Rev. Debbie Cato
Fairfield Community Church
Luke 10:38-42
July 17, 2022
Like a true friend, Lord, you have not withheld the wisdom of your word. Like a true friend, Lord, you have given us the nourishment and strength for the living of these days. Help us to hear what you have for us today. Amen.
Are We Too Busy to Listen?
My
mother was a perfectionist. Our house always looked perfect. We had a long list of chores every day after
school and Saturdays we worked all morning and sometimes into the afternoon.
Every
night after dinner, the stove got taken apart and all the burner pans were
washed, and the stove completely cleaned.
The floor was swept, including of course moving all the chairs and
sweeping under the table. The kitchen
was spotless.
We
vacuumed the floors daily and dusted and on Saturdays washed the floors on our
hands and knees and cleaned the bathrooms like you’ve never seen. And Mom was there to inspect.
When
I got married, I thought I had to do the same thing. And when I had children, and my husband left,
I would do all these things after I had put my babies to bed. I was exhausted and I was cleaning rather
than sleeping. But I thought my house
had to be spotless.
I
couldn’t have anyone over unless I had planned the meal out carefully and had
prepared for days – because that’s what Mom did. Until I met Bonnie.
Bonnie and I met in preschool when Jessica and her daughter Taylor were barely two and I was very pregnant with Tracy. One day Bonnie invited Jessica and I over for lunch after preschool. When we got to her house, I noticed a basket of unfolded laundry on her couch, and honestly, I was a bit embarrassed for her. I thought, oh dear. I bet she forgot she left that there. But Bonnie didn’t seem to notice or care. Then she rattled around in her refrigerator looking for something to fix for lunch. I was surprised that she didn’t have something prepared when she invited us to come over.
Jessica
and I had the best time that day.
Jessica and Taylor played and had fun and Bonnie and I visited. We laughed and shared frustrations of having two-year-olds.
To this day, Bonnie and I are great friends and so are Jessica and Taylor. In
fact when I got home, I realized that I
hadn’t even cared that she had laundry out and she hadn’t had lunch pre-planned
when we got there. We had a wonderful
time. Jessica had a new friend and so
did I. It was about the company, the friendships, the
hospitality. Bonnie taught me that my home did not have to be perfect. I stopped trying to be perfect that day and my
life improved tremendously. I relaxed
about my house. Maybe too much!
But I can understand Martha’s irritation.
You can hear it in her tone.
“Lord, do you not care that my sister has
left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” We have all felt like we do all the work and
there is someone else who doesn’t help enough but should.
I can imagine Martha trying her darn best — cleaning their whole home
in preparation for Jesus’ visit; freshening herself up before greeting him,
smiling at the door; delivering carefully prepared platters of broiled fish,
bread soaked with honey, pomegranates and pickled cucumbers to his
table; running back and forth to the kitchen to make sure his wine glass
never ran low. And while Martha does all this, there sits Mary at
Jesus’ feet, monopolizing his attention and stealing his approval.[1]
Martha is following the expected customs of hospitality. Jesus and his
disciples relied on the kindness of strangers as they traveled. When Jesus
tells Martha that Mary is right to sit and listen at his feet, he is not saying
that Martha should abandon all her hard work of hospitality. Jesus is not
saying that we are not to do for others or work hard. But Jesus is saying that
we need to take time to just sit at
his feet and listen. We can’t let our busyness take away from time with
him. It’s not a substitute.[2]
Martha’s irritation builds and builds. Out of her frustration comes a
question she cracks over Jesus like a whip. “Lord,” she asks, “do you not
care?”
This exchange feels familiar, like a recurring argument you might have
with your spouse or your kids when you feel taken for granted. No one notices or cares about everything you
are doing for them. They just assume
it’s going to be done. Can you relate?
Jesus asks more of Martha not because he doesn’t care, but because he does. He appreciates her kindness, but he also wants time with her. Jesus tells Martha that the care she puts into her relationship with him, the time she invests in sitting and listening in his presence, will not be taken away from her. It will come back to her.
My dear friend Bonnie taught me that it’s about relationships and not about how my house looks or how together I am. I’m so grateful to her. She gave me a priceless gift. No one was noticing that my burner plates were spotless or that I had washed my kitchen floor the night before. It’s about relationships. It’s about being available. Available to talk, to listen, to laugh.
And that’s what Jesus wants. Our
time. He doesn’t care what condition we
are in. If we are all together or
not. He wants our time. To sit with him. We don’t have to say anything. We don’t have to do anything. Just sit in his presence. Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I
am God.”
When I was in seminary, I learned a wonderful way to just be with
God. I’d like you to try it with
me. Close your eyes and try to just
relax. Take a deep breath in. Now exhale.
Listen to my voice.
Be still and know that I am God.
Be still and know that I am.
Be still and know.
Be still.
Be.
Now take another deep breath in.
Exhale. Open your eyes. How do you feel?
I find this a beautiful and relaxing way to begin my quiet time with God. To quiet my thoughts. To slow down my breathing. It’s easy to remember. If my mind starts to wander, I just repeat it. It helps me to close my eyes. Then I’m ready to just sit and be with God. To listen.
Jesus wants a relationship with us that will feed every aspect of our lives and work. It’s hard to build a relationship when we are always busy, always on the run, always thinking about what we need to do next. Believe me, I get it. I don’t have a perfect record at this. But when I get away from just “being” with God, I miss it. And my ministry becomes harder and more strained because I’ve moved away from a relationship with the God I serve and turned it into work and doing.
If we invest ourselves in him, the gifts we receive in return will not
be taken away. We can’t afford to be too
busy to listen. To miss what He has to say to us. If we spend time with our God and grow our
relationships with Christ, it will lead us to a more balanced life, a quieter
presence, a deeper sense of God’s presence in our lives.
It will also have an impact on us as a faith community if we as
individuals are spending time listening and being with God. As our individual
relationships with God deepen, our faith as a community will deepen and we will
become a faith-driven church that truly listens to where God is leading
us. This will help us be more effective in
our ministry and be a better presence in our community. We will be a more
realistic presence of Jesus wherever we go.
Our lives are full. Our lives
are busy. We juggle priorities all the
time. There’s never enough time to do everything that needs to be done. But can we afford to be too busy to listen to
God? Amen.
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