8. Sunday after Pentecost, 07/18/2010

Sermon on Luke 10:38-42, by Luke Bouman

Luke 10:38 Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. 40 But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me." 41 But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; 42 there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her."

When Jesus is the Guest

"Come, Lord Jesus,

Be our Guest,

And let your gifts

To us be blessed. Amen"

So started every evening meal at our house when I was growing up. So starts every meal at our house today. We sit down and we pray some version of this prayer, called by some "the common table prayer." It is widely used in Lutheran households, and even has some fans outside of that particular community of faith. It is a prayer that acknowledges the gift of daily bread as coming from God in Christ. It is a prayer that reminds us that we are blessed by these gifts and that these gifts bless us for God's mission in the world. More than that, it is a prayer that acknowledges Jesus' presence at our meals, whether we invite him or not. It is this last bit that becomes troubling for me. What does it really mean for Jesus to be "guest" at our table? Do we really expect that Jesus will actually be there; that Jesus is actually present? What happens when Jesus does show up as "guest?"

As to that last question, we have any number of examples from the Gospels, especially from Luke's Gospel. Jesus seems to show up for dinner quite often. In today's lesson he shows up at the house of Martha and Mary. Martha seems to be the head of the household. She is named in our story as the owner of the house. It is her responsibility to show hospitality to her guest. In order to preserve the family honor, it is Mary's job to do the same. When Mary neglects her task, Martha shames her in front of their guest, perhaps as a way of bringing her back in line with expectations. So far, we understand this story. It is when Jesus turns on Martha and lifts Mary up that we get confused, and perhaps a bit flustered.

Has not Jesus encouraged previous hosts toward better hospitality? Is not hospitality honored in this culture as a virtue? How is it then that Martha is "worried and distracted by many things" when she seems to be doing what is required of her? What is this one thing that is needed? How is it that Mary "gets it" and Martha doesn't? At another point in the Gospel, Jesus suggests that waiting tables is what servants ought to do for their masters. (Luke 17:7-10) Is this a contradiction?

In our world today, this lesson has often been a slap in the face to the many faithful servants of the church who have spent time in the kitchen over pots and pans, or in the workshop over saw and lathe. Somehow the labors of these faithful people have been placed in subordinate positions to the good work of faithful Bible students, especially to pastors and professional church workers. I'm not sure this is a good idea, nor do I think it is what Jesus is after. Jesus, is not, I think, trying to make table waiting into a cursed occupation, nor is he discouraging people from using their talents to serve him and others, in church or out. Centuries of consideration of the rightful "vocation" of all people certainly should have cured us of that notion. (Though I regret that some have suggested just such things once every three years when this story hits the lectionary.)

I think instead it has everything to do with where Jesus is going and what Jesus is doing in the Gospel of Luke. In order to get straight what is happening at Martha and Mary's house in Bethany, we need to consider what it means that this is happening as Jesus is heading to Jerusalem. It will also be helpful to consider what happens when Jesus is "guest" at other mealtimes.

More than a Guest

All of the parables, teachings, and stories that we have been reading so far this summer happen in Luke's Gospel as Jesus travels to Jerusalem. Whatever else we may think about this journey, we know where it will end. Jesus is going to die and be raised from the dead. On the way, Jesus has a lot to say about the reign of God and how that reign is different from the way earthly sovereigns rule. Jesus is singly focused on the coming "kingdom" of God. I will not take the time to recount all of those teachings, but we should consider that Jesus was proposing a different way of being God's people and a different way of imagining how God rules among the people. God does not force ethical action, but rather endures our pain and suffering to invite us into a different way of living with God and with one another. God's reign comes as God shares human life, and death, endures the consequences of our sin and shatters the power of sin, death and evil forever.

Along the way, Jesus shows that fellowship, especially table fellowship, is a place not for the like-minded righteous to wall themselves away from the evil sinners, but rather is a place for the lost and outcast to be welcomed back into community with God and God's people. We see this pattern several times, both before and after Jesus sets his face toward Jerusalem: at Simon Peter's house (Luke 4), at Simon the Pharisee's house (Luke 7), at the house of an unnamed leader of the Pharisees (Luke 14), and finally at Zacchaeus' house (Luke 19). In all the formula is the same, Jesus comes to the house as guest, but once there he welcomes others by healing them. In the latter case, Zacchaeus is not healed physically. But in each story, Jesus uses the occasion of the meal to restore someone to community and wholeness.

In two other stories, Jesus is the Rabbi, an honored guest, and yet he becomes the host of the meal. He welcomes the crowds near Bethsaida, first healing, then feeding the thousands in the wilderness (Luke 9). He gathers with his disciples in a guest room. There he becomes not only Rabbi, but the meal itself as he gives them the bread and wine that are his body and blood (Luke 22). Jesus is no longer guest in these two meals, nor was he in the above-mentioned meals. He becomes not only host, but also the meal itself.

Luke is using mealtime in his Gospel to help us to understand something very important about Jesus. When Jesus is present, the feast celebrating God's reign begins. When Jesus is present, it is clear that nothing else matters. Jesus is not the guest to be served. He is the Host above all hosts. Our preparations, our meals become nothing. His meal is what matters. And his meal is not just his teaching, but also his doing, his dying and rising, his giving himself into the suffering and hungers of this world to overcome them. This is the "one thing" that is needful. It is not in being a good hostess that Martha has missed the boat. It is failing to recognize Jesus as the greater Host.

Suddenly, now, the application for us becomes apparent. When we gather for our community meal, worship around the presence of Christ in word and meal, our preparations and attention to detail are not unimportant, but become subordinate to the one around whom we gather. He is not only the guest in our midst, in the form of every person whom we as a community must serve, he is also host and healer. He grants forgiveness and life to all, beyond our worries and distractions. We are freed to see his living word that God's reign has broken into our world as the only needful thing. Every other good gift flows from this primary promise of life.

When we read this story we miss all of this if all we see is a choice between being the "busy" Martha or the "learning" Mary. We fail to see Jesus as guest become Host. We will surely fail to see him as Host around our family tables and our worship gatherings as well. When people have asked me over the years why they should go to church, I have found only one answer that satisfies: because Jesus is going to be there, giving life! This is why I return week after week. This is why I feel incomplete if I miss a Sunday. Because Jesus is there!

Now, be careful! Jesus, present, will not only offer healing and new life, but also will change us. Our own ways, our own plans, our own meals will give way to his. He will challenge us to be God's children. He will challenge us to take up his mission and follow his cross to Jerusalem. He will offer us no peace until the world is united in God's Peace and Justice. He will feed us with his mission and send us into a world where his followers are never safe. Be careful! To meet Jesus as guest and Host is to offer one's life into serving God's new reign for a lifetime. Yet, nothing else will satisfy the hungers within us. Jesus' meal, himself the feast, is the only thing that will do.

So, I offer, in humility, and new added verse for our common table prayer:

Come, Lord Jesus,

Be our Host,

What you love

Make us love most.

Amen.

Dr. Luke Bouman
Valparaiso, IN
E-Mail: luke.Bouman@gmail.com

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