MORE THAN ENOUGH TO SAY GRACE OVER

Scripture: Luke 10:38-42

INTRODUCTION

At the outset this morning, I’d like to say a good word about Martha. Over the course of more than thirty years in the ministry, I have heard a number of sermons, and even preached a few myself, which have taken Martha to task and cast her in a negative light. Jesus said that she was “anxious and troubled about many things.” More often than not, we have interpreted that to mean that Martha was, at best, a workaholic who cooked and cleaned herself into a frenzy and at worst, a busybody who lacked faith and didn’t care about the spiritual life.

But in Martha’s defense, let’s remember that she was probably eager to do her best and to make preparations for this important guest coming to her home. And like most women I know, including my wife, Martha wanted to make certain that everything was set up just right – the finest china, crystal, silverware and linen on the table, a delicious dinner percolating in the kitchen and a carefully dusted living room with the pillows fluffed up on the couch.

Truth be told, Martha was “a hostess with the mostess” – a first century version of our modern day Martha Stewart! And the story in Luke’s gospel indicates that Mary, the sister, didn’t lift a finger to help her get ready for their special visitor.

So let’s begin with a good word on behalf of Martha, who did all the work that day, and in the only way she knew how, tried to offer Jesus some old fashioned, Southern Galilean hospitality. All these years later, the phrase we use for it in this part of the country is that Martha “had more than enough to say grace over.”

Now, if we want to be honest with each other, I think we’d have to say that a lot of us can identify with Martha, including many of our own dear mothers whom we honor today.

My mother was a hard-working woman who put her family first and as a pastor’s wife, tried to balance her responsibilities between the home and the church. Her name was Emily and she gave birth to four children – me and my brother and two sisters – and brokered our relationships with one another and with our father. Sometimes that was easy, but in the dicey moments, she often served as a referee, trying to keep the peace between all of us.

That was especially true on Sundays, which as I remember, was anything but a “Sabbath day of rest.” Our mother made sure that we were all properly dressed, she prepared a full breakfast, and got us to the church on time where she taught Sunday School, sang in the choir, came down to sit with her four children in the front pew as our father preached the sermon, and then dashed back to the manse to check the pot roast in the oven and get ready for the assortment of people from the congregation who had been invited to lunch.

So like Martha in the Bible, my mother had more than enough to say grace over. And when she died, far too young at the age of 51, it wasn’t from overwork – she loved to do all those things – it was a cancer that wouldn’t let her go. No doubt, the same could be said about most every mother today – those whom we remember all these years after they have died, those who are still very much alive and active, thank God, and those of you who are mothers right now, living a full life and giving the best you’ve got to give. We are grateful beyond measure for the time and love and care and the treasured moments that you have shared with us.

And yet, with all of that said, looking again at our gospel story, Jesus recognized something about Martha which troubled Him and the Bible tells us what it was. Luke 10, verses 39-40 report that while Mary sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to His teaching…Martha was distracted with much serving. And that, my friends, leads us from saying a good word about Martha into a much deeper conversation.

II.

You see, welcoming someone into your home with gracious hospitality is a wonderful gift that can be shared with others. But when we get so worked up about everything being just right, when we dust off the coffee table for the third or fourth time, when our guest arrives and we’re still in overdrive with all of the preparations so that it’s difficult to have a decent conversation, when we make that kind of a fuss, then the hospitality we are offering is probably more about us and less about them.

That’s what happened to Martha, you know. She was distracted with too much serving. She had more than enough to say grace over, but when the moment of grace came, Martha missed it! Jesus was right there in her home, but she was too busy, too preoccupied to pay any attention to Him.

It was not so with Mary. She sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to His teaching. Was Mary lazy? I doubt it. Did she shirk her responsibilities? Probably not. My hunch is that both of those sisters were hard-working women. But Mary had discovered what Martha still needed to learn: when you have more than enough to say grace over, you need to make the time and take the time to open your heart and receive the gift of God’s grace when it comes.

Several years ago, it happened to a woman I know. She was one of the most respected and successful executives in a large corporation. Her schedule was full, her responsibilities were demanding, but when she found out that her step-daughter needed help to make it through her senior year in high school, that woman knew exactly what God was calling her to do. She took a leave of absence from work, moved out to California and lived with her stepdaughter for the next ten months, caring for her, sharing with her and staying close beside her until she graduated and went off to one of the best universities in this country.

That corporate executive had more than enough to say grace over in her career. But when the call came, as a Christian woman and a loving stepmother, she opened her heart to the grace of God and helped to guide her stepdaughter through her senior year and on into the rest of her life.

Has it ever happened to you, wherein you discovered that the things you felt were so important to do were really secondary to the people in your own family?

III.

It happened to the pastor of a large Presbyterian church in Texas. He was a busy minister, a leader in clergy circles, a programmer without peer who spent lots of time on his sermons. And the people came, they came to hear him preach and they came to tell him about their struggles.

Family conflicts. Parent and child difficulties. And marriage problems, husbands and wives trying to work things out. Good thing he’d taken a course in psychology in college and a seminar in counseling at divinity school. Some of the time he wondered if he knew enough, which is par for the course. Nobody knows what they need to know for everybody’s troubles.

But he knew what Alice needed. At least after the first appointment he knew. She had phoned the secretary two weeks before and set up the meeting for 3:00 on that Tuesday afternoon. She said, simply: “Tell him it’s one of his flock who’s in trouble. Big trouble.”

So what would you do if you were sitting in the pastor’s office and the buzzer rang and the secretary said, “Your next appointment is here.” Naturally, you’d say, “Send them in.” But what if that person coming to see you turned out to be your wife? What would you say if she said, “John, I’ve got a problem and my problem is you. Please, can’t we talk a while? I’m feeling lonely.”

Well, I hope you would do what he did. He heard her loud and clear. And if you could see them today, you would say, “They’ve got a good thing going!” (Story originally told by Dr. Charlie Shedd).

Husbands, wives…fathers, mothers…if you have more than enough to say grace over, if your work and all of your responsibilities and duties in this community and city are continually put on the front burner and the people whom you claim to love the most and your relationship with the Lord of life keep getting pushed onto the back burner, then remember what Jesus said to Martha. You are anxious and troubled about many things. Only one thing is needful. And I think He was talking about the time we spend and the attention we give to our families and to our faith in God.

CONCLUSION

One evening, just before dinner, the wife and mother of a family heard a knock at the front door. She opened it and found an old man standing there on the front porch. “Can I help you?” she asked. “I hope so,” said the man. “Does God live here?”

Thinking, perhaps, that she had not heard him correctly, she replied, “What did you say?” He asked again, “Does God live here?” So she shut the door, went into the living room where her husband was sitting, watching the 6 o’clock news, and told him about the disturbing question from this strange visitor.

The husband said, “Well dear, what did he say when you told him that we are involved in this community, that I work at the bank, that you are a leader in the women’s club and that we volunteered last year to help build a Habitat for Humanity house?” “I didn’t mention that” she answered. The husband continued, “Well surely you told him that both of us teach Sunday school and have been active on our church boards.” “No, I didn’t mention that either” the wife responded. “He wanted to know if God lives here.”

So they both went to the front door but by then, the old man was gone. They looked at each other and for the first time in a long time that couple realized that although God did live in their hearts and was alive and active in their church, they had not really recognized God’s presence in their home.

Have you? Have you recognized and received the grace of God in your home? Mary did. She sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to His teaching. But Martha, she was distracted with much serving…and anxious and troubled about so many things.

My friends: you may have more than enough to grace over. But unless and until you open your heart and open your home to the grace of God, you are going to miss the greatest gift He has ever given. Don’t miss it!

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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