Already we have looked at 4
Women of Lent, princesses of the Kingdom, who can inspire us to live fuller
lives in Faith and Hope. The unquestioning and unreserved faith of Mary of
Nazareth and the hard-won faith of Miryam of Magdala provide two contrasting
ways of living our faith. Joanna and Salome offer glimpses into lives of hope.
This time we consider 2 more
Princesses of the Kingdom-sisters who are rather well know, but often
misunderstood. Mary and Martha of Bethany are noted for offering Jesus two
types of love and service. Martha often gets a ‘bad rap’ for being so
distracted by her house work that she didn’t take time to listen to Jesus. Mary
is lauded for ‘sitting at Jesus feet’.
Mary and Martha of Bethany
both have something important to teach us about how we can offer LOVE. As we noted
earlier, I Cor. 13 tells us: And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But
the greatest of these is love.
There are many ways in which love can be shown. Ministry is love, and
Contemplation is love. Mary and Martha show us both sides of the same coin. I
like the statue of Mary and Martha, Duet by Annette Everett, which depicts the
sisters back to back because to me it shows the two sides of Love.
The Gospel of Luke (10:38)
says “a woman named Martha received/welcomed Jesus into her house.” This is an
aspect that we can sometimes miss by focusing on whether work or contemplation
is better. Martha has duties as a householder. This was her home, not her
brother’s, not her father’s. Martha was the homeowner.
An article in BibleOdessy.org stresses this difference. “When most people read this story, they
often imagine a harried housewife complaining about her lazy sister. Jesus’
gentle rebuke reminds his audience to attend to what’s important—his presence.
However, Martha is not shown doing housework… Martha is a householder who hosts
Jesus; she is engaged in much “work” or, better, “service” (Greek: diakonian). By contrast, Luke depicts
Mary as a disciple sitting at Jesus’ feet. Both women are engaged in different
aspects of ministry, or ways of following Jesus and his teachings.”
Mary and Martha teach us
that there is more than one way to offer Love. “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use
your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather,
serve one another humbly in love,” says Paul in the Letter to the
Galatians (5:13) Some of us may do it in active pursuits like teaching and
housework. Others may be more comfortable with prayer or song. The important
thing is to serve in love, as Jesus did. Jesus “called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he
must be last of all and servant of all.” (Mark 9:35) In Paul’s Letter to
the Colossians, we are told, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for
the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the
inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”
(Colossians 3:23-24)
As part of a series of blog posts Mark Roberts
of the DePree Center for Leadership, asked, “But what about those of us whose work is
not so obviously an act of love for God or people? Can we actually love God
when building a spreadsheet, or sweeping a walkway, or designing a brand, or
selling a product? Yes, this is possible, if we learn to use all our strength
in order to love God. In the classic book, The Practice of the Presence of
God, Brother Lawrence is described in this way, “He also counseled that we
should not grow weary of doing even little things for the love of God. God does
not regard the greatness of the work, but only the love with which it is
performed”… all kinds of ordinary work can be actions of love for God if we do
them with this intentionality. We are encouraged by the fact that God does not
regard the greatness of our work – or, I might add, its obviously religious
character – but only the love with which we do it.”
Love should be our ministry. Mary and Martha are individuals, just like each of us.
The sisters offered love and devotion to Jesus through their service (Martha)
and devotion (Mary). As individuals, they respond to the circumstances of life
in different ways. We have seen that both Mary and Martha loved Jesus.
Both were faithful women who
just expressed their loving faith in different ways. They gave themselves to
the service of God and Jesus in response to the God who CS Lewis tells us
demands, “Give me all of you!!! I don’t
want so much of your time, so much of your talents and money, and so much of
your work. I want YOU!!! ALL OF YOU!! I have not come to torment or frustrate
the natural man or woman, but to KILL IT! No half measures will do. I don’t
want to only prune a branch here and a branch there; rather I want the whole
tree out! Hand it over to me, the whole outfit, all of your desires, all of
your wants and wishes and dreams. Turn them ALL over to me, give yourself to me
and I will make of you a new self---in my image. Give me yourself and in
exchange I will give you Myself. My will, shall become your will. My heart,
shall become your heart.” (Mere Christianity)
It does not matter if we are
making tables, writing books, teaching children, or sitting at home praying.
The important thing is, doing the best we can to the Glory of God in order to
bring about the Kingdom…the Kingdom that involves Loving the Lord your God with
all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and your neighbor as yourself! Dorothy
Sayers, the influential 20th century English writer, in her essay Why Work commented, “The Church’s approach to an intelligent carpenter is usually
confined to exhorting him not to be drunk and disorderly in his leisure hours,
and to come to church on Sundays. What the Church should be telling him is
this: that the very first demand that his religion makes upon him is that he
should make good tables.”
Our response, as Princesses
of the Kingdom, to the call of God needs to be the same response Mary of
Nazareth offered ‘be it to me according to your will’. It is the self-offering
response that Miryam of Magdala and Joanna offered after their healings when
they left everything to become followers because they, with Salome believed
that Jesus offered Hope for a new way of life that would take them to new
places. When we imitate Mary and Martha’s loving interaction with Jesus
miracles can happen-we and God are co-creators of the new world-the new heaven
and new earth!
How do you relate to
Mary &/or Martha? Are you more a server or listener?
