Today’s message is about the choices we have to face on a daily basis and how we prioritise the right or most important things in our lives.
The text is from the gospel of St. Luke chapter ten about that well-known incident at the home of two sisters, Mary and Martha. This incident is only reported in Luke’s gospel so we are not entirely sure if it is based in fact. We have evidence though, from the gospel of John that there were indeed two sisters in Bethany named Mary, presumably the younger of the two, and Martha, the older sister. John’s gospel in chapter eleven tells us that they lived with their brother Lazarus who was a very dear friend of Jesus. It is also known that Jesus had many acquaintances and disciples who would open their homes to him when he passed through their town or village so on the surface this incident seems very plausible and very likely factual.
It was very likely that Jesus may have been hosted by Martha and Mary more than once, if we accept John’s word that Jesus was a close friend to their brother. On this particular occasion, Martha as the hostess is busy with the preparations but her younger sister Mary, has positioned herself at Jesus’ feet listening intently and eagerly to what he was saying. Curiously enough, no mention is made of Lazarus who must have been present if he was still alive. At these meals, Jesus would have been present with the twelve disciples and any other guest who may have been invited. So you can see that Martha was not just preparing for one or two persons but quite a few people. She certainly would have needed all the help she could get. In light of this, you can clearly understand her frustration around Mary’s apparent lack of consideration. More importantly, culturally Mary had no business to be sitting at Jesus’ feet listening to his teaching. This was the where a disciple would be found listening to and learning from his teacher or Rabbi. In Jesus’ day a woman’s place was strictly restricted to the home duties and including the care of the children, so Martha was perfectly right to be upset. Mary had ignored her basic responsibility which was to help her sister in preparing and hosting the guests. Her position at Jesus’ feet is a shocking cultural taboo. There are indeed a few important things to take from this incident for our reflection today.
First of all, we are reminded that we can all get so distracted that we lose sight of what is really important. In this story, Martha as the hostess is doing the ‘right’ thing, that which is her duty, which was to ensure that her guests were comfortable. Martha did not think that she had a choice to make in the matter. She had a duty to perform and she was intent on doing it to the best of her ability. But she did have a choice as Jesus showed her later. Many of us need to look carefully at how we might be conflating or even confusing the two things. Some things that we feel are obligatory are not as important as other things. What is obviously the obligatory thing for a Christian or anyone who considers himself or herself a faithful believer in Jesus, is to learn from him. Nothing is more important as far as Jesus is concerned than having the desire to earnestly seek him and learn from him and thereby grow spiritually as a believer in the Lord Jesus. Many of us have allowed human obligations and everyday responsibilities to distract us from what is really important. We make conscious choices every day to put Jesus on the back burner, to make him second best in our lives, while our earthly responsibilities and desires take first place. Here is another good opportunity to remind ourselves of Jesus’ own words when he said, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.” (St. Matthew 6:33 NIV) Yes we are bombarded every second it seems with decisions to make and in all of this it is easy to forget the one decision that is most important which is to constantly prioritise your Christian faith in all that you are doing. Mary on the other hand, would seem to have been the lazy one, even disrespecting the social expectation to be helping to prepare the meal and whatever else was needed to make the guests comfortable. In fact, her behavior was indeed socially inappropriate but Jesus gave it a ringing endorsement. Mary had indeed made the better choice.
Secondly, it is important to note how Jesus emphasises the importance of seeking Him and having the desire to know God over following traditions and customs and even religious practices. Again, as important as these are, they often hindered rather than enhanced one’s spiritual journey and growth in Him. This seeming disregard for customs and traditions did upset many people especially the Jewish leaders whom Jesus often repudiated for their slavish enforcement of the Laws on the population while oftentimes not being sincere to it themselves. (See St. Matthew 6 and 23) This seeming disregard for the socially and culturally appropriate and even requirements of the Law was a constant source of conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders of his day. No wonder he had to say emphatically the gospel of Matthew, “ Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (St. Matthew 5:17 NIV) Jesus was not a rebel for the sake of being a rebel. He was in fact pointing humanity to what really mattered. What really mattered was not our cultural practices or our norms of living nor our religious beliefs and practices if they did not reflect his teaching. Very often, human-made rules and practices did not reflect godly principles but human traditions and desires. Here Martha was caught up in human-made customs which would have inhibited rather than enhanced Mary’s desire to know more about God. In this light, Jesus was always very clear that human traditions, practices and standards should never usurp one’s desire to know God and grow in one’s Christian faith. Every day we will face situations where it seems that to truly follow Christ may mean going against what are the established ways in which we conduct our lives and we risk being seen as disruptors if we do not follow the standard ways in which we think and act as people every day. Society, after all, abhors or at the very least, does not look favorably on those who test the boundaries or those who do not seem to conform to established practices and principles. You may find yourself in situations where you will have to go against society’s norms if you are going to be truly faithful to God. Many Christians have been martyred from the first century to now, simply because they would not allow society’s principles or cultural traditions or social norms to hinder their obedience to God.
Thirdly, Jesus repeatedly elevates those who are considered the least in the society or those who were considered socially and in other ways inferior. We see here in the text that Mary was willing to sit at Jesus’ feet. This was not socially acceptable in Jesus’ day, but you notice that Jesus did not complain or ask her to stand aside or go and help Martha in the kitchen. Instead, he endorsed her decision in an emphatic way by telling Martha, and without a doubt for the others present to hear as well, that Mary had indeed chosen the better thing and it would not be taken from her. There are two things happening in this one statement. First, as I mentioned in my first point, is the fact that Jesus acknowledges Mary to have made the better choice. Secondly, Mary’s status as a woman was irrelevant here. Culturally, she may have been out of order to be where she was, sitting at his feet, but for Jesus, she was right where she needed to be and he would not allow her to be distracted or repudiated by anyone for her behavior. This is a ringing endorsement for the fact that women and by extension all who are considered culturally or socially or religiously inferior in whatever socio-cultural context they find themselves, are equally important to Jesus and have the equal right of access to him and his loving care. There is no place in his heart and in his kingdom that is reserved for any special group of people because of their race or gender or religion or social standing or anything else that distinguishes one person from another. We are all welcomed by God based on one criterion alone. God welcomes us into his presence and into a relationship with Him based on our faith in Him and our determination to live and grow in Jesus as true disciples and servants of God.
Having said all that the question remains, what choices are you making for Jesus today. Are you sitting at his feet so that you can learn and grow in your faith? Are you willing to follow Christ even if it means being the odd one out or not conforming to every expectation and standard of society? These are tough decisions especially since most of us don’t want to ruffle feathers. Most of us don’t really want to be seen as destabilizing the social order of things. Yet this is just what a Christian has to be prepared for if he or she is to be true to his or her God. In order to be true to its faith, the church and other Christian institutions must be prepared to sometimes withstand society’s values and principles if they are to be seen to be authentic representatives of God. This can indeed come at a cost but nothing is more important than following what is godly as Peter and the other disciples told the Sanhedrin in Acts chapter 5 when they said, “We must obey God rather than men!” (Acts 5:29 NIV)
At the end of it all, we all as Christians have choices to make like anybody else who lives this life. Many of these choices are everyday mundane aspects of life such as what to eat, what to wear from one moment to the next, where to shop and what events to attend as our finances allow. Some of our choices are more life-changing such as the choice of schools, and the choice of jobs and our life partners. Yet as important as these all are, we are learning from Mary’s example today that the most important of all the choices we make is the choice to be faithful to Jesus. Yet this is one choice that can get lost or forgotten in the busyness of our lives. The choice to be faithful to Jesus and grow in Him every day can easily be swept aside in the host of seemingly important other things to do in our everyday lives.
May God constantly remind us each and every day that the most important thing and that “better” thing that Mary chose is that which we should also choose, which is to sit at Jesus’ feet and learn from Him that we may grow in faith and have a deeper spiritual relationship with God. Then we will be better able to discern the choices and decisions that are best for us as we live this life in preparation for eternity. May God grant us the courage to look to Him above everything else today and always. Amen.