Mary v. Martha?
From Wellington Cathedral of St Paul
Mary v. Martha? 18 July 2010 The Revd Jenny Wilkens
- Amos 8:1-12
- Psalm 52
- Colossians 1:15-28
- Luke 10:38-42
http://wellingtoncathedral.org.nz/index.php/Sermons
Driving home last Sunday lunchtime I heard on my car radio part of a fascinating 'Spectrum' documentary interviewing Africans who frequent the African shop in downtown Wellington. The bit I heard was about some of the culture shock experienced here around the roles of men and women, and in particular about men helping with housework and cooking, something which had not been part of these men's experience in their African cultures.
Jack Perkins ended up by asking one of the men if he did the dishes. Quick as a flash, his wife interrupted, 'he isn't given any choice'! Well, I'm sure that subject would cause lively discussion in any number of cultures, not only African. Indeed, in the survey we conduct with couples preparing for marriage, there is often quite a difference in the way couples perceive how much of the housework they think they do - and there is often lively discussion there too!
This perhaps is the trap we fall into when we approach our short little Gospel reading this morning, we very quickly fall into pitting Mary against Martha, one against the other. We either take sides with one or the other, or we try and smooth out the argument between them, trying to defend them or Jesus from any criticism. Or we have a go at Luke, the writer of the story.
Either way, we have to admit there is a huge freight of baggage attached to the interpretation of this Gospel story. But I think that too contributes to its richness. Today, Bible Sunday, we are celebrating the gift of the Scriptures to us and I want to celebrate their abundance.
Last week at our Clergy Conference we were introduced to a rather lovely image for our engagement with the Scriptures, that of tumbleweed, tumbling along the beach.
Just as the tumbleweed is blown along the beach by the wind and touches down differently each time, so each time we encounter a text of Scripture, our engagement with it is different, the Spirit shows us new things, through our increased life experience and through others also engaging with the Scriptures alongside us.
We as staff love the sessions we have on Tuesday mornings when we wrestle with the readings for the coming Sunday and together listen for what the Spirit is saying to us through each other, and through our different life experiences and learnings.
What are some of the interpretations of the Mary & Martha story?
Some see Martha as exemplifying the activist, busy lifestyle, someone who is a 'do-er', while Mary illustrates the more contemplative lifestyle, the person who enjoys spending time in prayer and Bible study. I'll often hear people say to me, Oh, I think I'm more of a Martha figure, I'm happiest in the kitchen, doing things behind the scenes, just getting on with it… These people might rightly feel a little aggrieved that Jesus seems to criticise Martha and to commend Mary for what we could see as her rather selfish and self-indulgent enjoyment of Jesus' company, not noticing Martha's anxiety and distress.
Others would want to take from this passage Jesus' strong affirmation of Mary who we are told 'sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying' (Lk 10:39). This is the classic description of a disciple sitting at the feet of their rabbi. We are told that none other than the apostle Paul sat at the feet of the noted rabbi and scholar Gamaliel (Acts 22:3). So here Jesus is permitting Mary to take on the role of disciple and commending her for it. Women are also welcomed as disciples of Jesus.
Some would see this depiction of Mary as disciple as evidence of Luke's concern for and affirmation of women, just as Luke shows concern for others on the margins of society like the poor and the Gentiles.
But others look at Luke's portrayal of Martha and feel he is not so affirming of women's ministry. This is somewhat concealed by our translation of the Bible, in English we read 'Martha is distracted by her many tasks' (v.40); in the Greek, she is distracted by her 'diakonian' - the word is used for 'service', but also for 'ministry', it's the word from which we get our word 'deacon'.
So some would claim that this passage reflects a discussion going on within Luke's community about the proper place of women's ministry, with some affirming a more active diaconal serving role for women, like Martha's; while others see as permissible only a more passive 'learning in submission' role, exemplified by Mary sitting at Jesus' feet.
Others would resist that polarisation of the two women by saying but hang on a moment, disciples sat at the feet of the rabbi so that they could learn to teach themselves and one day become a rabbi themselves - look at Paul! So they see Mary not being in just a passive submissive role, but rather actively learning with a view to getting out there and teaching and being a rabbi in her own right later on.
Others again try to give Luke the benefit of the doubt by saying look at the larger context of this story, see it is placed just after the story of the Good Samaritan we heard last week. So just as the Good Samaritan illustrated love of neighbour expressed in concrete action and care, so now Mary is set forth as an example of love of God, expressed in devotion to Jesus, spending time and listening to the Word made flesh.
I hope you can see by now that the scholarly discussions about this Mary & Martha story are just as feisty as was I'm sure the discussion going on in Mary and Martha's house that day with Jesus. And of course there are always those who say, well what were the other male disciples doing while all this was going on? What was the women's brother Lazarus doing? Couldn't they have got up and set the table and done the dishes?!
I hope with me you can appreciate the richness these different interpretations of one small Biblical passage have to offer us, perhaps at different times of our lives and of our own spiritual journeys, and to see their complementarity.
I know I'm an inveterate Anglican who always sees the 'both-and' possibilities in things, but let's not polarize Mary and Martha, but rather see the need for both of them in the Biblical story and in our lives.
Over this last week, we clergy have been privileged to be in conference in Masterton, sitting at the feet of Bishop Graham Cray, Bishop of Maidstone in Kent, and currently Team Leader of the Archbishop of Canterbury's Fresh Expressions Team.
We spent three days learning about Fresh Expressions of church which are blossoming all over the UK and indeed all over the Anglican Communion, including in this country.
What is a Fresh Expression of church? Where we go to people within a particular culture or network, love them and serve them, be disciples of Christ among them, and help them to find Jesus and become disciples of Jesus within that culture.
We were shown examples of Fresh Expressions of church in a community founded around baking bread, in a community formed around skateboarders, in a 'cell' group of police supporting each other in the workplace. One example of a Fresh Expression in our own city would be the Urban Vision community which has put itself under the umbrella of our Diocese.
Is this just the latest gimmick, the latest fad? The Archbishop of Canterbury talks about the 'mixed economy' church, a rather agrarian image! What he means is that there is room in the church for both inherited, traditional models of church such as our own here, and for Fresh Expressions of church which may look very different. Indeed both may exist on the same 'turf' and not be competitive but mutually enriching if we can but see God at work through them both.
I often hear from many of you that you grieve that your children and grandchildren are not part of the church you love. Some of these Fresh Expressions of church are able to reach those in very different cultures from our own, in the very broadest sense of culture, and help people to find Christian faith and discipleship within those contexts.
That may involve us not imposing our expectations of what is 'church' on other people and accepting that the Spirit blows where it wills. We may want to reflect further on that glorious reading from the letter to the Colossians, where we see that God has a much bigger picture than we might have, of what it is for the church to be the body of Christ in all its multiplicity and diversity, and to be the foretaste of the new creation, the kingdom of God on earth.
May we seek God like Mary, may we seek God like Martha, through our worship, our Scripture reading, our service, and all to God's glory among us. Amen.
