"Mary and Martha, and Some Thoughts About Women"
Sermon Transcript for May 9, 2004
Scripture Reading: Luke 10:38-42
By Rev. Cliff Cain
Dean of the Chapel, Franklin College
I am pleased to be with you this morning. But I am cognizant of the fact that I am a Baptist standing in front of a congregation that is mostly, but perhaps not entirely, made up of Methodists. An Associate Pastor was left in charge when his Senior Minister was away and a prominent member of the community who was a Baptist died. And the Associate Pastor of the Methodist Church was asked this question, “Can you bury a Baptist?” The Associate Pastor wasn’t sure so he called the Senior Minister who was away perhaps gallivanting and carousing for about four months. The question was still, “Can I bury a Baptist?” And the reply came back, “Bury all the Baptists you can!”
Well, I did not come to you this morning to be buried. I came to preach the message of the morning on this special occasion, Mother’s Day. But equally important, I came to you to say “thank you”. I could have phoned; I could have sent a little thank you note. But I came to say “thank you” in person. Thank you for what you are asking? Throughout the years, Grace United Methodist Church has welcomed faculty and staff members into church membership. And also you have invited and encouraged our students on the Franklin College campus to come and to participate in the life of the congregation here. And by so doing, understand that the church is not simply composed of 18–22 year olds; but rather composed of that whole smorgasbord of ages from young babies who are baptized to those persons whose baptisms were eighty years ago. So I am here to say “thank you” as well as to preach the morning’s message—“Mary and Martha, and Some Thoughts About Women”.
Mary and Martha were sisters. They lived in Bethany about two miles away from Jerusalem. Located where the hills of Jerusalem begin their descent to the city of Jericho. Bethany was a place, which Jesus frequented on a regular occasion. Mary and Martha shared their home in Bethany with their brother, Lazarus. This morning we are focusing on a special story—a story that occurs in that Bethany home when dinner is being served. Jesus and his disciples are coming to dinner and Martha runs around energetically to get everything ready for the visit of Jesus and his followers. She dispatches one servant to the market to procure the necessary food items; a couple of other servants are dispatched to prepare the guest room. And in the midst of all of this hustle and bustle of preparation, Jesus and His followerers arrived on the scene. After the Middle Eastern kiss of welcome and the very traditional and necessary washing of feet, Jesus retires to the inner courtyard to relax. And Mary, Martha’s sister, joins Jesus in that courtyard. And she sits at His feet. Martha continues to make the necessary preparations.
In the midst of her exertions, Martha thinks of Mary. Where was Mary? Why wasn’t she helping with all of the work? And Martha searched for Mary and found Mary at Jesus’ feet in the courtyard listening to what Jesus was saying? Martha momentarily lost her temper and exclaimed to Jesus, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister, Mary, has left me to work alone? Tell her to help me.” And Jesus replies to Martha with these words (I’ll take some liberties with the text): “Martha, take a chill pill. You are anxious, you are troubled, and you are upset about a bunch of things. Just relax. Mary is doing a good thing; and that good thing will not be taken away from her.”
Now, it is clear my friends that Jesus did not rebuke Martha for all of the good work she was doing preparing the meal and preparing for Jesus’ visit. No, she had been doing so with admirable efficiency. But it is also clear that Jesus did not rebuke Mary for taking time away from those duties in order to sit at Jesus’ feet and to learn. This is truly significant and it is truly significant for several reasons. First of all, in the ancient world women were treated as pieces of property. Legally the property of their fathers when they were born, they became the property of their husbands when married. And if their husband should precede them in death, they became the legal property of their eldest son. Women were pieces of property in the ancient world. And within the context of home life, the role of Jewish women was solely the performance of domestic duties and the care of husband and children. Within the context of religion, the work of studying Scriptures and the work of leading in worship was totally the prerogative of men. In the context of law, a man could divorce his wife simply by reading to her a certificate which stated, “I am not her husband and she is not my wife”, and “Bingo” it was done; they were no longer married. A woman could divorce her husband in those times, but only if her husband consented to the divorce. Women were considered pieces of property.
Secondly, in the Jewish setting of that time, a woman would simply not have been normally permitted to sit at the feet of a Rabbi. And Jesus most certainly was a Rabbi. In fact, very often in New Testament Scripture He is addressed by the term “rabboni” which means “rabbi” or “teacher”. You see, when a Rabbi would teach, he would sit down, not stand up like I’m doing to preach, but sit down. Maybe you’d like me to sit down too but I’m going to continue on. And then his disciples would gather around Him and sit at his feet. His disciples would have been male because females were not viewed as being worthy of being educated. A little aside here is that there are many things at Franklin College of which I am quite proud. But one of them is, Franklin College was the first institution of higher education in Indiana to admit women. Obviously we have never thought that women were not worthy of being educated. But back in those times, women were not seen in that kind of a privileged position. Mary should not have been seated at Jesus’ feet and being taught. Only men could have and should have had such a privileged position.
The story of Mary and Martha is truly significant for in it we see that Jesus affirms the role that Martha had chosen to adopt. And that was the role of a traditional Jewish woman. And in this story we also see Jesus affirming the role that Mary had chosen to adopt. And that’s the role of a non-traditional Jewish woman. I believe that the story of Mary and Martha speaks to us on this Mother’s Day 2004. The story of Martha and Mary enables women to choose. Mary departed from her traditional role and was supported in that by Jesus. Martha maintained her role derived from Jewish society, and Jesus said, “Well that’s okay too.” We are living in a new century, and the last three to four decades have been a time in which the role of women has changed dramatically. Women are functioning as lawyers, and judges, and ministers. And women are working as truck drivers, construction workers, and firemen. Women serve as accountants, doctors, astronauts, police and members of Congress. Of course, the repercussions of all of this have not always been very easy for those of the male gender to accept and to adapt to and even to live with. The pressures on home and family life have been significant. Changing women’s roles has forced us to examine our relationships and the quality of our family structures and perhaps adjust them and change them for the better.
Beyond this, our society has responded in diverse ways to the Mary’s of our time. In some instances, the Martha’s of our times have protested. Are the Mary’s refusing to be real women and forsaking their proper and essential role? And in some instances the Mary’s of our time have reacted defensively to this charge and replied that choosing to live the life of a Martha is just simply worthless. At times the Bible has been invoked to support these various positions-- whether the traditional role of women, quoting a lot of the Apostle Paul, or the non-traditional woman, quoting a lot of Jesus. I want to suggest to you this morning that both roles are respectable, worthwhile, valuable, and Biblical. The key to the entire matter is what a woman wants to do and what she feels fulfilled doing. If a woman views and values home life and a family, then she ought to be entitled to that and she ought to be supported in that. If a woman values a career outside the home, then she ought to be able to decide for that and she ought to be supported in that as well. And more power to the women I know who choose both mother and career person and are somehow able to pull that off.
So my sisters in Christ, with my brothers in Christ kind of eavesdropping as well, if being Mary is what you want, then I say be the best Mary you can be. But if being Martha is what you prefer, then choose that and be the very best Martha you can be. And the Biblically based teaching demonstrated by Jesus in the home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus is that both options are available. So may God bless you and affirm you in your individual choices and may those decisions resolve in being a blessing to you, a blessing to others, and a glorification of Almighty God. Happy Mother’s Day! Amen.
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