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As we gather, we recognize that we live, work, pray, and play
in the traditional lands
of the Cowichan Tribes and Coast Salish People.
We continue to commit ourselves
to the work of reconciliation and relationship-building
with our First Nations neighbours.
Call to Worship:
Blessed are they who hold the word fast in honest and good heart,
and bring forth fruit with patience.
Luke 8. 15
O Come, Let Us Worship
Gathering
Almighty God,
To you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hidden.
Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy name;
through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Collect:
Almighty God,
your Son has opened for us a new and living way into your presence.
Give us pure hearts, and constant wills, to worship you in spirit and in truth;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
The Proclamation of the Gospel:
Luke 10. 38-42
Sermon: The Venerable Brian Evans
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of
our hearts be ever acceptable to you, O Lord. Amen.
“Wants vs. Needs”
What was your greatest want as a young person?
Versus, what is your greatest need now?
Did you always receive your wants?
Among I am sure many others, my greatest want was when I was 14 was a motorcycle.
It must have been my greatest, as it is the one I truly remember.
Did I get it? No!
Possibly, one the greatest gifts my parents gave me was the ‘NO.’
Looking back on that desire is the fact I have never had the greatest sense of my personal center of gravity!! A motorcycle would have been a bad idea.
The problem was: some of my school friends had one. I believed; I was missing out.
Flo, knowing my onetime desire for a motorcycle and propensity for a Harley, arranged a ride for me on my 50th birthday. A number of parishioners, to my surprise, were waiting at the restaurant when I arrived.
Truth being told: most of us, adults included, are pretty good at extrapolating our wants into needs.
I would admit to being guilty as indicated.
Today in our Gospel we encounter Jesus and his entourage on the road with their ministry.
Knowing something of what the situation may have looked like, no doubt they would be in need, not just a want, of lodging.
I am sure it was no small group of people. I am sure they were grateful when they found a willing hostess in Martha.
We do not know a lot about Martha at this point, except it is obvious she has a willing heart and the gift of generosity.
We also know she has a sister, Mary.
Although they would have many things in common, they also would have had various attributes.
Since Jesus was on a preaching circuit, he did not waste anytime getting down to the task at hand. Not long after arriving at Marth’s home, people soon began to gather to listen. It is obvious the news had travelled about this Jesus, and he is in town.
To this day, often the Good News is shared in a similar manner. Last week, I made reference to a small church in rural Saskatchewan preparing to celebrate a major anniversary in the life of the parish.
One of the faithful clergy, in that community, was Archdeacon Hazel. Reading the history of the community, you will learn of Archdeacon Hazel travelling around by bicycle or horseback stopping at various homes. When he would arrive, the community would have gathered in a local farmhouse for a service possibly including the sacrament of baptism.
I can only imagine the scene, possibly, similar to that of the gospel today. All these people are gathering, and now what will we feed them.
Martha finds herself in this position. I am sure she wanted to hear the words of Christ as much as Mary. Except Martha, being Martha, goes to the kitchen to prepare food for all the guests.
At first glance, I am sure most of us would side with Martha. Most of us have all been in the same situation as Martha.
You have a house full of guests and, as much as you want to be part of the gathering, you find yourself dashing off to the kitchen to prepare the meal. Often, you find yourself lamenting the missing parts of the conversation.
[ Of note this, past winter we turned our home into an “open concept” plan. My confession: it had taken Flo some time to convince me of the idea. Result: now, I think, why did we wait so long?]
Now, enter verse 40:
Martha, distracted by her many tasks, comes out of the kitchen, comes to Jesus (can you imagine coming out of your kitchen and saying to the bishop) saying:
“Lord, do you not care that I am in the kitchen doing all this work, sacrificing the message you are sharing, and my “husband” has left me with all the work to do?
Send him out to the kitchen to help me.”
[Is that not how the bible reading went this morning? OK, I may have taken some authorship authority.]
Note two important parts here:
Not only is Martha a little ticked off with her sister Mary.
At the same time, she scolds Jesus, “Do you not care, I am left with all the work to do?”
Right or wrong, Martha does not wait until after the company has left. She marches in, in front of all assembled.
For a moment: let us consider Mary.
What is Mary doing. She is simply sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to every word.
I suspect she was thinking about Martha, knowing how Martha would be ready to blow off some steam about doing all this work herself.
Mary, also, was so caught up in what Jesus had to say, she could not pull herself away to help in the kitchen.
Jesus was fulfilling a real need for Mary.
As much as she may have wanted to help Martha, this experience with Jesus was a need.
All the while, Martha was fulfilling what in her mind was a need, except it was truly a want: in her mind, it was all about being a good hostess.
Then comes Jesus’ response to Martha:
“Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things.”
We will never know what it was Jesus was referencing when he continues with these words:
“there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part.”
Here we have it, two women with perceived needs/wants, with Jesus caught in the middle.
Bring this into the 21st Century.
Bring it into the tradition of our perceived needs, or wants, in the life of a parish.
Jesus is right, ---- again.
Within the life of a parish and denomination culture, we have great confusion over needs and wants (desires).
What is really important? It is like asking the question, why am I here?
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To make sure my envelope lands on the collection plate,
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OR
is it about sitting at the feet of Jesus (metaphorically), listening to his wisdom, along with the wisdom of the ancient prophets and rulers in the OT, the insight of the Psalmist, or the writings of the first century Christians.
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In Amos, there is this opening line:
This is what the Lord showed me: a basket of summer fruit.
As I looked further into the Scriptures for today, I began to see there is more about that summer fruit than what we may think. -
In Paul’s writing to the church in Colossae, a desire for all to know and understand, in Christ all things come together.
At the end of the day, Jesus calls each of us, just as he does with Martha.
The voice of the master supercedes the wants, or in other words the desires, of culture, society, and tradition.
At the end of the day, is it about our wants, or what our real needs are?
Thanks be to God. Amen.