Both

Martha and Mary of Bethany are not proxies for the perennial debate about whether the active or contemplative life, hospitality or spirituality, are more important in the Church. These were two sisters who loved each other, who loved Jesus, and whom Jesus loved. Both were faithful disciples of Jesus in their own ways, and both are equally valuable models for how we should faithfully follow Jesus today. At the risk of oversimplification, Mary exemplified listening to the word of God, while Martha exemplified doing the word of God. But you can’t do the word of God if you haven’t listened to it, and if you don’t do the word of God after listening to it then you haven’t heard it.

Both sisters assume roles in this story that would normally have been reserved for males. That it is Martha who “welcomed” Jesus into “her home,” indicates that Martha was the legal owner of the property, presumably a large enough household to entertain Jesus and at least twelve of his apostles, which would also indicate that she owned other land from which income could be generated. A woman could inherit property if there was no father or husband to inherit it. Of course in John’s Gospel, there is a brother, Lazarus, whom Luke doesn’t mention. Perhaps if Lazarus was the youngest, perhaps too young to administer the property, then it might have fallen to Martha to supervise a large household.

Mary is placing herself with the twelve men, “sitting at the Lord’s feet,” a euphemism for studying with a teacher, as a male would, and presumably acting upon her learning as a male would. At the same time, Martha is preparing to feed a lot of people and is therefore not doing it all herself, but is trying to keep it all organized. Perhaps she may feel some pressure to do it all herself, and has become “distracted with all the serving,” or in the original Greek, diakonia, from which we get “deacon,” the ordained ministry of servanthood. So Martha herself is engaged in the service of the same Lord at whose feet Mary is learning. Not for the first time have those who act as deacons, ordained or not, in the Church become distracted and perhaps a little overwhelmed with all the needs of the Church and the world.

So when Jesus says to her, “Martha, Martha,” he is listening to her frustration and is not reprimanding or belittling her. But the “things” that Martha would seem to be distracted by are the various dishes she is preparing. And yet, Jesus reminds her, all her delicious dishes are not as delicious as his word which satisfies our deepest needs for meaning, for faith, hope, and love.

But before you think this story ends with only Mary having “chosen the better part;” remember that unmentioned brother in Luke, who according to John, Jesus is told is deathly ill, but then waits two days before deciding to go back to Bethany. When Jesus does arrive at Martha’s home, Lazarus has been dead four days, so he would likely have died before Jesus got there even if had immediately left. But one can easily imagine both sisters wondering why Jesus hadn’t immediately left. And both say to him separately, “Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died.”

But it is Martha who, in the midst of her grief, still places her faith and trust in Jesus: “But even now I know that God will grant whatever you ask of him.” And in John’s Gospel, it is Martha who is the first person to say: “Yes, Lord. I believe that you are the Messiah [the Christ, the Anointed], the Son of God, the one coming into this world.” Clearly, Martha also listened, and chose the better part.

If each of us is to serve each other and those outside these walls for Jesus’ sake, then each of us must first choose the better part of sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to Jesus. But then each of us must also show that we have heard Jesus by doing that service, that diakonia. It is often asked, are you a Martha or a Mary. The only right answer is both.

July 20th, 2025

6th Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 11

The Rev. David Kendrick