Not a Reasonable Act

July 18, 2004 (Seventh Sunday after Pentecost -- Proper 11)

  by The Rev. Linda Yeager, Deacon

- Genesis 18:1-14
- Psalm 15
- Colossians 1:21-29
- Luke 10:38-42

(From The Lectionary Page)

Since this is the season when we take to the road and also when we extend hospitality to travelers, our scripture passages for today seem especially appropriate, for both our Old Testament reading and the gospel reading speak of guests. In our reading from Genesis, we encounter Abraham and Sarah's guests. The identity of these visitors has always raised a bit of a question since they may be three men, or they may be The Lord, depending on which verse we choose. Whichever or however we identify them, hospitality is offered and accepted and a surprising announcement is made.

Abraham and Sarah have lived in barrenness for many years and suddenly the strangers tell Abraham and Sarah that they will have a child, even though both are old and Sarah is past her childbearing years. In our day of science and technology, we might think that some new technique has come upon the scene that will allow older women to bear children -- but let's think of this announcement in the terms of the time in which Abraham and Sarah lived.  How ridiculous -- laughable even -- that they would have a child.

And yet, the stranger says to Abraham, "Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?" It would certainly take a great deal of faith for Abraham and Sarah to believe this amazing message. The theologian Walter Bruegemann contends that "this story shows what a scandal and difficulty faith is." He adds, "Faith is not a reasonable act which fits into the normal scheme of life and perception."

It is faith which again comes into question in the familiar gospel story of Mary and Martha. As an aside, I think it is worth noting the difference in the status of women in the two stories we read today. In the Genesis story, Sarah remains out of sight, while Abraham serves the guests. In the Martha and Mary story, however, we learn something of the social customs of Jesus' time. Martha heads a household; Mary is free to share in the conversation of those who are guests. Jesus speaks directly to the women.

Most of us, after reading this short but effective story feel an affinity for Martha. After all, Jesus is dining with her, along with his disciples, all hungry men. She has a responsibility to provide them with a special meal -- not to mention a presentable house and welcoming hospitality. I can certainly empathize with her desire to make her guests feel comfortable and enjoy their meal. What is this with Mary anyway? There's one like her in every family -- disappears when there is work to be done, always dawdling, staring into space, not offering to help when obviously there are tasks she could undertake. Can you blame Martha for complaining to Jesus?

Some have interpreted this story as a reprimand for service, for Jesus tells Martha, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not betaken away from her."

I don't think that Jesus is being critical of Martha for her hospitality or for her service to others. He is talking about relationship. Martha is worried and distracted. This story is about relationship, about faith.  Faith, Bruegemann says, "is not a reasonable act which fits into the normal scheme of life and perception."

I know a person who does amazing work for others. She is tireless in her efforts to serve. She works long hours and has a demanding job. Yet, she is always complaining about how tired she is, how little time she has for herself, and certainly no time for sitting quietly with God. I know another person who is equally busy, but she brings joy into every room she enters.  She laughs about the amount of good she accomplishes, admitting that she can't do it all. And she makes time for her relationship with God. Both of these women are making this world a better place, but their inner lives are dramatically different. One is acting out of faith; the other is acting out of anxiety. Busyness by itself breeds worry and distraction. Jesus was aware of Martha's attention to busyness, not critical of her hospitality.  He was alluding to her faith -- which is "not a reasonable act which fits into the normal scheme of life and perception."

Abraham and Sarah had a difficult time believing the astounding news that they would have a child. Martha had a difficult time understanding why service alone isn't enough. All of us find our own faith being challenged.  Where is your faith tested? Where do you find faith unreasonable? Is it in the pain we feel each time we hear the list of names of the valiant young people who die every week in Iraq? Is it in the helplessness we feel in the face of poverty in our own country? Is it in the difficulties of the jobs in which we find ourselves? Is it in a personal situation in which we feel powerless? Think of the situation in your life in which faith makes the least sense. This is where we must find our faith -- which is difficult and unreasonable -- but which makes all the difference in how we face our lives and how we react to the situations we encounter. It is only when we submit to faith that we are able to, ultimately, face the unreasonable.

There's a story of a migrant group of people who regularly went on long marches. Day after day they would trudge along on their journey, intent on the road. But, then, all of a sudden, they would stop walking and make camp for a couple of days. When asked why they stopped, the group explained that they needed the time of rest so that their souls could catch up with them.

Until we allow ourselves to rest in God, to cease from "the road" for a while and let God work in us, we will become mechanisms without souls. It isn't what we do or how much or how little we do that keeps us from faith. It is, rather, our motive for what we do, why we do what we do, for whom we do what we do that matters. Perhaps we should examine our lives and our motives, remembering that nothing is too wonderful for the Lord. This summer, why don't we allow ourselves to become God's guests, to let go in God through prayer, through worship, through reading, through self-examination, through quiet time, through the sacrament. It takes more than reason to base our lives on faith. It takes moving beyond reason. Our God is one of hope, of making the impossible possible, of leading us to faith.