Sunday - 07/21/13 RWJ/Pottersville
UMC
Sermon: “Martha’s
Lesson”
Scripture Lesson: Amos 8:1-12
Gospel Lesson: Luke 10:38-42
Good morning brothers and sisters! Welcome
in the name of the risen Christ, to worship on this ninth Sunday after
Pentecost! That day so long ago that Holy Spirit filled the followers of Jesus
Christ, and the Christian Church was born.
This morning, I want to talk to you
about people who feel overburdened, stressed, or worried. For those people who
feel these ways, it could be because you are working to much, it could be because
you have to much responsibility, it could because you have too much on your
mind, it could be because you think that you have to do everything, and etc.
Imagine for a moment though that if Jesus himself said to you, “hey relax,” “hey
lighten up!” I can only imagine what it would feel like to have Jesus say
something such as this to me.
For me, it makes me think about all of
those things that distract us, that consume our time, and that wear us down. I
think about times in my own life that I have worried about things, that I have been
distracted with work or tasks, and that I have otherwise not saw what was right
in front of me. For when we are not focused on Jesus, then what are we focused
on? If we are not seeking Christ primarily, then what are we seeking?
In this morning’s scripture reading
from Amos 8:1-12, the Lord showed the prophet Amos “a basket of summer fruit.”
The Lord then goes on to say in this scripture, that the people of Israel will
suffer, will not be in God’s grace, that they not receive this fruit. For they
have become like decaying fruit. For God then said to Amos, “Hear this, you
that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land, saying, “When
will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain; and the Sabbath, so that
we may offer wheat for sale? We will make the ephah small and the shekel great,
and practice deceit with false balances, buying the poor for silver and the
needy for a pair of sandals, and selling the sweepings of the wheat.” The
scripture goes on according to the prophet Amos saying that the people of
Israel will be punished for their ways. That their songs of joy will turn into “lamentation,”
that there will be “sackcloth on all loins, and baldness on every head,” as is
the stereotypical look for a Christian monk of the Middle Ages. Surely the
prophet Amos is telling the people of Israel that if you want to live, if you
want forgiveness, then you must repent, then you must focus on the Lord.
For when turn away from the Lord, we
are like the people in the Book of Judges in Old Testament. In the Book of
Judges, it says in 21:25 “In those days there was no king in Israel.
Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” Brothers and sisters, when
we turn from God, don’t we begin to do what is right in our own eyes? Perhaps
we start small, but then finally we have gotten to a place of such sin, such depravity,
and such falseness, that sometimes we don’t even know how we got there to begin
with.
With
that said, like any good young Methodist Pastor, I want to talk about the head
of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis. Pope Francis in a recent address to
some Roman Catholic Seminarians and soon to be Roman Catholic Nuns said this, “It hurts me when I
see a priest or a nun with the latest model car, you can’t do this, a car is
necessary to do a lot of work, but please, choose a more humble one. If you
like the fancy one, just think about how many children are dying of hunger in
the world.” Wow! By the way, in case anyone was wondering what the head
of the Roman Catholic Church drives around Vatican City, it is a used 2005 Ford
Focus. He is no longer transported in the usual Mercedes Benz. In fact, he no
longer wears the ornate vestments of his office, and doesn’t even live in the
large Papal apartments. Rather he lives in a small modest apartment, as he is
only the head of a church 1.1 billion people.
For
many of us, we have seen this leader of one our sister church denominations,
and have been humbled and impressed by him. I know that I have been humbled by
this person, and I have been further compelled to give freely, and serve others
even more. Imagine a world where we all gave a little more, and took a little
less. Imagine a world, where the hungry are feed, where the naked are clothed,
and were children live in peace.
Brothers
and sisters, I think that the Christian Church is on the verge of a great
awakening, a great revival. I went over to the Lake Luzerne area for part of
the day yesterday, to the town of Hadley. I did this to meet with my ministry
mentor for ordination, the Rev. John Chesney. Within a few minutes of our chatter,
came the usual Saturday question from one pastor to another, “So what are you
preaching on tomorrow?” I told Rev. Chesney that I was preaching a sermon
called “Martha’s lesson,” and he said that he was preaching a sermon called “Martha,
Martha, Martha,” a play on words of the Brady Bunch television show phrase, “Marsha,
Marsha, Marsha.”
In
the midst of our conversation Rev. Chesney was encouraging, and he then asked me
what sort of vision I have for the future our collective church. I told him
that if we love people so radically, so boldly, and with such extravagant generosity,
than they are much more likely to know the Lord. I mean if someone is loving,
if they care for you, if they make you feel valued, if they love the Lord with
everything they have, and if they love their neighbor as themselves, then
others will come follow. You see when we truly live the gospel, people see it,
and that love absorbs into them, and they believe. For when we give it all to
the Lord to serve his people, when we truly love with all that we have, we seek
God, we serve his people, and we see Christ in every face that we encounter.
So
then, as Rev. Chesney would put it, on to the “Martha, Martha, Martha” reading
from this morning, from the Gospel of Luke. This gospel reading says, “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 the
Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying.” Brother and sisters, if the
Lord entered our house this afternoon, would we immediately sit at his feet, or
would we busy ourselves with other things? The gospel goes on to say, “But
Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord,
do you not care that my sister had left me to do all the work by myself? Tell
her to help me.” Anyone her every feel like growing up that you always did all
the work, and that one of your siblings slacked off? Her is what Jesus says to
Martha, “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 hear these words, I think to myself, “when have I been too busy for the Lord?”
How many times have I found excuse after excuse to be about the business of
church, but struggled to take time to be like Mary, and sit at the feet of the
Lord. Growing up, I always remember that my mother would go to great efforts to
put on a large and multiple course meals for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and
Easter. She was always insistent that she didn’t need any help in the kitchen.
She was also insistent that I lick the beater blades off from the mixer, a task
that she didn’t have to twist my arm to get me to do! I would remember so often
at these family gatherings say, “Mom when will you sit with us to eat? When will
you join us?”
Well
we got host my parents and Melissa’s parents at the parsonage for this past
Thanksgiving dinner, and yes my mom still did a lot of cooking, but not all of
it. What a joy it was to have my mom take it a little easier, and not be so
busy with so many things.
Yet
we are all a little like Martha some days aren’t we? There are days where we
are busy, where we are worried, where perhaps we are angry, or that we are
distracted. Yet what I have learned in my young life my brothers and sisters,
of all of the things that we can recover from the mistakes we make in this
life, and while Jesus will always forgive us, there is one thing that we can
never get back. That thing is time. Time my brothers and sister is precious.
I would like to close
this morning with a story, from an unknown author. He is how the story goes: Ruth looked at the envelope again.
There was no stamp, no postmark, only her name and address. She read the letter
one more time... Dear Ruth, I'm going to be in your neighborhood Saturday
afternoon and I'd like to stop by for a visit. Love
Always, Jesus
Her hands were shaking as she placed
the letter on the table. "Why would the Lord want to visit me? I'm nobody
special. I don't have anything to offer." With that thought, Ruth
remembered her empty kitchen cabinets. "Oh my goodness, I really don't
have anything to offer. I'll have to run down to the store and buy something
for dinner."
She reached for her purse and counted
out its contents. Seven dollars and forty cents. "Well, I can get some
bread and cold cuts, at least." She threw on her coat and hurried out the
door. A loaf of French bread, a half-pound of sliced turkey, and a carton of
milk... leaving Ruth with a grand total of twelve cents to last her until
Monday. Nonetheless, she felt satisfied as she headed home, her meager
offerings tucked under her arm.
"Hey lady, can you help us,
lady?" Ruth had been so absorbed in her dinner plans, she hadn't even
noticed two figures huddled in the alleyway. A man and a woman, both of them
dressed in little more than rags. "Look lady, I ain't got a job, ya know,
and my wife and I have been living out here on the street, and, well, now it's
getting cold and we're getting kinda hungry and, well, if you could help us,
lady, we'd really appreciate it."
Ruth looked at them both. They were
dirty, they smelled bad and, frankly, she was certain that they could get some
kind of work if they really wanted to. "Sir, I'd like to help you, but I'm
a poor woman myself. All I have is a few cold cuts and some bread, and I'm
having an important guest for dinner tonight and I was planning on serving that
to Him."
"Yeah, well, OK lady, I
understand. Thanks anyway." The man put his arm around the woman's
shoulders, turned and headed back into the alley. As she watched them leave,
Ruth felt a familiar twinge in her heart. "Sir, wait!" The couple
stopped and turned as she ran down the alley after them. "Look, why don't
you take this food. I'll figure out something else to serve my guest." She
handed the man her grocery bag. "Thank you lady. Thank you very
much!" "Yes, thank you!" It was the man's wife, and Ruth could
see now that she was shivering. "You know, I've got another coat at home.
Here, why don't you take this one." Ruth unbuttoned her jacket and slipped
it over the woman's shoulders. Then smiling, she turned and walked back to the
street . . . without her coat and with nothing to serve her guest. "Thank
you lady! Thank you very much!"
Ruth was chilled by the time she
reached her front door, and worried too. The Lord was coming to visit and she
didn't have anything to offer Him. She fumbled through her purse for the door
key. But as she did, she noticed another envelope in her mailbox. "That's
odd. The mailman doesn't usually come twice in one day." She took the
envelope out of the box and opened it.
Dear Ruth, It was so good to see you again. Thank you for the
lovely meal. And thank you too, for the beautiful coat. Love Always, Jesus
The air was still cold, but even
without her coat, Ruth no longer noticed. Then the righteous will answer him,
"Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you
something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or
needing clothes and clothe you?" The King will reply, "I tell you the
truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did
for me." Matthew 25:37-40.
My brothers
and sisters, how many times have been like Martha, fretting, worried, and
forgetting that all that the Lord wants of us, is us. He desires only our
hearts, and perhaps “Martha’s lesson” was that she didn’t have to get
everything perfect for the Lord, but rather that she just had to come to the
Lord. My brothers and sisters, time is precious, and we can never get it back.
Let us use our time well, let us use our time loving at the feet of Jesus. I
bring this message to you, in the same of the one who has saved us all, so that
we never taste death, but instead that we shall live. Amen.
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