For the week of July 20 – 6th Sunday after Pentecost
Morning Prayer: Lord, Make me an instrument of Thy peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. Amen. (United Methodist Hymnal #481 The Prayer of St. Francis)
Opening Hymn: #77 How Great Thou Art
- Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds Thy hands have made,
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
Refrain: Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee; How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee; How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
- When through the woods and forest glades I wander,
and hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur and hear the brook,
and feel the gentle breeze; Refrain:
- And when I think that God, His Son nor sparing, sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing, He bled and died to take away my sin; Refrain:
- When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation and take me home,
what joy shall fill my heart. Then I shall bow in humble adoration,
and there proclaim, my God, how great Thou art! Refrain:
Psalm 15 (CEB)
Who can live in Your tent, Lord?
Who can dwell on Your holy mountain?
2 The person who lives free of blame, does what is right, and speaks the truth sincerely;
3 who does no damage with their talk,
does no harm to a friend, doesn’t insult a neighbor;
4 someone who despises those who act wickedly,
but who honors those who honor the Lord;
someone who keeps their promise even when it hurts;
5 someone who doesn’t lend money with interest,
who won’t accept a bribe against any innocent person.
Whoever does these things will never stumble.
Prayers of Intercession: Thank You, Lord, for hearing our prayers for those dear to our hearts. We now pray as You have taught us: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us, not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Offering spotlight: UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) is on the ground in Texas, New Mexico, and here in Northeastern Pennsylvania; cleaning, repairing, removing debris and providing compassion and spiritual support in the name of Christ. Mission Central hubs have sent flood buckets to Benton, assisting with flood recovery and relief and providing services to those who have lost their possessions. Donate to UMCOR or Mission Central. Assist our counting team by clearly marking your offering.
Lightstreet Church will collect clothespins to replenish Mission Central’s flood bucket supplies. Pick up packs of 36-50 clothespins, either plastic or wooden.
Offering prayer: Holy and Reconciling God, in Christ, You have made the invisible visible, bringing us home with love beyond measure. As we offer these gifts, may they reflect our gratitude for Your presence in our lives. Use them to build Your kingdom, to restore what is broken, and to remind the world of Your grace. May our giving be an act of thanksgiving, a sign of the ordinary magic of Your love at work among us. In all things, may we live to Your glory. Amen. (Discipleship Ministries)
Hymn of Preparation: Come and Find the Quiet Center
- Come and find the quiet center in the crowded life we lead,
Find the room for hope to enter, find the frame where we are freed:
Clear the chaos and the clutter, clear our eyes that we can see
All the things that really matter, be at peace, and simply be.
- Silence is a friend who claims us, cools the heat and slows the pace,
God it is who speaks and names us, knows our being, touches base,
Making space within our thinking, lifting shades to show the sun,
Raising courage when we’re shrinking, finding scope for faith begun.
- In the Spirit let us travel, open to each other’s pain,
Let our loves and fears unravel, celebrate the space we gain:
There’s a place for deepest dreaming, there’s a time for heart to care,
In the Spirit’s lively scheming there is always room to spare.
Scripture: Luke 10:38-42 (CEB)
38 While Jesus and His disciples were traveling, Jesus entered a village where a woman named Martha welcomed Him as a guest. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to His message. 40 By contrast, Martha was preoccupied with getting everything ready for their meal. So Martha came to Him and said, “Lord, don’t You care that my sister has left me to prepare the table all by myself? Tell her to help me.”
41 The Lord answered, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things. 42 One thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the better part. It won’t be taken away from her.”
Affirm your faith by reciting the Apostles’ Creed: I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord: who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontus Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried; the third day He rose from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. (UM Hymnal #881)
Message: Pastor Becky Cuddeback
Hospitality is at the core of our social interactions, as it should be. We try to embrace it in our daily lives, just as our ancestors did before us. We are expected to be hospitable, to make another person feel welcome. In different contexts, in different places, at different times, it can mean something different and displayed differently, yet at its very core it is to make someone feel welcome.
Welcome wagons used to be deployed in neighborhoods. When someone new moved in, the neighbors would drop by, introduce themselves, possibly bring small gifts like bread or cookies. They would arrange play dates with kids and offer suggestions on restaurants, doctors, and hair salons.
We had a kid model in my elementary school when I grew up. If there was a new student he or she would be paired with an established student. The new student was guided to classes and lunch, given the lay of the land, so to speak, and as the one paired with the new student, you became the new kid's first friend, and some of those friendships lasted a lifetime.
Marge Kisner was known for delivering a dessert to a visitor to acknowledge their presence among us. She would begin to build that relationship, taking them from being a visitor and making them into a member of the family.
Hospitality is praised in Scripture. In Genesis, Abraham offers 3 visitors hospitality and then he's told of the coming of the birth of his son Isaac. The beloved Psalm 23 speaks these words: “You prepare a table in the presence of mine enemies”, God showing hospitality to God's beloved children. Two weeks ago we talked about what the 72 disciples were to expect in bringing the good news, and that was hospitality. To be invited in and fed, given a place to sleep and to be heard as they brought the good news of Jesus.
So why does Jesus seem to dismiss Martha and uphold Mary? Because that's how it is usually seen, Jesus being dismissive of Martha's work and praising Mary's attention to His teaching. We always seem to have the two sisters pitted against one another. There are some of us that align more with Martha, then through this perceived reading of one being superior to the other, we get that feeling of being second best to Mary. If we find ourselves aligned more with Mary, we can conjure up a superiority that makes us points and unfortunately, joke about another's works or dismiss them. As in some way it appears that they're trying to work for their salvation.
Maybe we should look at them differently. Maybe we should look at them more as two sides of the same coin. Both women most assuredly embrace discipleship. Martha is physically serving. She is doing what is necessary to accommodate her guests. She is seeing to the food preparation which is feeding the hungry. She's setting up the seating arrangements which falls under providing shelter. She is gathering water for hand and foot washing, which is adhering to the purity laws of cleanliness. All vital practices of discipleship.
Mary is sitting at Jesus' feet. She is listening to His teachings, sharing in the retelling of all that has happened. She is listening to Jesus connect the dots, drawing the connections between Himself and God, elaborating on God's love for all creation. Can you imagine it, actually sitting at the feet of the physical, earthly Jesus? It wouldn't be a hard decision, or at least I would hope it wouldn't be a hard decision. If you got the chance, where are you going to be at that moment? I know I would prefer to be at Jesus' feet. My brain would say, hey, let the cake burn, the pillow fluffing will wait. All of these details of hospitality would fade and the importance would go with them. Because, as the saying goes, you make hay when the sun is shining and right at this moment we have the opportunity to be at Jesus' feet. So you take it.
So how do we get this picture that Martha is always busy and Mary is always hanging out and listening? This account covers 1 evening, not a lifetime of behavior. This is why there's no condemnation of Mary by Jesus, only a redirection from Jesus to Martha. Jesus wants Martha to focus on the one thing necessary, being present with Jesus. Mary was present. Martha was not. Yet she could have been. Scripture says she became preoccupied with getting everything ready. Martha squandered her attention toward the details that didn't matter. I'm imagining her fretting over the color of the candles or the table dressing, everything looking just right. Topping it off with an overextension of herself in meal preparation. She's working on 6 courses when a simple pizza would have accomplished the same thing. The goal was to feed the hungry and one pizza would have given Martha the freedom to be present. She has herself fretted up over things that don't matter, and it takes her focus off Jesus.
She lashes out at her sister by way of trying to call Mary out by complaining to Jesus. Martha could have gone to Mary herself and ask for help with the chore. After all, many hands make light work. Or Martha could have just sat down and enjoyed Jesus company.
Action and study paired together is balanced discipleship. They give us a fuller experience of Jesus. Yet we can find ourselves frustrated with other disciples. We compare our works to their lack, or worse, complain that another disciple is benefiting without contributing to the work. When in reality we're all benefiting from the fervent prayers of a more contemplative disciple.
It's the contemplative disciple that prays without ceasing, gathering resources to point us to, to help grow us, to inform us. They're the ones writing Bible studies and studying long into the night to try to make sense of our world in light of our scriptures. It's that long and hard thinking which also teaches us we need both kinds of disciples.
We need to be both kinds of disciples, depending on the day and the call of that day. We should be able to be both Martha and Mary without condemning either. We should desire to be both, not one or the other. Now we may be more comfortable being one or the other, which is perfectly reasonable. Being able to move between both models grows us. It's in those uncomfortable places that Jesus meets us and challenges us so that we're growing, so grace abounds. In the discomfort we begin to see God in vastly different ways. Then we are able to love in vastly different ways.
We need to always be mindful, keeping right in the front of our brain is this: is what we do focused on Jesus or is it focused on me? Is what we're doing bringing attention to the one who sent us or are we trying to reap our reward here to be seen? Because how another disciple lives out there, called to follow Jesus, whether by action or study, isn't fodder for your judgment or mine. The story of the two sisters should remind us that if we need help, ask for it. We are not to complain to one another that we aren't getting what it is we didn't ask for. Because ultimately, we are to be living out a life focused on Jesus. We can be and we are both Martha and Mary.
Closing Hymn: #349 Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.
The blessing: May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you this week.
