Weekly Bible Notes  Ordinary 16

Year C, Colour = Green

Introduction

This week we have presented to us in the Gospel reading the two seemingly contradictory paths of the Christian life, the pious and the practical, or the spiritual and the down to earth. Last week we read about the Good Samaritan who cared for an injured man. His practical acts of kindness were contrasted with the pious priest and Levite who were more concerned with their religious purity than showing mercy and true religion.
This week we read about an apparently lazy Mary, who sits listening to Jesus whilst the practical Martha gets on with the chores. But Jesus does not call Mary lazy, Jesus tells Martha that it is alright for Mary to be still and listen to him.
Hopefully Mary was not a lazy person, but she did make use of the time when Jesus was around. She knew that there are times when jobs can be left and there was no need to justify her existence to Jesus by showing him how hard she could wash and cook.
Perhaps you feel that you are surrounded by lazy people and you end up doing all the work. Well perhaps this week it is time to listen to Jesus. There is no need to justify your existence to him, God's mission does not depend upon us slowly burning ourselves out and there will be time enough for working when we have enjoyed a day of rest.
 

Opening Verse of Scripture   Psalm 29:2

Collect Prayer for the Day—Before we read we pray

Grant us Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those things which last for ever; through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen.

First Bible ReadingGenesis 18:1-10a

The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground. He said, "If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way-now that you have come to your servant." "Very well," they answered, "do as you say." So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. "Quick," he said, "get three seahs of fine flour and knead it and bake some bread." Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree. "Where is your wife Sarah?" they asked him. "There, in the tent," he said. Then the LORD said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son."
(Reader: This is the word of the Lord - All: Thanks be to God)

Second Reading  Colossians Chapter 1:15-28

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him .He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation-- if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness- the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labour, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me. (Reader: This is the word of the Lord - All: Thanks be to God)

Gospel Reading   Luke 10:38-42

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."  (Reader: This is the word of the Lord - All: Thanks be to God)

Post Communion Prayer

God of life and love, whose risen Son called Mary Magdalene by name and sent her to tell of his resurrection to his apostles: in your mercy, help us, who have been united with him in this eucharist, to proclaim the good news that he is alive and reigns, now and for ever.

Commentary

This passage from the Old Testament tells the story of a Divine Visitation, but also recalls the promise to Sarah that she will bear a child. Here three beings approach Abraham and in Christian terms, these beings have been identified as the Three persons of the Trinity, although this doctrine would not have been in the mind of the author.
Abraham, a nomad had pitched his tent under the terebinths (small trees) of Mamre, near Hebron, a place which later became a sanctuary and place of pilgrimage. At midday, the time of rest, Abraham is sitting at the door of his tent when these strangers appear. He offers them hospitality, (an obvious link with today’s Gospel) which goes far beyond the original offer of bread and water. Abraham and Sarah divide the work according to custom, where Sarah bakes bread and Abraham slaughters a calf. The meal becomes a feast of celebration, celebrating God’s presence. The idea of God needing to eat does not fit well with our modern minds, but in the Old Testament God is often spoken of in anthropomorphic terms. (Referring to something non-human in human terms) In this instance it serves to highlight God’s accessibility and reality whilst also emphasising the importance of hospitality.
The episode speaks to us of welcome, hospitality, of God’s presence in the ordinariness of life and of surprise. Indeed Sarah is so surprised that she has to laugh when she is told she will bear a child, despite being past childbearing age. We can also see in this passage that in welcoming strangers to our table, to our fellowship, to our church, to our homes, we may in fact be offering hospitality as if to God. Neil Bramble-Chapman

 

Meditation

Mary Magdalene could be thought of as the patron saint of the Much Maligned. For centuries, she has been depicted as the scarlet woman, the "tart with a heart" who abandoned a life of prostitution to follow Jesus. In Jesus Christ Superstar she sings of Jesus: "I’ve had so many men before in very many ways: he’s just one more." In the film The Last Temptation of Christ she is introduced to us in her bed, and it is to her that Jesus’s mind wanders during the crucifixion. Such imagery has proved undeniably powerful, but has no scriptural basis.
St Luke mentions "some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities", among them, "Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out" (Luke 8.2). Elsewhere in the Gospels, an unnamed woman washes Jesus’s feet with her tears and wipes them with her hair — a scandalous but loving and generous act. It has traditionally been assumed that she is Mary Magdalene. She is thus confirmed as a woman who loved Jesus dearly and as someone who knew the power of sensuality and her own sexuality.
Thankfully, our post communion prayer ignores the unfounded tradition. Instead, it recognises that even if we know nothing else about Mary, we know this: it was she who first saw the risen Lord, and it was to Mary that Jesus gave the apostolic commission: "Go to my disciples . . . and tell them" (John 20.17).
The prayer reminds us that she was called by name. In John’s account of the resurrection, Jesus does indeed call her by her name. When she mistakes him for the gardener, he turns to her and says, "Mary". It is one of those moments that never fails to make the hairs on my neck stand up, because it is the saying of her name that causes her to see who he really is. The scales of grief fall from her eyes. It is Jesus, her Lord, alive before her when she expected to find him dead.
More importantly, it is the saying of her name that opens her eyes to the resurrection and its meaning. It takes us back right to the creation in Genesis where, in order to bring something into life, God names it. And it takes us on to the baptism service, in which the candidate is brought into the resurrection life by being named. Jesus said, "Mary", and she became alive.
More than this, the word "called" in this prayer reminds us that Jesus not only said her name aloud, but he also called her to a task, a vocation — to go and tell his disciples about the resurrection. Being part of the resurrection meant sharing the good news, telling others that Jesus was risen from the dead.
The prayer ends by weaving her calling into our own calling. It is a post-communion prayer, and, as such, sends us out from the church and back to the world. We who have been brought near to Jesus Christ in the eucharist are called into the new life of the resurrection.
We, who have been united with his body and blood, are called to open our eyes to who he is — even when we encounter him in unexpected places. And we, who, like Mary, have reached out and touched him, are called with her to depart and proclaim the good news.
The Revd Georgina Byrne is Vicar of St Kenelm’s, Romsley, in the Halas Team, in the diocese of Worcester.



 

Hymns

1. Begin my tongue H&P 2

2. Father God I wonder how MP 128

3. And now O Father 593 H&P

4. Fill thou my life O lord my God 792 H&P

Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead

"Prayer is a plant, the seed of which is sown in the heart of every Christian.

If it is well cultivated and nourished it will produce fruit, but if it is neglected, it will wither and die."

God of time and eternity:
We bless you for our hope in Christ Jesus and for his life in our lives.
In the week that is ahead our relationships to family, possessions, work, and
moods will demand our attention. Free us to love you with all our hearts
and to love the world into what it is to become by your mercy and justice:
Let our love be genuine.
Let our affections be tempered with holiness.
Let our desires be shaped by the vision
of a new heaven and a new earth.
Let our actions reflect the balance of love for your reign in all things.
Let our perceptions and feelings be ordered by the hope we have in Christ.

Eternal God, in Christ you make yourself our guest. Amid all our cares and concerns make us attentive to your voice and alert to your presence, that we may prize your word above all else. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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.

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Additional Resources

Post Communion Prayer

God of our pilgrimage, you have led us to the living water: refresh and sustain us as we go forward on our journey, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Commentary

The parable of the Good Samaritan is immediately followed by the story of Martha and Mary. The parable of the Good Samaritan extols the virtue of rolling up one's sleeves and getting stuck into the work that needs to be done, however dirty that might be. The Samaritan had to clean and dress the wounds of the man, lift him onto his donkey and walk alongside to the inn. Even when he got there, he continued his care; only leaving him the following day after ensuring the continuing care of the innkeeper by paying him some money, and assuring him of further reimbursement if necessary. This practical attitude is contrasted with the 'other worldy' and wholly inadequate attitude of the priest and the Levite.

This week in the story of Martha and Mary, Martha is the one who gets stuck in, up to her elbows in dishes and cleaning, it is she who acts like the "Good Samaritan", but it seems she is not commended for her activity. Mary on the other hand is the listener, the one sitting at the feet of Jesus, hearing the word of God. She is not helping anyone, just basking in the graciousness of what Jesus was saying. She, unlike the priest and the Levite of the parable, is commended!

Martha wanted Mary to help with the work, the inference is that Mary was being lazy. The prayer of Martha was 'Tell her to help me.' Perhaps we sometimes feel the same, that others are lazy and we end up doing all the work. Jesus doesn't answer Martha's prayer and get Mary to help in the housework, but this is not because Jesus wants to justify unfair working practices, neither does Jesus support the exploitation of some as a result of the idleness of others. Many people use this passage to juxtapose two types of people. One very spiritual and contemplative the other very practical and down to earth. And the message today seems to be that it is alright to be spiritual whilst other people get on with the work. Now I have a personal problem with that, because I think that those people who sit around being very spiritual often need a good kick up the backside. I believe very strongly in that expression that 'we can be so spiritual that we are no earthly good'. In the same way I find myself becoming increasingly intolerant when I am told of a person who is 'laid back.' Frequently this means that the person concerned is learning the art of encouraging everybody else to do their work for them. It is a thoughtless position in which the person doesn't worry about making sure they make appointments on time, complete their share of the work and so on. This is usually just slothfulness and bad manners. Invariably if you are not pulling on the rope the chances are that somebody else is having to pull harder to compensate for your laziness. So I think long and hard about this passage when it is used to justify a separated spirituality and the contemplative life as superior to ordinary and mundane life.

The answer is surely that there is no real conflict and real spirituality is not divorced from reality and does not flee worldly affairs. How often was Mary to be found at Jesus feet? The answer is probably 'not very often'. So here she was using the opportunity to listen to Jesus. Jesus was very dependent upon the ministry of women and he also depended upon them for his physical support - this was a vital and important role. (See Luke 8:1-3.) They gave to him practical acts of loving service. Real commitment and obedience demands service. Mary was turning her focus upon Jesus in a rare opportunity.

There is even more than this going on. The words used are that Mary was 'sitting at Jesus feet.' This is a phrase used in Acts 22:3 'under Gamaliel'. It was more than just like sitting in front of the telly. It was to be in the role of a disciple. Here was Mary being taught by Jesus as a disciple. It is unusual for women in the first-century Judaism to be accepted by a teacher as a disciple. Jesus was showing that we must all be conscientious in setting aside time for our spiritual growth and development. And so there needs to be a sense of focus. The priorities for Martha at that time were the wrong ones, hence Jesus tells Martha that her life is crowded with too many things. Her worth did not come from how clean the floor was or whether the dusting was all done. We all need to take time to focus our minds on Jesus, afterwards we can do the housework. Charles Royden

Prayer

A prayer of the Society of Mary and Martha caring for people in Christian Ministry and their families at times of stress or crisis.

O God our father, who through your servants Mary and Martha taught us to sit at your feet and to serve you;

Grant us your grace to fulfil the task you have given us and to draw us ever closer to yourself. In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those things which last for ever; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Eternal God, in Christ you make yourself our guest. Amid all our cares and concerns make us attentive to your voice and alert to your presence, that we may prize your word above all else; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

O God, you are the light of the minds that know you, the life of the souls that love you, and the strength of the wills that serve you; help us so to know you that we may truly love you, so to love you that we may fully serve you, whom to serve is perfect freedom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. —Augustine of Hippo (354-430)

Meditation

Perhaps this week we should all consider how much time we spend at the feet of the Master. May God gives us ears to listen to his word and willing hearts that we might serve and obey

Hymns (Mission Praise)

O for a thousand tongues to sing 496, Hosanna 242, Amazing grace 31, It passeth knowledge 349, Just as I am 396 (Tune 1 Woodworth)

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