The Greening Season

6th Pentecost, Proper 11C, July 20, 2025

The Reverend Dr Adam J Shoemaker

 I speak to you in the name of God, creator, redeemer of life.

This past Thursday, the 17th of July, was the fifth anniversary of the death of John Lewis, that courageous man of God and saint of the modern-day civil rights movement. John Lewis during the tumultuous times in which he lived was jailed, he was beaten, his life was threatened on numerous occasions. And so amid his struggles for justice, I imagine John Lewis had every reason to feel overwhelmed or to want to tap out and walk away.

And yet John Lewis famously once counseled justice followers all over the world. “Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful. Be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime.” (Essence 20201206). When you think about all John Lewis experienced, that's pretty remarkable that he once said those words.

I believe those words are indicative of the faithful life that he lived, a life grounded and rooted in the God of love that we Christians have come to know in Christ Jesus. And that leads me to our gospel reading this morning from Luke. I love this year in our church calendar because it is the year in our three-year rotating cycle of readings where we focus on the Gospel of Luke. Luke is the best storyteller of the four evangelists that we have in the Bible. Luke gives us wonderful stories, evocative and relatable characters. We saw that last Sunday in the text I preached on that gave us the parable of the good Samaritan, a parable for our times, if there ever was one. And I believe that we see an example of that again today with this story, this short story that details a visit that Jesus pays to the sisters Mary and Martha.

Jesus enters their home and we're told that Martha is very busy trying to be a good host, which was a really important thing in the ancient middle eastern world. She is busy with all of her many tasks. So busy, we are told that she gets distracted and also a little perturbed as she glances over and notices her sister Mary doing nothing more than sitting at the feet of Jesus. And Martha complains to Jesus about this. While Jesus's reply is, I'm sure, not what Martha would have hoped for, I would argue, friends, that these two sisters collectively have a lot to teach us about the Christian faith and life.

In many respects, I would argue that they are two sides of the same coin. All of us Christians are called to be contemplatives in action. Contemplatives in action. As I said in my sermon last Sunday, God has given us all agency. God has given us all gifts to use out in the world as a part of the body of Christ. And heavens knows the world needs our efforts at this moment in time. But if our efforts, our work, our individual ministries are not tempered by time for contemplation and reflection, time to listen deeply to Jesus through prayer, through sacred scripture, through meditation, if we do not make the time to carefully listen to that still small voice of God, as the psalmist puts it, that is always trying to bubble up within us, then I do not believe that our ministries will be sustainable. I believe our ministries will be diminished and I believe that we will run the risk of falling underneath the rip tide of the chaotic and polarized and vitriolic world in which we live. A world that can tempt us even with good intentions to become the very thing that we claim to deplore.

Next week, the 31st of July, the church will remember St. Ignatius of Lyola, a 16th century Spanish theologian who is recognized as the founder of the Jesuit order, a significant order in the Roman Catholic Church. Jesuit spirituality is all about being a contemplative in action. It's all about being in the world. Yes. having work and ministry to do, but tempering that work regularly with contemplation and reflection. And while the Jesuits have a very specific way that they go about doing this, I would encourage us today, as we continue on with our Christian lives, to consider how it is we are making time to proverbially sit at the feet of Jesus. How is it that we are making time for Sabbath rest? Not just when we gather for worship on Sunday mornings, but throughout the week as well. How is it that you are making time to be still, to be quiet, to go for a walk, to get outdoors, to get much needed perspective, and to cultivate those relationships in your life that help you to remember who you really are. Who and who's you really are.

What are you doing to remember the presence of God that is always in our midst and always trying to beckon us forward? This season in our church calendar, the green season, is in my estimation meant to symbolize growth and spiritual maturity. This season is given the very unimaginative title of “Ordinary Time.” But I believe friends the call is to increasingly come to realize that, in the end, there is no ordinary time. Every moment, every hour, every day that we've been given is a gift that is full of grace.

How are we helping to pay attention to that as we go about the busyness of our everyday lives? Our reading today from Luke, I would argue, is encouraging us to consider that for the sake of our work and our witness in the wider world. So, as we continue through this green season in the church, may we grow more fully into our understandings of how we lean in to our calling to be a contemplative in action, our calling to embody the love of God by also remaining anchored in that love day by day as a part of the body of Christ.

Amen. Amen.

© 2025 Adam J Shoemaker

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