Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

Photo by Gustavo Torres on Unsplash

Luke 10: 38-42

Grace and peace to you all from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

I am a big “do-er.” I’ve got task lists, goals, plans and people I call “accountabili-buddies” who keep me accountable to all these tasks, goals and plans. I have an app on all my devices that sync my to-do lists, and I have my lists separated into sections. One for St. Matthew with things like “write first draft of sermon: due date July 15,” or one for my general day to day life with tasks like, “Confirm doctor appointment for July 18: Due July 17.” And so on.

These lists are how I manage the multiple tasks of ministry and life which all often need simultaneous attention. From church administration, to preaching, from pastoral care to committee meetings, from worship planning to staff management and cleaning my bathroom at home.

Martha, in our text today, seems to really understand me. She has an important guest coming into her home and she’s got a checklist to get through in order to welcome them to her home.

Sweep the floors – “CHECK”

Clean the bathroom – “CHECK”

Clean the kitchen – “CHECK”

Set the table – “CHECK”

Put out appetizers – “CHECK”

Get the beverages – “CHECK”

In this text, Martha is being the hostess that the culture of her time would have demanded her to be. And when a guest came into a home, they were welcomed with hospitality such that they would feel like they were a part of the family. Doing anything less could mean disrespect. The stakes were high. So, Martha feels the pressure to have her to-do list so she can welcome Jesus, and possibly even his disciples, into her home.

Now the reading of this story in the Gospel of Luke sets Martha (my do-er soulmate) firmly in contrast with her sister Mary.

The story shares that Mary sat at Jesus’s feet and listened to him as he spoke leaving Martha to do all the tasks. Martha then gets so frustrated about her sister not helping that she doesn’t even try to get Mary’s attention. She goes straight to the honored guest! Straight to Jesus and complains to him. Martha has had it! She ignoring any social codes that would have normally prevented her from doing this because she wants to throw Mary under the bus.

Jesus replies, “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.”

Traditionally, this passage is read as Martha being chastised by Jesus for being distracted and focusing too much on her checklist. Conversely, Mary is celebrated for giving full un-divided attention to Jesus and his teaching.

I wonder if any of you have ever had a piece of scripture that feels like it’s roasting you? Like it’s seeing into the dark depths of your being and flicking on a light so that everything is illuminated and nothing can hide?

Martha is my do-er soulmate and I feel very personally attacked here right alongside her.

When scripture does this to me, I try to pause and feel the strong feelings in my body. In this instance, I asked myself why do I feel so called out?

In this case, I first felt like the answer was obvious. I do often distract myself with things to-do and I miss some of the moments life has to offer. For example, let me share what my seminary journey was like: I took a full course load of 4 classes all year round, had a part-time 20 hour per week internship for two years and did my clinical pastoral education all at the same time. It was actually nuts. Again, I’m a do-er.

I get the sense that Jesus might be asking me in this text, to slow down and just “be.” Be like Mary, totally consumed with the beauty of the moment. Mary does indeed understands something that I sometimes struggle with… she really notices that God’s presence in Christ is sitting in her home. So, she stopped and stayed with God. Might we need to slow down a little so that we can recognize that God is present to us? Perhaps.

Or maybe you’re someone who is feeling more like Mary today. You are someone who has great skills in paying attention and you do see where God is present in your life. Do you maybe feel the pressure of Martha weighing down on the slower rhythm of your soul? Martha is pushing you to get a move on! Do something! Martha may be an example of our world which is not really accommodating to you and your slower pace. The pressures of always doing more and the speed with which the world moves from one thing to another may be leaving you behind.

What might this scripture be asking of you? How are you tending to your need to wait and listen? Or, are you perhaps stuck waiting while there is good work that needs to be done? Perhaps.

As I continued to ponder why I feel so called-out by this text I thought about how this text seems to pit Mary and Martha against each other. It almost forces us to pick a side and make a value judgement on one or the other. It’s common to read scripture as a moral code like this – we encountered that last week with the Good Samaritan story. As I preached last week, I think this way of interpretation sometimes gets us more stuck than it helps us to listen to where God might be calling us. Instead of pitting the slow against the fast, the waiting against the doing, I wonder: Might this text be calling us to consider balance?

Are we in balance between our Martha nature and our Mary nature? Are we doing too much and totally missing out on where God is becoming present? Or are we stuck in waiting and listening mode and not seeing the needed work that we can take up and do?

How can we balance our natures so that we can take the time to witness to God who is in our midst and then to hear God’s call for us to go out and be active in service to the world?

Notice: I said how can we witness to God who is in our midst.

God is with us at all times. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ bears witness to God’s REAL presence here on earth. Mary bears witness in our scripture today to the real presence God in our midst.

The good news is that we don’t need to do anything or be anything special to “get God” to be with us. So, for those Martha’s out there, your task-list of good deeds won’t persuade God to come any closer. Because God is here and close by already. For those Mary’s out there, your continued waiting won’t persuade God to come any closer, because God is already here and is close by already. Perhaps the way this text speaks into our lives is help us see some extremes so that we might instead choose balance between our doing and our waiting, to be better in-tune with the God who is here speaking to us and calling us.

There is a very famous prayer by Richard Rohr that is available in the narthex and you might have picked up this morning. It’s on very portable little cards that fit nicely into a purse or wallet. Be sure to take a copy of it with you as you leave today. I encourage you to use this little prayer throughout the day. For those who are Martha’s (my fellow do-ers), I hope you pray this prayer in moments where you are going too fast and need to pause to re-tune yourself to God-who-is-here so that you can notice God and listen better for God’s calling. For those who are like Mary (waiting folks), I hope you will pray this prayer as a way to re-tune yourself to God-who-is-here so you can listen for where God is calling you into action.

The prayer is called “Be Still.” It’s one line from Psalm 46 verse 10.

I hope it can be a tool to find balance and to help us as a community listen to God who is here.

Let us pray.

Be still and know that I am God.

Be still and know that I am.

Be still and know.

Be still.

Be.

Amen.

Rev. Ryan Heckman | July 20, 2025