The first reading today (Genesis 18:1-10) provides the first glimpse in Scripture of the Triune God—three persons in one God: “The Lord appeared to Abraham by the terebinth of Mamre, as he sat in the entrance of his tent, while the day was growing hot. Looking up, Abraham saw three “men” standing nearby.”
Abraham is taking his ease in the hot afternoon and he notices three “men” standing nearby. He did not see them or hear them approaching, they just appeared. (Here comes the theology.) The author cannot tell whether to use the singular or the plural in describing the “guest(s)”. “The Lord (singular) appeared (singular) to Abraham … “. He saw three “men” (plural), but Abraham addresses “them” (plural) as “Sir” (singular). Then he says, “Let some water be brought that you may bathe your feet, and rest “yourselves” (plural) under the tree.” From his immediate actions of welcome, we can deduce that Abraham did not have many visitors, out there in the middle of nowhere, under the terebinth tree, or he soon would have run out of cattle and run his wife to an early grave.
Abraham invites his “guests” to be treated by Sarah’s hard labors (remember Martha?) while he (remember Mary?) entertains the “guests”. After dinner, one of the three “men” asks where Sarah, Abraham’s wife, might be. When told, the speaker makes a promise. When “they” return, in one year’s time, Abraham and Sarah will have the consummate (pardoning the pun) blessing, a son.
God knows, God visits, God makes promises and God keeps them. Now the big question is, of course, was God good to Abraham and Sarah because he and Sarah were so welcoming? Does God come to bless, because of our actions, or because of who God is? In human experience, Sarah is too old to have a child, but a very practical promise is made. This kind of story reveals more about the mysterious God than something of the human activities that might attract God’s favor.
Abraham and Sarah had to trust what they heard. Sarah is not rewarded for being the good wife and a great short-order cook. She is blessed to have a child, because of God’s love. She might have been thinking that God was angry with her and so she could not be blessed with motherhood. Is God good only when we have been good, welcoming, keeping the traditions and laws? These are the ancient questions that have modern echoes.
The Gospel (Luke 10: 38-42) is a rather cute little story, but within it lie some very important features of God and what is expected by God in our response. Jesus is welcomed. Martha is doing the practical things of getting a proper meal ready for Jesus, the prophet (remember Sarah?). Mary is doing nothing except listening (remember Abraham). Martha complains about the laziness of her sister. Jesus replies with something simple and important. End of story.
Luke presents Jesus as a model for his disciples whom he has sent out, relying on the hospitality of others and thereby, relying on God. Luke presents Martha as the righteous welcomer who does the practical things according to the Jewish religious and cultural ways. Luke presents Mary as a person of the Good News. She does the impractical thing of “listening to him speak.” She has chosen “the better part”, which is allowing the Good News to be heard.
The story of last week’s Gospel, the Good Samaritan, immediately comes before these final verses of this chapter in Luke’s Gospel. The reader or listener to the Gospel would understand that the very practical thing the “Good Samaritan” did, is what everybody would have to do if they sat at the feet of Jesus and listened to the whole Gospel. Martha is righteous by her expressing her religious traditions. Luke is presenting Mary as how each of us continues the life of Jesus, by listening and then getting up and doing all that the Gospel of Luke has offered.
This is not a family dispute, a sibling rivalry, but a call to a radical way of living. We so easily listen to what we want to hear. What Jesus is saying in all the Gospels is not exactly what all we all want to hear. Jesus’ conversation with us, if we listen, will change, convert us, and we would rather “get out in that kitchen and rattle those pots and pans.” We would rather justify ourselves by listening to our ways and doing our thing in the hope that God would be pleased, schmoozed, and appeased.
It is quite enjoyable to cross out all the verses in the Gospels which we find distasteful and/or inconvenient. (Don’t do this in your ancient family bible, but perhaps in a new one (you can find one almost anywhere) used just for that purpose.) I find the Gospel gets quite a bit shorter when I do this selective cutting. Those are the verses we don’t want to hear, because they call us to change ourselves, change others, or change our life. The really good news is that Jesus just keeps sitting in those pages speaking and waiting for us to tune in.
May God Bless You and Grant You His Peace!