Sermon for July 21st, 2013

Luke 10:38-42

38 Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. 40But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ 41But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; 42there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’

Marthacans, Marycans & Americans

Today's scripture passage--the story of Martha, Mary, and Jesus--is all about priorities, and putting the really important things first. I'm reminded of the story about the frustrated wife whose husband was an avid sports fan. One day she reached the end of her rope and blurted out to him, "You'd probably miss my funeral to go to a stupid ball game!" The husband looked at her in disbelief and asked, "What makes you think I'd schedule your funeral on the day of a game?" Priorities...putting the really important things first.

The story of Martha and Mary is familiar to many of us, but as with all familiar stories that we hear over and over again, it's easy to get stuck at the surface level, easy to assume that we know what the story is really about. Today, I invite you to dig deeper into this story; because it's not just a story about two sisters from 2,000 years ago. It's a story about us. If you'll forgive the bad pun in the sermon title, it's a story about Martha-cans, Mary-cans, and Ameri-cans, too.

So what do we know about these sisters, Martha and Mary?