BALANCING WORK AND CONTEMPLATION

A Case of Both-And

As they continued their journey, he entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary [who] sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me. ”The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”

Luke 10:38-42

Because I didn’t really understand it, I never used to like this Martha and Mary story very much. In fact, I believed that Martha got a bum deal here. Here she is slaving away in a hot kitchen, trying to get a meal on the table, while her sister Mary has parked herself in the living room with the guests, listening in on the living room conversation. Even when poor Martha comes into the living room, mopping her brow with her apron, to ask for a little help, she not only doesn’t get it, but she also gets a quick reprimand for being such a workaholic! I have always felt sorry for her for that let down! She probably ran back into the kitchen sobbing!

These days, I understand the story a little better. Jesus is not condemning good deeds or hard work in order to praise contemplation. In the sequence of the gospel, Jesus has just finished telling the story of the Good Samaritan, in which doing good deeds was praised. In fact, Jesus ends that story by telling his disciples, and us, to go and do the same as the Good Samaritan. What he is doing here is simply reminding Martha of the primacy of listening to the Lord and also reminding her why, and for whom, she is doing all her work to begin with. He is reminding her that she is loved whether she gets dinner on the table on time or not! So, this story is meant to balance the story of the Good Samaritan. It’s not a matter of either/or but of both/and. It’s a matter of action and contemplation, a matter of work and rest!

Now I suppose this story can be read on many levels. In fact, in the fifty-five years that I have preached on this text, it has spoken to me on a variety of levels, depending on where I was in my own experience. At some point, when I had picked it up and read it over many, many times, all of a sudden it took on a new meaning that day. As I read it over and over, I kept saying to myself: “This story is about self-worth. This is truly about self-worth!”

I know these two women. They moved into my head years ago and they have been arm-wrestling ever since about who is going to be in charge of my thinking. For most of my life I’ve sided with the busy and anxious Martha. But recently, as I’ve gotten older, Martha is really getting on my nerves. Mary, after all, is the smart one. Both of these characters want to serve the Lord, but they do it for different reasons. Martha is that part of me that believes that I am not really worth much unless I do a lot of work to prove my worth. Martha is that part of me that is always anxious, always lecturing myself and always saying to myself that I ought to be ashamed of myself for not being perfect. Martha is that part of me that believes that if I accomplish a lot, if I can keep proving myself then maybe I can make up for my obvious deficiencies. Martha is that side of me that believes that my worth is directly tied into what I can get done. If you have a Martha in your head, I am sure, like me, you too are totally exhausted most of the time by your own busyness about many things.

I’ve just recently discovered Mary’s point of view. Mary has a message for those of you who feel you “aren’t worth much” because you “can’t do much anymore.” Mary knows that she is already loved, she has already done enough and so she doesn’t have to do a thing about it except enjoy the fact that she is loved. Mary is that side of me that wants to believe that God already loves me, no matter what, just as I am right now, whether I do anything this week or not. Mary is that part of me that wants to believe that God loves me and I am worth something just because I am, not because I am a priest, not because I’ve earned a few degrees or because I can pastor three or more parishes at once. Martha always leaves me anxious, but Mary leaves me encouraged and gives me mental rest and peace of mind. Martha is always trying to do something to get God to love her while Mary understands that she is already loved by God.

The monks at Gethsemani Abbey are the "Marys" of the church. Like Mary who sat in the living room listening to Jesus, they are contemplatives. They are known especially for the amount of time they pray and mediate. The "Marthas" of the church are the ones who are always obsessing about doing things. They are the ones driven to ask the monks what they do besides pray and meditate. They are always relieved to hear that they "produce fruitcakes and fudge." Underneath their prejudice is a belief that anything beyond work is a waste of time!

I read a story several years ago about how many widows there are in Florida! It seems their many of their husbands died of heart attacks trying to "get ahead" so they could kick back and live it up someday! Sadly, they worked themselves into an early grave!

Many of us go through life with that same work-work-work prejudice. Many of us grew up believing that God’s love is conditional - it's based on how much we do for God! We grew up believing that God loves us when we are good, quits loving us when we are bad and starts loving us again when we shape up. Like Martha, we grew up believing we needed to prove our worth to God by doing good deeds! That is actually very poor theology. Mary teaches us today that God’s love for humankind does not have to be earned. True, as we learned in the Good Samaritan story, God calls us all to serious action and thoughtful behaviors as signs of our gratitude for all God has done for us, but God never withholds love from us, no matter what we do or fail to do. That, my sisters and brothers, is why the Scriptures are called “good news.”

Let me end this homily with a humorous story about a time I was talking about this reading. I was having Mass at the old Sacred Heart Home on Payne Street. The Carmelite Sisters had closed their convent on Newburg Road and moved into Sacred Heart Home. All through the homily that day, I could hear one of the nuns snickering on my right side. After Mass, she came up to me and said, “Finally, someone understands me! My name is Sister Martha and I spent most of my life as a cook for the Carmelite Sisters! I so appreciated your sympathy for Martha in today’s gospel!” I laughed all the way home!

Sitting At the Feet of Jesus

Sitting at the feet of Jesus,

Oh, what words I hear Him say!

Happy place! so near, so precious!

May it find me there each day;

Sitting at the feet of Jesus,

I would look upon the past;

For His love has been so gracious,

It has won my heart at last.

Sitting at the feet of Jesus,

Where can mortal be more blest?

There I lay my sins and sorrows,

And, when weary, find sweet rest;

Sitting at the feet of Jesus,

There I love to weep and pray;

While I from His fullness gather

Grace and comfort every day.

Bless me, O my Savior, bless me,

As I’m waiting at Thy feet,

Oh, look down in love upon me,

Let me see Thy face so sweet;

Give me, Lord, the mind of Jesus,

Keep me holy as He is;

May I prove I’ve been with Jesus,

Who is all my righteousness.