Feast of St Martha

John 11:25-27

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”

Martha

The practical woman

The one who majored in hospitality

Patron saint of servants and cooks

A noble distinction

But also a woman

whose profession of faith

was unswerving

absolute

A woman

who looked into the abyss of death

and yet could proclaim

You are the Messiah

An attribute

conveniently overlooked

by the patriarchy

when her story

became history

Let’s re-member Martha

the multi tasking domestic goddess

and the faith filled

proclaimer of truth

This is what Biblical Womanhood looks like!

Prayer shenanigans

Luke 11:1
He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”

Lord I love those times of solitude

when there is peace

and quiet

Perhaps on a beach

or in my special place of prayer

Those times

when I sense you close at hand

 when I can hear your voice

feel your nudging 

or just wallow in your presence

I love too those times

in the midst of noise

on a busy commuter train
with earbuds in
using a prayer app on my phone 
when you speak into the buzz all around.

Or, some days, on a crowded city street

you allow me to catch glimpses

of your Spirit

as she dodges around folk

who have their heads down

fretting about the night just past

or intent on the day to come

I love to see her

dancing her way

through the evening crowd

wearily trudging their way home

or in high spirits

intent on a good night out

And I give thanks

that you are in all of life.

You allowed those around you

to see you at prayer

and they liked what they saw - 

enough to ask: Teach us to pray 

So often the prayer that we put on display

is formal, prescribed, lacking in joy

unattractive to others

a caricature of all

that you suggested prayer should not be

Lord, Teach us to pray

with boldness

with exuberance

with laughter

and with tears

and may our prayer shenanigans

encourage others

to want to learn

how to pray 

May it be so...

Love is love...

(A reflection on Mardigla 2019)

John 15:12
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

A simple command

Love one another

A command lived out by many

day in, day out

Those who catch the simplicity

the compulsion

and get on with it.

The church does not have 

a monopoly on love

But love does have

a monopoly on the church

And then there are others

who take the simple

and distort it beyond recognition

fencing it around 

with conditions

and qualifications

The church does not have 

a monopoly on love

But love does have

a monopoly on the church

Christ’s church you might think

would defend the simple imperative

Instead, we are

the worst offenders

and defenders

The church does not have 

a monopoly on love

But love does have

a monopoly on the church

So why is life so full of encounters

with young and old

confessing, with tears in their eyes

I love Jesus

but I have been rejected by the church.

The church does not have 

a monopoly on love

But love does have

a monopoly on the church

How can we be better

How might we recover

the simplicity

of Christ’s command?

Not so that we look good

not so that churches grow

But so that love wins every time

The church does not have 

a monopoly on love

But love does have

a monopoly on the church

Sacrament in two parts

Luke 10:38-42
Jesus Visits Martha and Mary
Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Which is the better part?

For years interpretation has sought 

to divide Martha and Mary

determining that only one of them

can be commended by our Lord

that only one way

is important in the kingdom.

Yet truth be told

we know all too well

that we need those who welcome others

doing all the things necessary

to provide hospitality

as well as those 

who will take time to listen,

affording intimacy.

And in both women

we see the norms of the day

confounded yet again

turned on their head

by women refusing to conform.

Martha, welcoming Jesus boldly

as a head of a household might.

And Mary, sitting at the Rabbi’s feet

as a disciple might.

Both, in their own way contributing 

to the table fellowship they shared.

And, we can imagine Jesus

taking the fruits of Martha’s labour:

bread still warm from the oven

its aroma filling the room

and sweet, heady wine,

kept for just such an occasion

and, wrapped in the adoring gaze of Mary,

transforming those gifts

in the knowledge

that the portent of death

was not missed in this home

For here were two women

who simply got it

and, together, made room for the One

in whom everything made sense

Two women who demonstrated that love

does not consist in either/or

but in both/and.

Martha and Mary

who recognised

that the kingdom was near.

Holy risk

Exodus 3:4-5
When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

Holy ground

Sacred space

Inviting intimacy

Facilitating vulnerability

Cultivating call

For even when our awareness is

of God who is the ground of our being

inhabiting every moment

present in every breath

still we are compelled

to turn aside

to glimpse that which is beyond

our familiar sightings.

Compelled 

to turn aside

to glimpse afresh

the intriguing

mischievous

butt kicking

playful

God

who knows when we have settled for less

when we have resigned ourselves

to a life that brings peace

but not fulfilment 
or the abundance God desires for us
God knows

when we are riding the car ferry

rather than the coracle
because we fear we are not enough
or even too much...

God shakes up our complacency

and offers new perspective

but only when we risk

stepping off the well worn

and perhaps hard won track

so that we might glimpse

an unimaginable future 

that can only be forged

in partnership

with a pyromaniacal God.

Good intentions

Acts 9:3-5
Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

As I read the story of Paul’s conversion, his Damascus Road Confrontation, I am reminded that Paul was not some crazy anti-God crusader - he was engaged in a mission to which he fully believed he had been called. He was a defender of the faith that he saw being bastardised by a new sect, known as Christians. In Paul’s eyes, these new kids on the block were taking the notion of God that had upheld and sustained people for centuries, giving credence to a new form of deity in the person of Jesus, and worshiping a martyred itinerant preacher and prophet.
I believe that just one of the challenges facing the church today, as we discern God’s mission and our place in that, is to avoid demonising those defenders of the faith who operate in our institutions and in our congregations, at best being ineffective and, at worst, stifling and inhibiting growth. If our energy is focused on fighting opposition we are in danger of missing out on opportunity. That’s not an easy place to be but perhaps subversion rather than energy sapping confrontation is called for - hearing the “no” and doing it anyway, letting actions and results speak louder than words. God has a way of acting through us and in spite of us! Perhaps the call is to fight less and be more - be kind, be compassionate, be love, be hope, be Christ ... Be the reason that others discover their place in the subversive economy that is the kingdom of God, where the last shall be first, the weak shall be strong and the poor shall be rich. Let’s enable that rather than fight the structures that conspire against all that God desires for creation. As beloved of God, we are required to befriend the power that God bestows on us and, embracing that power, to change lives, communities, institutions, the world. For the love of God.

Running from...

Jonah 1:1-3
Jonah Tries to Run Away from God
Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, “Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.” But Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid his fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.

Often, God

I think I know how Jonah felt

Wanting to run away

Anywhere - out of your sight

Away from the tasks to which you call

Avoiding the challenges you present

Cast adrift in a boat

in the vastness of the sea (any sea)

seems quite appealing right now

It’s not that I don’t love you (I do)

It’s not that I don’t want to serve (I do)

But sometimes the love and the service

are simply not enough

Sometimes even owning my identity-

beloved of God

doesn’t ease the churning in my gut

as I strive to follow your call

speaking truth to power 

dismantling patriarchy

constantly being an irritant 

(and other assorted small endeavours!)

God, why do these tasks seem futile

and isolating?

How, in the midst of these

might I find hope?

Where, in the sea of opposition

might I find allies?

How can I be convinced 

that I am enough for all that you ask?

And where might I discover once more

your divine humour

laughing at my attempts to run

reminding me

that you are God

and I am not!!!

Show me again

how to take myself less seriously

and chill 

as you wrap your arms around me

until I feel the shaking of your mirth

holding me close

keeping me from running

then setting me free

to walk closer to you.

And not to run.

Peripheral

Matthew 9:20-22
Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well.

On his way elsewhere

At the edge of his vision

A woman took her chances,

reached out to touch him 

and stopped him in his tracks.

Though his course was set

his intention clear

still he made space

for the unforeseen

noticing the unexpressed

bringing front and centre

the courage mustered 

and naming the faith enacted.

Displaying compassion

Calling forth wisdom

and pride

Rewarding the risk taken

Honouring the meeting of souls

that happens on the edges

yet, when afforded space

makes healing a possibility.

A peripheral encounter

becomes centre stage.

Promises

My God daughter Charlotte whose son Samuel was baptised today

Numbers 6:24-26
The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.

Acts 2:38-39
Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.”

Promises made in faith

kept in prayer

fulfilled and passed on
with all the room in the world
for the grace of God
to get to work.

Celebrating the faithfulness of God

from generation to generation 

whose Spirit delivers

 more than we can ask for

or even imagine
whose grace works miracles.

Baptised in the name

of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

As those familiar words were spoken

and promises were made

for a new child of God

loved not for his potential 

but because of who he already is

it brought to mind

all the promises that I’ve made

and witnessed

and been part of

in maternity wards

in hospital chapels

in homes

and in churches.

Promises made

in anguish and in heart break

in hope and in joy

Marking life snuffed out too soon

Anticipating the abundant life God offers

Celebrating a life well lived

All marked with the promise of God

Whether at the beginning 

or at the end.

And, in the remembering 

the promise is renewed
and God’s grace is recognised.

God is present 

Honouring beginnings

and endings

and all the in-betweens

And the sacrament declares anew

that we are called

Beloved of God.

Thanks be to God.