Don't lose the WHY in the WHAT

Our Gospel reading this morning tells the story of Mary and Martha, two sisters, family friends of Jesus. For many readers, it seems pretty clear from Jesus’ gentle rebuke of Martha’s lament <pause> that Christ has clearly favored the contemplative life over one of service. We need to spend a few minutes peeling that back a bit though, because we risk missing the real point of the story.

There’s a story about a father and his daughter who were very close. It was obvious to all that they dearly loved each other. They were great friends – the father and the daughter – and were always together. When he would leave the house to run errands or go for a walk, she always went along, and they shared deep, intimate, conversations in their private time together. When he would come home in the evening and pull off his shoes, they’d often just sit and talk. But at one point the daughter seemed to pull back from their closeness, and the father suddenly found he no longer could enjoy her company. She almost seemed to shun him. If he wanted her to walk with him or go for a ride, she always seemed to have something else to do. The father was deeply hurt and couldn’t understand what had happened.

This went on for several months. Then the father’s birthday came. As morning broke, his daughter came to his room, her face radiant with love, and handed him a present. Opening the gift, he found a pair of exquisitely worked house slippers. The father said, “My child, thank you for such a beautiful and thoughtful gift. Where did you BUY them?” “Oh, father,” she said, “I didn’t buy them. I MADE them for you!“ Lovingly looking at her he said, “Ah, I now understand what has been a mystery to me. Is this what you’ve been doing these past three months?” “Yes,” she said, “but how do you know how long I’ve been working on them?” Her father replied, “Because for three months I’ve badly missed your company and your love. Whenever I wanted you with me, you always seemed too busy. These are truly beautiful slippers and I’m touched that you made them for me, but next time please BUY your present. I would rather have your presence, my child, than anything you could ever make or do for me.”

That’s what Jesus seems to be telling Martha. “Mary has chosen the better part.” Martha has embraced her call to hospitality, the call to serve the honored guest in her home. Mary, on the other hand, has chosen to simply spend time in the presence of our Lord, to defer the “doing” in favor of the “being.” She is embracing the intimacy, the closeness of simply spending quiet time with Jesus.

So if Mary has chosen “the better part,” does that make Martha’s desire to serve the Lord wrong here? You might think so from Jesus’ response to her complaint, but it’s not that simple. In our first reading, Abraham and Sarah receive unexpected visitors who suddenly appear in their midst. Abraham enthusiastically greets them, and offers them rest, food, and comfort. He and Sarah selflessly serve them, putting before them a feast and a place to rest in the heat of the day. We could spend a lot of time discussing the visitors - are there three? How come Abraham appears to speak to only one? Does Abraham know they’re God? Is this a foreshadowing of the Trinity? All very interesting, but not the point we’ll explore this morning. Abraham and Sarah selflessly serve three travelers who present themselves before them, offering them the best they have. And in return, God rewards them for their hospitality and service, providing them a son in their old age, and making Abraham the “Father of Nations.”

So if God richly rewards Abraham and Sarah for their hospitality, why does Christ appear to diminish Martha’s attempt to serve him? St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians helps us understand this apparent disconnect. Paul reminds us that it’s all about how we accept our call to service that matters. Paul rejoices in the opportunity to suffer for the Church, to endure and embrace his daily burdens as another chance to serve God. And therein lies the difference between Abraham’s and Martha’s reception of their honored guests. Abraham is concerned only for the well being of his guests. Martha speaks only of the demands placed upon her. She’s lost sight of the whole point of her hospitality, the divine visitor in her midst. Like Martha, each of us is called to a life of service – as a parent, a friend, a Catholic, or as a priest or deacon. Jesus’ gentle rebuke reminds her - and us - that it’s not enough to simply DO what we’re called to do, what’s expected of us. We also need to remain ever focused on the reasons for our actions, lest we risk missing the divine that’s buried within the mundane activities of our daily lives.

So our Gospel message is not as simple as it first appears. We are called to serve the Lord as Martha was, as Abraham did. Pope Francis reminds us that, “It is not enough to say we are Christians. We must live the faith, not only with our words, but with our actions.” But we must remain anchored in our faith, especially in the noise of our modern life. It’s too easy to get lost in the WHAT and forget about the WHY. Hearing and understanding the word of God has to be the first step in everything else we are called to do. That’s Mary’s better part, that’s Abraham’s total focus on the needs of his guests, and that’s the intimate relationship that Christ offers us, the closeness he longs to have with each of us. So yes, we ARE called to serve others in our lives. But we need to balance our service to the Lord with our meditation and prayer to avoid becoming so lost in the doing that we forget the why. Christ calls to each of us not simply to serve him, but to take some time to simply BE with him. The choice is ours in how we respond.