Proper 11C
July 21, 2019

O God of mercy, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

• I have an exercise for you. Choir and altar party, you too.
  If you love the heat of the summer because you can finally get warm, stand on the lectern side of the chapel.
• If you feel wiped out by the heat, stand on the pulpit side. (and thank you very much for being here, in spite of the heat). Now to the Gospel story we just heard.
• If you identify as more of a Martha, stand on the pulpit side of the chapel. If you identify as more of a Mary, stand on the lectern side of the chapel.
• If you sympathize more with Martha, move to the pulpit side of the chapel. If you sympathize more with Mary, stand on the lectern side of the chapel.
• If you really dislike this story of Jesus with Martha and Mary, stand on the pulpit side of the chapel. If you love this story, stand on the lectern side. How many of you really want to stand in the middle but there’s not enough room? Okay – you can return to your seats.

Thank you – I wanted to see how divided you are when it comes to this Gospel story, which is wedged between the story of the Good Samaritan and the story of Jesus’ teaching about how to pray, and it is trouble with a capital T packed into five short verses. I could have also asked you to stand on one side if you are aware of the divisiveness of this story and on the other side if you, prior to now, have been blissfully unaware of any conflict! This is a story that always reminds me that whenever two or three are gathered in Jesus’ name, there will be a disagreement! This particular story pits women against each other and invariably fuels resentment and division in groups that study it together, no matter what the participants’ gender identities. And since it is a story about two sisters, through the ages, it has had the powerful effect of stopping and shutting up women – scolding Marthas and making sure Marys stay quiet.

I don’t know what your relationship to the news these days is – it gets worse every day when it comes to our national and international behaviors as a country, and when it comes to unleashing racist, misogynist, xenophobic and other hateful behaviors locally. Most progressives I know have to put themselves on a news diet to manage their intake because of the toxic effects the news has on them. So if you’re avoiding the news, you might have missed two stories published this past week that are directly related to the issues raised in this Gospel story.

The first was an article on Friday in the online Religious News Service about Elizabeth Schrader’s findings in examining ancient scripture texts that early scribes tried to minimize Mary Magdalene’s importance by changing the name Mary to the name Martha in the Lazarus story in the Gospel of John. The textual evidence is strong enough that editors of the edition of the Greek New Testament used by most scholars are considering adding a note in future editions.[1]  (That would be one small step for woman; one giant leap for humankind. It’s one more crack in the patriarchy’s glass ceiling – or as I once heard it called, “the thick layer of white men.”) Tomorrow is the Feast of Mary Magdalene!

The other story in the news was about Ally Kateusz’s speech to the International Society of Biblical Literature’s meeting in Rome at the Pontifical Gregorian University (what a perfect venue). Her address was about religious artifacts and art buried or covered up centuries ago, that have been unearthed or uncovered in the 20th century, at Old St. Peter’s Church in Rome, at Hagia Sofia in Istanbul, and at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem – three of the most important churches in Christian history. The art adds to the body of evidence that women served as deacons, priests, and bishops in the early church. (The beautiful Mexican proverb comes to mind: They tried to bury us; they didn’t know we were seeds.)[2] The news story in The National Catholic Reporter ends with this quote from scholar, Miriam Duignan: “The Vatican will undoubtedly be reluctant to engage with these findings…(a funny understatement!)… [because] the ban on female clergy has always been about the silencing and suppression of women and never about true tradition.”[3] We have plenty of that in the Anglican Communion too.)

So let’s not let Marthas be suppressed or Marys be silenced as we imagine what difference this story might make to us, especially today when our conversation after our service is going to be about the great Rev. Pauli Murray, the first Black woman priest in the Episcopal Church! Listen to these five verses translated slightly differently: “As they proceeded on, he entered into a village and a woman named Martha welcomed them with extra enthusiasm and warmth into her home. And she had a sister called Mary who ALSO having sat down at the feet of the Lord, was listening to his word.” Alright, I have to stop after the first two verses and say that the word “also” isn’t included in our English (NRSV)[4] translation and it makes a big difference. Martha had a sister who ALSO sat at the feet of the Lord – that is, also learned from Jesus. Mary was just like Martha in her discipleship. Gah. Okay, to continue: “And Martha was greatly troubled about much deaconing (or ministering), with a sense of urgency, she said, “Lord, is it not an object of anxiety to you that my sister has left me to deacon (or minister) alone? Speak, therefore, to her that she might cooperate with me.” By the way, it’s not okay to translate diakonia as deacon or minister when men do it and as serving or work when women do it. Notice there’s not one word about kitchen or food preparation here. “And answering, the Lord said to her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion which will not be wrested away from her’” It’s not the better portion; it’s the good portion.

We know that early Church scribes had a lot of trouble with this last part because, while there’s complete agreement about the beginning of this little story, there’s considerable disagreement between the ancient manuscripts about the last verse. Some read “there is need of one thing and one thing only.” Others read “there is need of only one” (omitting the word thing) or “there is need of only a few things.” Seems like it must have been hard for them to agree on only one, and whether or not the one was a thing! Given it’s location between the Good Samaritan story and Jesus’ response to the disciples request to teach them to pray, I’d say, if there’s only one thing, it’s Love. If it’s a few things, then it’s love, mercy and the just distribution of resources. Really, mercy and the just distribution of resources are examples and evidence of love in action. This lesson is more urgently needed than ever, because as we heard in the reading from Amos, the “day is here when the songs of the temple have become wailings, and the many dead bodies are cast out in every place. …The needy are being trampled and the poor of the land are being brought to ruin. …There is a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.”

Everyone, no matter your gender identity, must resist the silencing and suppression of your ministry – your acts of mercy and compassion, your service to help others, your love of your neighbor (who is the one who shows mercy). Everyone, no matter your gender identity must speak for those who have no voice – especially the women and children, especially religious minorities, especially people of color, especially people who are seeking asylum, especially queer people, especially people who are incarcerated, especially people who are sick or disabled, especially people who are hungry. Yes of course balance reflection and action, sitting at the Lord’s feet and offering acts of service.

I believe that that balance is best achieved in community – it’s too hard and too risky and too exhausting for any of us to attempt it alone. By asking questions and hearing one another to speech in the context of community, if we’re listening carefully, we can learn to recognize and honor multiple interpretations of scripture in ways that strengthen people’s resolve to stand up for their own dignity and rights, and to stand up for the dignity and rights of others.[5] In the introduction to the Tenth Anniversary Edition of In Memory of Her: A Feminist Theological Reconstruction of Christian Origins, Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza explains that there are many right and even conflicting interpretations of scripture, but all must meet the test of promoting the dignity and rights of self and others. In Christian community, we rightly do that with an appreciation or regard for listening to history and tradition, and with a critical eye – maybe squinting – to rediscover, reclaim and reconstruct when necessary, our theological and historical understandings. And I think that one answer for Christians has to be with an eye to the future – our engagement with the well-being of creation – of creatures, and a fervent hope to get back to the abundance of the Holy One that is possible when we listen and minister in Jesus’ name, with love, with mercy, and with the just distribution of our resources.

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