July 16, 2010
Sunday Scripture
Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
BY FATHER DONALD DILGER
This chapter began with Jesus sending out his seventy disciples for their first mission activity. Their work was successful. An implicit question could have been asked: is there a kind of discipleship of Jesus which is not so obvious, which does not engage in publicly preaching the kingdom of God and performing the healing of the sick that accompanied such preaching? Luke answers this question by the story of the Good Samaritan. A Samaritan, a man despised by the popular culture in which the Jesus movement arose, a man of different racial characteristics, who did not even worship in the Jerusalem temple — this man showed himself a disciple of Jesus by his compassion to an unfortunate helpless victim. Of him Jesus could have said what he said of the rich tax collector who gave half his possessions to the poor, “Today salvation has come to this house,” Luke 19:9.
A further question in the cultural environment of Jesus’ time, could have been: “Is it possible that even women can be disciples of Jesus?” We know of a pompous prayer of the time in which a man thanked God that he was neither a Gentile nor a woman. The story of today’s gospel, the visit of Jesus to the home of Martha, answers affirmatively — a woman can be a disciple of Jesus, and in more than one way. Jesus goes to the home of friends at Bethany on the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem. Luke states that “Martha received him into her house.” Her sister Mary was at Martha’s house at the same time. She felt drawn to Jesus and sat at his feet, the usual position of a disciple listening to a teacher seated on a chair.
Martha was busily preparing a meal for their guest, as Luke says, “Martha was distracted with much serving.” It was quite natural that Martha was upset that she was doing all the food preparation, while her sister Mary sat close to Jesus listening to his teaching. Most sisters would feel the same way. She gently reproaches Jesus, “Is it no concern of yours that my sister has left me to do the serving alone? Tell her to help me.” Jesus responds gently, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things. Only one thing is needed.” Does this mean that a casserole would have been sufficient? Probably not. Luke is writing catechesis, not a guide for entertaining guests. Perhaps we can find spiritual guidance in Jesus’ final statement in this dialogue with Martha.
Jesus says to Martha, “Mary has chosen the good portion, and it shall not be taken away from her.” The “good portion” is to listen to the word of Jesus. In the Greek Old Testament, always a guide to the vocabulary of our gospels, the Greek word for “portion” can refer to food, but also has a more spiritual meaning. For example, Psalm 16:5, “The Lord is my chosen portion.” Also Psalm 119:57, “The Lord is my portion . . .” Luke is probably playing with the word portion as both material and spiritual food. Mary has chosen the latter. She exemplifies what Jesus said of his own mother in Luke 11:27-28. He declares his mother’s discipleship superior to her biological motherhood. A woman from the crowd said to Jesus, “Blessed is the womb that gave birth to you and the breasts that nursed you.” Jesus replied, “More blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.” His mother was the first to do that, “Be it done to me according to your word.” The spiritual portion that Martha chose is proclaimed as a better choice than the food that Mary was preparing. Neither Jesus nor Luke, however, reject the portion that Martha is preparing, hi the Greek vocabulary in which Luke writes, Martha’s work is called diakonia, that is, service. By the time Luke writes his gospel in the eighties of the first century, diakonia was already used as a technical term for ministry in the gospel. Preparing food is therefore also a ministry. The ministry of listening to the word does not exclude the ministry of food preparation nor the ministry of housework in a family. The latter supports the former. Is a hungry stomach a good listener? No, it is a distraction!
As the Lord Jesus visited Martha and Mary in today’s gospel, so the Lord God and two angels visit Abraham and Sarah in this story. Not just one, but two people are involved in food preparation. Sarah baked rolls, while Abraham grilled the meat. One might draw this instruction from the story: ministering to strangers, which is what the three visitors were to Abraham and Sarah, is ministering to the Lord.
Of all the bold statements we hear from Paul, this may be the boldest of all, “. . . in my own flesh (body) I am filling up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the Church . . .” Do we dare propose that something is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for his Church? It seems so. What does Paul mean? The unavoidable sufferings that we endure in union with the sufferings of Christ for his Church, are acceptable to God for the salvation of humankind. No Christian suffers alone.