• Serving Together, Learning Together, Luke 10:38-42,  Randy L Quinn  (see below)
   

• Focus on Christ, Luke 10:38-42, Rev. F. Schaefer  
   

• God of Justice, Amos 8:1-12, Rev. Frank Schaefer  


 

• Mary and Martha, Luke 10:38-42, Rev. H. McCance
   

• Risky Hospitality, Luke 10:38-42, Rev. T. Hall  

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Serving Together, Learning Together
a sermon based on Luke 10:38-42
Randy L Quinn

Unlike last week’s scripture text, the Good Samaritan, I don’t know many people who call today’s text one of their favorite stories of Jesus.

In fact, many of us don’t really like this story because we agree with Martha. After all, the point of the Good Samaritan story that we read last week was to go and to serve (Lk 10:37). There are numerous places in scripture where the importance of work and service are highlighted . What Jesus seems to be saying to Martha contradicts what we’ve been taught.

Not only that, we can imagine the scene for Martha and we have pity for her. Jesus arrives like a modern-day politician on the campaign trail. Not only are his disciples at his side, there are also people who want to see him who gather around him, there are reporters who want to hear every nuance of every word he says, and there are the protestors who disagree with his decision to go into the home of a woman.

It’s a noisy and raucous crowd that meets at her doorstep and Martha is worried about how to feed them all. She took her lessons from the other Martha – Martha Stewart – and she knows how to prepare a wonderful and delightful meal, but this is a test she’s not sure she is ready for.

Maybe you’ve been in Martha’s place before.

A crowd gathers at your dinner table. Maybe it’s a family reunion. Maybe there is a wedding and friends and family are coming in from out of town. Perhaps it’s another occasion that brings guests to your home – a birthday party or a graduation celebration. Maybe it’s just a Thanksgiving Dinner.

It’s a crowd.

You want to be a good host. So you set out the good china. You spend hours if not days making sure the house is clean and orderly. You plan a menu and do all of the shopping. You do as much prep-work as you can in the kitchen before company arrives.

The doorbell rings. The guests arrive and the flurry begins.

First you take their coats; you show them to their seats, you offer them something to drink. You rush to the kitchen to get the appetizers. (I’d say hors d’oeuvres, but I can’t remember how to spell it!)

More guests arrive. More coats, more drinks, more food.

Then you remember the meal must be cooked. Timing things so you can have each course ready on time – but not too early – you begin to hear the doorbell each time as a nuisance. Your friendly smile wears thin as you rely on others to greet each new wave of guests.

Pretty soon you can’t see the forest for the trees. Pots are boiling, the oven timer is dinging, and while you’re tending things in the kitchen the guest of honor is someplace else.

That’s when you think, “I should have hired a caterer.”

It’s easy to focus on having a nice family dinner and forget the family.

In the same way, Martha is apparently distracted by entertaining her guests rather than enjoying their company.

In the course of my life, there has been a tremendous increase in the segment of our economy known as the “entertainment” and “hospitality” industries. We now pay people to entertain us rather than finding our own amusements. We now pay people to bring us a meal or to provide us with a comfortable bed and pillow.   [continue]