The Second Mark of Mission: TEACH

My apologies: I promised the faithful at St. Michael's that I'd publish the five sermons for the series on the marks of mission and then promptly forgot after posting the first one. Here is number two. (RMS) 

Luke 10:38-42

As Jesus and his disciples went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. 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." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her."

Martha gets a bad rap in this gospel reading today, and I want to offer a defense of her at the start.

All of life includes some amount of “being” and some amount of “doing.” Forget the word “ministry” for a moment: just living and being a good neighbor and friend and family member requires some doing and some being. The key, I think, is learning to know which needs to happen in a particular moment.

In my own life, sometimes I can get so focused on “doing” and on accomplishing the tasks on my to-do list, on meeting deadlines and all of that (all stuff that gets rewarded big time in American culture) that I forget to stop and smell the roses. Maybe some of you have this experience also.

Decades ago, I found that parenting Graham and James was an antidote to getting too focused on doing. If I didn’t take time, I would have missed key moments in my kids’ lives. And I don’t only mean the big ones like sports events or concerts, but the day-to-day stuff like seeing a flower or a butterfly or feeling cool water or making sand castles at the beach on a warm day.

Being a grandparent is an invitation to remember those lessons and re-engage with a toddler and to be fully present in those moments at  a stage in my own life where I’m more fully aware and engaged than I probably was when I was thirty-something.

I believe that we are all a mix of doing and being. But having said that, there are people in this room who are better at one than the other. There are people who actually love running around in the kitchen and dicing and chopping and stirring and simmering and all the rest. I’m one of them. It’s a language of love for many of us. I get Martha.  Although one thing to notice in today’s gospel reading: Martha is “distracted by her many tasks.” She’s not having fun chopping those onions and mincing that garlic. She’s overwhelmed.

And I also do get Mary, who wants to be at Jesus’ feet and learn and savor that moment. It’s just, to be very honest, something I need to be more intentional about.

But I don’t think the problem is with Mary and Martha’s personalities. I think the problem is when we get caught up in sibling rivalries and patterns and all the rest and we sometimes just get wiped out. Martha likes the kitchen. I have to believe that because I am a person who also does and I know people who do. When someone says to me, “oh, don’t worry about cooking, we’ll order take-out pizza,” I know they are trying to be helpful but to the Marthas among us, it sounds like an insult. We enjoy the work. It’s meditative and holy. But I also know we Marthas can get stressed out and also wonder why someone doesn’t offer to help us dice onions or stir the sauce or even set the table. And at least to help with clean up! Right?

And before I move on, I want to be clear that this is not meant as a diss to Mary. Hey, Jesus is there and he won’t be around forever and maybe takeout pizza or felafel-to-go would be just fine. She’s doing what she likes, making time for a friend. That’s holy too and in this story she seems to be the one who has chosen the better portion. She is in fact the point of this sermon – that we have so much to learn in our walk with Jesus.

In the story we heard, the point is not simply that Martha is running around in the kitchen like a chicken with her head cut off, but that she’s resentful about it. She wants Jesus to make her sister help. Maybe both could have worked on their communication skills, and maybe both could have cooked a simple meal together and then sat and relaxed together if they had communicated better. But the main point is that she tries to draw Jesus into a triangle. She doesn’t speak directly to her sister. She asks Jesus to tell her sister to help. Not cool! And Jesus says, “I’m not biting!”

I’m preaching a series this summer on the Five Marks of Mission. The Five Marks of Mission have won wide acceptance among Anglicans (and other Christian traditions) and have given congregations and dioceses around the world a practical and memorable “checklist” for mission activities. They are not a final and complete statement on the Church’s Mission, but they offer a practical guide to work God has given us to do. They were first developed as four marks by the Anglican Consultative Council in 1984, more than forty years ago. A fifth was added in 1990 to address creation care and the climate crisis.

The mission of the Church is the mission of Christ. Full stop. We, the Church, are entrusted with continuing the work that Jesus began. The five marks of that mission are as follows:

1.    To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom.

2.    To teach, baptize and nurture new believers.

3.    To respond to human need by loving service.

4.    To transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind and pursue peace and reconciliation

5.    To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth.

Today is number two: to teach, baptize and nurture new believers. If we were translating this into a newcomer program we might call it Invite, Welcome, and Connect. The third of those is the hardest: helping people who come through our doors (whether invited or because they were curious) and then welcoming them in, to become part of what we are about. To connect. To share the work. To do that we need to be clear on what we are about, our core values, our mission and purpose.

What does it mean to follow Jesus? What does it mean to make time, in prayer, to sit with him and learn and grow? I think the second mark of mission invites us to find our inner Mary; we need to make time to be with Jesus. That includes worship and Christian formation and service in the world, all of which help us to deepen our faith. In that spirit of Mary, I invite you to be still and take in a deep breath. And then let it go.

Let’s do that again. Breath in, deeply, and then let it out.

The word “conspiracy” comes to us in English from two Latin words: con means with and spiritus means breath. We, the Church, are part of a conspiracy together – as we breathe in that Holy Spirit. We are part of a conspiracy of love.

We are baptized not just with water, but with the Holy Spirit. That begins a life-long practice. We need, I think, to let go of some old tapes. We don’t learn the Christian faith by memorizing creeds. We learn it, over time, by practicing. Like a kid learning piano and practicing scales. Like a kid learning to play basketball and practicing drills.

We don’t come here to get our individual needs met; that may happen but being the church is about becoming part of a community. When we breathe in God we become part of this holy work. But it takes practice. And a lifetime.

God is never done with us. We are all works-in-progress, Marys and Marthas alike. Some of us grow into the full stature of Christ more by doing and others of us more by catching our breath but all of us are called to share the work as we grow more and more fully into relationship with Jesus.

We had over thirty people in Episcopal 101 this year. Some have never been confirmed or received but others have been actively participating here for years. Yet still there is this hunger here, at St. Michael’s, that I take as a sign of the Spirit’s presence among us. I give thanks for all of you, and the work that God gives us to share in this time and place.

I think summertime has always been more of a “being” time for me – a chance to recharge the batteries, to rest, to read, to ponder. I hope and pray it is that for all of you and that this Sabbath rest is part of our ongoing formation, and helps us to stay focused on the work God has given us to do in this time and place.