9th Sunday after Pentecost, 07/21/2013

Sermon on Luke 10:38-42, by Walter W. Harms

38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." 41 But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen (F)the good portion, which will not be taken away from her."

Doesn't Jesus Care?

Have you ever been treated unfairly? If you can't remember anything recently, perhaps you can bring something up from your youth. Can you hear yourself or someone else in your family say: "But that's not fair!"

The other person can stay up later. The other person got to do something you didn't get to do when you were the same age. Perhaps even you felt one of your parents favored another of your siblings over you, loved them more, or even helped them more in life than you got helped.

Sometimes we think life itself isn't fair. The other person gets chosen and you get left behind. The person gets promoted because he/she has some connection to the boss that you don't have.

Does God/Jesus care when you get treated unfairly? I don't mean to think that you were unfair in your judgment. You could have been right in believing and even knowing that the other person was treated somehow better than you were.

Does Jesus care and what should we do about that and more?

We have this wonderful event from the life of Jesus as Luke records it in the Gospel reading for this Sunday. Jesus is traveling. He come to this village and a certain woman in that place invites Jesus into her home.

Being the gracious hostess that she was, Martha got busy with preparations while her sister Mary just plunked herself down and listened to what Jesus had to say. Instead of asking her to help, Martha complains to Jesus. She, Martha has been left alone to serve. Why doesn't Jesus do something? Doesn't he care?

If you have been a Christian for sometime, the words of Jesus' reply to Martha are well remembered, I am sure. "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion which will not be taken away from her."

Does Jesus care? Yes, of course, but....

A lot of questions loom up in our minds. Does Jesus not want to be fed? Isn't he hungry? Shouldn't Mary have helped her sister and then both could listen to Jesus? Why doesn't Mary help? Is she always this way-letting her sister doing all the work while she does whatever? Is Martha simply rude? Should she have waited until Jesus left and then complained to Mary?

Are we not right in being anxious and troubled about a lot of things? Can you and I avoid being anxious, troubled when the job disappears, the money isn't going to last to the end of the month, the child becomes chronically ill, the marriage is going away, the pain will not go away?

And just what is this one thing that Mary has chosen, which will not be taken away from her? Can we all be expected to listen to Jesus calmly while our world and our society go to hell?

Wasn't Jesus even troubled when in the Garden of Gethsemane he prayed to his Father that the cup of pain, suffering, death and the grave wouldn't have to be experienced?

What is it that Martha did that was wrong? It started with her complaint: Lord, do you not care? The Lord cares. Jesus was there in that home because he cared. He came into this world because he cared. He was essentially homeless, not a penny to his name, not a nest or a hole he could retreat to. He knew about hunger (think of his 40 days without food). He knew about being unfairly treated (think of his trial). He knew about disappointment with relationships (his disciples took of life scared rabbits when he was arrested). He knew about people sticking it to him. He knew about people who make fun of us, as he was there on the cross-naked, a soldier gambling at the foot.

Does Jesus care?

He cares so much that he even knows how many hairs are on your head. He knows the secret thoughts we think, our contempt of others, our phony niceness, and our anger at others who don't seem to treat us right. He knows and he cares.

He has experienced every one of our anxious moments, our distractions by the cares and pleasures of the world that we call ours. He cares deeply for us. If the cross is anything, it is the sign that he cares.

You see he came to this world because his Father wanted him to come to show us that he cares, that he is not distant, unawares of what causes us anxiety and the troubles that we have.

But Martha did something that we do so often. Notice her words. She says: me, me, and mine-three times. She is thinking about herself. She has truly been distracted from what is the good portion, the one thing needful. She has been thinking about her situation, her problems, her "bad" sister, her anxiety about getting the whole meal together in proper time and fashion.

You see she forgot Jesus and his love for her. She forgot that she is always in the hands of a very gracious and loving God. And when she forgot, the troubles and the anxiety they caused took over.

Does Jesus care? You and I will have tribulations in this world. Jesus said that himself. "But do not be afraid," he said, "I have overcome the world." What that means is simple: Jesus will take care of you in all your ways and in all your days.

St. Paul who had more hardships that you and I will ever experience said: "All things (yes, all things!) work together for good to those who belong to Christ Jesus."

Many times our troubles and anxieties come from our own foolishness, our giving in to the ways of this world, and the seemingly irresistible lure of our sinful nature.

Jesus knows our every weakness. When he felt that God no longer cared for him there on the cross, he cried out: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" When we feel God-forsaken, left alone by Jesus, these words need to be on our lips. And the last words of Jesus on the cross should be our words as well: "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit."

Yes, even at that moment he knew his Father would not leave him, even as he went into death and the grave.

That is the "good portion" Jesus gives us-a Father who loves us so much that he sent his only son into our world, so that despite all the anxieties, troubles and sins we get into, he will never leave us.

Listen daily to that small voice as the prophet Elijah of old did and know: Jesus cares!

retired pastor Walter W. Harms
Austin, TX U. S. A
E-Mail: waltpast@aol.com

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