Oh man, is that all?
“Surviving the Ages” is a first-person story of a desert experience told by a rich jewelry merchant ...“One day I was overtaken by a great storm. It buffeted me and my caravan this way and that until I was separated from the caravan and became completely lost. I kept moving for days until I discovered that I had wandered around in circles. It was then that I realized I had run out of food. I was half dead from starvation and in dire need of nourishment.
“In a fit of panic, I unloaded every bag on my camel’s back, hoping desperately to find a morsel or two tucked away somewhere. I searched through every bag, again and again, but there was no food to be found. But suddenly, my heart beat with new hope when I came upon a small pouch I had overlooked.
“My hands were shaking and, with trembling fingers, I tore open the pouch. My heart then sank with despair. All that the pouch contained were diamonds.”
Each of us must make a basic decision about how we intend to live our lives. We can decide to make the first priority in our lives our own self-fulfillment, our own security, and happiness. But such preoccupation with self is an absolute obstacle to human happiness and fulfillment because human happiness and fulfillment can only be achieved through genuine love. There is another choice. We can decide to image God and spend our lives seeking the fulfillment and happiness of others (this is what is implied in love). In such a case, God’s word says that we will surely attain our own happiness and fulfillment.
In Luke chapter 10 we read that “Jesus entered a village where a woman named Martha welcomed Him to her home. She had a sister named Mary who sat down at the Lord’s feet and listened to Him speaking”. Meanwhile, Martha was “distracted with all the serving”. Here is the picture, then: Mary was sitting at Jesus’ feet, intent on hearing everything this very special Guest had to say; Martha was busy fussing and fixing and straightening and preparing and, consequently, heard nothing Jesus was saying. And Martha left no doubt about her opinion on whether her activity or Mary’s should have taken first priority. She took her case to Jesus, saying, “Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do all the serving by myself? Please tell her to help me”. And it must have been a bit of a shock to Martha when she heard Jesus’ answer: “Martha, Martha, you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part”. Mary had chosen to listen!
In today’s Gospel Lesson, we are not being asked to see Mary, who is doing the right thing, as a model of perfection. And we are not being asked to judge Martha for her failure to sit at the Lord’s feet. Rather, we are being asked to judge ourselves in this regard. Are we sitting at the Lord’s feet? Are we listening?