Genesis 18:1-10a
1 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. 2 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. 3 He said, "My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant. 4 Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. 5 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." 6 And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, "Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes." 7 Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. 8 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. 9 They said to him, "Where is your wife Sarah?" And he said, "There, in the tent." 10 Then one said, "I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son."
Colossians 1:15-28
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16 for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. 21 And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him— 23 provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel. 24 I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. 25 I became its servant according to God's commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.
Luke 10:38-42
38 Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. 40 But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me." 41 But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; 42 there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her."
I'm impressed that Abraham welcomed the "three visitors" even though he apparently didn't know exactly who they were. He called the apparent leader of the three "lord" (as in a term of respect for another person) not "Lord" (as in God). It makes me think of the verse in Hebrews which says to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so, "some have entertained angels unaware."
ReplyDeleteI suppose, unfortunately, it can go the other way too...i.e. in not being hospitable to strangers, we have turned away angels - and the Lord - "unaware." Gets me thinking about Matthew 25, and Jesus' words, "Whatever you did - or didn't do - to the least of these, you did - or didn't do - to me." Those words can be both promise and judgment.
Martha and Mary...In some ways Martha hastes to do exactly the thing Abraham did in Genesis - busy herself with hospitality, and invite another (Mary, in this case, not Sarah) to jump in and get busy to lend a hand. But Jesus wants something different from her...or maybe "for her." It could be fun to compare and contrast those two texts.
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ReplyDeleteQuite a difference between the Genesis text and Luke. Servanthood seems to be a trait to strive for with Abraham, but with not with Martha. Perhaps there is a time a place for both. We need to spend time with Jesus and be a servant, and recognize the proper time for each. I think there needs to be a healthy balance between the two, without one outweighing the other (in either direction). Paul was able to find that balance, spending time in prayer and studying scripture, which motivated him to serve others and share the gospel, which motivated him to prayer and... I am seeing a pattern here, now if only I could follow it in my own life.
ReplyDeleteI think Martha gets a bad rap in this Gospel text. Sure, she didn't sit down at Jesus' feet right away and listen to him speak. But do you imagine she couldn't hear what He was saying? I doubt homes were any bigger than ours, and were most likely much smaller. I bet she heard everything Jesus said. She was simply doing what women love to do, multi-task! And when she asks her sister to help, her serving of the Lord is belittled. She merely had the timeing off. Most hosts serve their guests before retiring to the living room for conversation. Martha didn't know that Jesus wanted to talk first and eat later. I think its a small difference.
ReplyDeleteIn the Genesis text, I am so amazed at Abrahams recognition of 3 strangers as Lord and his all out hospitality. He doesn't worry about will these people steal from me?? What is their motivation for stopping by here? Are our lives in danger? It makes me sad that fear blocks our ability to see God and be moved to be the people he made us to be.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the Luke reading, I have trouble not siding with Martha, although find her whining about it to be somewhat unappealing. Mary seems to have a sense of there being more important things than food at that moment and taking in all the her Lord would have to offer and teach her. In a way, I think it is easy to relate to Martha, working so hard to do the "right" thing and in a sense "missing God" rather than spending time with Him and letting the joy of having experienced that overflow into serving. Jodie
These must be the Servant passages. We are served by the Lord and we are her to serve others and serve the Lord. Miracles/good things can happen while we are serving. We should not wait for good things to come but serve others and good things will happen. Just think of all the ways we serve others. Also be aware of how much you are being served. ie: We learn so much from our children. We think we serve them but possibly they are the ones serving us.???
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