Luke 10.38-41

ATTENTIVENESS

(Luke 10.38-41)

'Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things'. Luke 10.41.

"For goodness sake woman, stop rushing around. Sit down and pay attention."

That quite simply is the message of Luke 10.38-41.

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Yet, I guess, we can all sympathise with poor old Martha, the subject of our Gospel reading. We would probably do exactly the same if an important visitor arrived unannounced.

There is the knock on the door, and we go to see who it is. "Ah, how lovely to see you”, we exclaim, whilst under our breath we secretly curse.

We usher them into the lounge, hoping that it is clean and tidy, fluffing up the cushions, as we indicate where they should sit. At the same time we surreptitiously remove the open magazine on the coffee table and hope they did not see the empty coffee cup left over from last night.

Our next move is to withdraw briefly in order to get a second breath. Suddenly our mind becomes full of questions. "Have I dusted the room? Did I vacuum the carpet after the dog ate its biscuit on it? And what about the ash tray?”

So we reappear with a false smile of delight upon our face and say: "It is lovely to see you. I was only saying the other day that we had not seen you for some time, and that we ought to get in touch. And now, here you are'.

However, before our guest has a chance to open their mouth in reply, we babble on seeking for an excuse for a longer withdrawal. 'Would you like a cup of tea, or perhaps coffee. I'm afraid we only have instant’.

'White or black, and how many sugars?’

Having got the order, and before we have a chance to get involved in a conversation with our guest, we retreat to the kitchen, not only to prepare the coffee, but also gain composure. 'Now where have I put the biscuits?' we ask ourselves as we begin to search one cupboard after another. ‘Did I put the water in the kettle? I had better check'. And of course, the best china cups are at the back of the cupboard because we only use them when we want to make an impression. So we set about emptying the cupboard of various things in order to be able to get them out.

Finally the kettle boils, the coffee is put into the cups, and the water poured in. After a dash of milk and a quick stir, we return to our guest, full of apologies for having taken so long.

The guest downs the coffee, as soon as it is cool enough and announces that they must be on their way, since they had only popped in whilst passing between two appointments.

We shake hands and place a kiss on each cheek 'Wha. Wha' [why do we make such a noise when we kiss someone?] and bid them farewell.

As we sit down to get our breath, we realise that in our confusion, we have left the biscuits on the kitchen table!

And now in the stillness, we realise that there are many questions which we wish we had asked.

But now it’s too late. We have wasted valuable time by being worried and distracted by many things.

Yes, we can all sympathise with dear old Martha, particularly when her sister did not lift a finger to help.

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Some commentators have suggested that this story is about the value of contemplation as opposed to activity, with the result that contemplation is seen to be a superior form of spirituality.

Others have suggested that it is a story about jealousy, since both sisters had a romantic crush on Jesus.

And others, such as Tom Wright, have suggested that the story is about breaking down barriers, whereby Mary stepped outside the woman's domain, namely the kitchen, into the man's domain when she sat at the feet of Jesus.

As far as I am concerned, the focus of the whole story is not Jesus, nor is it her sister Mary, but Martha. It is Martha who 'welcomes Jesus into her home’. It is Martha who 'was distracted by many tasks'. It is Martha who complains to Jesus that her 'sister left her to do all the work by herself’, and it is Martha to whom Jesus addresses his remarks about being 'worried and distracted by many things'.

In other words, because of her attentiveness to the apparent physical needs of Jesus, she has failed to be attentive to what he is saying.€

It is not just a question of her not listening, or wanting to listen to what Jesus was saying, but rather that her receptive capacity had become blunted and dulled by the various distractions.

What she heard was like the noise one hears on a radio when it is not properly tuned in. The sound keeps coming and going, and being interrupted by static.

Attentiveness involves total surrender on the part of the listener.

No wonder St Benedict, in the sixth century introduced his Rule for his monks with the words: "Listen carefully, my son, to the master's instructions and attend to them with the ear of your heart. This is the advice from a father who loves you; welcome it, and faithfully put it into practice. The labour of obedience will bring you back to him from whom you had drifted through sloth of disobedience”.

It is interesting to note that St Benedict links together 'listening' with 'obedience' since both words come from the same Latin root.

To listen carefully and to be fully attentive, does not happen automatically but is the result of a deliberate act of will.

It is so much easier to listen to the interesting and entertaining. It is much more difficult to listen to the wandering reminiscences of a geriatric.

Yet, if we look at the life of Jesus, whom you and I have chosen to follow, you will notice that he was always wholly present with the person to whom he was talking. He always listened to that person as if they were the only person in the world. He regarded them not as ‘a' child of God but as 'the' child of God.

It is this single-mindedness towards listening that should be our attitude in our prayers as we seek to listen to the voice of God.

'Be still and know that I am God' says the psalmist, and it is in the stillness of our hearts, our minds and our bodies that we shall come to know God.

ooOOOoo

‘Martha, Martha, you are worried by many things' says Jesus, and he says the same to you and to me. 'Terry, Terry, you are worried and distracted by many things’.

Those words are an invitation to us all, to be attentive to the voice of God, and never more so than when we come together in worship and prayer, Sunday by Sunday.