Another Mary, Another Martha
Sermon
Sermons on the Gospel Readings
Series III, Cycle C
Object:
December 6, 2002, was my birthday, and I had no idea what a great birthday present was in the offing, if I had just waited. I'm a Lakers fan, and when I got home that evening the Lakers were down 70-46. I was disgusted. At the start of the fourth quarter they were down by 28 points. I didn't wait to see what would happen. I turned off the set.
I missed one of the greatest comebacks in basketball history, as the Lakers won 105-103. It was my own fault. I wasn't constant. I wasn't there.
In order to witness life's comebacks, in order to be a part of a miracle, sometimes you have to be there, be present, during the tough times.
A basketball match is really only fun and games. But there are some serious moments in life that we are called to be present for. I can't imagine a more serious moment than the crucifixion of Jesus.
The Bible doesn't tell us, but I sometimes wonder what some of the apostles said when questioned by new Christians about Jesus. They could tell these folks about the miracles, about the Sermon on the Mount, about the transfiguration -- but they couldn't say much about the crucifixion, because they weren't there.
Those who did not wait beneath the cross -- how do you think they felt later when they were asked? They were not there for the crucifixion. And they were not the first ones there when Jesus rose from the dead.
Who was? The scriptures are pretty clear. The women waited beneath the cross. The women, like Mary of Magdala, were the ones who were the first on the scene at the resurrection, because they were faithful in good times and bad.
There's a statement that's important. Only if you are willing to be as faithful as the women, who go to the tomb with no hope, to do their duty, will you be able to meet and greet the resurrected Lord.
Sometimes as we imagine the scene, we think to ourselves, look, they're about to meet Jesus. They're going to see the risen Lord.
Only they don't know it. They didn't get up that morning with heavy hearts and pack up the spices and the wrappings, then set out in the dim light before dawn to perform the funeral duties that had been neglected mere hours before when the tomb was shut before the sabbath, expecting a miracle. No, they were doing their duties.
Jesus is waiting for them. Jesus is waiting for all of those who are at their task, at their post -- not the ones who are looking for a miracle, but those who are performing the miracle of obedience and service in the worst imaginable conditions.
Only if you are willing to stay faithful to your faith when there is no hope, when it makes no sense, when you see no sense in it, when the world is against you, and you stay faithful anyway, that's where you meet Jesus.
The caregiver, the one who carries the cross for others, the one willing to sacrifice a life for a friend -- the message of John for you this morning is: You will see Jesus. You will behold God.
So who is the first apostle? Who is the first one to proclaim that Jesus is risen? You got John. You got James. You got Peter. You got Paul. But you don't got the right answer. You can slice it any way you want to, but there's no denying one thing -- Mary of Magdala, a woman of substance and status, was the first apostle, the emissary of Jesus to proclaim the overwhelming news that Jesus is risen, Jesus is risen indeed.
Mary and the other women, the faithful disciples, the ones ignored by the church in later centuries, marginalized in the histories, are represented in the gospels as the ones who proclaimed the risen Lord.
The best part is their testimony wouldn't have been accepted in court. Not in their day. In the Roman world, women did not appear in court because in that male-dominated world their testimony was not considered reliable. How ironic, and appropriate, that God chose what was unacceptable to the world, to be witnesses for the truth!
We see elsewhere in the gospel of John that the transformation can begin even before the resurrection. The best example of this is the story of Martha and Mary ... the second story of Martha and Mary.
Jorge Maldonado, in his book, Even in the Best of Families, helps us to look at the story of Mary and Martha.1 Most Christians know the two sisters from their appearance in the gospel of Luke, 10:38-42. Most Christians tend to like Martha. She was the homeowner who entertained Jesus and his disciples when they traveled south to Judea. It's not like there was a Holiday Inn Express waiting for them on their trips to Jerusalem, even assuming they'd have had the money to pay for one. Jesus and the disciples depended on good old-fashioned Middle Eastern hospitality to take care of their needs.
In Luke, the story is simple. While her sister Mary sat at the feet of Jesus listening to pearls of wisdom, Martha knew that someone had to plunk dinner down on the table, and that the chores weren't going to do themselves.
You may recall that Jesus told Martha that Mary was right to put the spiritual things first. What most of us don't recall is what happened to the pair in the gospel of John. John's gospel is written more from the viewpoint of Jesus' Judean ministry. We see that Martha must have paid attention to what Jesus said about spirituality being the better part, because when her brother Lazarus died she makes the most amazing statements. She says, "... I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him" (John 11:22) and "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world" (11:27). She makes the spiritual statements and utters the second most important confession of faith in the New Testament. (We'll tell you what the most important confession of faith was during next week's message.)
In the gospel of John you either get it about Jesus or you don't. Martha gets it. Before this confession she scolds Jesus for having arrived so late. Isn't it amazing? Job scolds God. Habakkuk takes God to task. Martha stands before the Lord of life and gives him what for.
Take God seriously. Take God personally. Talk back and live.
In the Roman world, the purpose of biography was to show that people never changed. The great were always great, the evil were always evil, the ordinary were always ordinary. You were always what you were and you would always be that way. The fruit doesn't fall far from the tree. What can you expect?
Not Christian biography. It's all about transformation so incredible that Paul needs a Barnabas to vouch for him, and no one is beyond God's saving love. Martha's can change, an apostle like Peter who ran away and denied Jesus can change -- and we can change.
Others are ready to quantify and qualify, ready to limit the depth and breadth of God's love -- but we remain convinced, like the apostle Paul.
[I am convinced] that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
-- Romans 8:38-39
As I said in the beginning, in order to be present at this transformation, in order to witness the resurrection, in order to take part in the great Christian drama, you have to be found at your post. You need to be doing what you need to be doing.
Live like the resurrection matters. Be ready for transformation. Don't turn the channel. Proclaim the risen Jesus. Amen.
__________________
1. Jorge Maldonado, Even in the Best of Families: The Family of Jesus and other Biblical Families (New York: World Council of Churches, 1994).
I missed one of the greatest comebacks in basketball history, as the Lakers won 105-103. It was my own fault. I wasn't constant. I wasn't there.
In order to witness life's comebacks, in order to be a part of a miracle, sometimes you have to be there, be present, during the tough times.
A basketball match is really only fun and games. But there are some serious moments in life that we are called to be present for. I can't imagine a more serious moment than the crucifixion of Jesus.
The Bible doesn't tell us, but I sometimes wonder what some of the apostles said when questioned by new Christians about Jesus. They could tell these folks about the miracles, about the Sermon on the Mount, about the transfiguration -- but they couldn't say much about the crucifixion, because they weren't there.
Those who did not wait beneath the cross -- how do you think they felt later when they were asked? They were not there for the crucifixion. And they were not the first ones there when Jesus rose from the dead.
Who was? The scriptures are pretty clear. The women waited beneath the cross. The women, like Mary of Magdala, were the ones who were the first on the scene at the resurrection, because they were faithful in good times and bad.
There's a statement that's important. Only if you are willing to be as faithful as the women, who go to the tomb with no hope, to do their duty, will you be able to meet and greet the resurrected Lord.
Sometimes as we imagine the scene, we think to ourselves, look, they're about to meet Jesus. They're going to see the risen Lord.
Only they don't know it. They didn't get up that morning with heavy hearts and pack up the spices and the wrappings, then set out in the dim light before dawn to perform the funeral duties that had been neglected mere hours before when the tomb was shut before the sabbath, expecting a miracle. No, they were doing their duties.
Jesus is waiting for them. Jesus is waiting for all of those who are at their task, at their post -- not the ones who are looking for a miracle, but those who are performing the miracle of obedience and service in the worst imaginable conditions.
Only if you are willing to stay faithful to your faith when there is no hope, when it makes no sense, when you see no sense in it, when the world is against you, and you stay faithful anyway, that's where you meet Jesus.
The caregiver, the one who carries the cross for others, the one willing to sacrifice a life for a friend -- the message of John for you this morning is: You will see Jesus. You will behold God.
So who is the first apostle? Who is the first one to proclaim that Jesus is risen? You got John. You got James. You got Peter. You got Paul. But you don't got the right answer. You can slice it any way you want to, but there's no denying one thing -- Mary of Magdala, a woman of substance and status, was the first apostle, the emissary of Jesus to proclaim the overwhelming news that Jesus is risen, Jesus is risen indeed.
Mary and the other women, the faithful disciples, the ones ignored by the church in later centuries, marginalized in the histories, are represented in the gospels as the ones who proclaimed the risen Lord.
The best part is their testimony wouldn't have been accepted in court. Not in their day. In the Roman world, women did not appear in court because in that male-dominated world their testimony was not considered reliable. How ironic, and appropriate, that God chose what was unacceptable to the world, to be witnesses for the truth!
We see elsewhere in the gospel of John that the transformation can begin even before the resurrection. The best example of this is the story of Martha and Mary ... the second story of Martha and Mary.
Jorge Maldonado, in his book, Even in the Best of Families, helps us to look at the story of Mary and Martha.1 Most Christians know the two sisters from their appearance in the gospel of Luke, 10:38-42. Most Christians tend to like Martha. She was the homeowner who entertained Jesus and his disciples when they traveled south to Judea. It's not like there was a Holiday Inn Express waiting for them on their trips to Jerusalem, even assuming they'd have had the money to pay for one. Jesus and the disciples depended on good old-fashioned Middle Eastern hospitality to take care of their needs.
In Luke, the story is simple. While her sister Mary sat at the feet of Jesus listening to pearls of wisdom, Martha knew that someone had to plunk dinner down on the table, and that the chores weren't going to do themselves.
You may recall that Jesus told Martha that Mary was right to put the spiritual things first. What most of us don't recall is what happened to the pair in the gospel of John. John's gospel is written more from the viewpoint of Jesus' Judean ministry. We see that Martha must have paid attention to what Jesus said about spirituality being the better part, because when her brother Lazarus died she makes the most amazing statements. She says, "... I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him" (John 11:22) and "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world" (11:27). She makes the spiritual statements and utters the second most important confession of faith in the New Testament. (We'll tell you what the most important confession of faith was during next week's message.)
In the gospel of John you either get it about Jesus or you don't. Martha gets it. Before this confession she scolds Jesus for having arrived so late. Isn't it amazing? Job scolds God. Habakkuk takes God to task. Martha stands before the Lord of life and gives him what for.
Take God seriously. Take God personally. Talk back and live.
In the Roman world, the purpose of biography was to show that people never changed. The great were always great, the evil were always evil, the ordinary were always ordinary. You were always what you were and you would always be that way. The fruit doesn't fall far from the tree. What can you expect?
Not Christian biography. It's all about transformation so incredible that Paul needs a Barnabas to vouch for him, and no one is beyond God's saving love. Martha's can change, an apostle like Peter who ran away and denied Jesus can change -- and we can change.
Others are ready to quantify and qualify, ready to limit the depth and breadth of God's love -- but we remain convinced, like the apostle Paul.
[I am convinced] that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
-- Romans 8:38-39
As I said in the beginning, in order to be present at this transformation, in order to witness the resurrection, in order to take part in the great Christian drama, you have to be found at your post. You need to be doing what you need to be doing.
Live like the resurrection matters. Be ready for transformation. Don't turn the channel. Proclaim the risen Jesus. Amen.
__________________
1. Jorge Maldonado, Even in the Best of Families: The Family of Jesus and other Biblical Families (New York: World Council of Churches, 1994).
