Sermon for July 17, 2022
Celebration of the Centennial of Scout Troop 16
Luke 10:38-42
(Past Scoutmaster David Banks spoke first.) Thanks, Dave, for that
reflection on the Scout Oath and Law. Yes,
“trying to do our best to do our duty to God” … indeed, that’s both Scouting’s call
to young people and Jesus’ call to each of us. The Scouts here at St. Andrew’s have 100 years
of practice in trying to live out their Oath and Law. And, as Dave said, it’s good to have summary
statements like that to help us remember how God asks us to live in complicated
times. Jesus boils down the Jewish law
and the prophets’ teaching to this simple, two-commandment rule: Love the Lord
your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength; and love your
neighbor as yourself. Everything else –
our Catechism, our church’s statement of mission and purpose, the signs outside
about passing God’s peace – they all flow from these two commandments: Love God
and love neighbor.
Where it gets messy, of course,
is putting that into practice. Last
Sunday, we heard Jesus state this summary of the Law only to have a lawyer test
him by asking, “OK. Who is my neighbor?
Where’s the boundary of love? How far do I have to go?” So, Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan,
teaching the lawyer and the crowd two things they didn’t want to hear. First, everyone is your neighbor, especially
anyone in need. Second, even the last
person you’d expect to see as a hero, even a hated Samaritan, is actually the
one following God’s ways when they do justice and love kindness and walk humbly
with God (Micah 6:8). And to make sure
we don’t miss it, Jesus tells us to “go, and do likewise” (Luke 10:37).
Well, that seems clear enough,
right? But then, because even the
clearest teaching gets tricky in real life, the scene shifts to today’s Gospel
reading, the story of Mary and Martha – a great exploration of what it means to
do your duty to God. After telling the
lawyer to “go and do likewise” in loving and serving his neighbor, Jesus comes
to Mary and Martha’s house for dinner. They
welcome him, and Jesus gets settled – and Mary cools her heels, just sitting
there with Jesus, soaking up what he has to say. Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, Martha is fuming,
getting more resentful by the minute as she takes up the slack and does all the
work of putting on this amazing feast she’s orchestrated for the traveling VIP.
For centuries, people (like me)
have been identifying with Martha in this story and remembering all the times
we were left holding the bag … to rescue group projects at school, or finish work
assignments, or put on family events. Someone
has to be the responsible one and get the dishes done, but why does it have to
be me? Right? So, we Marthas would love to hear Jesus
backing us up on this. Surely “go and do
likewise” would apply in this situation.
“Don’t you care, Lord, that those slackers have left me to do all the
work myself?”
But like Martha, we doers can easily
miss the point. Loving God and neighbor doesn’t
mean meeting the expectations I’ve set for myself and other people around me. Loving God and neighbor means putting the
other first. In the story, did Martha
ever ask whether Jesus wanted a big, complicated meal? Would he have preferred some chips and a
drink on the porch instead? Maybe so,
because clearly what Jesus is valuing here is the heart that’s listening to
him. “Mary has chosen the better part,” Jesus
explains (Luke 10:42). It’s not that
Martha’s work isn’t valuable. But our
hearts have to be shaped for love before the rhythm they beat is loving service.
So, back to the Scouts and their
Oath and Law. Scouting isn’t about
laying down rules that young people have to follow, expectations some authority
figure mandates they have to meet.
Scouting is about forming young people so the choices they make honor
God and country, help other people at all times, and steward themselves as
people made in God’s image and likeness.
Scouting seeks to form youth into people who serve in love, knowing that
good acts spring from good hearts.
I think that’s where Jesus is
going with us Marthas, too. When we’re
worried and distracted about our obligations, even our holy obligations, it’s
easy to miss the point of those obligations.
Jesus wasn’t coming to Mary and Martha’s house to eat the best dinner
they could prepare. Jesus was coming to
Mary and Martha’s house to bring the presence of God, the reign and rule of God,
directly into their midst. Preparing a
great meal for the traveling VIP was a lovely gesture, but what the VIP wanted wasn’t
their meal. What he wanted was their
hearts.
I think he’s working on us the
same way. If we see our faith as being
all about following rules, we inevitably get stuck worrying and arguing about
which rules are right. And if we do actually
follow them, it’s probably about trying to earn our way into heaven … and maybe
about showing up someone else in the process.
I think Jesus is asking for our hearts instead – not because he doesn’t
value our service but because the heart work has to come first. As Dave Banks said just a few minutes ago, channeling
his inner Mary, “It’s God’s awesome majesty that demands our deepest
reverence. It’s God’s power that fills
each of our hearts with His love. It’s
what God asks of us that makes us better people.” The heart work has to come first, even for Marthas
like me, because when Jesus has our hearts, he knows our hands will follow.
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