On Becoming a Mary and
Martha Church
Discipleship Questions
for Sunday July 22, 2007
Scripture
Readings:
First Reading:
Genesis 18:1-14
Psalm:
15
Second
Reading: Colossians 1:21-29
Gospel:
Luke 10:38-42
Gen. 18:1
The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of
Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the
day. 2 Abraham looked up and saw three
men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent
to meet them and bowed low to the ground. 3 He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not
pass your servant by. 4 Let a little water be brought,
and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. 5 Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed
and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant.” “Very well,”
they answered, “do as you say.” 6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he
said, “get three seahs of fine flour and knead it and
bake some bread.” 6
Then he ran to the herd and selected
a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. 8 He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had
been prepared, and set these before them. While they
ate, he stood near them under a tree. 9
“Where
is your wife Sarah?” they asked him. “There, in the tent,” he said. 10 Then the LORD said, “I will surely return to you about this
time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”
Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent,
which was behind him. 11 Abraham and Sarah were already
old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of
childbearing. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself as
she thought, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this
pleasure?” 13 Then the LORD said to Abraham, “Why
did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at
the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son.”
Psa. 15:0
A psalm of David.
Psa. 15:1 LORD, who may dwell in your
sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?
2
He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth
from his heart 3
and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no
slur on his fellowman,
4
who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the LORD, who keeps his oath
even when it hurts, 5 who lends his money without
usury and does not accept a bribe against the innocent. He who does these
things will never be shaken.
Col. 1:21
Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in
your minds because of your evil behavior.
22
But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to
present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not
moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard
and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I,
Paul, have become a servant. 24
Now I
rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still
lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is
the church. 25 I have become its servant by the
commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— 26 the mystery that has
been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the
saints. 27 To them God has chosen to make
known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ
in you, the hope of glory. 28
We
proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may
present everyone perfect in Christ. 29 To this end I labor, struggling
with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
Luke 10:38
As Jesus and his
disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha
opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary,
who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had
to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has
left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” 41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and
upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed.
Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
2.
Please
read the following from my sermon notes and discuss: Jesus wasn’t
honoring passivity in Mary nor was He discounting the industriousness of Martha
but rather He was honoring the hospitable love which could express itself
through a Martha or a Mary type of personality when offered in genuine
love! So I can be a busy Priest in the
hustle and bustle of the marketplace and Brother Jerome at the Abbey of the
Genesee can remain a tranquil and gentle monk! – well
maybe not so gentle – ha! And God can
honor us both if we are doing what we do in love! That’s the ONE THING that’s needed! To do what we do not out of a sense of
resentment or worry or any other type of drivenness but rather in love! So the next time you and I are sensing some
sentiment welling up inside of us that smacks of resentment let’s stop and
pray.
3. Now we must turn
to St. Paul’s Epistle to the Christians in Collossae for the coup de grass on
this issue. Please turn with me to
Colossians 1: 21-29 – first from the New International Version and then from
the Message:
NIV:
Col. 1:24
Now I rejoice in
what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my
flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of
his body, which is the church. 25
I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the
word of God in its fullness— 26
the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now
disclosed to the saints. 27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the
glorious riches of this mystery, which
is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Col. 1:28
We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all
wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. 29 To
this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works
in me.
And
now from the Message:
Col. 1:24
I want you to know how glad I am that it’s me sitting here
in this jail and not you. There’s a lot of suffering to be entered into in this
world—the kind of suffering Christ takes
on. I welcome the chance to take my share in the church’s part of that
suffering. 25 When I became a
servant in this church, I experienced this suffering as a sheer gift, God’s way
of helping me serve you, laying out the whole truth.
Col. 1:26
This mystery has been kept in the dark for a long time, but
now it’s out in the open. 27 God
wanted everyone, not just Jews, to know this rich and glorious secret inside
and out, regardless of their background, regardless of their religious
standing. The mystery in a nutshell is
just this: Christ is in you, therefore you can look
forward to sharing in God’s glory. It’s that simple. That is the substance
of our Message. 28 We preach
Christ, warning people not to add to the Message. We teach in a spirit of
profound common sense so that we can bring each person to maturity. To be
mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less. 29 That’s what I’m working so hard at
day after day, year after year, doing my best with the
energy God so generously gives me.
Can you see
it! It’s that simple – Christ is in us
who are Christians continuing His work on the Cross!
Yes, you and I
stand in the balance between suffering and Glory! Jesus suffered and received the glory of
glories and now we get to join with Him not in the spirit of a “OK but I’m not
happy with it’ Martha spirit but rather in a “OK Lord,
be strong in me and help me to STRUGGLE WITH ALL OF YOUR ENERGY – verse 29!
Can you see it
yet? It’s all about Jesus in us! Jesus continuing to do what
He did on earth 2,000 years ago.
He’s doing it all over again through us – in us, with us! With us!
Did you hear that? We get to fill
up in our body the suffering that will complete Christ’s work on earth.
Ah! Jesus is speaking now to the
Martha’s in us – work – yes, by all means but do it in
my energy to finish my work! All is to be done for His glory and whenever we do
anything to our glory we will get tired and we will complain!
O Lord help us
all at TCC to choose always and ever to do what is right and may all of the
honor and glory go to You for it is in your strength that we will overcome this
world! Not in our own! Please
discuss all of this.