Martha's Supper; Mary's Feast
Sermon
Come Dine With Jesus
Ten Sermons And Litanies For Lent And Easter
Worship Focus
On one side of the table, a jumble of cooking pots, some on top of others at crazy angles.
On the other side, an open Bible.
A Litany For The Fourth Meal
Leader: God of all wisdom, we thank you that you call us to yourself.
People: God of all mercy, we thank you that you invite us to bring to you our prayers.
Leader: God of all knowledge, our lives are always open before you.
People: God of compassion, open our eyes, that we may see our inward needs.
Leader: We come as people who want to know you and serve you.
People: We come as those who do not always clearly hear your voice.
Leader: Often we are bogged down in daily cares, too busy to listen for your word.
People: We blame others for our problems and pains, and we forget to forgive one another.
Leader: Other times we fail in our responsibilities to each other;
People: We become the source of strife, when we should be bearers of your love.
Leader: Free us from ourselves, so that we may feel your loving care and may walk in your pathways.
People: Teach us to face each new day with your life and hope in our hearts.
Leader: Thus may we find your will for our lives.
People: This we pray through Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and our Lord. Amen.
Martha's Supper; Mary's Feast
Luke 10:38-42
When Jesus was present at a supper,
often he brought out the problems
of the people there,
and he had a way of meeting their needs
and healing their relationships.
In the House of Simon the Pharisee,
when a woman of the streets
washed Jesus' feet with her tears,
the encounter brought out
the woman's sinfulness;
it also exposed Simon's self-righteousness
and the smallness of his love.
There was healing for the woman,
for Jesus said her sins were forgiven;
and there was healing also for Simon,
as Jesus pointed him
to a richer meaning of love.
In the fourth supper, there was again
both conflict and healing.
we find this in Luke, Chapter 10.
Now as they went on their way, he 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.''
When Jesus went to supper at Martha's house,
the tension between Martha and her sister
came out into the open.
Martha finally burst out,
''Lord, do you not care that my sister
has left me to do all the work by myself?
Tell her to help me.''
Had Jesus caused the dissension?
No, I believe he exposed the tension
that was already there,
festering in the family relationship
between two very different personalities.
Year after year
the sisters had grown up together,
with different ways of looking at things,
different sets of values,
until finally this supper was just too much,
and Martha blew up.
Each of the sisters was, as we all are,
a mixture of sensitivity and insensitivity.
We see Mary's insensitivity to Martha's need
for help to feed their guests,
Martha's insensitivity to Mary's need
to feed the soul.
Martha was sensitive to hospitality:
in the custom of the day,
she tried to do all she could
to make a feast worthy of such a guest;
but she failed to realize
that Jesus preferred a chance to teach.
Mary was sensitive to the word of God.
She perceived that Jesus
found his plain spiritual truth
more important than a fancy meal,
but she failed to realize her duty as hostess
and her responsibility
not to leave the whole burden
on her sister Martha.
Martha's outburst finally exposed the differences,
and it opened the sisters
to Jesus' words of healing.
Gently he rebuked Martha,
pointing out that he was more interested
in helping people than in having a big banquet.
Yet, in mentioning Martha's burdens,
he indirectly chided Mary
for not helping her sister.
Then he effectively invited them both to sit,
to listen,
to forget the busy-ness,
to open themselves to the word of God,
to share together in God's peace.
There was healing.
There must have been healing,
for we meet the sisters later, together.
At the death of their brother Lazarus,
Martha was the first to run out to meet Jesus.
Mary, quieter, came a few minutes later;
both spoke to the Lord out of the same faith.
Still later, at supper in Lazarus' house,
Martha, always the more active,
served the supper;
Mary anointed Jesus' feet.
Each retained her own personality:
Martha active, doing things,
Mary more contemplative, quieter,
but they were together.
The one-time rift between them had been healed --
healed by the Jesus who invites us all,
now,
to renew our spirits with his healing grace.
On one side of the table, a jumble of cooking pots, some on top of others at crazy angles.
On the other side, an open Bible.
A Litany For The Fourth Meal
Leader: God of all wisdom, we thank you that you call us to yourself.
People: God of all mercy, we thank you that you invite us to bring to you our prayers.
Leader: God of all knowledge, our lives are always open before you.
People: God of compassion, open our eyes, that we may see our inward needs.
Leader: We come as people who want to know you and serve you.
People: We come as those who do not always clearly hear your voice.
Leader: Often we are bogged down in daily cares, too busy to listen for your word.
People: We blame others for our problems and pains, and we forget to forgive one another.
Leader: Other times we fail in our responsibilities to each other;
People: We become the source of strife, when we should be bearers of your love.
Leader: Free us from ourselves, so that we may feel your loving care and may walk in your pathways.
People: Teach us to face each new day with your life and hope in our hearts.
Leader: Thus may we find your will for our lives.
People: This we pray through Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and our Lord. Amen.
Martha's Supper; Mary's Feast
Luke 10:38-42
When Jesus was present at a supper,
often he brought out the problems
of the people there,
and he had a way of meeting their needs
and healing their relationships.
In the House of Simon the Pharisee,
when a woman of the streets
washed Jesus' feet with her tears,
the encounter brought out
the woman's sinfulness;
it also exposed Simon's self-righteousness
and the smallness of his love.
There was healing for the woman,
for Jesus said her sins were forgiven;
and there was healing also for Simon,
as Jesus pointed him
to a richer meaning of love.
In the fourth supper, there was again
both conflict and healing.
we find this in Luke, Chapter 10.
Now as they went on their way, he 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.''
When Jesus went to supper at Martha's house,
the tension between Martha and her sister
came out into the open.
Martha finally burst out,
''Lord, do you not care that my sister
has left me to do all the work by myself?
Tell her to help me.''
Had Jesus caused the dissension?
No, I believe he exposed the tension
that was already there,
festering in the family relationship
between two very different personalities.
Year after year
the sisters had grown up together,
with different ways of looking at things,
different sets of values,
until finally this supper was just too much,
and Martha blew up.
Each of the sisters was, as we all are,
a mixture of sensitivity and insensitivity.
We see Mary's insensitivity to Martha's need
for help to feed their guests,
Martha's insensitivity to Mary's need
to feed the soul.
Martha was sensitive to hospitality:
in the custom of the day,
she tried to do all she could
to make a feast worthy of such a guest;
but she failed to realize
that Jesus preferred a chance to teach.
Mary was sensitive to the word of God.
She perceived that Jesus
found his plain spiritual truth
more important than a fancy meal,
but she failed to realize her duty as hostess
and her responsibility
not to leave the whole burden
on her sister Martha.
Martha's outburst finally exposed the differences,
and it opened the sisters
to Jesus' words of healing.
Gently he rebuked Martha,
pointing out that he was more interested
in helping people than in having a big banquet.
Yet, in mentioning Martha's burdens,
he indirectly chided Mary
for not helping her sister.
Then he effectively invited them both to sit,
to listen,
to forget the busy-ness,
to open themselves to the word of God,
to share together in God's peace.
There was healing.
There must have been healing,
for we meet the sisters later, together.
At the death of their brother Lazarus,
Martha was the first to run out to meet Jesus.
Mary, quieter, came a few minutes later;
both spoke to the Lord out of the same faith.
Still later, at supper in Lazarus' house,
Martha, always the more active,
served the supper;
Mary anointed Jesus' feet.
Each retained her own personality:
Martha active, doing things,
Mary more contemplative, quieter,
but they were together.
The one-time rift between them had been healed --
healed by the Jesus who invites us all,
now,
to renew our spirits with his healing grace.
