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Karen Hollis | Oct 22, 2023
Stewardship 1: Talent
Genesis 18:1-10a The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground. He said, ‘My lord, if I find favour with you, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.’ So they said, ‘Do as you have said.’ And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, ‘Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes.’ Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.
They said to him, ‘Where is your wife Sarah?’ And he said, ‘There, in the tent.’ Then one said, ‘I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.’ And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him.
Luke 10:38-42 Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word. But Martha was distracted by her many diakonia (tasks); so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the diakonia (work) by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen a good thing, which will not be taken away from her.’
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be reflections of your word to us today, in Christ’s name we pray. Amen
To keep the ministry of the church moving and flowing, many things need to happen. There are roles to be filled, skills and areas of knowledge to be employed, and time and energy offered. Engaging in the ministry of a community of faith is always dynamic . . . because involves people. It involves our investment in community, our hopes and dreams, our history and memories, our commitment to put our faith into action . . . it’s our faith lived out.
As we live our faith, each of us come from a bit different perspective, with different interests, experience, and skillsets . . . and thank goodness, because it takes a lot of different skills to keep the church in motion. It’s all about service or Diakonia in Greek. In the United Church we associate Diakonia with Diaconal ministry, which may be familiar to you – perhaps you know a Diaconal minister. When I think about the big tent of Diakonia or service, I think about Janet Gear’s Theological Banquet. Did any of you participate in the Theological Banquet workshop during the visioning process last year? Janet Gear unpacks the theology of the United Church, by looking at the 5 streams of lived faith found in our denomination, which are Evangelical, Ecclesial, Spiritual, Missional, and Ecumenical. Evangelicals share Jesus with others; Ecclesials focus on worship and learning about God together; Spirituals open their lives to holiness and wisdom; Missionals go where the need is; and Ecumenicals work for social change.1
When it comes to finding ourselves within Diakonia or the Theological Banquet, most of us don’t fall neatly into just one place. I like Gear’s idea of a home base – perhaps where we are most comfortable or find ourselves most of the time. Our theological home base often sheds some light on why we advocate strongly in meetings or conversations for where the church should be putting energy . . . it also sheds light on why others have a totally different sets of priorities. We live our faith in different ways. The Theological Banquet unpacks this story that plays out all the time in the church.
Martha has a similar issue when Jesus came for a visit. When it says Martha was distracted by her many tasks, the Greek word there is Diakonia . . . service, ministry. We often imagine Martha in the kitchen preparing food . . . and maybe that’s true . . . she could also have been preparing for a community gathering or organizing groups to learn how to live Jesus’ message or mentoring new leaders or listening to her neighbours about their struggles. There is a lot to each of these acts of service . . . I can imagine a number of different scenarios that would leave her feeling overwhelmed and frustrated with her sister . . . several scenarios that would lead her to confide in Jesus, her teacher and friend. The common translation of this short passage and traditional interpretation lead us to believe that Mary is simply ignoring her sister and seated at the feet of Jesus as he teaches those in the household. The text actually says that Mary, like Martha, sits at the feet of Jesus. Meaning, they are both are disciples. If you read closely, there isn’t a clear indication that Mary is present in the house. Martha says Mary has left her . . . and Martha must continue ministry on her own. Maybe Mary left just recently and Martha is processing the implications of this change. There’s too much to be done for one person – she needs her sister back here, where she knows she is safe, where they can work together – they work so well together.
One last update to the translation – most translations of this text aren’t great – the NRSV and others would have us believe that what Mary is doing is more important than what Martha is doing. That’s not what the Greek says. Here’s translation: Jesus says, ‘Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen a good part or portion of the whole, which will not be taken away from her.’ Mary is contributing her portion of the whole. She has identified what she has to offer, her calling, and she is engaged in it.
Both Mary and Martha are both contributing their portion to the whole . . . not more, not less . . . though Martha is apparently trying to do more than her share. Perhaps she’s used to doing more because with the two of them, they had greater capacity . . . and now Martha’s ministry feels like a lot to hold up by herself.
As I said before, ministry is dynamic. Sometimes we find ourselves in seasons of carrying more than we thought we signed up for. Sometimes our partners in ministry are called to a new ministry and we find ourselves struggling to keep things moving on our own. Sometimes we find ourselves in beginnings, with renewed clarity and focus, renewed energy and life. I wonder if this is Jesus’ invitation to Martha. In their heart to heart, is he inviting her to refocus? Listen prayerfully and practically to her life and where God is calling her to invest her energy.
God knows none of us have energy, motivation, or skillset for everything. Still, through our faith, we want to be of service. With whom do you resonate in this story? Mary and her new direction and energy for ministry? Martha, feeling burdened with too much, a ministry that is too big anymore for her energy and capacity? Jesus, as one who listens, and offers honest feedback and perhaps will help us discern and identify where to put our energy?
We are all living, and so we have a living faith, through which God invites us to engage in the ministry, the diakonia we share.
1 Janet Gear, Undivided Love, p. 29