July 18, 2010

The Unfocused Church

Luke 10:38-42

 

When her daughters were very small girls, Mrs. Dwight Morrow gave a high tea at which one of the guests was to be the senior J.P. Morgan. The girls were to be brought in, introduced, and ushered out. Mrs. Morrow’s great fear was the possibility that Anne, the most outspoken of them, might comment audibly upon Mr. Morgan’s celebrated and conspicuous nose. She therefore took pains beforehand to explain to Anne that personal observations were impolite and cautioned her especially against making any comment about Mr. Morgan’s nose, no matter what she might think of it. When the moment came and the children were brought in, Mrs. Morrow held her breath as she saw Anne’s gaze fix upon the banker’s most prominent facial feature and remain there. Nonetheless, the introduction was made without incident. The little girls curtsied politely and were sent on their way. With a sigh of relief, Mrs. Morrow turned back to her duties as hostess and inquired of her guest, “And now, Mr. Morgan, will you have cream or lemon in your nose?”

Let’s talk this morning about our focus. Are we focused on the proper things or not? After all, in every waking moment of the day we are focused on something. Even when we daydream we are focused on something. Right now, for example, you are focused on this sermon … or maybe not. During the remainder of this day you may find yourself focused on food, conversation, television, driving, napping, music, reading a book, household chores, etc. In our well-known biblical story today, this is traditionally understood to be Martha’s problem, right? She was focused on household chores rather than what her sister Mary was doing, which was sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening intensely to every word out of Jesus’ mouth.

But who can blame Martha? Their culture was not very different than our own traditional American culture, where the women concentrated on the household responsibilities while the men sat around and chatted or watched a ballgame. Even if there weren’t standard gender roles in first century Palestine there would still need to be someone answering the door, taking guest’s sandals, and serving wine. So, to accuse Martha of doing something wrong is to completely misread the text and the situation. Martha was simply focused on what she was expected to do, or what she normally expected of herself, to be a good hostess. It isn’t that Martha was wrong; it is more that Mary’s desire to sit with the others, presumably men, and listen to their guest was simply a better choice on this particular occasion.

Household chores can wait until later because this isn’t your average guest. This is the rock star coming to your high school gym and you, if you are Martha-like, think you ought to stay home and do your homework instead. This is the CEO stopping by your company branch to conduct a leadership seminar and you decide to catch up on a few phone calls at the office. This is Derek Jeter coming to give your baseball team a few fielding lessons and you think you are good enough to skip practice. This is Jesus of Nazareth coming to your house to talk about the kingdom of God and you prefer to make hors d’oeuvres in the kitchen.

There are several lessons we can learn from this story, all of which you have probably heard in a sermon or two. We could talk about setting priorities or making choices. We could talk about how this story represents two kinds of spirituality: Martha was a doer and Mary was a thinker. We could talk about how Martha represents the “hyper-activism” of the modern church, whereas Mary represents our more meditative side. One writer said it this way: “Hyper-activism arose as churches emphasized performance and achievement while undervaluing contemplation and physical relaxation. Hyper-activism ignores the need for a healthy, balanced rhythm” (Gibbs & Bolger, Emerging Churches). “Balance” would certainly be a good lesson to learn from this story.

I would like to point out a slightly different angle from this story, one that also captures the spirit of the modern church, in both a positive and a negative way. First, the positive: Like Mary, there are many Christians and churches today that are focused on exactly what we should be focused on, which is Jesus’ understanding of the kingdom of God. What exactly is that you might ask? That’s a tricky question. Because Jesus used so many parables to portray the kingdom of God, it is difficult to pin down. And it seems to me that the Gospels in the New Testament all have a slightly different take on Jesus’ understanding of the kingdom of God, especially at the beginning of the gospels where the stage is set for the rest of the narrative.

For example, at the beginning of Matthew and Mark’s Gospel, Jesus doesn’t define the kingdom of God as much as he suggests where it is. He says, “The kingdom of God is at hand (or is near).” Of course, what this kingdom looks like is then fleshed out in his parables, the Sermon on the Mouth, in his healings, and other acts of compassion. In Luke’s gospel, however, Jesus’ view of the kingdom of God is fleshed out from the very beginning. Quoting from the book of Isaiah, Jesus begins his public ministry by saying, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Overall, this is very much a social justice-oriented message, one that carries all the way through Luke’s gospel. And doesn’t it seem likely then that he shared a very similar message with the folks gathered in Martha and Mary’s home in Bethany that day? He had just shared his parable of the Good Samaritan with a crowd of people on the way to Bethany, so we can imagine that his gospel of social justice and compassion was very much the focus of conversation at Martha and Mary’s home. And Mary really wanted to hear it. So, like Mary, there are many people in the church today who are focused on the good news, the gospel, or Jesus’ vision of the kingdom of God. One reason I am United Church of Christ is because I believe as a whole we try to stay focused on that vision.

Now, in contrast to that, like Martha there are even more Christians and churches today that are focused on anything but Jesus’ vision of the kingdom of God. The church of Jesus Christ is largely unfocused. Or, rather, it is focused on the wrong things. The question is why? The short answer is that, like Martha, the church is often distracted. Luke writes that Martha was “distracted by her many tasks.” And this kept her from sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to him. What is it that is distracting the church today from focusing on Jesus and his vision of the kingdom of God? I could offer a lot of answers. The irony is that a lot of things that serve to distract us from the kingdom of God are things that are relevant to life in the kingdom of God. It’s just that sometimes we get so wrapped up in these issues or activities that we forget how Jesus’ vision of the kingdom of God informs these issues or activities.

The issue of human sexuality is probably the best example today. The church has been embroiled in a heated debate for several decades now about it. It is an important debate and one that is relevant for how we understand and live in God’s realm. I believe our church and our denomination came out on the right side of this issue. The problem often arose, however, when we let it become a political issue or a power struggle and didn’t keep focused on Jesus and his vision of the kingdom of God. And that probably applies to just about every social issue with which we have grappled.

Another example today is our focus on being a welcoming church. Notice that the first thing Martha does in this story is welcome Jesus into her home. Someone had to do this, right? Someone has to answer the door! You can’t just expect people to walk right in. But if you’ve ever hosted a party or get-together at your home, you know how distracting this can be. Even the best “multitaskers” among us have a difficult time answering the door and taking care of all the other tasks. This may be why Martha was so put off with Mary. If Martha was answering the door, then who was going to serve hors d’oeuvres and wine?

So here’s an interesting question: Can our emphasis on welcoming and hospitality become a distraction in the church? Our denomination has made the art of welcoming and hospitality a centerpiece of our message and practice. “No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey you are welcome here.” We pride ourselves on our extravagant welcome and hospitality, and when we actually practice what we preach we are participating in the in-breaking of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is at hand when our public, extravagant, open welcome becomes more than just opening the door and saying “hi.” But like anything else it can become a distraction—a distraction from our primary focus, which is, again, Jesus’ understanding of the kingdom of God. What I mean by this is that we need to be careful that we don’t get so caught up in the nuts and bolts of our welcoming that we forget what we are welcoming people to and for.

There are other things that can distract us from focusing on the essential message of Jesus and his view of God’s kingdom. One of those things is our need to complain. Martha was distracted by her complaining. The first thing she said to Jesus was, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” Can’t you just hear the cranky tone in her voice? I have found in my two decades of ministry that Martha’s complaint here is the most popular complaint in the church. One of the great ironies of church life is that many of those who truly love to serve, who truly feel passionate about the church, and who spend countless hours helping the church “do its thing,” are often those who become mired in the muck of complaining—complaining about those who don’t spend countless hours helping the church “do its thing.”

I always see this as wasted energy, and thus, wasted focus. As I said a couple of weeks ago, the church is a voluntary organization. No one is forcing anyone to come here, much less serve on a team, on the Council, or in any other capacity. We should encourage people to participate beyond the padded pew, but we should never complain, criticize, fret, fuss, or moan about what we feel is a lack of commitment to the church.

And the reason we shouldn’t do these things is because complaining, criticizing, fretting, fussing, and moaning distract us from bringing good news to the poor, proclaiming release to the captives, recovering the sight of the blind, letting the oppressed go free, and proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor. When we complain we lose our focus. Then we become blind.

The final thing that distracted Martha from focusing on the “better part” was her worrisome nature. Jesus said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things.” I can speak from personal experience about this. I have done more worrying about things the first half of this year than probably any other time in my life. I’m surprised all of my hair hasn’t turned gray! And it seems obvious to me that all my worrying has distracted me from my focus on Jesus and his vision of the kingdom of God.

On a less personal note, one of the most difficult things to not do in the life of the church is worry—worry that things won’t get done. Martha worried that she would not be able to accomplish her tasks, and we worry that we are going to let something slip by and not get done. I saw this a great deal after we had to eliminate the Minister of Christian Education position last year. Many of us were worried that some tasks would not be accomplished. We relied on our MCE to play the role of Martha on many occasions and take care of a lot of the more “domestic” chores. And some things probably haven’t gotten done, although many have. What I have learned over the years, however, is that if something truly needs to get done, it will eventually get done. That’s what Jesus was saying to Martha. Right now, he said to her, “there is need of only one thing.”

You and I, this church, this denomination, and the church at large, will continue to be distracted by our “many tasks.” We have jobs to do, roles to fill, and slots to fill. There are a lot of nuts and bolts things that need to be done in order to keep this place running. Martha’s work ethic and her determination to always be on top of things is very much a needed quality in every congregation. But at the end of the day, remember why we are ultimately here. We are here to sit at the feet of Jesus and learn about his vision of the kingdom of God. Stay focused.