Working Hard or Hardly Working

Bible Text: Luke 10:38-42 | Preacher: Rev. Jenn Geddes

In 1983, 2 years after I was born Donna Summer released the album entitled, “She Works Hard for the Money.” The single track, of the same name, was nominated for best female pop vocal and her performance at the Grammy’s that year is numbered among some of the best performances of all time. “She works hard for the money./ So hard for it, honey./ She works hard for the money./So you better treat her right.” The song tells of a woman who to no surprise works hard every night at a diner waitressing.  It is based on an actual encounter that Donna had with an exhausted rest room attendant named Onetta Johnson at a restaurant in Los Angeles. Donna startled the woman from her nap, and Onetta told her that she worked two jobs and was really tired. Donna thought to herself, “Wow, she really works hard for her money.” Later that night Donna wrote the song in 20 minutes.  Onetta was later featured on the back cover of the album. Interesting fact is that Donna Summer had a top 40 hit for every year between 1975 and 1984. So, one can suppose that she too worked hard for her money back in the day. The thing about working hard is that sometimes we end up exhausted, sometimes it is not for Grammy nominations but rather for little recognition. Sometimes we compromise and give up something we would much rather do, in order to make sure that things get done. Sometimes we lose our patience that no one else seems to care. Which of course brings us to the story of Mary and Martha.

Every church has a few Marys and a few Marthas and this is not based on gender. There are men and women who work hard at balancing this work and worship paradigm and sometimes that balance is off kilter. There are the Martha “types”, the busybodies; the ones who do something and we may not even know they do it but entirely take it for granted that it will get done. While practical and competent, these Marthas sometimes miss subtle points of Jesus’ teaching because they are busy. And then there are the Mary “types”, the thoughtful and silent types. One type seems most often to represent Christian service and the other type Christian reflection and contemplation.

Despite the negative stereotyping, many of us, including me, women and men alike, identify with Martha. We know that talk or reflection doesn’t put food on the table, and if we sit down to relax, the dishes won’t get done or that sermon won’t get written, the fundraiser will not happen and the service just won’t flow or the church just won’t be what it is meant to be.  Jesus’ rebuke to Martha may make us feel devalued and under-appreciated. Like so many people in multiple low-wage jobs, or folks in volunteer leadership positions they work hard (maybe not for money) but often work until exhaustion, until they are burnt out. And so it may seem as though we are encouraged to like Mary. But is that really the case? How does the sisters’ household in Bethany fit into the bigger picture?

The Gospel text states that Jesus entered this village and it was Martha who brought him into her home and made him feel welcomed. This offsets some of the experiences that Jesus has in the previous villages and towns where they totally rejected him. Finally Jesus experiences a warm welcome and it is thanks to Martha. Then Martha disappears to work in the kitchen or garden. The NRSV states that Martha was distracted but the Greek word is perispao and it means literally to be pulled or dragged away. In other words, Martha would prefer to sit with Jesus but her long list of duties pulls her away from enjoying his company. In her frustration she tells Jesus to get him to tell Mary to help Martha in the kitchen.  Notice how Martha addresses Jesus, as an equal and a friend. Like many of the psalmists and persons in the Old Testament who challenged God, Martha dares to question authority; she challenges Jesus and makes a demand. In this story Martha exercises the authority that would have been the sole right of a male in the Roman imperial system. So either Martha is so frustrated that she has lost all cultural tact, or she and Jesus are so close that she can address him in that manner.  Jesus answers and he talks to Martha just as directly as she talked to him. He repeats her name, “Martha, Martha,” which shows his caring and his concern-he isn’t angry with her. He knows she is frustrated and is asking her to calm down. And he does not tell her that her work is unimportant. Martha knows how to speak her mind and she is confident in her request. She is a practical and talented multi-tasker, but she is also at her wits end.  She boldly speaks up for what she believes is right. Martha has a voice and she uses it. She engages in a theological and cultural debate with Jesus.

Mary, on the other hand, doesn’t have a voice per se, but she has a very important role: “she has chosen” to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen. She obviously has Jesus’ approval, and has risked her sister’s anger to follow her choice. What does this tell us about Mary? She too, is bold; she is resisting society’s expectations by choosing to listen to Jesus instead of helping Martha in the kitchen. She is breaking social norms, not only by fraternizing as an equal with the male followers of Jesus but also by sitting at Jesus’ feet-behaving as a student, as if she has a right to learn and be educated. Jesus is open to the choices of women, but also by telling Martha that Mary has chosen this better part, he is implying that there is room at his feet for Martha as well.

This story is multi-faceted and contains dimensions that are far more interesting than a petty domestic discussion. We can look at this passage as being about different forms of discipleship. Martha’s role can be seen as a ministry of service and Mary’s role is the ministry of the word.

The Gospel of Luke is full of stories about meals- so much so that you might have thought Luke was a Presbyterian- or United Church! Some scholars feel that Luke values words or preaching over service but with so many stories centred around food and hospitality it would appear that Luke sees these as equally important roles. For the early church these two roles were not seen as competitive but complementary. The gifts of service and the word ministered to people’s physical and spiritual needs, just as the life of Christian discipleship requires both action and reflection. So why does Jesus say, “There is need of only one thing?”

If Mary has “chosen the better part” what is this one thing? It is often interpreted as being Mary’s role of silence and contemplation, with the other part being Martha’s role of activity and service. But Jesus isn’t separating them but combining them. This is something I am sure we all have trouble balancing. Whether or not one role is “better” than the other, Jesus sees them as one thing, two parts of one whole. By saying that Mary has chosen the better part, Jesus seems to question Martha’s priorities; that she should come out of the kitchen and sit down with her sister. Perhaps there’s another way of looking at this passage, however, without setting up a conflict between the two sisters, and a comparison between the two roles. When we look at this passage in Luke’s Gospel and we see it follows on the heels of the Parable of the Good Samaritan.  The hero rescues the robbed traveller, tends his wounds and provides for him. Jesus concludes with the saying, “Go and do likewise.” This parable with its emphasis on active service answers the question “Who is my neighbour?” after the law is stated, “Love the Lord your God…and your neighbour as yourself”.

This commandment and parable seem closely connected with the two parts which Martha and Mary hold. Mary, in her devotion to Jesus, shows us how to love God, while the persistent action of Martha helps us to see how to love our neighbour. The love of God broadens, deepens and makes possible the love of our neighbour, while the love of our neighbour embodies God’s love to the world. As long as Martha and Mary speak up, make sure their voice is heard, behave boldly sharing their concerns and listening to the concerns of others and act out of their love for God, then everything else falls into its right place. Hospitality is a significant act of love for both God and neighbour.

Author and pastoral theologian Jeanne Stevenson Moessner points out that “we can learn that to be caregivers we need also to be care receivers. We are not alone in the world, operating out of our own font of energy. Rather we are interconnected beings, in need of welcome and nurture for our own selves. Only after recognizing our interrelatedness can we truly begin to love God and love neighbour as ourselves.” What an important message to hear today as we have four churches coming together in worship. What an important message as we think about demonstrating hospitality. What an important message as we think about sharing resources in ministry.  Yes, we all work hard for it honey- but we do not need to work alone, as we attempt to love God with all our hearts and with our whole being. We too ask God to teach us to sit at the feet of God’s Word. But also to embolden us to be of service in the world. And this is not a question of are you a Mary or a Martha, but as women and men in this church how are we going to live out Mary and Martha together.        Amen