Pentecost: Martha of Bethany

 Last week we looked at Mary of Bethany, sister to Martha and Lazarus. This week we meet Martha who so often gets a bad rap for being ‘too busy’ to ‘sit at Jesus’ feet.’ Martha was, really, doing the ordinary things that a housewife needs to do when there is a crowd in the house. She was preparing dinner and getting rooms ready for the guests to sleep in. She was ministering to Jesus and his friends.

I think it’s perfectly understandable that she was a bit testy about Mary just sitting with Jesus and the other men. Aside from the social restrictions mentioned last week, Mary truly wasn’t helping. The Very Rev. Kristi Maulden preached on this scene a few weeks ago. She suggested some alternative scenarios, including Jesus saying, “come on everyone, let’s help Martha.”

I wonder what might have happened if Jesus had said that. We’ve all been at family and church gatherings where the same sort of situation happens. There are the kitchen workers and there are the rest of the people sitting around and visiting. It never occurs to the kitchen workers to ask for help because they are busy and perhaps happily involved in making sure everything is perfect and the food is nice and hot. It also doesn’t cross the minds of those chatting and making everyone feel at ease to ask if there is anything they can do to help.

In fact, I suspect that those not in the kitchen have offered their help sometime in the past and been told “No, we have it all taken care of.” It’s simply sometimes easier to do it yourself than explain to someone else what needs done.

If Jesus had suggested that he and his disciples pitch in to help Martha get the food on the table and the beds made, I wonder what sort of chaos might have resulted. Perhaps it would have been a joyful time, or perhaps it would have caused more stress for Martha as she saw her wonderfully made plans being messed up.

Would she have said, “Oh no, the hummus doesn’t go in that bowl”? Or would she have let James use whatever he found? Would she have fretted that the wrong blanket was used on the special guest bed reserved for Jesus? Would she have rejoiced in the helping hands that got the meal on the table in record time, or would she have been appalled at the way it looked?

If you are a Martha, you know that you have trouble delegating tasks to someone who might do it differently (i.e. wrong). If you are a Mary, you are just as happy to not have to deal with the details of whether the fruit looks better in that bowl or on that platter.

We each have gifts. Martha’s gift was the hospitality of a homemaker. Mary’s gift was the hospitality of a listener. It’s fortunate we aren’t all alike or the table might never get set, nor would the newcomer feel welcomed because someone said ‘hello’ and asked where she was from.

The shared gifts of all of us is what makes the world work. When we try to force someone to do something they aren’t gifted at, we can both get frustrated.

Perhaps when she was less tired and frazzled from getting everything done, Martha was able to appreciate Mary’s gift of simply listening to Jesus. And maybe Mary was able to understand that Martha was just a little tired after baking all morning.

What gifts do you have that make you a Mary, or a Martha? Maybe sometimes you are one and sometimes the other…?