(08-07-13) Mary & Martha - Luke 10.38-42
Mary & Martha – Luke 10:38-42
· Three Sundays until I preach at the Parish Church…
o maybe John was being merciful to you!
· 4 Peters at a Petertide ordination
o 4 Marys who met Jesus!
o Mary and Martha, Lazarus’ sisters from Bethany
· 2 strong points come out of this passage
o one more commonly heard and perhaps more easily seen than the other
§ choosing what is better
§ the radical subversion of the place of women in society
o look quickly at the latter, and then the former
· Difficult to imagine, but a radical, scandalous scene
o segregation
§ women in the kitchen
o sat at the feet of a teacher, the disciple’s place
§ a place of learning
· education not available to women
§ learning in order to become a teacher
· teaching as a women certainly unaccepted
· Jesus confirms Mary’s position as good
· The same with Paul’s controversial sayings
o “let them learn at home…”
§ ‘let them learn’?!!!
· The arguments for an opening up of roles in the Church to women are unfortunately often sociological, even legal
o saying things like:
§ “we must catch up with society”
§ “we could be sued if we don’t conform”
o ‘equality’ in terms of receiving God’s love and giving our lives in His service is a Gospel imperative
· Often seen as contrasting the attitudes of Mary and Martha
o Mary, sitting at Jesus’ feet
§ encouraged
o Martha, preparing the meal in the kitchen
§ chastised/corrected
· the dangers of busyness
o perispavw (v40) – being distracted; to wheel about
o fretting and fussing (v41) (Tom Wright)
§ merimnavw – thoughts occupied by
§ qorubavzw – troubled, disturbed (only use of this word in NT)
· Choose what is better…
o Hebrews 12:2
§ “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith”
§ as we run the race, our strength comes from Him
· futility of doing things in our own strength
· Not a call to a contemplative life for everyone!
o if we were all hermits then we’d all starve!
· Brother Lawrence
o The Practice the Presence of God
o strike the right balance between
§ action and reflection
§ service and worship
§ busyness and rest
o from time to time, try both at once!
§ is God at the bottom of my ironing pile?
§ is God in my office?
§ is God with me wherever I go?
o yes, so let’s sit as His feet everywhere!