Every time I have the privilege of speaking to you on Sunday, I go through the same process of preparation. First, I pray for the ability to "Say something inspirational;" Then I pray, "Oh well, if not inspirational, then how about something with a message?" I usually end up praying, "Dear God, let me say something that will at least keep them awake." So, with those prayers of preparation, I am here today

Now, I ask you to sit back and let your imagination soar. You are sitting at home, deeply engrossed in an interesting novel, or watching some weekly television show - or, better yet - the movie of the month. The telephone rings. Since everyone else seems to have gone deaf, you get up to answer it. And that phone call will change your life.

A heavenly voice on the other end of the phone announces that Jesus is planning to come to your home for dinner tomorrow night.

Pretty scary stuff? You bet it is....

Once you were convinced this was not a "crank call", what would your reaction be? I know what mine would be. My mind would start asking what food will I serve? Can I get the yardman to clean up the yard? How could I ever get the house clean on time.....Where is my best tablecloth?.... and on and on. I’m afraid I would be so busy, I would lose the importance of my guest.

How did you react? Did you give yourdelf over to the glory of the visitor? Or, like me, did you get so caught up in the details of the visit that you were mentally tired long before the doorbell rang? Don’t be disturbed, no matter what your reaction, you are not alone.

The story of Jesus’ visit to the home of Martha and Mary at Bethany is a story of basic Human Reactions. The story is full of the warmth of Jesus’ humanity -- His dealings with human beings.

The story is so simple. It is a visit to the home of the sisters of Lazarus. We have just imagined what would happen if Jesus announced He was coming to dinner at our homes, so let’s see what happened at that humble home in Bethany. Martha is busy with her household tasks, especially those of serving the honored guest. Mary, on the other hand, sits at the feet of the master, listening eagerly to his teaching, doing none of the work to make the guest comfortable and dinner to be served. Martha becomes so distracted by the work and the service, that she, with some annoyance at her sister, asks Jesus to tell Mary to help with the work.

Jesus responds with characteristic warmth and tenderness -- yet putting the problem in proper perspective. "Martha, Martha," He says, "You are too anxious and troubled about things. Only ONE thing is important. Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her." With this mild rebuke, Jesus gives a message which speaks to us today.

We can learn something of importance by seeing the point of this story. For the sisters represent all of us, both men and women. Perhaps by looking at each woman more closely, we can see our own lives in relation to the ONE important thing.

The major person in this story is undoubtedly Mary. Remember, she chose the portion. Some might want to suggest that she was not a good housekeeper or that perhaps she was lazy, more content to sit and visit than to attend to the menial tasks of housekeeping. Someone else might say that she didn’t sense the importance of the guest. That in the company of Jesus, the master, she was unconcerned for his comfort. Or, that she was more concerned for the contemplative life, rather than the life of service or the life of action.

But to take these views would be to do an injustice to Mary. Jesus realizes that Mary, rather than neglecting a duty, chose the highest good. She was able, in a moment of tremendous importance -- in the presence of the master -- to choose the most significant course. This one thing was to know him intimately, to heed his teachings, to seek his kingdom. She sat at the feet of the master. "One thing is needful" and Mary chose it.

How often do we get so involved in the things we have to do, saying we will do the things we want to do when we are finished? How often do we say we ought to go to church, or do a good deed, but the lawn needs mowing or the laundry must be done? We so often lose sight of the one thing that is necessary. And yet, do you ever notice that, when we do choose the one thing that is necessary, the other chores somehow get done?

Here, then, is the one thing needful which Mary chose. In the midst of all life, the one thing most important of all was her relationship to the Master, His teachings, His Kingdom. Now, do these words have any value to us, living in the twentieth century? Can modern people really take seriously the admonition that only ONE thing is necessary -- seeking the Kingdom of God? Think of it -- ONE thing -- our relationship to God is the important thing in our life. Only one thing -- what a freedom that God gives us.

If we were to list the priorities in our lives, the Kingdom of God and his righteousness might not be high on our list. We live in a world of different values. We want success; we want social standing; education; we want money; a successful business career; a fine family; we want a fine home and a nice house. These are the items that lead our wish list. The things of the spirit often get lost for most of us. We fit God into our scheme of things or perhaps in time of trouble we seek him. But he is seldom the top priority of our everyday lives.

And yet, in our most honest moments, we too, like Mary, know that there is only ONE thing needed. In times when all of life’s ornaments are stripped away, we stand before the one great reality of life and acknowledge him to be at its center. For it is only God who can stand when the winds of change blow away what we consider important.

A business executive walks from a doctor’s office where he has been told that he has a year to live. The fact that he has an income of $100,000 a year and a successful business is to no avail. Yesterday, they were the most important things in the world. Today, his sense of values have changed completely and he would literally give everything, yes, give everything away to have heard another verdict. At a time like this he sees the ONE thing needed. Yesterday God may have been far down the list; Today He is everything. Yes, in times of tragedy life is placed in perspective and we seek the ONE thing needed to center our lives.

But if the lesson is valid in times of trouble, then it must be valid for other times also. Here is another man. He happens to be a successful executive too, but he has chosen the best part early in life. He knows that there is only one who is unchanging, one who is big enough to demand all of our loyalties. And in God he has placed his trust. His life, home and family are oriented around faith in God. His loyalties are not divided. Therefore, he sees his life and his job as a stewardship from God. Anxiety, fears, the constant revolving door existence are kept in check. Not that he is not confronted with crises, for life is never crises free, but he has chosen the best portion and his life is secure in that basic trust in God.

Yes, from Mary we get the truth which is eternal. In the midst of the activity of life, ONE thing is needed. Not that we are to neglect or despise the activities of the world. Still, seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness first. This is the good portion, this is the ONE needful thing.

But if we learn so much from Mary in the story, is there not some positive truth we can learn from Martha? Certainly one sure fact is that Martha does not come out too well in this story, and she has received her judgment through the years. In the midst of activity, she has lost sight of her major goal. In the company of the Master, she was busy with lesser things. But, there is a human quality here which makes Martha understandable to most of us. In reality, we too, would be concerned if an important guest were coming to our home. The house would be clean, the yard would be spruced up and perhaps both the host and hostess would be too tired to enjoy the fellowship of the honored guest.

You see, we too become so engrossed in the activities of life that we sometimes lose sight of the main objective. We must not plow through life thinking ahead to what is next. We must work at staying in the moment, right here and now. This is all we have. Yesterday is gone and we may not have tomorrow. But we know we have NOW with all its beauty, all its meaning, all its opportunity and all its challenges. How often do we miss our life by focusing on the past or yearning for the future. We miss the look in our children’s eyes today because we are thinking about how to get them to the dentist tomorrow. We miss the interesting idea that has come across our desk because we are worrying about what we said in the meeting yesterday. Stop, relax, be here. This moment is all we have. To leave it is to kill it.

There is a quality in the character of Martha which speaks of something warm, human and true. Remember that Jesus’ rebuke was mild and gentle. He senses the graciousness, the desire to please, the concern for another’s welfare.

Martha’s qualities are still valuable today. For example, we can think of the importance of the life of service against the purely passive, thoughtful, christian life. We are to be active Christians. Life is not only a personal, subjective road to salvation, but our Christian life must be lived in Christian service to our fellow human beings. You can’t keep it unless you give it away. Martha showed this concern, and that Christian virtue must be our example.

There is a truth here in regard to the earthy, human, daily tasks of life. There is a Christian virtue in homemaking, in earning a living, in the day-to-day life that most of us lead. God is served in the day-to-day tasks and these tasks are meaningful when seen in their proper relationships.

There is a God-given quality about the kind of devotion which loses itself in the ordinary tasks of life or, to put it another way, the ordinary tasks which most of us perform can take on a new meaning when brought under the love and concern of God. Everything we do, no matter how small or trivial, becomes an important stepping stone in our lives when done in concert with God.

So, if there is a message to be carried away from this story, it is probably to be found in the blendings of these two personalities in our scripture lesson. For there is a truth here that none of us can escape.

We can reinforce our faith that there is only ONE thing needful in our lives. No activity, no desire, no ambition, no need, should obscure the good portion which stands when all else has vanished.

"Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all other things will be added unto you."

We must learn to let go and let God.

We can also affirm that God in our daily lives never far from any of us. Our lives do have meaning; they are trusts from God. We are stewards and our jobs are callings, places where we can be witness to his love and concern. And no job, however busy, need shut us off from his gracious love. These words of Brother Lawrence bring this truth home to us. He who labored in the kitchen of the monastery could write:

"The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer, and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in a great tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the Blessed Sacrement."

Here, then, is the Christian blending necessary for a whole life. To combine the spiritual with the active, to sense the place of God in our lives and then to use his will in our lives and daily tasks; We must learn to combine a life of solitude with a life of service; a life of inspiration with a life of perspiration; a life of spirituality with a life of actuality.

Most of us won't find ourselves performing such menial tasks, but these lines of a simple English Maid of nineteen express a deep truth.

Although I must have Martha's hands, I have a Mary mind.
And when I black the boots and shoes, thy sandals, Lord I find.
I think of how they trod the Earth, each time I scrub the floor.
Accept this meditation Lord, I haven't time for more.

Now, we know our phone will not ring telling us that Jesus is coming for dinner. But like
Jesus did to Mary and Martha, God visits us each moment of our lives. Oh, He does not come and sit in our living room or kitchen, but he visits us in our hearts and lives each day. What joy it is to meet him and what greater way can we greet him with than with the hands of Martha, dedicated to service and the mind of Mary, filled with the joy of the moment.

Amen

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