Not a Rebuke, but a Rescue!

Sermon: Luke 10:38-42 

We are familiar with this story of the sisters Mary and Martha. We’ve heard it preached on many times, and often, Mary receives most of the attention in the story. She's usually held up as the example, while Martha becomes the warning. But today, I'd like us to leave Mary where she is—quietly sitting at Jesus' feet—and we are going to walk into the kitchen instead. Because I have a feeling that the kitchen continues to be the heart of the household. That's where many of us live, and I think there’s a lesson for us there.

Do you remember a television show from the 70’s or 80’s called The Brady Bunch, I’ve never seen the show, but I remember that line from the show, Marcia, Marcia, Marcia? I hear that line in my head when I read this text, though here, Jesus says Martha, Martha.

We hear that repetition as a correction. But there’s tenderness there. Maybe some of us remember our parents repeating our names this way, while shaking their heads. Maybe correction, but always accompanied by tenderness.

Out text today is one of the few times in the gospels that Jesus repeats someone's name, and like I said, this repetition isn’t about anger. This repetition signals affection, maybe urgency, and certainly deep concern. It's almost as though Jesus sees something that Martha herself can’t see. Jesus sees that Martha’s heart is in a good place. She wants to demonstrate her hospitality. She wants to show Jesus genuine signs of welcome.  But now her service is consuming her.

And in his gentle rebuke, Jesus isn't telling her she’s failed. He's telling her she doesn't have to carry this weight, or any weight alone, and he invites her to carry less. Friends, that’s a message we all need to hear time and time again. This is a gospel message of liberation. This is good news.

It’s good news because so many of us are like Martha in the best sense. We cook meals for others, we visit people, we care for sick or aging spouses, partners and children. We raise grandchildren, volunteer in the community, we keep the church alive. And none of us is looking for recognition. But we get tired and we lose our focus, and we get distracted. Jesus says to Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things. We can guess what those distractions are; relationships, family, phones, news, finances, politics, appointments, health, wildfires, gun violence. The endless needs of the world.

It's possible to love Jesus deeply and still become fragmented in our thoughts. Perhaps that's what Jesus sees in Martha. And what he offers her is wholeness.

Jesus doesn't say to Martha, Why aren't you more like Mary?, he's saying, Martha, I love you too much to watch you disappear under the weight of your own faithfulness. In other words, he’s saying, Martha, it’s important to me that you recognize that burnout rarely happens from doing bad things. It happens from doing beautiful things for too long without resting in the love of Christ.

I know many of you, and I love you so much, and I want to thank you.  I have an abundance of gratitude and encouragement for you. You are Marthas who unlock the church, who make coffee before worship and put out goodies for coffee hour. You are Marthas who check-in on your neighbors, drive folks to appointments, call people after surgery, mow someone's lawn, cook meals after funerals, fill backpacks with food, care for the kids, weed flower beds, set up and take down tables, fold bulletins, and pray for people who will never know your name. And it’s beautiful that Jesus is calling you out and caring for you.

Thank you for everything you do, especially the work that is done behind the scenes, because churches don't operate because of pastors. They operate because of people like you who quietly love others. And it’s important that you know that what Jesus offers you is not more fragmentation of your lives. What Jesus offers is wholeness. Because without our rest in Christ, we are scattering around being busy, and burning ourselves out.

When I’ve read this text in the past, it’s always sounded to me like Jesus rebukes Martha. I’ve always felt this text tells me to be more like Mary. But now, it seems to me that Jesus doesn’t call out Martha’s name as a rebuke, but as a rescue. 

Martha's problem isn't that she's super busy in the kitchen alone. Martha's problem is that, while she's standing only a few feet from Jesus, she has somehow lost the awareness that Jesus is already with her. She thinks she has to hold everything together. Jesus gently reminds her that she never did. It’s as if Jesus is saying to her, Martha, remember why you're doing this service?

Friends, we don't serve because we're trying to earn Christ's approval. We serve because we already have Christ’ approval. These are very different motivations. One produces exhaustion and burnout. The other produces joy. Jesus embraces us with discipleship that can endure without burning out, because it’s nourished by grace and not driven by anxiety.

Friends, I want us to be proud that we are a Martha church. Thank God for that. We do a lot, and what we do has impact on us and our community. Children are fed because someone packed a backpack. Lonely people come here because someone greeted them and made them feel welcome here.  We don't stop being Martha. We simply remember that before we are servants of Christ, we are beloved by Christ. We were Beloved before we got busy.

Imagine Martha kneeling to pull a loaf of bread from the oven. The aroma fills the house. She hears laughter from the other room, catches fragments of Jesus' voice, and for a moment her heart is full. Then another task calls, another dish needs attention, another expectation rises, and somewhere along the way she forgets why she started. The work is still good, but it’ become heavy. Jesus doesn't tell her the bread doesn't matter. He simply calls her back to the joy that first brought her into the kitchen.

Martha, Martha! Sometimes the most beautiful words in scripture are not commands at all. They’re simply our names, spoken tenderly by the One who knows exactly how much we have been carrying.

Perhaps that’s the invitation for us. Maybe it’s a reset of our priorities, especially as summer winds down and life grows busy again. The invitation is a reminder that we don't abandon the work God has given us, and we don't lose the One who called us to it. We pray that our acts of compassion continue—and that they are sustained by our time at the feet of Jesus, where we are reminded that forever, before we are servants, we are and remain, God’s beloved people. Amen.