Ora et Labora – seeking balance
A reflection on Luke 10:
3-42
Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman
named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who
sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted
with much serving. And she went up to him and said, "Lord, do you not care
that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." But
the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about
many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion,
which will not be taken away from her."
(Luke 10:38-42, ESV)
I
have long wrestled with this story from Luke’s Gospel. On the surface, it looks
like Jesus is commending Mary for not helping with the work, and chastising Martha
for being too concerned with the business of life to take in the moment and
just be with Jesus. And, perhaps, Martha is being a bit self-righteous. But,
let us not lose sight of the fact that if Martha had chosen “the good portion”
of sitting at Jesus’ feet as well, they would all be going hungry that night.
It
is likely true that when Martha heard that Jesus was coming her way, she saw it
as an opportunity to show off her mad Martha Stewart skills. She was going to
throw the party to end all parties. She was going to out-do all of the other
women in Bethany and everything at her dinner part would be “just right”. And,
we should remember that, in first century Palestine, hospitality was very
important, and very time-consuming. They couldn’t just roll up to the nearest
corner market and pick up some rotisserie chicken, throw a frozen lasagna in
the oven, or, my favorite, call Papa John’s when company showed up. Bread had
to be made from scratch, milk would be turned into curds, and an animal had to
be killed, butchered and cooked over an open fire. It was a process that took
literally all day. I am sure that Martha took some pride in her ability to accommodate
such a crowd, as well she should.
While
all of this preparation and busy-ness has been going on, Mary has been sitting
with Jesus, hanging on every word that he has to say. She has been taking time
to just be with Jesus, and I am sure that she has benefitted from the
experience, just as we all need to take time occasionally, if not regularly, to
sit in the presence of our Lord. I am sure that, throughout the day, her heart
has been filled with the wisdom and love that is found only by spending quality
time with Jesus, and that is a very good thing.
But,
what would happen if we all decided to choose Mary’s “good portion” all of the
time? I have heard it said, mainly about clergy, that a person has become so
heavenly minded that they are no earthly good. If everyone in the church did
nothing but spend time studying and spending time in meditation with Jesus,
they might become very spiritually in touch, but would anything ever get done?
The church must have a few Marthas around to get the work done, or better yet,
what Christians need is to find the balance between work and being in the
presence of Jesus that allows for Spiritual growth and working to build the
Kingdom of God.
The
motto of the Benedictine life is “Ora et Labora” – study and work. St. Benedict
directed his monks to seek to balance their lives between the work of the mind
and physical labor. This balance allows for both growth of the spirit, and
growth of the body of Christ. If the Church of Christ is going to be relevant
to the world in which we live and minster, we must seek to grow spiritually as
we reach out into our community taking care of needs, being the hands and feet
of Christ. We must be able to spend time with Christ, learning from His word
being in His presence while we carry out his desire for us to be on mission in
our world.
Let
us be seeking Mary’s “good portion” while we seek to carry out Jesus’
commandment for us to “go into the world”. This is not an either-or
proposition, it must be a both-and if we are going to be successful in bringing
God’s Kingdom to our world, while leading people in our world toward His
Kingdome in heaven.
