Balance

Charlotte Collins Reed

Christ Church Episcopal

July 17, 2016

11 Proper C

          My mother firmly believed that hospitality is one of the cardinal virtues.  Had she been prone to such language, she would have called hospitality a gospel value, maybe even the gospel value.  When guests arrived at our home, everything was ready so that she could attend to the guests and not the stove.  She wanted the guests to feel expected and welcomed.  The table was set with utmost care and much thought was given to who would sit next to who.  She remembered her guests’ food and beverage likes and dislikes and planned the menu accordingly.  Since this is the way I was raised, and the language I speak is the language of the church, hospitality is a gospel value for me, even if I am not so good about having everything ready when my guests arrive.

          Great hospitality obviously takes a lot of preparation and work, which is a point that seems lost on Jesus this morning.  Martha has an unexpected house guest today, and wants to offer only the finest hospitality, which takes work.  Her sister, on the other hand, is sitting at Jesus’ feet, listening to what he has to say.  We can easily hear this story as one that asks us to choose between work and contemplation, action and prayer, doing and being.  Jesus tells Martha that Mary has chosen the better part, leaving all of us Type A get-it-done personalities very uncomfortable and a little annoyed.

          The truth, however, is that Jesus has nothing against getting things done.  Last Sunday, we heard the parable of the Good Samaritan.  In that parable, the lawyer asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life.  When Jesus asks the lawyer what is written in the law, the lawyer responds with the words of the Shema “You shall love the Lord your God with all your, heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself.”  Jesus says “Do this and you shall live.”  At the end of the parable, when Jesus asks the lawyer which of the three was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers, the lawyer answers “the one who showed him mercy.”  Jesus says “Go and do likewise.”  Add in all the times Jesus sends the disciples out to do something, and Jesus clearly has nothing against doing.

          What Jesus does have a problem with is distraction and worry.  “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things.”  Perhaps Martha simply needs some balance in her life, a balance of work and devotion.  We talk about work/life balance in our own lives as we balance work and play, or times of action and of prayer.  We talk about balance in terms of a scale so that no one facet of our lives outweighs another and we try to stay on an even keel.  If you are like me, that’s a lovely thought that does not play out well in real life.  But there is another way to think about balance, which is to think about the balance of a dancer, having a strong core, a center point, and a great deal of flexibility.  With a strong core, movement is graceful and balance is maintained.  Out of a strong core, comes great strength and focus.  Out of a strong core, responses are deliberate, not haphazard. Perhaps Jesus is encouraging Martha to strengthen her spiritual core, to find that kind of balance, so that she is not distracted and worried in her work, but focused and secure. 

          In the reading from Amos, we hear harsh words spoken to people whose core has been weakened and who are an extreme case of loss of balance.  God’s chosen people are meeting the challenges of the world by trampling on the needy, and turning the Sabbath into something to be endured until they can get back to the work of exploitation and practicing deceit.  The consequences of such behavior will be dire.  The behavior is a result of losing focus on their identity as God’s chosen people, letting the core get weak, and being distracted by many things.   Martha’s distraction is simply the work of hospitality.  The distraction condemned by Amos is the distraction of greed and dishonesty.

          How do we strengthen our core as Christians, both individually and as a congregation?  Certainly prayer and corporate worship are part of that, as are Bible study and theological reflection on our own lives and the events in the world around us.  Knowing who we are as Christians and being able to articulate that identity strengthens our core.  Knowing how our gospel values inform our decisions and our actions strengthens our core.  Practicing living as Christians with each other in this place strengthens our core so we can live as Christians in the world with grace and flexibility. 

          We have seen troubled and fearful times in our country and around the world this summer, especially over the last few weeks.   The Republican National Convention takes place in our back yard this week, bringing fears about security in Cleveland.  We are distracted by many things.  The temptation to retreat from the distractions of the world and simply sit at Jesus’ feet is huge.  In a message to the church on Friday, Michael Curry, our presiding bishop, said “Prayer is not an escape from the world but a way of deeper engagement with it by drawing closer to God and closer to each other.”   Sitting at Jesus’ feet was not an escape from the responsibilities and challenges of hospitality and gospel living, as Martha accused Mary of doing.  Sitting at Jesus’ feet provides focus and strength so that we can engage the challenges of life, not out of fear, or worry, or distraction, and certainly not by the exploitation of other people, but with the balance that comes from being grounded in the gospel.

                                                                             Amen.