Trinty Church in the City of Boston
Proper 11, Year C 2025
July 20, 2025
Amos 8:1-12
Psalm 52
Colossians 1:15-28
Luke 10:38-42
Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, you know our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking: Have compassion on our weakness, and mercifully give us those things which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask; through the worthiness of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Holy Guest and Gentle Host,
draw us to your feet until
our hearts are quiet in your presence;
then send us to the sink,
the streets, the spreadsheets
not driven by need but carried by love.
May our listening deepen our labour,
and our labour return us to listening,
until every breath and every task
speaks one language:
your abundance.
Amen.1 https://www.heartedge.org/category/heartbeats/reflections/
The old saying goes, “Timing is everything.”
What comes to mind when that phrase is said? I love pondering all the things that rush into my mind….
If you are in the Trinity Choir you have learned “If you are early, you are on time, if you are on time you are late, and if you are late- you are left behind.”
If you are musical-ly inclined, you might think of Les Misérables’ “The Time is now” in the the chorus of “One Day More” sung right before all of the storylines head into battle- the entire company gathers singing this line for various reasons of love, passion, and rebellion.2 From the Song “One Day More” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JP2aufZQqCw
If you are a baker, you (and if you are me) set a timer to know the exact time to check on whatever is cooking, rising, setting, or cooling. Because I get distracted by one more project…
Timing is everything.
And so we hear in our reading from Amos today.
God says, “Behold Amos, a basket of summer fruit.”
Like the peaches coming into season right now- the fruit is juicy, it is ripe for the picking. NOW is the time to harvest the fruit. Amos, everything around you is showing you that your work of care/planning and preparing is time for action, time for the doing.
The intentionality of the growing season has born fruit and much like a ripe avocado- the time is now, use it wisely. Do not delay.
In our Gospel reading today, we hear an exceptional and yet very familiar story. A story that only appears in Luke.
A story of two sisters and a home.
A story that appears smack in the midst of Jesus’ journey towards Jerusalem and his beginnings in Galilee. We are in the midst of Jesus teaching about the practices of faith. From parables to gatherings, Jesus is seizing the moment to share what the ripe fruit of discipleship looks like. He is direct and pointed. Jesus does not waste time with pleasantries. Calling to whoever will listen, disciples, crowds and even in the most intimate of spaces, a home, Jesus speaks to the time is now to live out the life and call of God.
Mary and Martha, we are told that they are sisters by birth and we see, like siblings often are, that they are so different.
Mary- meaning the beloved- coming from the Hebrew name Miriam, the sister of Moses who sang the song of joy on the far side of the Red Sea.3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_(name)
Martha- meaning mistress of the house- coming from the Aramaic for head of the household.
Curious how even the names root themselves in faith and function.
As we hear this familiar story, it is easy to side with one sister or the other.
One can naturally feel compassion for Martha- I mean the disciples just received a parable about hospitality and caring for each other. Martha is just doing the hospitality work that needs to be done, and her name literally commands her to do. Feelings of justification, of appreciation for the faithful doer are desired. We will hear echoes of Martha in the older son when we hear the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15. The Faithful doing what must be done.
We hear also of Mary, the one who sits at Jesus’ feet to listen, to share in the teaching. A woman sitting at the feet of the master, breaking the rules of a patriarchal society and being fully accepted by the master.
It’s easy to side with one or the other, I mean, Jesus in fact says that “Mary has chosen the better part.” Which, on the surface, seems to nullify all those of us who do a lot. Those who are busy being busy.
While Jesus’ words directly point to Mary’s devotion over Martha’s tasks, Jesus is not dismissing hospitality as unimportant. Jesus is digging deeper below the surface. His direct words challenge Martha’s core motivations for the work she is doing. Pointing out her distraction and worry.
Much like the lawyer of last week asking about “what I must do for eternal life” and subsequent description of what loving your neighbor looks like, hospitality, neighboring, life as a disciple centers itself in prayer, in listening, and then the life of action follows.
Making time in our lives to center upon our relationship with God compels us to action. Compels us to open our hearts and doors to those around us. Invites us to gather in community each as we are, jumping in to be present, use our gifts, and care for those around us.
To all of this action in our lives, Jesus sees through Martha’s indignation and asks Martha and us “what drives our busy-ness?”
Duty first or devotion first?
Mary and Martha do not embody the right or wrong solely in this one setting. In pointing out their actions, Jesus reflects on the motivation behind all of these sister’s actions. What bears fruit in our lives? Now is the time, Jesus says, now is the time to center down4 Howard Thurman’s lovely phrase for reconnecting with the divine in the midst of all of the world’s busy-ness. From “Meditations of the Heart” https://backfromtheborderlands.blog/2016/02/09/how-good-to-center-down-by-howard-thurman/ , to listen AND then commit to action.
Mary’s actions of contemplation, of listening to the teachings of Jesus, does not mean that she never got up to do the dishes, never cleaned the house, never helped out. Rather, in her prioritizing her time with the divine she was centered for the things that lay ahead.
In Martha’s frustrations with her sister- Martha’s work had become exactly that: Work only. Duty. Obligation. Distraction and Worry. Rather than the fruit of devotion and a gift of care and compassion- Martha’s work became the burden rather than the joy.
Jesus speaks desiring our whole heart.
He calls Martha out on being distracted- or fragmented, or disconnected from the whole.
Forgetting whose she was.
Forgetting that the gift of hospitality comes from the love we have received and the desire to share that love with those we encounter.
There is a saying attributed to Mother Teresa that when she was asked “how do you prepare for a full day” she answers with “I get up earlier to start that much more in prayer”- Mother Teresa set her day apart beginning with centering herself in the life of prayer with God before heading out into her day.
We gather weekly around this table bringing all the things that are fragmented in this world. The things that threaten to tear the fabric of us all apart. With tremendous amounts of grief of the loss of a loved one, the uncertainty of the economic and environmental climate, and the stress of the roles and responsibilities of daily life, it is understandable that we are tired, exhausted, exasperated with ourselves and others.
AND
We, too, desire to be whole.
Weekly, we gather seeking restoration and wholeness.
We gather for prayers, for scripture, for listening.
We Listen so that we might bear fruit.
Might serve from devotion rather than duty.
Might bear fruit with our prayer driving our actions
We gather and we then scatter- sent out into the world- to take the portion of wholeness out into the world.
To take our peace/piece of restoration into the world.
We each embody Mary on our best days and Martha, too! As we continue to be transformed by God’s love in our lives, I invite you to reflect on what this love looks like in your life.
Set the timer to make time for prayer and reflection.
Sing the rallying chorus with the actors, “the time is now.”
Show up early and see what you might find in that grace of being in the midst rather than rushing.
Timing is everything, especially when it comes to savoring the knowledge that God loves you, calls you and inspires you to do the next thing with grace, humility, and courage.