Watch this week's service on YouTube
Download the order of service here - 25 07 20 5th Sunday after Trinity
Read this week's Church News
The Readings.
The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground. He said, ‘My lord, if I find favour with you, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.’ So they said, ‘Do as you have said.’ And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, ‘Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes.’ Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.
They said to him, ‘Where is your wife Sarah?’ And he said, ‘There, in the tent.’ Then one said, ‘I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.’
Luke 10. 38 - end
Now as Jesus and his disciples went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’
The Sermon
Prepared by Kath, Reader at St Mary's.
If my memory serves me correctly I’m sure I recall hearing Alan preach on the passage about Martha & Mary many years ago and asking us which of these women did we readily identify with? Were we Marthas or Marys? I knew straight away that I was a Martha and in spite of the obvious message in the story, I probably still am. But I wonder how you think of yourself? I’ll leave you reflect on that question in your own time.
It would be very easy to be judgmental about Martha and think “well of course she should have known that it was more important to pay attention to what Jesus was saying”, but I have a lot of sympathy with her predicament and the situation she was dealing with. In the interests of doing a bit of research I read a very interesting piece about the passage that helped to set the scene in a little more detail thus making it more understandable. Martha was the elder of the sisters and had invited Jesus and his disciples into her home. It was customary to offer hospitality so she was trying to cater for quite a large group of people and as we all know, sadly dinner doesn’t make itself. I imagine she would have liked to listen to Jesus herself but felt she should make sure her guests were going to get fed. It’s also understandable that she felt rather annoyed with her sister for leaving her to cope with all the work on her own. However, when she complains to Jesus, no doubt expecting him to back her up, he instead affirms that Mary is the one doing the right thing. Martha may well have been a bit hurt or embarrassed by this. Here she is, trying her best to be a good hostess and being told in front of everyone that she’s got it wrong. But Jesus isn’t trying to make her feel bad or dismissing her concerns, he’s gently pointing out that sometimes, what might seem like a priority is not in fact the most important thing at that moment. The passage doesn’t tell us what happened next but I really hope that Martha sat down with everyone else and listened to what Jesus was saying then afterwards she got the help she needed and they all enjoyed eating and discussing things together.
Many of us live very busy lives in a complicated and fast paced world. There are many demands on our time and attention and often we feel as if we’re up against the clock. We must get this done and that done by a particular deadline or there’ll be trouble, and however hard we work at it, the “to do” list never seems to get any shorter. In such circumstances it can be easy to miss what is most important, as Martha did, by trying to attend to all the practical stuff and neglecting the spiritual aspects of our lives because there just doesn’t seem to be time to fit that in as well. We’ll deal with it later when we get the chance we tell ourselves. But the trouble with this approach is that it effectively demotes the spiritual side of our being to an afterthought, rather than the core part of us that should be underpinning every other aspect of who and what we are and what we do. Carving out and prioritising time focussing on God through prayer or worship or quiet reflection or whatever works for you is not a waste of time or a luxury, it is what feeds us and keeps us going, and we need to be open enough and humble enough to accept the occasional gentle reminder when we’re getting our life balance out of kilter.
The world needs both Marthas and Marys. We each need to be both Martha and Mary, finding the right balance between the practical and the spiritual and in so doing, allowing space for God to get in.
Amen.
The Prayers
Prepared by Paul.
Let us pray.
Lord Jesus, the Head of the Church your body, help those who call you Saviour to serve you in holiness and truth, wherever we are: in our homes, families, friendship groups, workplaces and communities. Grant your Church the power and wisdom of the Spirit to be your eyes and ears and hands, demonstrating your love and grace to the world around us.
Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer
Lord Jesus, the Saviour of the world, we pray for our world and for its leaders, that they will act in justice and peace for all. We ask for wisdom for our government, to uphold the rights and dignity of all its citizens. The hot and dry weather we have experienced this year reminds us of the challenges of climate change. Help all those in power to rise to those challenges, most especially those faced by developing nations. May the poor and the oppressed know Your help and favour.
Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer
Lord Jesus, King of kings, we pray for our city of Sheffield and our community. Help the clergy, leaders and congregations of St John’s Ranmoor, St Mark’s Broomhill and here at St Mary’s Walkley to be a light in our parishes and to serve their people in all their joys and sorrows.
Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer
Lord Jesus, Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, we lift up all those we know who face troubles, grief and illness. May you comfort and restore all those who feel overwhelmed and weak. We bring them to you now in a moment of quiet.
Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer
Lord Jesus, Lord Most High, we thank you for all the faithful in every age who have witnessed to you and have been servants of Your grace and lights to the world. Helps us to follow their example, that you may bring us to those things that eye has not seen, nor ear heard, which you have prepared for those who love you.
Heavenly Father,
Accept these prayers, for the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
Common Worship: Times and Seasons, material from which is used here is copyright (c) 2010 The Archbishops' Council