One of my favorite television shows of all time is The West
Wing. Partly because it’s mostly good
writing, partly because it feeds my inner political junkie. But every summer - when most current television
shows are on hiatus - I dust off my West Wing DVD and watch the series
again. I can’t seem to get enough.
Pretty much every situation I encounter seems to have a West
Wing reference that works for it.
This week, as I read the Gospel lesson, I thought of a scene
with Leo McGarry - the White House Chief of Staff.
It was one of those awkward, in-between moments in the Oval
Office - a speed bump between crises and decisions - when the President asked
what he should do next. Leo says, “This
office isn’t always about doing something.
Sometimes it’s about not doing something.”
Last week, in the parable of the Good Samaritan, the moral
of the story was, “Go and do…” Just as
the Samaritan had cared for the one who wasn’t like him - just as he had done
more than anyone would have expected him to do - we should do the same.
Go and do.
But this week, the moral of the story is a little different.
It’s less about doing, and more about being. It’s not always about doing something.
Martha had welcomed the traveling Jesus into her home. As soon as he arrived, she set about to the
many tasks of entertaining. But her
sister, Mary, wasn’t so consumed.
Instead, Mary sat at Jesus’ feet, listening.
Martha must have been fuming. There she was, doing everything.
But following Jesus isn’t always about doing something.
In our culture, doing is highly valued. “What do you do?” - we ask when we meet
someone. We celebrate people who can
prove they’re busy.
But faith isn’t always about doing something. Sometimes it’s enough to simply be in the
presence of Christ, and to soak it all in.
Sometimes we do so much that we miss the bigger picture.
So last week, the moral of the story was to “go and
do”. This week, the moral of the story
is to not do quite so much.
Living as Christians means taking both lessons to
heart. We are the hands and feet of
Christ in the world. It is our duty to
do the work of Christ for our neighbors: to feed the hungry, and to heal the
sick, and to comfort the afflicted.
But sometimes we get “worried and distracted by many
things”. Doing the work of Christ is
essential, but when it devolves into worry and distraction, we’re missing the
point.
Sometimes, the “better part” is sitting at the feet of
Christ and taking it all in. Sometimes
we’re called to “go and do”, but sometimes, what we need most is to learn, and
to listen, and to love.
They both are a part of a full Christian life. Just as it wouldn’t represent the fullness of
the Christian life to sit apart from the world always in contemplation and
prayer, so, too, does it not represent the fullness of the Christian life to
always be busy. We need both. Last week AND this week.
The challenge is to lead a life of sufficient discernment so
that we know which job is when. When to
do, and when to be.
Jesus’ lesson was probably frustrating for Martha. When we’re wrapped up in doing, we often
can’t even think of anything else other than getting done. Maybe she had a “light bulb” moment right
then, where it all made sense, but more likely, she found the whole exchange
really annoying. It probably wasn’t
until much later - maybe even years later - that she figured it out.
Maybe sometime after he’d died she began to realize that
moments with Christ are fleeting. They
shouldn’t be taken for granted. They’re
a rare gift. When one comes along, we
can’t waste it by being “worried and distracted by many things”. We need to embrace those moments. We need to revel in them.
It’s true that sometimes we need to “go and do”. Sometimes we need to be Martha. But sometimes we need to be Mary, too. Amen.
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