On Martha's Invitation

[Sermon delivered on the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, July 20, 2025, at St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Phoenix, Arizona]

✠ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, one in Essence and Undivided. Amen.

Our Gospel reading for today is one that is familiar to us, and one so frequently misunderstood. On the surface we have a household of three siblings, Lazarus of Bethany, the brother, who remarkably in a time and area where society was heavily patriarchal receives only a brief side-mention only to provide a connexion to this family’s continuous thread in the Gospel narrative, Martha, one of the sisters who apparently is a force to reckon with, and Mary, the other sister who seems to be quieter than her more outgoing sister, but still has surprising depths. These three have opened their house to Our Lord and His disciples. We really have no idea what Lazarus is doing during this story, he is part of the window-dressing. The big players here are the sisters. Martha has a house full of guests, whom she likely did not plan to host, and was busy doing those things that the culture of the time expected in the provision of the sacred duty of hospitality. Mary likewise shares this house full of guests but is not so concerned about fulfilling society’s expectations. Instead, Mary is listening to the Rabbi’s words intently, much to Martha’s chagrin and annoyance.

I am going to give everyone a quick primer about the difference between simple and simplistic. “Simple” is properly used to describe something that truly is not complex, nor ornamented, nor overdone. A garment can be simple, a meal can be simple, and a person can live a simple life with a simple soul, a life free of complications and a personality that is straightforward and unconvoluted. We refer to explanations, and ONLY explanations, as “simplistic” when they overlook the true depth and complexity of the subject. Now, to illustrate the concept of “simplistic” we look at the most common interpretation of this passage in Luke as a prime example. When we explain the passage as Martha inverting her priorities and Jesus scolding her for it, we have fallen into a simplistic explanation that totally misses the point and unfairly paints Martha as a vapid socialite.

Let us look for a moment at Martha’s motives. In this social context hospitality is a sacred obligation, and not fulfilling this obligation is not just a serious breach of etiquette but a severe moral failure. Bad hospitality not only disrupts relationships as we in Twenty-First Century America would expect, but in the ancient world and many places still today the failure to provide proper hospitality can start feuds and wars. If we truly look closely at the text, Our Lord does not tell Martha that she is wrong, He merely stated that she was busy with many things. People cast judgement on Martha when Jesus goes on to say that Mary had chosen the “better” part. “Better” is a comparative. Something can be better without the object compared being “bad.” “Better” simply means “more good,” not a contrast between bad and good. In this case, Martha’s actions show her care, her compassion, her sense of duty, all of which are good, however what Mary has chosen is “more good” and longer-lasting as it “cannot be taken from her.”

So, what made what Mary’s choice “better” than fulfilling a sacred duty? What made what she was doing so different?

At first glance, scratching the surface, Mary is sitting at Jesus’ feet. She is listening to the Rabbi teach. She is taking the posture and role of a disciple, a student and a follower of a master of that subject. This is not a common role for a woman to assume during this period. Women were still largely believed by nearly everybody, themselves included, to be intellectually inferior to men. For a woman to presume to take this posture opens her to serious censure and backlash. For a teacher to allow this to happen is even more remarkable, even scandalous. Here Jesus allows Mary to take on the role of disciple and even defends her decision, an action not missed by anyone around them.

There is something more at play, however. This is not merely a case of a woman recognizing and following a great teacher, or a great teacher recognizing that women actually have brains and can become true disciples. This situation speaks to the attitude this entire family has toward Jesus and His ministry. Elsewhere in the Gospels this same Mary endures a great deal of scorn, ridicule, and recrimination when she washes Jesus’ feet with her tears and her hair and then anoints them will a very expensive moisturizer. Jesus said she did this to prepare Him for his burial, inferring that Mary understood long before any of His Apostles what was in store for Him. Martha, this same Martha who Jesus acknowledged as busy with many things, during the depths of her grief for her recently deceased brother, acknowledged Jesus to be the Messiah, not just any Messiah but the Son of God who has come into the world, showing insight beyond that of even St. Peter’s confession. Even Lazarus from whom we do not hear much obeyed Jesus call across the divide between the living and the dead and came through to Him. This family knew this man to be more than just a rabbi on par with Hillel or Shmuel, whose teachings resonate with our Jewish siblings even today, but someone greater and mightier than these.

We read from St. Paul today that Jesus “…is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him.” Mary of Bethany chose to sit at the feet of this man and to hang on His every word. Was Martha truly vexed that Mary was not helping her with fulfilling the sacred duties of hospitality, or was she jealous that Mary was spending time with the One the entire family believed to be more than He appeared and that she was stuck fulfilling this sacred duty that was depriving her of a place in the Presence of the Holy One of Israel? Perhaps that is what Jesus saw, not a woman vexed with carrying the load all alone but that the load is cutting into her time with Him and that this sacred burden would be out of the way more quickly if her sister sacrificed just a little bit of the Presence to help her.

Jesus’ reply is therefore not to be seen as a scold or a reminder that Martha made her bed and must lie in it. Instead, He is indirectly offering Martha absolution from this sacred duty. He had fed five thousand souls with five barley loaves and two fish, He had recharged a wedding party’s wine-bar from jars of water, so He would not find an olive and fish-sauce tray not quite up to snuff to be much of a challenge. What Martha provided, even were it not perfect, would be sufficient, and what Mary had chosen was so much better. The invitation is implicit:

Martha, what you have done so far is fine. Let it rest, and come before the Presence and let it feed you. Martha, this is the One who can and does release you from the sacred duty of hospitality so that you may enjoy an even greater hospitality freely offered and freely given. Martha, Mary saw this and made her choice, realizing that the old expectations must give way. A new wind blows through the land, new wine is poured into new wineskins, all things are become new.

What of us? How many of us feel trapped in fulfilling obligations like Martha did and are missing out on the joy found in the Presence of the Lord? How many of us strive for the perfect prayer, the proper attitude, the flawless acts of mercy only to miss hearing the Word and experiencing the love of the Holy One of Israel? Instead of finding the perfect prayer, perhaps we should be coming before His Presence and let that fuel our prayer, making the insufficient abundant. Instead of having the perfect attitude, perhaps we should be resting in His Grace and let His words transform us and our attitudes, transforming us from our flawed selves by His gift of the Holy Spirit. Instead of nailing every act of mercy perfectly, perhaps we should instead be doing these with an eye to finding His presence in every one of the least of these and making plenty out of little. We strive and strive and strive to work out our salvation by our own merit, trusting in our own sense of duty and goodness, and we burn ourselves out in the process. Instead, we should be coming into His Presence continually, seeking His fulness to overcome our emptiness. The irony is that He is offering it to us now, free and clear. He has paid the price, He absolves us of our unrealistic expectations of ourselves, He takes away the barriers and responsibilities that get in the way of being with Him. We live not just by food alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

I believe Martha took Him up on His invitation. Her confession that He was indeed the Christ, the Son of God tells all of us that she accepted His absolution of her duty of hospitality, and that like her sister Mary she chose the better part to rest in the Presence of the Image of the Invisible God, the First-Born of all Creation. We also can take up that same invitation. Hear His Word, pray in His presence, and finally come to the rail to feed upon His Body and Blood, the true food and drink that sustains our eternal selves. Let us also choose the better part and remember to rest in His Presence first so that He can sustain our response to His love.

✠ Through the prayers of the Most Holy Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, , Holy Dominic, and all the saints, Saviour save us. Amen.