Fuss Stop
When a guest comes into your home, what do you do?
Do you fuss about trying to get all the last minute tasks done, or do you stop and spend time with your guest?
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." - Luke 10:38-42
In today's Gospel reading, Jesus comes to dinner and one sister takes time to listen to him while the other fusses to make everything perfect.
Occasionally we come upon a lesson that I just don't like and this is one of those. Whenever I hear it, I think Jesus isn't being fair. Martha is stuck doing all the things Mary could be helping her do and yet she is the one chastised.
True, Martha welcomed him into her home, so she should have been prepared to do so, and I guess it is rude to welcome a guest and then run off into the kitchen leaving him alone with family members.
So, is the point that we should be eager to spend time with God when we let Him enter our lives, or is this about how we treat each other?
If we think this is all about how we treat God, then we see each other as either being respectful or disrespectful of His presence. It's like when we look at the people in church who come in an stare at their phones rather than pay attention. You know. Them!
But if we look at this as a lesson in how we prepare space and time for each other, we flip that picture around and ask ourselves questions. Are we going to go out and welcome those who come to God's house, or will we spend our time fussing in the back, getting ourselves ready for the Service?
If I listen to this Gospel reading today and think, Jesus is telling me to pay him some respect, I can fail to see how I should act toward others.
But if I listen and hear Jesus telling me to stop fussing when welcoming my neighbor, a whole different meaning comes to me. Maybe that is why I haven't liked this reading. I was listening to the wrong message.
So, today as people come to church, I will be out there, welcoming them and listening to them, leaving all the details of prepping and fussing behind. That's the way it should be, right?
More to come...