There’s so much to do and so little time to do it. Do you ever feel that way? Sometimes we feel like we’re running around trying to get so much done, never really stopping to reflect on our priorities and what is most important or should be most important.
Some years ago, Penny and I bought a treadmill. I got tired of running outside during the cold of winter. Treadmills tell us how many miles we have run for the past several minutes, even though we know very well that we haven’t gone forward even one inch.
In fact, since Penny and I first put the treadmill on a hard surface, I noticed that I had actually been going backward after a run. Whenever I used the incline button to simulate going up a hill, the gravity of the machine ended up making the treadmill go backward about a half an inch every time I used it.
The treadmill said I went 3.5 miles when actually I had gone backward an inch!
I would imagine that many of us feel that way in life. We use up so much of our energy only to find that we’ve actually gone backward! As if I needed to spend hundred of dollars to help me go backward in life!
I wonder if Martha from our scripture reading in Luke’s Gospel, was on one of those treadmills when Jesus stopped by to see her and her sister, Mary.
Martha was a doer. She was task oriented. She had a legitimate concern when Jesus stopped by her house one day. To provide hospitality for a guest, which in that time period, was a major social custom and expectation.
So here’s Martha, doing the best she can to probably prepare a meal of some kind on short notice, maybe clean up some things, and finish up whatever she might have been doing when Jesus first entered her home.
She didn’t have the luxury of running over to the deli of the local grocery store. She had to get something ready right there on the spot. By the way, I remember stopping at the deli of a grocery store. I was on my way back from some hospital visits, and we didn’t have time to prepare dinner that night, so I stopped by to pick up some deli items.
I was in kind of a hurry, like Martha was in our Gospel reading for today, and I said a prayer of thanksgiving when I noticed that there was only one person in line at this deli. “Great! I’ll be able to get in and out of here in no time.” I didn’t bother to get a ticket since the person in front of me didn’t have a ticket.
So I’m standing behind this customer, and while I’m standing there, another customer goes right up to the glass case, to grab a ticket with a number on it. And I think to myself, “No big deal. She’ll take her ticket and get behind me.”
The customer ahead of me finishes, and the person working behind the counter, then calls out a number and this person, knowing full well that I was ahead of her, jumps to the counter and hands the worker her ticket and proceeds to place her order.
In that moment, I wasn’t feeling very clergy-like, and so I stormed out of that grocery store vowing to never come back again, which by the way, I have returned on several occasions since then. But the point was - I was in a hurry and nobody was helping me.
Yeah. I can identify with Martha. How about you?
And my guess is that my bible devotions earlier that day probably talked about patience, kindness, and being like Christ. Oh well. Failed that test.
But that’s what happens when we get so caught up with our “to do” list that we forget about what is most important, especially when things feel overwhelming.
And did you notice that Martha took out her frustration on Jesus himself? She interrupts Jesus’ time with Mary by saying, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister isn’t helping me? Tell her to help me!”
Martha is so distracted by many things that she doesn’t even realize what she’s saying in that moment.
A distinguished business leader offered this piece of advice to a pastor recently: “The main thing is to keep your eye on the main thing.” Upon reflection of this much appreciated piece of wisdom, the pastor thought to himself how difficult that is to do in living out your faith.
But the next thing that came to this pastor’s mind is what has helped me to better understand this scripture about Mary, Martha, and Jesus.
Continuing his reflection on keeping the main thing, the main thing, this pastor says, that we as leaders in the church need to maintain and nurture the deep conviction that God really is present in our ministry, doing more than we can think, say, or do. This is what keeps us from burning out. It’s what helps us to keep things in perspective.
As in the case with Martha, sometimes, Jesus can be right in front of us, and we still can miss him.
One year, while visiting my family in Pennsylvania for a family reunion, we worshipped at my home church. The pastor greeted the congregation, shook his head back and forth, and announced that it had already been a rough morning.
He was fighting a bad cold. The person who was supposed to work the screen didn’t show. Their drummer had a migraine. And he said, “But that’s not all. We can’t seem to find the offering plates.”
But then he said, “All of these distractions mean nothing compared to what’s really important today – our worship of Jesus Christ.”
Now there’s a pastor who knows how to handle distractions!
Some time ago, I went to make a pastoral visit at the hospital. I had to wake up early to make the 40-minute drive and be there in time to have prayer with someone before going in for surgery.
I arrive at the hospital parking lot thinking that I have just enough time to make it to pre-op where I would be able to meet the family and offer a short passage of scripture and prayer. As I’m walking toward the main part of the hospital, it dawns on me that I’m in the wrong hospital. The person I’m supposed to see is in a totally different hospital in another part of the city!
So I turn around and literally sprinted back to my car, knowing that I now only have an outside chance of making it to the other hospital in time. It seems like all of the traffic lights are red just for me. I keep looking at my watch, concerned that I won’t make it in time, as if this extra anxiety will help me get there faster.
So I finally make it to this other hospital, run into the surgery waiting area, only to find the family sitting there. I was hoping that they would still be back in the pre-op area. I was too late. After apologizing, they were gracious to let me know that they understood, and we at least shared a prayer there in the waiting area.
After spending some time with the family, I spot another pastor who I know out in the waiting area and I tell him what had happened. He can see that I’m anxious and upset with myself.
And I’ll never forget this. He grabbed me by my shoulders, looked me straight into my eyes, and said, “You’re not perfect.” And he said it again, this time with extra emphasis, “You’re not perfect.” He was trying to cheer me up. At least that’s what I hope he was trying to do!
This pastor helped me to let go of my distractions so that I would be able to focus on the main thing. It’s not about me. It’s about seeing Jesus in the presence of our ministry, even when things don’t go our way. Seeing Jesus amidst our rushing around. Even seeing Jesus at work in the middle of our imperfections.
I wonder if there is anyone else here today who needs to hear this. “You’re not perfect. You’re not perfect. Join the club! It’s OK! Hey imperfect human being, just fix your eyes on Jesus who is right here for you.”
Martha saw Jesus but she really didn’t see Jesus. She was so preoccupied with her tasks that she failed to see the main thing – Jesus’ presence and ministry right there in her own home.
Have you ever heard someone ask the hypothetical question, “What would you do if you knew that Jesus would be stopping by your house today?” Would you change your schedule so that you wouldn’t miss him? Would you run the vacuum cleaner? Set out a few bibles?
And yet, by telling this story, Luke is reminding us that Jesus is present with us now. Did you know that it’s possible to go to church, and leave, never really seeing Jesus, even though he was there the whole time?
A couple of years ago, I remember attending a funeral for someone who was connected with the church. I wasn’t officiating for the service but was sitting with the congregation in the funeral home. During one of the prayers, a cell phone was making one of those vibrating noises when it rings. Even though it was on the silence mode, everyone around this person could hear it, including me because I was right behind this person.
I was trying to focus on the prayer, but this cell phone kept buzzing and buzzing. To make matters worse, this person picked up her purse where the cell phone was located, and in an attempt to muffle the sound, she squeezed her purse tightly which only made it worse. Now, instead of an annoying vibrating sound, it sounded like a sick cow was in her purse.
The little boy sitting next to her, who I assume was her son, started laughing. It was all I could do to not laugh as well.
Even in church, we need to work hard at keeping the main thing the main thing. You just never know when even the slightest thing will distract us from seeing Jesus.
And even beyond the distraction to provide hospitality to Jesus, Martha was allowing another distraction to get in the way of truly seeing Jesus.
She couldn’t believe that her sister, Mary, was going against social custom by crossing over the male/female boundaries to listen to Jesus’ words. Men and women could be together outside, but not inside the same room of a house, and certainly, not next to each other as we see in this scene with Mary so close to Jesus.
As Jesus does so many times in the Gospel, he dissolves the customary boundaries whether they are invisible or visible boundaries. And when he does so, like Martha, it’s so easy for us to become distracted and not really see what Jesus is doing
It’s like Luke is telling us that Jesus’ love is like an overflowing river that goes well beyond our prescribed boundaries. God’s love can not be contained by our own boundaries and what we think should be boundaries.
Luke is showing us that the way to not be distracted is to be like Mary and keep our eyes on Jesus at all times. Jesus is the main thing. Jesus even says to Martha, “There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”
Several years ago, I went on a weekend spiritual retreat at a Catholic retreat center in northwest Ohio with some other United Methodist pastors. When we arrived on that Friday afternoon, the host of the retreat center met with us to help us get acquainted with the building and grounds.
And then she said something very interesting. With a very mischievous but disarming smile, she said to us, “Now, I know that you are United Methodist pastors and you probably aren’t used to being still or silent for any length of time, so just remember that this is a Catholic retreat center and there are other groups using the facility so please don’t be too rowdy.”
We all laughed at her comment, but didn’t realize how true her comment about us really was. The next morning, our group entered the cafeteria for breakfast and as we were heading toward one of the tables to eat, several of us had forgotten this kind lady’s words to us just the day before.
How quickly we had forgotten that we weren’t at IHOP or Cracker Barrel. We were in a Catholic retreat center!
A man was sitting near us with an open bible and obviously involved in his morning devotional time. And here, we were intruding into his sacred space and interrupting his quiet time. But you wouldn’t have known it because even with our raised voices, he remained focus on his prayers.
It was a sobering moment for our group as this man was unknowingly teaching us by his example of what it means to not allow the distractions around us to keep us from focusing on Jesus Christ.
And when we do get distracted, and we will, we’re human, like Mary, let’s remember to choose the better part and keep our focus on Jesus.
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