Sermons:
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Serving Together, Learning Together, Luke 10:38-42,
Randy L Quinn (see below)
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Focus
on Christ, Luke 10:38-42, Rev. F. Schaefer
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God of Justice, Amos 8:1-12,
Rev. Frank Schaefer
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Mary
and Martha, Luke 10:38-42, Rev. H. McCance
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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]
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