Resting in God
This is the transformational work that we, as the Church embodied, are called into. And in sharing this love with them and one another, we too will be transformed.
Based on Luke 10:38-42. Preached at Leeds Episcopal Church in Markham, VA and St. Andrew’s, Ada.
This week I have been preparing for our upcoming vacation which starts next Monday. I’ve spent a lot of time working extra hard in order to get everything lined up to leave. Pastoral care notes handed over to Jenks+. Bulletins lined up for Jenks+ and Denise+ for while I am away. Someone to let the dog and cat out each day. Leeds Feeds movement to the new space. Coordination for cabinets for LEAP. Bible Study lesson plans. So much to do… And so it was with a bit of an eye roll that I saw this Sunday’s gospel was set for Mary and Martha.
In an episode of Gilmore Girl, Emily is planning a party for her granddaughter Rory. Emily is the type who believes everything has a place and as long as everything is in said place, all will be well. She plans every detail of this birthday party out from the hand selected guest list to the place settings. And in her effort for everything to be perfect, she completely loses sight of her granddaughter. I wonder how often our schedules, our to-do lists, distract us from sitting at the feet of Jesus? How often does our never-ending lists keep us from being fully present in God.
I’m not fully convinced that Jesus is saying, “Martha, never lift another finger. Mary, never lift another finger to help.” But instead, I think Jesus is reminding us that in all that we do and in all that we are, we must remember that God is to be at the center of it. Jesus invites Martha into this place of rest. Jesus invites Martha to join Mary, to sit at the feet of Jesus and to share in life with one another. I don’t think he is upset with Martha. I think he is inviting her into a deeper understanding of what it means to be in relationship. What it means to have friends who don’t require a perfect home, a fancy meal, but rather desire to sit and share in life together, sipping on coffee or wine. It is in those moments we find rest and we may share our burdens with one another. Life is richer because we slow down with one another. Jesus is inviting us into a different pace of life than our culture requires. Jesus is inviting us to intentionally sit down because our productivity does not prove our worth.
Today we are baptizing Colton, Sutton, and Reagan. In this moment we are inviting them into these moments of slow and a conscious decision of their parents to rest in the presence of God. They are making the decision to join the body of Christ that proclaims that our to-do lists, all the things we constantly feel pressured to keep up with are not the true focus of our lives when we follow Christ. That stopping to sit at the feet of Jesus is the most important thing. In the years ahead, I hope that we will be a community that mirrors this for them. That we are a community who invites them to share in what we do here, in all that we do here, with all their wiggles and giggles because this is their church too. This is the place they will learn how to love Jesus more fully. This is the place where they will experience the love of God in ways we cannot even imagine yet. They will experience the love of God through the high fives, by being invited to help in worship, to experiencing what it means to serve God in God’s church rather than being silenced to pew. This is the transformational work that we, as the Church embodied, are called into. And in sharing this love with them and one another, we too will be transformed.
Our own understandings of who God is, and what God is up to, will be transformed as we commit to this deeper relationship with God and one another. By being participants in this community, our own understandings of God is deepened, shaped, and it calls us into deeper relationship with Christ. It challenges us to see the world differently. To encounter people as Christ approaches Martha. Inviting her into her own belovedness, her own need for God that is not dependent upon her productivity. We are people who are asked to see others with this same love, that no one is a burden beyond God’s love and care.
My hope this week is that you will find moments to take a breath, to pause, to sit just a few minutes longer with God. May we walk beside one another, sharing in life’s heartbreak and joys because Jesus first invited us into his love. May we be people who sit at the feet of Jesus, fully and wholly loved by him, and know that it is simply enough to be in the presence of God… Nothing we can do will ever earn the love of God. You are fully, wholly, already, the beloved of God, no matter what. Amen.