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En el nobmre del Dios: Creador, Redentor, y Santificador. Amen.
What a week it’s been! A heatwave is scorching our country killing six people so far. Bird attacks on people are on the rise around the world as their habitat disappears. Thousands of people are protesting for freedom in Hong Kong and Puerto Rico while maritime tensions are building with Iran. To top it off, a 17-year old girl named Bianca was murdered in NY and graphic pictures of it were posted online by her murderer with this question: “Here comes Hell. It’s redemption, right?” (www.bbc.com/news/world)
I’m so glad to be here with you to hear the Word of God and receive the sacrament of Holy Communion. Then I read Amos and the psalm for today.
The “basket of fruit” reference is a wordplay in Hebrew. The word that translates as 'basket of fruit' sounds like the word that translates as 'the end.' God asks Amos, ‘What do you see, Amos?’ Amos says, “the end.”
Remembering from last week that God is the plumb-line in the midst of the community, this story from Amos shows us that God sees what’s happening on the ground. God repeats, “I will never pass you by” which is interpreted to mean, I am in the midst of you and I will not forget what I’m seeing, and what I’m seeing is not just, not compassionate, and not right.
Hear this, God says: [I see] you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land. [I see you who] practice deceit with false balances, exchanging the poor for your own wealth and the needy for a pair of Gucci’s, selling junk food and passing it off as nutritious – all for your own gain.
I see you and though I embody the true vertical among you, you don’t see me. So I will watch and wait while you bring yourselves to the only end available to you: mourning and lamentation. When you get where you’re going you’ll realize how wrong you’ve been and you’ll look for me to save you, but you won’t see me.
The psalm picks up the theme calling out the tyrant for his cruelty. “You love lying more than speaking truth. You love all words that hurt.” O that God would hear our prayer and demolish you utterly…”
I admit this Psalm has been my prayer for a while now. I am not God but I see these very issues playing out in our world today, and if social media is any indicator, I’m not alone in this. I will concede, these issues play out in every era, but I think this time it's personal. This time it’s us, the historical good guys, acting unjustly, without compassion, and doing what is not right toward the weak, the foreigner, and the powerless among us.
So like the psalmist, I pray in order to go into the presence of God where my heart can be moved from “demolish them utterly” to “I trust in the mercy of God for ever.”
There are days and weeks the news is so disruptive of my peace and corrosive to my hope that my only recourse is to shut it off for a moment and return to the presence of Jesus, which is what Mary was demonstrating in today’s gospel.
This familiar story is often discussed in ways that pit Martha against Mary in a competition for holiness. I often hear people say, “I’m a Martha” or “I’m a Mary.” The truth is, we’re all both. We all have our gifts to offer in our ministries, and there are times we must all stop and sit at the feet of Jesus for the renewal of our souls.
The other biblical stories of Martha and Mary illustrate that these sisters possess a great gift of hospitality – one that goes beyond the cultural expectation for “women’s work.” They are a team – and their home is a center for hospitality and friendship. Martha’s frustration in this story is that her teammate, Mary, isn’t doing her part, leaving the burden of the whole ministry to Martha who tries to hold it up alone, but finds herself bitter and resentful about it.
Jesus responds with a soothing: Martha, Martha… you are worried and distracted by many things, but there is only one thing that really matters. Look, Mary has chosen the good part.
Why our translators changed the word here from ‘good’ to ‘better’ escapes me and is part of the reason, I think, we hear this as a competition for holiness. Mary didn’t choose a better part than Martha. Jesus called Mary’s choice good, that is, admirable, deserving of respect and approval, and he gave it all of that.
Jesus was clear that Mary’s choice would not be taken from her. Choice is a sign of our freedom. Mary had the right to choose for herself. We all do. Besides, any ministry Mary offers can wait while she is renewed in spirit.
When I picture this scene as if I were going to paint it, I see Mary sitting with the other disciples having a conversation with Jesus. They all seem happy and relaxed. Martha is not in the room with them. She’s visible through a doorway to another room where she is preparing a platter of food. Her back is to Jesus as she prepares the food. That means Martha can’t see Jesus, and as the story from Amos teaches us, when we can’t see God, we can’t move in justice, compassion, and right relationship.
To all of us who are worried and distracted by many things, Jesus assures the Martha within us and it sounds something like this: Y’all know me well enough to know that I don’t need a fancy dinner, just time with you and our friends in your home. Be still sometimes, all you Marthas. Just be with me. You have no praise to earn, no expectations to meet. You are already beloved. Come and be with me. I will fill your emptiness, restore your hope, and prepare you for your work in ministry.
Do you see how this connects to our practice of Sunday Eucharist? We come to our center of hospitality and share simple food of bread and wine with our friends and ministry teammates. Refreshed and renewed we re-enter the world where injustice and unrighteousness leave so many suffering and hopeless and we declare the goodness and mercy of God to them by our words and our lives.
As followers of Jesus Christ today we are called to be intentional about seeking the one thing we need: time spent with God and one another, listening for the voice of God within us and among us. We come together to be strengthened for service so that we can live as agents of Christ’s transforming love in the world.
That is the servanthood to which our baptism calls us, and it's why we started our Eucharist today with the opening from Holy Baptism. Now let's turn to page 304 in the Book of Common Prayer and renew our baptismal vows together. Afterward, we continue with the Prayers of the People.
After the renewal of Baptismal vows, we conclude with this collect:
Let us pray. Holy God, we thank you that by water and the Holy Spirit you have bestowed upon [us] your servants the forgiveness of sin, and have raised [us] to the new life of grace. Sustain [us], O Lord, in your Holy Spirit. Give [us] an inquiring and discerning heart, the courage to will and to persevere, a spirit to know and to love you, and the gift of joy and wonder in all your works. Amen. (BCP, Baptism, 314)
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