“Welcome & Distractions” Colchester Federated Church, July 20, 2025, Sixth Sunday after Pentecost (Luke 10:38-42)

As we continue our summer exploration of the Gospel according to Luke, we find ourselves at the home of Martha and Mary.  Because Jesus is traveling, there is debate about the identity of this family among New Testament scholars.  A footnote in The CEB Study Bible relates, “This episode happens somewhere in Galilee, so these women shouldn’t be confused with Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, who lived in Bethany.”[1]  However, The New Oxford Annotated Bible relates, “This enigmatic account affirms the importance of listening to Jesus and at the same time the account shows Jesus’ openness to and acceptance of women among his followers.  According to Jn 11:1, Martha and Mary were the sisters of Lazarus and lived in Bethany, just east of Jerusalem.”[2] 

This is the kind of biblical difference that is interesting.  Because it matters whether or not these were the same women Jesus encountered here at their home and again in John’s Gospel after their brother died.  Why?  Because it seems that Lazarus, Martha, and Mary were Jesus’ friends.  In fact, John says that Mary (the sister who is sitting and listening at Jesus’ feet) is the same women who anointed Jesus with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair.[3]  Talk about an amazing example of discipleship! 

Mary, Martha, and Lazarus are especially close to Jesus.  Hence we have several stories about Jesus and this family.  The companionship is evident in how Jesus speaks to Martha.  And this understanding of their genuine friendship has implications for how Jesus’ words will be received by us.  All of this to say, we are going with the theory that these are the same women in Luke’s Gospel and John’s Gospel—Martha and Mary were siblings of Lazarus and all of them were Jesus’ dear friends.

So in our Gospel story from Luke Chapter 10, Mary is depicted as sitting at Jesus’ feet to listen wholeheartedly to his message.  This is quite literally the posture of a disciple, depicting a teacher/disciple relationship.  Meanwhile, Martha is preoccupied with getting everything ready for the meal that she is making for their guests.  Martha starts getting upset as she is performing these tasks and her sister is not helping.  In fact, Martha is so upset that she goes directly to Jesus and says, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to prepare the table all by myself?  Tell her to help me.”[4] 

We can hear the familiarity in Martha’s words; these are words you would say to somebody with whom you have a relationship.  “Tell her to help me.”  Jesus responds to her understandable frustration with, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things.  One thing is necessary.  Mary has chosen the better part.  It won’t be taken away from her.”[5]

Now I wonder who we identify with in this Gospel story if we had to choose between the sisters.  Who identifies with Martha (the person who is preparing the meal and being the ultimate host)?  And who identifies with Mary (the person who is sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to his message)?  For those who identify as Martha, it can feel like an enraging story or possibly even a shaming story.  This story can remind us of the anger expressed by the responsible Older Brother in the Parable of the Prodigal Son because it has similar vibes.  Plus, Jesus says that Mary chose the better part, and it won’t be taken away from her.  We could hear that as Mary is better.  We could even hear this as Jesus being a bit of a mansplainer as he tells this woman how to run her house. 

Though this story can also make us wonder who would have prepared the meal and cleaned the house and gotten everything ready for Jesus and his disciples if Martha didn’t step up (as she always did!) and make it happen!?  We can’t all sit at Jesus’ feet when there are hungry mouths to feed and guests in our home who need to feel welcome!

Of course there are various ways to interpret this story, and that is part of what makes it so compelling.  This story is just five verses in the Gospel according to Luke, and there is so much here to consider.  I once co-led a Women’s Retreat at my church in Wellesley Hills and we spent nearly two hours engaging with this story of Jesus visiting Martha and Mary in various ways on that retreat.  It brings up a whole lot when it comes to our individual personalities and even family dynamics. 

One of the aspects of the story that I think is worth holding onto (no matter the context of a retreat or Bible Study or a sermon) is the closeness of the relationship among this family and Jesus.  Because of the relationships, we can interpret Jesus’ response as more tender than a reprimand.  It was the great theologian Albert Schweitzer who once said, “In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out.  It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being.  We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.”[6]  I believe that Martha, Mary, and Lazarus helped rekindle Jesus’ inner spirit.  Because if we trace the presence of this family in the Gospels, it seems that Jesus went to their home for rest and respite, for loving hospitality. 

In today’s story, Mary is described as sitting at Jesus’ feet—a physical position of discipleship.  Meanwhile Martha is described as welcoming Jesus into her home as a guest.  We remember that Jesus commended people who welcomed his followers.  For “if anyone there shares God’s peace, then your peace will rest on that person.”[7]  Not to mention we just heard the parable of the Good Samaritan last Sunday where Jesus commends the Samaritan for loving service of his neighbor in need.  The story ends with “go and do likewise” when it comes to loving our neighbors.[8]  Both women are disciples, with Martha extending hospitality and Mary listening to Jesus’ words. 

The main issue is that Martha is distracted.  And Martha is distracted by the wrong things.  And this distraction by the wrong things is leading to a hardened heart, and that is what Jesus is lovingly challenging.  New Testament Instructor Jennifer S. Wyant helpfully explains, “The problem wasn’t that Martha was serving, which is worse than sitting at Jesus’ feet.  The problem was that she was distracted by the wrong things.  She became focused on the fact that her sister wasn’t helping.  Like the older brother in the Parable of the Prodigal Son or the Pharisee in the Parable of the Tax Collector, Martha is focused on the actions of others and their perceived shortcomings, as opposed to focusing on her own relationship with Jesus.  It is this misorientation, not her service or her hospitality, that leads to Jesus’ gentle rebuke.  Mary has chosen God as her portion, and that will never be taken away.”[9]

Welcome and distractions.  “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things.”[10]  The welcome and service was real and genuine and kind.  The distraction by the wrong things were getting in the way of Martha’s discipleship.  This is why Jesus once asked, “Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the log in your own eye?”[11] 

We have so many things that distract us these days.  On a mundane level, just consider how many times technology notifications change what we were focusing on just a moment ago.  Wait, what was I saying?  Sometimes it feels like we live in an age of distractions that take us away from what matters, let alone distractions that take us away from being present.  The truth is that we will have moments of distraction and judgment and our inner fires may even dim or go out.  Though genuine encounters with one another help rekindle our inner spirits.  Martha and Mary and Jesus help us remember the power of human connection.  Thanks be to God.  Amen.

[1] Luke 10:38-42 Footnote, The CEB Study Bible with Apocrypha, 133 NT.
[2] Luke 10:38-42 Mary and Martha Footnote in The New Oxford Annotated Bible, New Revised Standard Version with the Apocrypha, Fully Revised Fourth Edition, 1851 New Testament.
[3] John 11:2.
[4] Luke 10:40, CEB.
[5] Luke 10:41-42, CEB.
[6] Quote by Albert Schweitzer as found on Goodreads, https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/47146.Albert_Schweitzer
[7] Luke 9:6, CEB.
[8] Luke 10: 37, CEB.
[9] Jennifer S. Wyant, Commentary on Luke 10:38-42 in Working Preacher, July 20, 2025, https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-16-3/commentary-on-luke-1038-42-6
[10] Luke 10:41, CEB.
[11] Matthew 7:3, NRSVUE.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash