Facing The Future : Stories About A Scholar & An Activist

Dr. James Mayfield
Tarrytown United Methodist Church

April 2, 2006

I have been talking about dealing with change or facing the future. I have done this by looking into some familiar Bible stories to discern what they have to tell us. Today, I want to look into two familiar stories -- one about Jesus and a scholar of scriptural law and the other about Jesus, Mary and Martha. What do these stories have to say to us about dealing with change and facing the future?

In the first story, a scholar of what we would call Old Testament law asked Jesus a question – not to learn from Jesus but to test him: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus turned the question back on him: “What does the scripture say?” The lawyer-scholar answered: “Love God with all you are and your neighbor as yourself.” “That's right,” Jesus said. “Do that and you will inherit eternal life.”

The scribe wanting to regain the upper hand in the conversation replied: “And just who is my neighbor?” This is when Jesus told the story about a Samaritan who came to the aide of a man who had been beaten, robbed and left to die by the side of the road. Several people had passed the beaten and dying man on their way to do what we would call “church work.” But this Samaritan (whom the scholar-scribe would call a heretic) not only came to the aide of the man, took him to a place where he could receive ongoing care and paid all the bills. To love our neighbor (Jesus was saying) is to follow the example of this Samaritan.

Love of neighbor is central to inheriting eternal life, to living and experiencing life as God intends. And this love talked about throughout the New Testament has less to do with our feelings and than with our behavior. The love Jesus and Paul talked about is the ethic of giving of ourselves for the good of others, regardless of whether we feel like it or not. This is what the Samaritan did in this story.

In the Gospel of Luke this story is immediately followed by the story about Martha inviting Jesus to her home. While Martha was busy doing what she understood a good host should do, her sister Mary was sitting at Jesus' feet, listening. Finally Martha said to Jesus: “Don't you care that Mary has left all the work for me? Tell her to help me.” But Jesus replied: “Martha, Martha you are worried and distracted by many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken from her.”

Two stories, side by side, each with a different focus, but each dealing with the same basic issue: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” That is, what must I do to experience life as God intends? The lawyer was engaged in conversation with Jesus about what he must do to inherit eternal life, and Jesus challenged him to put into action what he already knew he must do. In the other story, Martha was so focused on the tasks of serving her neighbor Jesus, she was unable to get to know him. One is the story of a religious scholar who studied but did not live what he had learned. The other is the story of a well intentioned activist who was busy doing worthwhile tasks but too busy to develop a personal relationship with Jesus.

What must we do to inherit eternal life? What do we need in order to grow in grace and in faith, and experience life as God intends? Should we be more involved in Bible study and prayer or should we be more involved in hands on ministries? The answer presented in the Gospel of Luke, is similar to the one I gave Sue Hoffman the other night after the delicious meal she and Mart had served. She asked if I wanted cake or pie, and I said, “Yes.”

It is important that we do the work of ministry, that our love of neighbor be more than a matter of sympathy and resolutions and feelings of compassion. We are to get involved. As important as worship and praying are, they are merely preparation for living the life of faith and actually doing the work of the Gospel. Jesus did not merely pray in the garden, he also went to the cross. As important as learning what the Bible says is, that knowledge is impotent unless it shapes our everyday living. As important as saying our prayers is, unless we live as we pray, our praying is an empty exercise. It is not enough to have religious feelings and clear religious beliefs. We are to do what we can for our neighbors in need, and when we fail to do that, we are like the religious people to whom Jesus said: “Woe unto you....”

Yet activity, even the best intentioned activity, is not enough alone to enable us to experience life as God intends. When Jesus spoke to Martha he did not say that what she was doing was wrong; he simply and profoundly said, “Mary has chosen the better part.” And what is the better part? The better part has to do with the foundation of all that we do. It is being in relationship with Christ; Like Martha, we can be so busy doing good deeds we never develop a personal relationship with Christ. We can be so involved in worthwhile activities we no longer have time or energy for engaging in meditation & prayer and deepening our relationship with God.

The issue was not that what Martha was doing was wrong or that our energy consuming activities are wrong; it is just that they incomplete. They are part of life, to be sure; but they are not what Jesus called “the better part.” If we hope to experience life as God intends us to experience life -- that is, if we hope to inherit eternal life --, we need to spend time at Jesus' feet listening. We need to study the Bible but not just study the Bible but try to discern God's Word to us in our personal situation. We need to engage in worship -- not just plant our behind in a pew but be fully present and participating. We need to pray; not just throw some words in the general direction of God, but take the time to be open with God about what is going on in our lives and open to what God has to say to us. All this takes time and effort. When we fail to invest time and energy seeking God's will, sitting at the feet of Christ, our activity drifts into mere well-intentioned busy-ness and then that eventually becomes mere busy-ness and that eventually erodes into self-serving busy-ness where we serve others not to meet their need as much as for us to enjoy the feelings we experience from doing the doing we do. “Martha, Martha,” Jesus said. And he says to me: “Jim, Jim what you are doing is okay but it is not nearly as important as you think. Come get grounded, get centered; come get your priorities straight; come – live in a personal relationship with me.”

How shall we face the future? How shall we deal with change? On the one hand we are to do more than just go to church and be involved in Bible study; we are to be actively addressing the needs of our neighbor, especially our neighbors in need. We are to follow the example of the good Samaritan. But on the other hand , we must be more than mere “activists,” busily exhausting ourselves in one worthwhile activity after another.

We need to sit at the feet of Jesus and be in relationship with him, listening – really listening. We are also to follow the example of Mary.

Let us pray. God, as we deal with changes in our lives, help us learn what we need to learn from the good Samaritan and from Mary. Amen.

Pastoral prayer:
God, forgive us when we go and do and go and do until we are so weary and emotionally exhausted we are unable to reach out to those who need us most. Rescue us from the illusion that the more we have to do the more we matter. Rescue us from the illusion that the more things we have, the more our life is worth. Rescue us from the illusion that our true importance resides our ability to get others to serve us. God as we come to this sacrament of Holy Communion, we need more than forgiveness; we need transformation of the way we live. Send your Holy Spirit to motivate us to reset our priorities. Reach out to us in holy communion so that we will live, using our time and energy as you intend. All this we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. /td>