easy.
But God knows what is in our hearts and God knows our intentions even when we
slip from them from time to time.
The other way to bring
the practice of prayer closer to our hearts and minds comes from the Quaker
writer Thomas Kelly who says we are to prayerfully let the presence of Christ
flow through us.
He writes, “Deep
within us all there is an amazing inner sanctuary of the soul. A holy place, a
Divine Center, a speaking Voice, to which we may continuously return. Eternity
is at our hearts, pressing upon our time-torn lives, warming us with
intimations of an astounding destiny, calling us home unto Itself.
Yielding to these
persuasions, gladly committing ourselves in body and soul, utterly and
completely, to the Light Within, is the beginning of true life. It is a dynamic
center, a creative Life that presses to birth within us. It is a Light Within
which illumines the face of God and casts new shadows and new glories upon the
face of men (and women). It is a seed stirring to life if we do not choke it.
Here is the Slumbering Christ, stirring to be awakened, to become the soul we
clothe in earthly form and action. And God is within us all.”
The good news from Paul,
Brother Lawrence, and Kelly is Christ is already a living presence within us.
Jesus’ is a presence we can awaken and Jesus’ presence is such that Jesus can
live and act through us. Once we accept Jesus’ invitation to come and follow
him our life in Christ becomes the sole basis for our life in the world.
James Torrance, Scottish theologian and professor, taught his
students this powerful truth, “Our life in Christ is a matter of, moment-by-moment,
living our lives out of who we are in Christ.”
He was fond of quoting
Galatians 2:19-20: “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I
who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.”
But, we cannot help
ourselves from being distracted by many tasks and by many things, as was
Martha. We naturally flow back into our Godless selves, quickly losing sight of
who we are in Christ.
Our task this morning,
as it is many mornings, is to discover how we may flow back to the Christ who
is alive and waiting patiently for us to return. Our flowing back to God is
certainly Jesus’ preference. Jesus prefers we accept the better part of life,
listening to his word and, receiving his wisdom and being in relationship with
him. And that is probably our preference too.
As scripture tells us,
many things will be taken away from those who are distracted by many things. We
will worry and Jesus will eventually be taken from us.
On the other hand,
Jesus will not take himself away from those grounded in him. Grounding
ourselves in Jesus, we will soon discover that our holy union with Christ does
not lie dormant.
For God reveals time
and time again God’s holy union within us. Such revelation is revealed in the
life of Jesus. It is known to us in the stories of our lives and loved ones. We
did not design this revelation. It was God’s predetermined design grounded in
love.
In order for God’s
design on our life to triumph we must strive to be in conformity with Jesus.
Our conformity happens when we become more
and more like him. When we are obedient to God’s call. When we are faithful
to God’s design. When we follow God’s commandments and laws and spend time in
prayer and study. When we adopt the very characteristics of Jesus and practice
his presence,
We conform when we love God, and our neighbor. We conform
when we set our dreams and desires aside and seek instead the life Christ has
for us.
Only them might we
have a chance to stop our aimless, self- perpetuating worry. For then we will
be attracted to a better life. We will be attracted to a better person. We will
be attracted to Jesus Christ.
Thomas Merton, the
Trappist Monk, has assured us, “We know God in and through ourselves in so far
as God’s truth is the source of our being and his merciful love is the very
heart of our life and existence.”
As God’s truth becomes
the source of our being we will become more and more like Jesus. As God’s
merciful love is the very heart of our life and existence, Jesus will draw us
deeper into holy communion, into holy union, with himself.
This is how we are to
achieve our chief end, which is to glorify God.
This is how we choose the better life.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit, one God, now and forever, Amen. 072113.gpc
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