![\"Wedding](\"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/weddingcake-500x375.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s readings offer us a contrast
\nbetween two people visited by the Lord.
\nThe Lord comes to their homes, and we see two different reactions;
\nI\u2019m not speaking here of Martha and Mary,
\nbut of Martha and Abraham.<\/p>\n
Now, there are definitely differences
\nbetween the way Martha responds to her encounter with Jesus,
\nand the way Mary responds.
\nBut if we focus only on Martha and Mary,
\nwe may get the mistaken idea that Mary\u2019s contemplation
\nis superior to Martha\u2019s service.<\/p>\n
But by comparing and contrasting Martha and Abraham,
\nwe can see the value of active service for God,
\nbut also how that service
\ncan take two very different paths.<\/p>\n
The first reading and the gospel parallel each other:
\nIn the first reading, the three men, representing the the Lord,
\nvisit Abraham and Sarah at their tent, their home.
\nIn the gospel Jesus visits Martha and Mary at their home.
\nAnd both Abraham and Martha work hard
\nto be hospitable to their guests.<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s a big difference
\nin the way they each of them provide that hospitality.<\/p>\n
Abraham is eager to serve his guests.
\nIn the heat of the day,
\nhe runs out from his tent to greet the strangers.
\nHe says, \u201cDo me a favor and stay here and let me serve you.\u201d
\nAbraham is eager to demonstrate his hospitality.
\nIt\u2019s a favor to him to serve them.
\nIt\u2019s a favor to him to be able to bring them water,
\nto bathe their feet.
\nIt\u2019s a favor to him to bring them food.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s so eager he can\u2019t contain himself.
\nHe runs everywhere.
\nHe runs to greet them,
\nhe runs to Sarah
\nand says, \u201cQuick! Make some rolls!\u201d
\nHe runs out to the field and finds a tender, choice steer
\nand gives it to a servant who prepares it quickly.
\nEverything in the story happens quickly.
\nAnd finally Abraham himself waits on the strangers.
\nFor Abraham, this encounter with the Lord
\nis a gift, a favor,
\nan opportunity to eagerly serve.<\/p>\n
The encounter between Martha and the Lord
\nis very different.
\nIn the gospel we see Martha
\nburdened with much serving.
\nFor Martha, being hospitable to Jesus is not a favor,
\nbut a source of anxiety.<\/p>\n
She feels pressure
\nto make sure things are just so.
\nShe needs help to do things the way she wants them done,
\nbut instead of directly asking Mary to get up and help,
\nthe way Abraham asked Sarah,
\nshe takes a passive-aggressive approach.
\nShe keeps working and working,
\nhoping that Jesus will notice and say something.
\nYou can almost see her shooting dirty looks to Mary
\nbehind Jesus\u2019 back.<\/p>\n
What Martha is doing is passing judgment on Mary.
\nShe judges that Mary ought to be helping her,
\nand she\u2019s upset when Jesus doesn\u2019t notice.
\nSo she asks, \u201cLord, don\u2019t you care?\u201d<\/p>\n
But if she wanted a sympathetic ear,
\nshe\u2019s not getting it from Jesus.
\nIt\u2019s not the fact that Martha is serving instead of sitting
\nthat Jesus is concerned about;
\nit\u2019s that Martha\u2019s anxious and worried about many things.<\/p>\n
What is she worried about?
\nThe gospel doesn\u2019t say,
\nbut we can imagine:
\nIs the food prepared properly?
\nDoes everyone have enough to eat?
\nDoes it taste ok?
\nIs the table clean enough?<\/p>\n
In other words,
\nshe wants things to be perfect for Jesus.
\nPart of it may be pride,
\npart of if may be worry
\nabout what Jesus will think of her
\nif the dinner doesn’t come off well.<\/p>\n
Anyone who\u2019s ever put on an important dinner
\ncan relate to Martha\u2019s anxieties.
\nTwo weeks ago our oldest son got married,
\nand as the parents of the groom
\nBrenda and I were responsible for the rehearsal dinner.
\nThis was the first wedding in our family,
\nand we wanted the dinner to go perfectly.
\nSo, of course, we worked hard on it,
\nand we worried.
\nWill there be something on the menu for everyone?
\nWill the food turn out ok?
\nShould we have a toast?
\nWhen do we play the slide show?
\nWill the two families get along and get to know each other?<\/p>\n
We could easily relate to Martha\u2019s anxieties.<\/p>\n
But we could also relate to Abraham.
\nWe were eager and excited.
\nPutting on the rehearsal dinner didn\u2019t feel like a burden,
\nbut a favor,
\na privilege to do something for people we love and care about.<\/p>\n
But we were still worried and anxious.
\nWe wanted the dinner to be perfect
\nfor our son Ryan and his soon-to-be wife Teresa.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t perfect. It wasn\u2019t perfect in the sense that one of the entrees came out cold But at the same time, Because there was need of only thing: This is what Jesus is trying to tell Martha. But the dinner was perfect anyway As we think about our own encounters with Jesus, Both Abraham and Martha worked hard for their guests. Do we, like Martha, feel Jesus\u2019 presence as a burden? Or do we respond with eagerness as Abraham did, I suspect that for most of us Luke doesn\u2019t say what happened after Jesus spoke to Martha. The more important question is: Whatever we are called to do as we leave,
\nAnd yet
\nit was perfect<\/em>.<\/p>\n
\nfor everyone who ordered it
\nand had to be sent back.
\nThe amplifier for the slide show kept crackling, so the sound was bad,
\nand the timing of the music with the pictures
\ndidn\u2019t work the way it was supposed to.<\/p>\n
\nthe rehearsal dinner was perfect.<\/p>\n
\nRyan and Teresa, gathered together with their friends and family.
\nIt was the encounter that mattered, the gathering together in love.<\/p>\n
\nThere is need of only one thing: encounter with Jesus.
\nCould Mary have helped Martha without asking?
\nProbably.
\nWould that have made the dinner perfect?
\nProbably not.<\/p>\n
\nbecause of the presence of Jesus, the one thing needed.<\/p>\n
\nAbraham and Martha help us look at how we respond
\nto Jesus\u2019 presence in our lives.<\/p>\n
\nFor Martha it was a burden.
\nFor Abraham it was a pleasure.<\/p>\n
\nIs our encounter with Jesus like a weight that we have to carry,
\na weight that seems heavier to us
\nthan to the people around us,
\na jealous kind of burden?
\nAre we worried that we won\u2019t be able to please God?
\nDo we judge others and complain to God
\nabout those who don\u2019t seem to be serving God
\nor living out the faith as much as we do?
\nDo we cry out,
\n\u201cLord, don\u2019t you care?\u201d<\/p>\n
\nrecognizing that serving God is a privilege,
\na joyful encounter with the One who loves us?<\/p>\n
\nthere are times when we respond like Abraham,
\neager and happy to serve;
\nand there are times when we respond like Martha,
\nangry and judgmental;
\nthere are even times when we respond in both ways at the same time.<\/p>\n
\nBut based on what we hear of Martha in John\u2019s gospel,
\nit\u2019s likely that she listened to what Jesus said and grew from it,
\ntaking it to heart.
\nMaybe she put the dishes down, sat next to Mary,
\nand really engaged with Jesus.
\nOr maybe she kept working,
\nbut with a lighter heart,
\nletting her anxieties go,
\nrealizing that Jesus would always love her,
\nregardless of how hard she worked,
\nor how well things turned out.<\/p>\n
\nHow are we being called to grow as we leave here today?
\nSome of us may feel the need to sit with Mary at the foot of Jesus
\nand spend more time listening to him.
\nOthers may sense that they need to keep serving, like Martha,
\nbut with a renewed eagerness and joy.
\nAnd still others may feel the call to jump up like Abraham,
\nand run out to meet Jesus, ready to serve him and his people.<\/p>\n
\nwe can be certain that Jesus visits us in our homes,
\nin our workplaces, on our vacations, wherever we are;
\nand that despite all our worries and anxieties,
\nhe is the one thing needed.<\/p>\n