18 July 2004

Sunday July 18, 2004
Proper 11, Year C
Preached at Trinity Church, Swedesboro

The joys of being an Episcopalian. We are busy fixing the flowers, polishing the brass, muttering of candle styles, bleaching the linens, getting babies baptized ASAP, ordering the procession, and deciding when really is the proper time to stand, sit and kneel, (and making sure one is not the first to do any of the above). The robes are clean, acolytes and LEM’s in attendance, the organ, and organist sound wonderful- yes we are good Episcopalians.

We feel we need to meet THESE expectations, and when we don’t –or when someone else doesn’t, there’s a tendency even amongst the most laid back to get a tad annoyed.

Martha would have made a good Episcopalian. Mary on the other hand, wasn’t checking all the details, finishing the food, puttering about to make these visitors stay as “pretty” as it could be.
No, while Martha was in the kitchen, removed from these important, knowledgeable people, and the amazing teacher, Jesus, Mary instead showed up.

Yes, she showed up to hear Jesus. Jesus was a teacher, and Mary understood that, and was there to learn. She didn’t clutter her head with details and distractions, and she wasn’t satisfied simply knowing that Jesus existed, simply knowing,
and being proud of the fact that he was in her home.

No, she knew she had to experience it, she had to BE there. She was given the opportunity to learn directly from God, and was not about to miss that opportunity or satisfy herself with making sure all the details were in order, missing out on this event, with the reassurance that the teaching was going on.

It’s easy to make excuses for Martha, I know- I make those excuses all the time.
The work had to get done…it was Mary’s responsibility… when things go wrong, people notice… it’s a busy world- there’s so much work and we can’t get it done on time by ourselves.

We try to come to church as much as we can- and we come when we or our children have to acolyte, LEM, or read, the babies got baptized, we know the words to the creed, the flower memorials are in-
but what if we just don’t show up?

We all know showing up doesn’t just mean getting our bodies in a pew every Sunday- showing up is also about being fully present – especially about being fully present when its so much easier not to be.
I’m sure you all know what I mean about not being fully present- like, those times during the readings, or the Eucharistic prayer, or possibly VERY OCCASIONALLY the sermon, when you just stop paying attention- you don’t mean to, it just happens.
You start thinking about-
oh- DISTRACTIONS—whether they be about work, school, sports, the church or nothing in particular, those times when we are physically here, but still not present.

WE are given the same opportunity as Mary and Martha—we are given the opportunity to learn from Jesus- Jesus, whom Paul described earlier today as the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation, him in whom all things on earth were created.
WE are given the opportunity to learn from him—cool, ain’t it?

And to think we could lose this opportunity just by not showing up? This knowledge is freely being given to us- Paul spoke later about Christ in you. This, when read in the Greek, is the plural YOU—us… Christ in community-- in the church…

This is getting pretty cool, isn’t it- so what makes us turn it down? Well, Martha was surrounded by distractions. She wanted everything to be perfect, and expected Mary both to want the same thing, and to assist in achieving Martha’s goal. Mary, however, wanted not to worry about details, but she wanted to grasp the main point…to show up, she wanted to be there, to hear what the Lord had to say to HER- I mean, this absolutely amazing guy-, who I just described, was coming to her house, and she was going to show up. Indeed, what’s the point of having God offered to you if you are too busy, making everything ELSE work if you are too busy making the details surrounding the offer, to have the offer happen properly, if your too busy with the distractions, to accept him?

So Mary, with the disciples and other followers wanted to hear what Jesus had to say—besides if Martha wasn’t working so hard, they all would have coped, it was a bunch of young guys. And Mary understood that- she knew that Christ was being offered to her, and she couldn’t blow this.
Christ is being offered to us on a regular basis all of us, newborn straight on up, - every Sunday, we come together and hear Christ’s word- and we worship God, and thank God for it all. And remembering what Paul said,
how Jesus is the image of God, and created all things, and that he’s the head of the church- don’t you think he should be praised?

Who are we, created by him, not to praise him, or not to let others, whom he as also freely offered himself, praise him. Jesus has also offered himself to the young and others who can’t drive, they too should worship God. It might be difficult, but you really can put them in your car and drive them to church with you. It does work, really... no one will mind.

But really, this reminds me of a line from the 1999 movie Dogma, the character Serendipity, a muse, is talking with the main character.
She says: "I have issues with anyone who treats God like a burden instead of a blessing …You people don't celebrate your faith, you mourn it."

Church shouldn’t be a chore, it’s a celebration… we should want to praise God. Martha was panicking, clearly upset that this important person, that her Lord was here, and everything wasn’t perfect- instead of celebrating the joy that she should have in the Lord visiting her, she mourned she was not making a proper impression, and she quite clearly felt that that the Lord visiting her created too much extra work, the Lord was a burden- and her sister was doing nothing to make anything easier.

Mary didn’t let that bother her; she was joyous at the Lord visiting their home, and recognized how blessed she was that she could be taught by Jesus.

Once a week, for one hour, we come together, robes and flowers, procession and pew aerobics, and praise this amazing creator, redeemer, and sanctifier who has offered himself to us- who loves us, and teaches us, and is omnipresent and omnibenevolent.

Upon Martha asking Jesus to tell Mary to help her, The Lord told Martha that there is need of only one thing, and Mary chosen that. Should we not chose it as well, when all we have to do, is show up?