Proper 8C Victoria Kempf 7/22/07

It’s not easy – to recognize a message from God. Or to recognize what God is doing in our lives or our communities.

The passage from Genesis this morning is fascinating as it weaves together words referring to God with words referring to “three men” who are entertained by Abraham and Sarah.

In the passage, it’s hard to figure out who is speaking because first it says “the Lord appeared to Abraham” then it moves to “the three men” who are welcomed and fed by Abraham and Sarah.

Sometimes it’s “the Lord” who is speaking and sometimes it’s the plural “men.”

And the message given to Abraham – that he and Sarah were to have a child in their old age – was so absurd it sent eavesdropping Sarah into a fit of giggles.

Perhaps the text presents the ambiguity of the three visitors and God as a way to illustrate Abraham’s (and Sarah’s) own struggle to come to terms with the impossibility of what God has promised. They simply do not initially recognize God’s presence in the three men.

While the message they hear is unambiguous and they would later identify that it was God who had been speaking, they still must deal with the fact that this encounter with the promise and the God of the promise came amid the mundane events of life, sitting by the tent, busy in the kitchen.

Part of Abraham and Sarah’s struggle was the difficulty of recognizing the promise amidst all the ordinariness of life. It might have been easier to believe if God had appeared in a burning bush or the shaking of an earthquake.

But God spoke in the ordinary course of the visit of three strangers, and it is up to the couple to recognize God in that context.

And then there is the response of one of the men, finally identified as the Lord (v. 13), as he raises the central issue of this story: "Is anything too difficult for the Lord?" That’s a penetrating question that goes beyond the promise of a “miracle child.” For what was at stake is actually the nature of God in the world.

It’s hard to comprehend, isn’t it, whether or not it is God or human action around us.

We think we have life figured out, and then something happens that upsets our understanding or our expectations, and we either shake our heads in disbelief or we laugh, or sometimes we cry.

What is God up to? What will God do with this? Why can’t it be clear?

For Abraham, and Sarah, the issue had to do with recognition and promise.

Let’s leave Genesis for a moment and jump to the Gospel story of Mary and Martha.

It was Martha’s house they were in. She was the head of her household, practical, down-to-earth, feet planted firmly on the ground. She has an eye to detail, and notices anything out of place. A strong woman, she knows how to get things done.

Not Martha Stewart, homemaker extraordinaire, But Martha - the Steward of her home, in the kitchen, supervising the cooking and with care. She wouldn’t eat until everyone else was fed, and she would worry until everything was done properly.

Imagine that some renowned teacher or bishop, or well known leader came to your house. ……..

When Jesus came, though it implies elsewhere in Scripture that they were friends, still, he was The Teacher. The Rabbi.

Good friend or not, Martha must have been excited and concerned that her hospitality was impeccable.

That he was fed properly, and attended to with great care.

Now there was also Mary, her sister. Quieter. Intense, perhaps. Mary’s excitement was different. She would hear the Teacher in her own home, sit at his feet and learn, like the other disciples who followed him about all the time.

See her as softer and quieter than Martha. A thinker and a dreamer. Less practical.

That Jesus was coming did not stir up in her the desire to cook and clean. She probably waited at the gate.

Her chores may have been done haphazardly, as Mary wondered more about what Jesus would say than what he would eat.

Imagine Mary. Her excitement reflected not in her busyness, but in her eyes.

Sisters. As different from one another as siblings can be.

It’s amazing the differences found in a family.

When Martha asks Jesus to rebuke Mary for not helping, Jesus says “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things. [Distracted here comes from a Greek root word meaning being pulled asunder. Steady, Martha, he says. Don’t be pulled apart by so many things.] There is need of only one thing."

Mary is allowed to sit and listen. Martha, stands rebuked.

For much of Christian history, this story has been misused, to point out the virtues of the contemplative life as opposed to the “ordinary” life.

But remember …. In Genesis the messengers of God came in the midst of ordinary life. That’s what made it so hard for God to be recognized.

But there is more to Martha and Mary in the Gospel of John. There is the story of the raising of Lazarus, their brother. As John tells it, Jesus took his time coming to Bethany when he was told Lazarus was ill.

“When Martha heard Jesus was finally coming, she went and met him, while Mary sat in the house.”

How Martha-like. Not content to sit and wait, she runs to him. And she rebukes Jesus.

“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Then she makes a statement of faith: “even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”

Then they enter into a theological conversation about resurrection, ending with Martha’s astounding assertion that Jesus was the one they had all been awaiting, the Messiah.

So Martha the homemaker is also Martha the one who recognizes Jesus for who he is. Add that to our picture of Martha.

There’s one more piece of the family portrait. Again it’s John’s Gospel, the eve of Jesus final entry into Jerusalem. Days before his death. Again he is at the home of Martha and Mary.

The only reference to Martha is about supper: “Martha served.”

But quiet Mary, makes a dramatic gesture. Showing love, courage and devotion she enters the room filled with male disciples, anoints the feet of Jesus and wipes his feet with her hair.

Without saying a word, she demonstrates faith and love. While Martha quietly serves.

It’s now a fuller picture of two very different women disciples. And one thing they share is faith in and love for their Lord.

We see Martha rebuked, and Mary’s contemplative faith affirmed.

We see Martha’s assertiveness result in an affirmation of faith and recognition of Jesus.

Then together, each expresses devotion as she is best able – Martha by serving, Mary by a poetic act of anointing the Anointed one.

Every faith community has women and men who express their commitment in different ways. Though our personalities vary, we are held together by one thing in common: love of God.

Some are like Martha: assertive, serving, doing, yet faithful and proclaiming.

Some like Mary: quiet, listening, learning, yet dramatically expressive of faith.

Some like Peter: physical, brash, aggressive, yet confessing Jesus as Lord.

Some like Paul, thoughtful, teaching, endlessly theologizing, yet evangelist for Christ.

Some like Abraham, also fussing around to see that a meal is prepared, but the father of a nation: one to whom the promise was given.

Some like Sarah, incredulous and laughing – finding the absurd in the holy.

It’s all in the recognition, the listening, the serving, the following.

There are many models of faith, but like Jesus said to Martha only one thing is needed. Devotion to the One who knits us together in community.

The problem we get into – especially in community – is anticipating – jumping ahead – making assumptions about one another’s service, or motives, rebuking one another, and failing to search for and recognize the mystery of what God is doing at any given time.

If we believe that God is working in this parish community, things may still surprise and upset us. But our faith that God is present in every circumstance should encourage us to look on in wonder at the mystery of community.

Jan Waterman, a new columnist for the Coloradoan wrote this on Friday:

“Anais Nin said that we don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are. The world does not unfold independently from us; we have a [say] in how reality plays out. When things are not as we’d like them to be, we can run around trying to get everyone and everything else to shape up or we can solve the problem at a higher level. That is, we can notice what we believe about the situation and we can change our beliefs to align with what is really true for us. By choosing our perceptions deliberately, our “inner reality” can take precedence over our external reality. We can chose to see what we value, knowing that by doing so we are calling it forth, in ourselves, in others, in the world.

We choose the quality of our lives by the quality of our choices.”

It is said – the only constant is change.

We have a choice - to see God’s presence in every situation.

If we are faithful people, and believe God is acting in this community, we need to “chose to see what we value” thereby calling it forth in community.

Choose to recognize God within ordinary-seeming and even distressing events of life.

Choose: to serve regardless; to listen deeply; to follow in devotion; and even to laugh – at the absurdity of the antics of the holy – in the community of the faithful.

What choice do you make? Do you believe that God is weaving it all together? Or will you make another choice?

A Parish For All People!