Now, I have to admit that Luke is my favorite gospel most of the time. There are occasions when I prefer the more mystical take that John gives us. But Luke brings us a focus on the teaching and ministry of Jesus that I really like. Luke highlights the servanthood of Jesus and the call to emulate that ministry that I feel particularly drawn to.
Throughout this gospel, there is a focus on hospitality and service to others. This is apparent in Jesus’ teachings, his many meal encounters, and in his instructions to the seventy disciples he sent out ahead of him at the beginning of chapter 10. These seventy were told that those towns and homes that welcome them will be blessed while those that do not offer hospitality will have it worse than Sodom.
This is in interesting juxtaposition to an incident in chapter 9 where a Samaritan village refused to welcome Jesus and his followers. James and John wanted to command fire to rain down on the town, but Jesus rebuked them and continued on his way.
Perhaps this is part of what I like about Luke. As you read it through, you find that there are times that Jesus seems to contradict himself. At the end of chapter 9 he rebukes his followers for wanting to destroy a foreign town that does not welcome them, and then, in chapter 10, he tells those he sends on ahead to only enter those towns that welcome them and that it will be far worse on those that reject them when the kingdom of God comes into being.
And yet, how often do we hear chapter 10 as proof of the destruction awaiting those that reject Jesus? Only a few verses earlier, Jesus rebukes his followers for wanting to destroy a town that has not welcomed them.
This is a good example of the ways in which we bring our assumptions into the story with us. But before we turn to Martha and Mary, we have to finish our look at where this story takes place in the gospel. What is going on around this story?
As I already mentioned, Luke has a particular focus on hospitality and service. In the closing verses of chapter 9, we are told that Jesus has turned his face toward Jerusalem. He knows what the results of that will be. But he uses this journey as an opportunity to continue his teaching on the nature of the kingdom.
And so as his journey begins, we have the story of the Samaritan village that does not welcome them and the sons of Zebedee suggesting that the village be destroyed followed by Jesus’ rebuke. Then we have the commissioning of the seventy to go ahead of Jesus and to find villages that will welcome them along the path to Jerusalem. This is where we then find Jesus’ promise of destruction for those places that do not welcome him. Again, the focus here centers on hospitality.
The commissioning of the seventy is followed by the story we read last week. As you may recall, last week focused on our neighbors and the way we are expected to demonstrate mercy to our neighbors. Jesus pushed against the norms and expectations by centering an outsider and enemy as the hero and making it clear that there is no limit on who is our neighbor.
Today’s story picks up immediately after the end of last week’s lesson. And the focus on hospitality is immediately clear. Martha is named first, and we are told that it is her house. It is not her brother’s house, her husband’s house, or some other male relative’s house. It is her house. This is yet another thing we see throughout Luke’s writing, the naming of women as equal in their own right.
Martha’s sister, Mary, is also named. But it is immediately made clear that Martha is caring for all the tasks we normally equate with welcoming people into our home. It should not go unnoticed that these are also stereotypically “women’s work.” We are told that she is preoccupied with getting everything ready for the meal. This was a normal societal expectation at that time and is still the norm for many people today - when you welcome someone into your home, you offer them a meal or refreshments of some sort.
Now it is interesting to note here that the words used to describe “getting everything ready for their meal” and “to prepare the table” are in fact the same words that are used elsewhere in the New Testament when describing the ministry of the apostles, the ministry of Paul, and the ministry of the seven commissioned in Acts 6. The Greek root here is διακον- which is variously translated throughout the New Testament as ministry, service, and waiting tables. It is also where we get the word deacon as a title for service ministry in the church still today.
So Martha performing the ministry of welcoming Jesus and his followers to her house. We are told that by contrast her sister, Mary, has chosen to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to all that he is saying and teaching. Rather than helping Martha with all the tasks she is doing, Mary is hanging out with Jesus and his followers.
Now this is the point at which the assumptions we bring into the text begin to become apparent. Martha comes to Jesus to complain about Mary’s lack of help, and Jesus responds that Martha is distracted and Mary has chosen the better thing. We’ll come back to that "better thing" in a moment, but first I want us to focus on a few different interpretations that I have heard previously of this text.
On the one hand, I have heard this as a text of empowerment for women that speaks out against social norms. Martha is doing stereotypical women’s work. She is apparently busy preparing a meal and trying to set the table - all things that would be expected of someone showing hospitality but also typically expected of women.
But Mary has here taken on a role typically reserved for men. She is sitting at the feet of the teacher, listening to what he has to say. She is breaking out of the typical woman’s work, and Jesus praises her for it.
And that is certainly one reading.
But we can also legitimately read this text in exactly the opposite fashion, as a way of keeping women down. Martha dares to approach Jesus and speak to him directly. He is not a related male (as far as we know). Women don’t normally speak directly to unrelated males.
If we read it this way, Jesus’ response becomes a different sort of rebuke. “How dare you speak to me directly? Do you not see how your sister is sitting quietly and merely listening to me?” In this case then the text becomes a tool to keep women quiet and in their place.
Yet a third option that is perhaps not as harsh as the last one is to interpret Jesus’ words to indicate the importance of listening to God. Mary is lifted up and Martha is shamed not because of the breaking of stereotypical norms, but because Mary is sitting listening to Jesus. In this case, it raises the importance of one act over another. Works are nice, but it is far more important to attend to the word of God.
Hopefully you can see how any of these interpretations can be arrived at simply by reading the text as we see it written in English. Each of the translations available to us offers a slight variation, but they all follow much the same pattern:
Jesus and followers enter Martha’s home. Martha is running around doing all the work while her sister sits listening to Jesus instead of helping. Martha complains to Jesus. Jesus tells her that Mary has chosen the better part which will not be taken from her.
How we interpret this story depends as much on the assumptions we bring to the reading as it does to the actual words that are used.Do we bring an assumption that Jesus seeks to break down the barriers that hold people only to certain roles? Do we bring an assumption with us about the inferior status of women and their need to be put in a particular place? Do we bring an assumption that the word of God supercedes all other concerns including ministry on behalf of God?
Of course, those aren’t the only options available for understanding this text. There is another way to interpret Mary’s choice to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to what he is saying. Mary’s choice can also point us back to hospitality. In addition to providing a meal, another key part of hospitality is sitting with your guests and listening to their stories. If we look at it this way, both Martha and Mary are showing hospitality to their guests just in different ways.
The reference to the διακον- words in Martha’s complaint had me turning to the Greek to see what else might be hiding in plain sight. This is where this brief text began to take on a slightly different meaning for me.
At the start of verse 42, the second half of Jesus’ response to Martha, there is a phrase that is usually translated in one of two ways, depending on the source being used. It reads something along the lines of “only one thing is necessary” or “few things are necessary, indeed only one.” But the word being translated as "one thing" here can also mean oneness or unity. So another way of understanding this text is that Jesus is saying the only necessary thing is oneness or unity
He starts off his response by pointing out that Martha has become distracted by all of the tasks. The tasks themselves have become the goal rather than the genuine welcome of her guests. She has lost sight of her guests in the midst of her busy-ness.
You see both women are taking part in what is normally expected to be hospitable - both providing refreshments as well as listening to your guests is needed. Hospitality is not just providing refreshments nor is it just sitting and listening to all your guests have to say. Hospitality is about relationship.
This is the source of Jesus’ rebuke. It is not so much that sitting and listening to Jesus is better than running around and doing the other things that need doing, though this is often how our texts come across in English. Instead, the Greek words here translate more literally as “good portion.” So Mary is doing a good portion of the things that need doing. She is doing her part.
Jesus does not actually say that Martha’s work to provide them food is bad. He simply points out that her focus on that to the exclusion of all else has led her to distraction. Had she not come to him to complain about what Mary was doing, this story would probably not even be here. But at the point that Martha decided only her portion was necessary and that Mary should be doing the same work, that is the point that Jesus teaches her a valuable lesson about hospitality. The work of both women is a necessary part of hospitality. Just as our relationship to God is exemplified through both prayer and good works, so too are our relationships with each other exemplified in communication and work on behalf of others.
It’s a little like the Avengers movies (or Justice League, if that is more your thing). Each of the members of the Avengers has different skills and different tasks. Each of them is special in their own way, and they have their own stories in which they often work alone and do their own thing.
But every once in a while something happens, and they come together to work as a team. And when they do, each of them plays an important role; they don’t all do the same thing. We have seen this play out in all four of the Avengers movies. In the big climactic battle near the end of the movie, each of them has a different task.
I was going to speak about the last movie, Endgame, but some friends reminded me that there might be some that have not yet seen it. So I’ll go back to the Age of Ultron movie. In the big climactic part at the end of the movie, Ultron has caused an entire city to lift into the air. Once it gets to a certain height, he will break up the city, causing widespread destruction to the surrounding area. The higher the city gets, the greater and wider the destruction. So the Avengers hatch a plan to destroy the city before it gets too high. Thor is supposed to use his hammer to strike a spike that will break up the city while other members either work to clear innocent people from the city or destroy the clones of Ultron. But as I read today’s Bible text, I wondered what would have happened if Captain America had complained that Thor should be doing more to get people safely out of the city instead of bothering with his key task?
There is more to hospitality than setting a table or being friendly to people. There is more to relationships than just listening to someone talk or doing nice things for them. There is more to being the church than just reading the Bible or worshiping or praying.
Jesus is telling us that there are many tasks that are needed, and that some of us will fulfill one task while others may fulfill another.
That doesn’t make anyone more or less important; it is all work that needs to be done.
Jesus is telling us to do our part and to stop worrying about whether or not the person over there is doing it the same way we are.
Because when our eyes start to wander and we start complaining about what that person over there is or isn’t doing, we have raised that thing over God and allowed it to become a distraction from the work we are called to do.
Maybe that person over there isn’t doing the same thing we are doing, but that doesn’t mean that person isn’t doing their part.
Jesus tells us all that we have a place. I have a place and a role and a task. You have a place and a role and a task. We are not all called to preach or to feed others or to act in a certain way. But we are also not necessarily called to fulfill stereotypical roles, either. In one of my favorite scenes in Age of Ultron, Hawkeye is trying to encourage Scarlet Witch. He's trying to explain how he feels in that moment:
The city is flying, we're fighting and army of robots, and I have a bow and error. None of this makes sense.When we try to look at what God is calling us to, sometimes it doesn't make any sense. Most of the time, it only doesn't make sense based on the assumptions we bring with us - assumptions based on gender, skin color, nationality, body-type, etc. It doesn't make sense when people don't act the way we expect them to. But when we use the gifts that God has given each of us together, we welcome God and we welcome others.
Who are the people that need our hospitality right now? Who are our neighbors in need? Where is your place in offering hospitality?
Let us work together to make sure that others know God’s love, mercy, and welcome.
Let us continue in our calling to live into the kingdom - sometimes praying, sometimes listening, sometimes feeding, sometimes working, but always loving.