Good morning, I am serving this year as Senior Warden for the Messiah vestry. If you are visiting today, that is like the President of the Board. As in all Episcopal parishes, the Vestry is the elected governing body of the parish. In addition to the Rector, the Vestry is composed of the senior and junior wardens and ten other members who oversee the work of the church. It is my joy to stand before you today in that capacity. Today’s gospel hits very close to home for me. I can really see myself in this story….Let explore it abit together.

The story is simple enough. It is set in a traveling mode. "As Jesus and his disciples were on their way...." Jesus hasn't settled here, Luke is saying. This was a stop on his itinerant teaching ministry.

Luke doesn't tell us the name of the village, since it isn't important to his point, though from John's Gospel we know it is Bethany, just east of Jerusalem. It was the village where Jesus' friend Lazarus lived, and toward the end of his ministry, Jesus stayed there during the Passover that ended in his crucifixion.

Luke tells us simply, "Martha opened her home to him." Jesus' ministry had a person-to-person structure. His pattern was to find a person who would receive him, and then stay with that person while preaching in the village. If he didn't find a home open to him -- a person hungry enough for spiritual food that would offer hospitality -- Jesus would go on. He didn't fund a block of hotel rooms for his crusade team in each town on the itinerary. Rather he taught and waited for an invitation.

I've always imagined that Jesus' friendship with Lazarus was the primary one, since he was a man, and that Lazarus had introduced Jesus to his sisters Martha and Mary (John 11:3). But notice who issues the invitation in our passage: Martha. She invites Jesus to stay in her home. It is spoken of as "her home." She isn't keeping house for her brother. Since we don't hear of her husband, she may have been widowed. It may be that her sister Mary lived with her, though we aren't told.

Sometimes we get the impression that Mary is the spiritual one, while Martha is not. But Martha's invitation indicates her openness to spiritual things. She, too, longs to be a disciple, and wants to honor Jesus by inviting him to her home.

Now we meet Mary. While Martha is bustling about the house getting ready for dinner, Mary is sitting at Jesus' feet listening. But the rest of the sentence explains that she was actually sitting not directly beside him -- a place of honor -- but at his feet, a place of humility -- and probably drawing attention to herself. Figuratively, "at his feet" seems to have been the phrase connoting a disciple or learner.

That Jesus would encourage her to listen to him as he taught in the house was, in itself, radical. Women were exempt from the study of the Torah. Many rabbis actively discouraged women from learning. But Jesus encourages Mary to sit listening. I imagine the scene with Jesus seated in a place of honor, perhaps in the house's courtyard, surrounded by eager listeners -- his disciples, prominent members of the community, probably Lazarus, and Mary. Jesus speaks, answers questions, tells parables, and teaches. All the time Mary sits and takes it in. She can't imagine anything better than this!

Inside, Martha is fuming. ‘All these guests – there is too much to do! Dinner will be late unless I can get help. But where is my sister Mary? Sitting outside with the men rather than inside doing the work that needs to get done. How irresponsible! I can't understand why she thinks she can be out there. A woman's place isn't sitting around when there is work to be done. A woman's place is preparing for her guests.’

You probably know exactly the kind of resentment and indignation Martha is feeling. Her distraction has been going on for some time. The implication is that Martha wished to hear Jesus but was prevented from doing so by the pressure of providing hospitality.

Finally, Martha can stand it no longer. She comes to where Jesus is, and seems to interrupt the conversation he is having. She doesn't rebuke her sister in front of Jesus; she almost seems to be rebuking Jesus himself for not caring, for not having ordered Mary to go and help her sister an hour before. She doesn't ask Mary to help her. She commands Jesus, "Tell her to help me!"

Immediately, Jesus seems to soothe Martha's anger. The repeated name suggests as much. He says ‘Martha, Martha.’ He also identifies accurately how she is feeling: "worried and upset about many things."

The gospel goes on "... but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." (10:42)

 What did Jesus mean by "one thing"? Is he referring to the one spiritual goal, or to a single dish rather than multiple dishes that Martha may have been preparing in order to show special honor to her guest? We're not sure. What we do know, however, is that Martha is gently corrected by Jesus, and Mary's choice to sit at Jesus' feet and listen to him teach is affirmed. When you think about it, that response is the one you wouldn't really expect Jesus to make.

After all, Mary IS shirking her responsibilities to help her sister prepare the meal. In Jesus' culture (and most others), fixing meals is considered part of a woman's responsibility.

"Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." (10:42)

Even though it cuts across the grain of societal expectations, even though it means neglecting her regular duties, Mary has correctly discerned that listening to Jesus and learning his ways is more important than anything -- anything else she can choose at this moment. And no one can rip this precious spiritual food away from her.

Who are you in this story? Martha or Mary? Would anyone like to guess who I am? Who has seen me continually re-arrange the chairs in a meeting or tell someone where to sit? I know some have experienced my judgmental voice as I determine everyone should see what needs to be done as I do.

Perhaps this gospel – on this day is asking us to consider the moment we are experiencing? I see it as a ‘seize the moment’ opportunity. How often are we distracted with preparations or planning or reviewing the past that we miss the moment we are experiencing? If you feel distracted, frenzied, much too busy – spent an hour with a child as they discover every rock and flower in their path or walk a dog who spends many moments checking out each new smell on their journey.

We, members of this parish, are entering the time of transition with Father Brad’s announcement of retirement. Many of us are feeling sad and anxious about the future. Your vestry has begun the transition work – we are talking with other churches that have recently experienced a clergy change, we are researching our options, we are listening to the needs of our associate rector, we are planning the work of the committees that will be needed – profile, compensation and search and are praying that the members of the parish that are needed will be called forth. We will be sharing very soon the planning and timeline. In the meantime, may I suggest that we take the time to ‘sit at Jesus feet’, for I believe when we sit at the feet of Jesus, we stand in grace. And when we stand in grace we are changed.

A young family – mom, dad and son, Bobby, age 4 found they were expecting a new baby. Bobby was immediately intrigued that the baby was inside Mom…he began to talk to him or her every day – telling stories, singing songs, detailing every room of the house. The baby girl was born early and was placed in the neonatal intensive care unit of the hospital. Bobby began to ask to see his sister – of course; the rules do not allow young children in the hospital. Bobby begged and pleaded…the rules were set aside, Bobby was clothed in a gown and carried to his sister’s side…and he sang, ‘you are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy, when skies are blue. You’ll never know sister, how much I love you. Please don’t take my sunshine away.’ The baby girl lived. Bobby seized each moment with his sister…let us ‘sit at Jesus feet’ , let us ‘seize each moment’ with Jesus and with each other.