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The Highest Priority
10.2.22 [Luke 10:38-45] River of Life (17th Sunday after Pentecost)
Nobody fights like family.
Maybe there is just something about sharing so many things, so many experiences, so much time and space with a relatively small group of people that seems to produce squabbles.
Nobody squabbles quite like siblings.
We all have those stories, right?
Growing up, your brother or sister said something or did something and it just set you off.
And vice versa.
Even with the rise of spacious minivans and captain’s chairs and tablets, siblings still find reasons to fight on long car trips.
Nobody squabbles quite like siblings.
The Holy Scriptures are filled with plenty of sibling squabbles and the vast majority of them are in the Old Testament.
In fact, it’s really quite amazing how often it comes up when you start looking for it.
Of course, sibling squabbles start out savagely, with Cain and Abel.
But it’s not like they’re the only ones.
Jacob & Esau jostled for their father Isaac’s blessing.
Rachel & Leah contended for their husband Jacob’s affection.
Joseph’s brothers hated how much their father fawned over Joseph so they kidnapped him and sold him into slavery.
But even as Israel’s descendants grew more numerous the sibling squabbles didn’t disappear.
Aaron and Miriam grew jealous of Moses as they wandered in the wilderness.
Right before David defeated Goliath, he made his brother, Eliab, hot with anger for even coming to the battlefield.
The Holy Scriptures are filled with sibling squabbles because these are the real words of God and the lives of real people.
What struck me in reviewing all these sibling squabbles was the timing.
Each of these sibling squabbles happen between what should be mature adults.
We may think of sibling squabbles as being only an issue in childhood, but it’s not in the Bible.
And it’s not in our lives, either.
In today’s Gospel, we have what we might see as yet another sibling squabble.
This time between two sisters from Bethany—Martha and Mary.
But hold on.
There are typical sibling squabble elements missing.
First of all, a good sibling squabble usually involves both siblings saying or doing something.
This one is really one-sided.
Mary doesn’t say anything in our text at all.
And, if you were to have asked Martha right around v. 40, Mary isn’t doing anything.
And as Martha describes it, that’s precisely the problem.
Listen again closely to her complaint: (Lk.
10:40) Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself?
Tell her to help me!
Now, I don’t know if two siblings can grow up in the same household without having this issue at least a time or two.
There is always this tension where one sibling thinks they are doing all the work and the other isn’t pulling their weight.
And they could be right.
But we have to ask ourselves, is that’s what’s happening here?
Is Martha doing all the work while Mary sits in the comfy chair eating bon-bons?
What exactly are they fighting over?
Look at what Luke tells us.
(Lk.
10:39) Mary was sitting at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.
Mary is listening and learning from her Lord.
She doing spiritual homework.
And Martha is fuming with jealousy.
Martha looks at all the things that need to be done to welcome the Lord and (Lk.
10:38) his disciples into their home and she feels like Mary isn’t doing her fair share.
So she appeals to Jesus to make things right.
(Lk.
10:40) Lord…tell her to help me!
We’ve all been in this tense moment before.
So what typically happens when a Martha yells at you?
You give in to the upset person and just do what they say so that things don’t escalate.
Or you yell back, right?
And it so easily could have gone that way, right?
Jesus could have turned to Mary and said: You know, you really ought to lend Martha a hand.
Love your neighbor as yourself, right?
Or since he’s Jesus, he could have told Mary and his disciples that he was going to hit the pause button on the day’s lesson and that everyone should help Martha make preparations.
Or, I suppose, Jesus could have snapped at Martha for interrupting him and questioning whether or not he cared about her.
Aren’t there moments when you wish Jesus would say or do something?
Maybe you look around at all that needs to be done in your home, in your church, or in your community—and you kind of just wish Jesus would show up and crack the whip a little bit?
Get your family to be a little more forgiving and loving towards one another.
Get your fellow church members to be a little more generous in the offering plate and a little more enthusiastic about evangelism.
Get your community a little more interested in their eternal condition.
Lord, tell them to get to work!
If you have ever served in a church, in any capacity, you have felt and thought—and even probably talked—like Martha.
You’ve looked at your brothers and sisters in Christ with the scorn that Martha had for Mary.
But it’s more than that.
Because we get like Martha even when there isn’t a Mary anywhere to be found.
When we look at all we need to do, all the things on our to-do list, all the people who need something from us, we get (Lk.
10:41) stressed and upset.
Relationships & finances & health concerns pull us in many directions.
So many times, it feels like there are not enough days in the week or hours in a day.
At times, it feels like there is not enough of us to go around.
So many times, being worried & upset about many things leads us to take it out on the people closest to us.
But even when out of frustration or anger we snap at our Lord, as Martha did, he does not respond in kind.
Instead he is tender and loving.
Twice, Jesus says her name.
(Lk.
10:41) Martha, Martha.
There is nothing dismissive about the way Jesus says this either.
Jesus knows what’s going on in her heart and mind.
He knows that she may have the best of intentions and want nothing more than to be a gracious host to Jesus.
But this is a crucial moment for Martha, a crucial moment where she needs to come to grips with something important about her Lord.
You see, that’s another pattern we see in the Holy Scriptures.
The Lord repeating someone’s name at a critical juncture in their life.
(Gen.
22:11) Abraham!
Abraham! the Lord called out as Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac.
(Ex.
3:4) Moses!
Moses! the Lord called out from the burning bush as he was commissioning Moses to serve as Israel’s deliverer.
The Lord called out the names of the prophet Samuel and the apostle Saul or Paul twice as he changed the course of their lives.
And as the hour of Jesus’ death drew near, Jesus said to Simon Peter, (Lk.
22:31-32) Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat.
But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail.
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