OUR SUNDAY’S IN JULY 2010

In Luke’s readings for this month, Luke wants his readers to see that religious expectation, and cultural norms were being changed by Jesus. Martha invited Jesus into “her” home. Women typically could not own property, so this was unusual. Jesus risked a scandal in accepting the invitation. A man was never to be alone with women without another man present. Then, Mary sat at the feet of Jesus, the posture which describes a disciple of a teacher. Women typically could not be disciples, but Jesus allowed it! Finally, families were never to bring guests into a family dispute. Martha not only brought Jesus into her dispute with Mary, she actually told Jesus to correct Mary! They were lucky it was Jesus they had invited into their home. Anyone else would have left immediately because of the insult and spread the word far and wide about how rude Martha and Mary were. These breaches are also Luke’s way of saying, “Pay attention!”

Cultural norms were turned upside down on purpose. Luke wanted people to see that Jesus was changing religious expectations. Luke tells us that Martha and Mary were dear friends of Jesus. Jesus was traveling to Jerusalem but stopped to visit his friends.

Martha was doing exactly what was expected while Mary was clearly violating cultural norms. When Martha confronted Jesus about this and told Him to order Mary to help her with the work of hospitality, Jesus did not. Rather, He said, “Mary has chosen the better part.” What is the better part? Martha was not focused on Jesus. Though she was faithfully fulfilling the expectations of hospitality, she had forgotten why the protocols were important. They were meant to serve the needs of guests. Instead she was focused on the expectations of hospitality. The “better part” was proper focus on Jesus and what He was teaching.

So what is our focus? Serving Jesus or serving something else? Do we have our own agenda?

The Most Rev. John P. Walzer, D.D. Archbishop