Luke 10:38-42
7th August Trinity
Now as they were traveling
along, he entered a certain village; and a woman named Martha received him into
her home. And she had a sister called Mary who was listening to the Lord’s
word, seated at his feet.
Martha meanwhile was distracted with all her
preparations. So she got up and said, “Lord do you not care that my sister has
left me here to serve alone? Tell her to help me.”
But the Lord answered and said to her, Martha,
Martha you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only a few things
are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall
not be taken away from her.
7th August Trinity
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| Martha and Mary, Huis |
Luke 10:38 -42
In The Christian Community, the Sunday Service for the
Children speaks of the purpose of a human life: it is to learn to understand
and work in the world. For millennia humanity has been practicing working in
the world. But in addition there is another level of work we need to be doing:
inner work. For the human being is also a part of the world that needs to be
understood and worked in.
Martha represents the
well-developed part of the human soul that knows how to work in the world.
However, this constantly being drawn out into the world’s busyness is tiring
and distracting. Martha is the part of us that becomes irritable and resentful
because there is too much to do in the world, and we can’t stop. After all, if
the Lord came to visit, surely it would be important to offer Him the best
hospitality!
Mary on the other hand represents
the part of the soul that begins to learn and understand that there is another
equally important level of work – inner work. She not only receives the Lord
into her home; she receives him into her heart. She is willing to engage in the
equally important inner work of listening to the Lord, of letting His words
begin to work in her. She works to absorb His words, to ponder and remember
them; she works to tend the inner hearth.
It is important for us to realize
that we are not being asked to choose one kind of work over the other. Rather
Christ is pointing out that our souls need the balancing of both kinds of work.
We need periods of enthusiastic outer activity, of working in the world. And we
need times of quiet contemplation, of listening to the Lord.
Christ’s word, in the gospels, in
contemplation, helps us to do our inner work. His word cleanses our inner house
of the soul. It scours away our negativity and stress, wipes away the soul’s
impurities. His word lights the fire of love in the soul’s hearth. He helps us
discern what is truly important, the good part, the real purpose of our life.
