"Keeping The Main Thing The Main Thing?"


Sermon Delivered By Reverend Richard E. Stetler – July 21, 2013

Centenary United Methodist Church

Psalm 18:25-34; Luke 10:38-42

 

    The Mary and Martha story is as familiar to us as was the Parable of the Good Samaritan last week.  The story has many classical elements to it from sibling rivalry to the sisters having very different personalities and needs.  Pastors through the years have squeezed from this story every theme imaginable. 

    One of the dominant themes for people sitting in the pews through the years has been that Mary was the popular winner in this famous comparison.  Very few people have developed much sympathy for Martha because Jesus said to her, “Martha, Martha!  You are always worrying and appear troubled by so many things.  Only one of them is necessary.  Mary has chosen the right thing and it should not be taken away from her.”  (Luke 10:41f)

    We have all known people that can easily become distracted from completing a project simply by putting it off until the next day. After all, something better had come along. There are others that stay with a task, constantly making small improvements, until the result is as perfect as is humanly possible.  Martha may have been a tad compulsive about serving a perfect lunch for the Master.  That is an admirable quality.

    Once I was visiting a woman in one of my past churches who was old school when it came to her approach to life.  After asking me if I would like some tea, she disappeared into her kitchen to prepare it.  She was gone for a period of time, giving me the opportunity to look at her array of paintings, one-of-a-kind ceramic figurines, hand-painted hurricane lamps and a fascinating number of other collectibles.

    When she returned, she had put on a tiny apron.  She was carrying a tray filled with a creamer, a matching sugar bowl, two small sterling silver spoons, two cups and saucers, a dish containing a variety of cookies and sweet breads and two linen napkins. Knowing she was like this, I teasingly said, “Oh Mitzie, for me all you needed to do was give me a tea bag and some hot water in a Styrofoam cup.”  She looked at me rather sternly and said, “Rev. Stetler, Styrofoam has never entered my home!  Please sit down.” 

    Her remark transitioned into a conversation of how a number of her values have not generated much interest with the younger generations.  She was taught a specific way to serve tea and I doubt that she would have slept well that night had she served it to me any other way. Clearly Mitzie carried herself with a style and dignity that had their origin in another day.

    Now contrast this style with that of another woman I visited one afternoon about 4:00. She had been home from the hospital about three weeks having brought into our world a baby girl.  My energy levels during late afternoon visits are often cause for a cup of coffee so I asked for one. 

    There were several clues that she provided that told me that I would not be getting a good cup of coffee.  Clue number one: She said, “My husband and I don’t drink coffee.”  Clue number two:  “I think we have a jar of instant coffee in the kitchen.”  The final clue came when she said, “Here, Dick, take this knife and see if you can chip as many crystals as you need into your cup.  The stuff seems to be stuck together at the bottom of the jar.”

    From the dust on the jar it was obvious that it had been on that top shelf for years.  Just then, the baby cried and she dashed upstairs to retrieve her.  When she returned she had completely forgotten about the coffee and so had I.  While she was gone, I did get a surge of energy just thinking about having to drink that coffee made from the contents of that jar.  Fortunately, the new arrival took center stage.       

    What we have here are two very delightful women that both loved God and yet they had very different styles and values.  When we read or hear the story of Mary and Martha, we may have felt that Jesus was not as sensitive to Martha as he could have been.

    Notice what Jesus said. He was not being critical of Martha.  He was reminding her of what she was doing to herself.  Martha was responding to her choice to prepare lunch with worries and concerns.  Mary had chosen something else to do with her time and Jesus was protecting her right to do something that brought her joy.

    What is the lesson from this story that we can take home with us today? Jesus said, "Martha, Martha! You are worried and troubled over so many things, but just one is needed."  What did Jesus mean when he said, "just one is needed?"  

    Most of us experience this one thing when we encounter people that make us glow.  Yet, we seldom define exactly what it is that we are responding to when we really enjoy being around them.  They help us feel more alive by somehow helping us to share in their enthusiasm for life.  

    For example, these are people that are very comfortable in their own skin. They hold the same level of personal confidence if they are wearing an expensive suit, a well-appointed evening gown or wearing torn, paint-spattered blue jeans with dirty tennis shoes that are 15 years old.  Very little appears to bother them.  What we most enjoy is how we feel when we are around them.  Again, what is it that we are experiencing?

    One of the members in my former church went to hear Stephen Covey deliver a talk.  As he was describing his experience, he told me one of Stephen’s memorable quotes.  Once he told it to me, Covey’s quote became imbedded in my mind. “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” That quote gets it for me. 

     The main thing of Jesus' mission was to teach his listeners how to perceive everything and everyone through the eyes of love just as he was able to do. (John 15:5)  This is how Jesus could eat with prostitutes, outcasts and other sinners and be at peace.   He made no judgments of them.  Everyone felt comfortable around Jesus except those who had invested their energy into their religious practices.  

    This ability is the main thing that places all our priorities in perspective.  This is the main thing that allows us in every situation to savor the kernels of wheat and with a breath of kindness blow the chaff away.  Keeping the main thing the main thing, however, is not always the easiest thing to do.

    My first experience as a pastor was being my father’s Associate Minister for twelve years.  During those years I had the responsibilities for the youth and young adults when another opportunity came my way.  The Trustees of the church asked me if I would like to earn an additional $200 a month by assisting our custodians who were both in their 80s.  Among my new duties was to straighten up and secure the church building every evening. 

    On Sunday evenings, our church had given space to a very large chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous.  Because many of the men and women were cross-addicted to tobacco and alcohol, a special vote was taken by the Administrative Board to allow smoking in our fellowship hall only on Sunday nights.  Cleaning on Sunday nights was a constant struggle for me and this is when I became a pure-blooded Martha. 

    I had to wait until everyone left the building before I could begin my cleaning. Sometimes people would visit for over an hour before leaving. The fellowship hall where they met was always filled with a blue haze from their smoking.  Some of us may remember those days when people smoked in public buildings forcing us to breathe secondhand smoke.  Numerous times intoxicated members had spilled their coffee on the floor, coffee that had set up like concrete because of the quadruple sugars and double cream that most of them used.  Chairs had to be wiped clean and put away.

    Never in my life have I ever wrestled with my identity as I did during those years.  My mind was filled with attitudes that made things worse and my increased resentment of getting home well after midnight did not help.  The only positive thing I could say is that when I left the building, it was as though no one had been there.   It was clean.

    As I look back on those years, the education I received from doing those chores was more important than my entire seminary training.  I had to deal with me, not my faith, and not what I had learned about the nature of God.  I had to deal with me!  For the longest time, I could not get my attitudes off the stage and out of my way. 

    One night I went upstairs close to midnight and knelt at the altar in the sanctuary.  I asked God what was going on with my head and emotions.  It was almost as though God said, “I’m glad you asked. I’ve been waiting to hear from you, Dick.  Instead of thinking “poor me” try changing how you think and feel.  What did your Trustees ask you to do?” 

    The light of understanding came on with the answer – gratitude.  My thoughts were the problem, not the tasks.  I realized that I was doing this extra work so that our husband and wife custodial team did not have to work those late hours.  Also, I was playing a small role in the lives of men and women who were breaking the hearts of everyone they know because of what their addiction to alcohol was doing to them.   I exchanged my resentment for gratitude and I have never looked back.  I began keeping the main thing the main thing.

    During one of our Ecumenical Teas, a table of women asked me, “Why are you doing all this running around?  Our pastor would never dream of doing what you are doing.”  I said, “Thank you.  I do this because I am really grateful to our women of our church for what they have done to make today happen.” That was only half the story, however.  The other half is that, many years before in my first church, I conquered a demon that was like a cancer that had taken up residence in my mind.

    The episode of Mary and Martha would have communicated a very different message had Martha already conquered the same demon.  Had she done that, she would have thought to herself, “I am so grateful that Mary has this time to be with the Master.  She looks as though she has a thing for Jesus.  Look at the joy on her face!  She really loves him.”

               When we infuse every task and relationship with gratitude, no task will ever be a burden.  None of them will become unimportant or appear inconvenient.   We have to remember that the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.  When we remember that, we rise above potential thoughts and feelings that could easily prevent our contagious enthusiasm for life from showing up.