[Propertalk] Fw: Sermon Resources for July 18 - Part 1

[Joe Parrish]

Sermons for Proper 11: 
     Luke 10:38-42 – “What Jesus Saw in Martha”  
     Luke 10:38-42 – “Mary, Martha, and the Martha Stewart Church” by Leonard Sweet

Luke 10 - the sermon titled "What Jesus Saw in Martha" 

Some years ago, The Archbishop of Canterbury was rushing to catch a train in London. In his haste, he accidentally jumped on the wrong passenger car and found himself on a car full of inmates from a mental hospital. They were all dressed in mental hospital clothing.

Just as the train pulled out of the station, an orderly came in and began to count the inmates, “1-2-3-4…” when suddenly he saw this distinguished looking gentleman there wearing a business suit and a clerical collar and he said:

“Who are you?” The answer came back: “I am the Archbishop of Canterbury!” And the orderly said: “5-6-7-8.”

The point of that story is this: It is so important to know who we are and who other people are. If we know what makes us tick and what makes other people tick, we get along better. If we understand where we are coming from and where other people are coming from, we relate better. There is more compassion, more empathy and more kindness. When Jesus looked at Martha that day in that emotional scene, he saw some red flags, some warning signals, some danger signs, some destructive attitudes within her which were more harmful to Martha herself than to anyone else. Jesus loved Martha. They were good friends and that day, he saw in her some hurtful attitudes that were working in her like spiritual poisons, petty attitudes, which can devastate and destroy the soul.

Let’s look at these dangerous attitudes which were in Martha. We may find ourselves or someone we know somewhere between the lines. When Jesus looked at Martha that day, he saw deep down inside of her the dangerous attitude of….
1. Resentment
2. Narrowness
3. Unkindness
The rest of this sermon following the outline above can be obtained by joining www.eSermons.com.

_______________________

Luke 10 - the sermon titled “Mary, Martha, and the Martha Stewart Church” by Leonard Sweet 

In the classic Billy Crystal movie “City Slickers,” three long time friends face middle age. In their middle-age crisis they find themselves losing their focus and in danger of losing their families.

To reignite the fire in their lives the guys sign up as “cowboys,” helping a dude ranch move its herd of cattle from high in the hills down to the lower valley. “Curly,” the grizzled old cowboy who leads them, seems to be the toughest, canniest, wisest person they have ever met. Billy Crystal asks the usually tight-lipped cowpoke what his secret is. What makes his life so strong and centered and sure.  Curly smiles, raises his grubby, gloved index finger and proclaims, “It is just one thing,” then he rides away.

Billy’s character spends the rest of the movie frantically trying to figure out what Curly meant. What IS that “just one thing?”

Psychologists, marriage counselors, relationship gurus of all stripes, warn us not to expect one person to provide for all our emotional, intellectual, and relational needs. We need a variety of relationships, a network of spouses, friends, colleagues from work, basketball buddies, quilting club comrades, children, elders, and peers, to meet all our relational needs.

But what might be true for our human connections does not hold true for our spiritual needs. Our soul needs only “one thing.” No matter what your denomination. No matter if your spiritual temperament is exuberant, reserved, flamboyant, or meditative. Whether your soul craves cathedrals, or soars under the blue dome, it is all the same as long as we have that “one thing.”

That “one thing” is Jesus.

In today’s gospel text Martha, the mistress of the house, rushes around trying to make sure everything is perfect. Martha is like some first century Martha Stewart. She is focused on the food, the house, the drink. Martha seems to be doing for others. At first reading Martha is just being a conscientious hostess. But a deeper reading of the story reveals Martha is really only concerned with herself.

How does HER house look?
How does HER food taste?
How are HER wines being served?

Martha is so busy “serving” she completely forgets whom she truly serves…

The rest of Leonard Sweet's sermon can be obtained by joining www.Sermons.com

________________________

Don’t Forget the Best

There is an ancient Scottish legend that tells the story of a shepherd boy tending a few straggling sheep on the side of a mountain. One day as he cared for his sheep he saw at his feet a beautiful flower -- one that was more beautiful than any he had ever seen in his life. He knelt down upon his knees and scooped the flower in his hands and held it close to his eyes, drinking in its beauty. As he held the flower close to his face, suddenly he heard a noise and looked up before him. There he saw a great stone mountain opening up right before his eyes. And as the sun began to shine on the inside of the mountain, he saw the sprinkling of the beautiful gems and precious metals that it contained. 

With the flower in his hands, he walked inside. Laying the flower down, he began to gather all the gold and silver and precious gems in his arms. Finally with all that his arms could carry, he turned and began to walk out of that great cavern, and suddenly a voice said to him, "Don't forget the best." 

Thinking that perhaps he had overlooked some choice piece of treasure, he turned around again and picked up additional pieces of priceless treasure. And with his arms literally overflowing with wealth, he turned to walk back out of the great mountainous vault. And again the voice said, "Don't forget the best." 

But by this time his arms were filled and he walked on outside, and all of a sudden, the precious metals and stones turned to dust. And he looked around in time to see the great stone mountain closing its doors again. A third time he heard the voice, and this time the voice said, "You forgot the best. For the beautiful flower is the key to the vault of the mountain."

In our Scripture passage we have someone who also forgot the best. Her name was Martha.
 
Adrian Dieleman, Hosts and Guests
__________________________________________

Will the Grass Ever Come Back? 

Erma Bombeck, the author who wrote "If Life Is A Bowl Of Cherries, What Am I Doing Here In The Pits", tells of two moments in her husband's life:

There was a time when the children were growing up that her husband used to go and look at the back yard.  Surveying the muddy patches where the lawn should be, he would wonder -- Will the grass ever come back?

And then there was the time when the children were grown and gone that her husband went and looked over the beautiful green lawn, immaculate from lack of use and wondered -- Will the children ever come back?

Some parts of life are temporary - some are eternal.  Wisdom knows the difference.  This is the fundamental issue at stake in the story of Mary and Martha.

Richard J. Fairchild, The Better Part
________________________________________


Responding with Humor

By the way, don't you think Luke also included this incident in his gospel account because he found it irresistible, or perhaps more accurately, because he found a touch of humor in it? There is humor here, isn't there? We smile at the story because we see ourselves in it, or we detect someone we know who is similar to Martha. Sometimes our priorities, or frustrations, are so far off the beam that they are laughable. And along with this was Martha's own lack of humor, which might have finally saved her. "The Lord's coming to my house? You mean he did accept my reckless invitation?" Martha might have asked. "Well, then, he's going to have to settle for potluck!" Such an attitude could have made Martha a relaxed, delightful hostess. 

A friend of mine likes to tell stories about how his teenage children would call him at home on the telephone on Friday nights after the high school basketball games. It was usually about 10 o'clock and they wanted to know whether they could bring a few friends over for a little get together. When the parents asked how many friends were coming, they were usually told, "Oh, about seventeen." Instead of slamming down the phone, the guy said he always smiled at his wife, and the two of them hightailed it over to the supermarket to get enough supplies to feed and water down the two dozen teenagers who showed up. The slight ridiculousness of the situation and the parents' humorous response to it preserved a loving relationship between them and their children.
 
Richard W. Patt, All Stirred Up, CSS Publishing Company, Inc. 
__________________________________
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://stsams.org/pipermail/propertalk_stsams.org/attachments/20100717/88dac532/attachment.htm>