Genesis 18:1-10a (Year C: Proper 11)

Luke 10:38-42 July 22, 2001

Last week we looked at the story of the Good Samaritan. I noted that it is considered the very rock bed of Jesus’ teaching and ethic. Not only do theologians tell us that Jesus lived out that example of universal kindness to all persons, but that it is central to the faith of all who say they follow Jesus; a faith that is built on devotion, piety, including high ethic standards, but omits love and kindness is like the house built on sand, it is lacking in the essential foundation.

It may seem somewhat surprising that the Gospel writer follows that important story with a glimpse of Jesus in the house of some of his friends, the home of Lazarus, Mary and Martha. this was probably Jesus’ favorite haven; the place he stayed when he was in Jerusalem. their home, in Bethany, was on a hillside overlooking Jerusalem, no further from Jerusalem then we are now from Lake-Walker.

The family meal is over and Jesus is enjoying the after-dinner fellowship sitting in the main courtyard of the home talking to those present – including Mary. Now Mary’s sister Martha has not joined the group and chose to stay behind, in the house to clear the table and take care of the kitchen. although she has chosen to do this, she fells put upon. I think many of us can identify with that; although she made the choice to take care of this chore, she obviously resents the fact that her sister chose to sit with Jesus, instead of helping her. Finally, after a slow-burn in the kitchen, Martha appears in the room – we can imagine with “hands on hips” and stern expression – and she interrupts interrupts Jesus, complaining loudly, “Sir, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do all the work myself? Tell her to help me!” Jesus’ response is not what Martha expected, “Martha, Martha, you worry over so many things. But only one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice.”

Now, if this was anyone else but Jesus, we might take one look at the scene and come to a different conclusion, coming down solidly on Martha’s side.

Thomas Cahill, suggests that…

“…we should read this anecdote in the context of Jesus’ (and presumably Mary’s) understanding that his time is short, that his entire life is lived against the horizon of apocalypse. Mary is one of the wedding guests who rejoice while the bride groom is among them, refusing to deprive themselves of the joy of his presence for the sake of some lesser goal.”

Cahill goes on to suggest….

“For Luke, Jesus has become the central reality, the yardstick against which all actions are measured. It is no coincidence that the story of Martha and Mary follows immediately on the parable of the Good Samaritan, whose actions are Christ-like. Only if we put Christ before all practical considerations- only if we clear a place for him in our hearts (rather than clear the table) – will we be able to behave as the Samaritan does.”

Cahill notes that next week’s text is not accidental either – for after telling us to be like the Samaritan, and telling Martha that following Christ and living a Christ-like life involves putting Christ first – even before a clean kitchen. The story ends abruptly, an the next scene, which we will look at in detail next week, depicts he depicts the disciples asking Jesus to teach them to pray. that is not an accidental placement either — after telling us that we must be like Jesus (the Good Samaritan), we are told today to put Jesus first and learn from him; and we are given the tool of prayer as a means to align ourselves with God, reminds ourselves as to what our lives are all about. And it all begins with hospitality, kindness, and love.

These texts flow together like a three part sermon; last Sunday’s “Samaritan Mercy,” this week’s “Living Room Dialogue” and next week’s “Lessons in Prayer” are all part of Luke’s intention to help us know the direction we should go, the priority it should have in our lives and the means by which we can sustain ourselves in our commitment. Remember, as we get ready to welcome Dr. Chilton here in November, he says the central action in Jesus’ ministry, through which he was recognized, and through which the community was created was the shared meal — it is the central symbol of the church, coming down to us as Holy Communion.

Both Scriptures pick up that theme: in the first Abraham and Sarah discover that in hosting three strangers, in providing hospitality, they have entertained angels unawares. In fact, in these ancient Jewish texts, angels and God are sometimes synonymous — Abraham and Sarah, in hosting the strangers discover they played host to God!

This is a somewhat mystical account, in the pre-Christian era, of a host’s encounter with God. It is amazing in the matter of fact way in which it unfolds. The editors of the New Revised Standard Version call the narrative “a fine description of oriental courtesy and hospitality.”

Abraham, the great desert patriarch, who uprooted his clan and marched them across the great desert lands between modern day Iraq and Israel, is found sitting at the entrance of his tent during the noontime siesta. He sees three strangers coming across the desert, approaching his tent and he runs from the tent, bows down, and begs them to pause in their journey, with this invitation:

“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.”

When the visitors give their consent, Abraham rushes in to his wife Sarah, and, we discover, the small repast turns into a great banquet.

This is not only a story of Semitic hospitality, but an account of a divine encounter . There is nothing in the story to suggest that Abraham realized who the guest/guests were, until they have dined with him,

Now as I noted, this story is a very old one, and throughout this portion of the Abraham stories, God-the-Lord appears in various ambiguous forms as a single angel, an earthly stranger, or possibly all three visitors in this tale. Scholars aren’t clear if the narrator means that God-the-Lord descended with two angels, or that all three are God’s persona. For Christians, however, the three divine beings have come to symbolize the Holy Trinity.

If Luke wants to lift up prayer, in next week’s lesson, as a guide to help us be true to the Lord, then this ancient story lifts up, for me, the 15th Century Russian icon, The Trinity, painted by the Russian artist, Andrei Rublev. Henri Nouwen published a meditation based on this story which I have shared with you before. Today I would just like to point out one aspect of the icon, as noted by Henri Nouwen. Remember that an icon is not just something one hangs on a wall, or glances at. In Orthodox devotion, the icon is a window to God — and by gazing upon it, meditating upon it, once is brought into the very presence of God — like Mary, sitting at the feet of Jesus.. I asked Graham if he would put it up on the screen for you to consider this morning. Nouwen suggested that this icon invites us to dwell in the House of Love. We can see it as a universal invitation to sit at the table with God.

We see three peaceful figures sitting in a circle around an altar, behind them a tree rises, and a home on the left, A cup is on the altar.

As you look at the icon, note the three figures, Father/Creator, Son/Savior and Holy Ghost/Comforter. Pay special attention to the hands; the Father’s right hand is making the shape of benediction, and pointing to the Son, the Son holds out two fingers, signifying his dual nature, human and divine, and reminding us of our dual nature. Athanasius once said it best, God in Christ became as we are, so that we might become as He is!” There is a place for us around this table, we who were created in the image of God are meant to dwell in the House of Love.

But notice the Angel that depicts the Holy Spirit. Her hand is pointing downward, to the front of the altar-table where you can just see a small rectangle. Nouwen tells us that such icon rectangles represent by the four corners north, east, south and west — all the corners of the earth, for this is a gathering place where all shall be welcomed at God’s table. And yet, the place where the rectangle is drawn signifies also the place where the relics of the martyrs are placed in altars – it reminds us that we join the circle of Love by following Jesus who carried the cross and died for all the peoples of the world.

“There is room around the divine table only for those who are willing to become participants in the divine sacrifice by offering their lives as a witness to the love of God.”

And so we learn through this icon the probable content of what Jesus was teaching those, who like Mary, chose to sit at his feet. Nouwen suggests that the way to enter into this fellowship with God is the way of Christian Service. It is the way many have chosen to walk; not only Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther King, Jr., Ita Ford, Jean Donovan, and Oscar Romero, but also countless anonymous women, men and children who during the last decades have given themselves for others, and often died as witnesses to the God of love. Fear and hatred have become no less destructive since the 13th Century, and Rublev’s icon has become no less creative in calling us to a place of love, where fear and hatred no longer can destroy us. Rublev painted the icon as a memorial to Russia’s great saint, St. Sergius, who wanted to bring all of Russia together around the Name of God so that its people would conquer ‘the devouring hatred of the world by the contemplation of the Holy Trinity.’”

And so we have come full circle – from the Samaritan with Jesus to the place of discipleship with Mary, to the call to reach out to all those who suffer at the hands of a cruel and unjust world — for in doing so, we too, like Sarah and Abraham may discover we have been providing hospitality to God.

Amen.

Related Articles:

• Michael Hardin, The Jesus-Driven Life: Reconnecting Humanity with Jesus
• The Jesus Driven Life
• Paul: ‘inspired’? What does that mean?
• 25 LISTS OF EVERYTHING INTERESTING/IMPORTANT
• Miracles and the Virgin Birth etc.

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