Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

The church bell is named the Potato Bell because back in the old days everyone lived close enough to church to hear the bell toll from their home. The tradition at Zion is to ring the bell before worship to call everyone to church. And we also ring the bell during the Lord’s Prayer.

I’m not sure why, outside of the fact that the ringing of the bell gave those not in church an opportunity to pray the Lord’s Prayer at the same time as those in church.

On a clam day I can hear the bell from my home, and once when I was not in church I remember feeling very connected to worship when I heard the bell and prayed the Lord’s Prayer along with everyone else.

But let it be said that the Potato Bell had nothing to do with prayer. It was all about the potatoes.

We all know that the Lord’s Prayer comes near the end of the service. So when it rang, it was the signal for all the cooks at home to put the potatoes in the oven so that the potatoes would be done in time for Sunday dinner that was served when everyone came home from church.

So our church bell is known as the Potato Bell.

I like to tell this story. It speaks of simpler days at Zion when Sunday was a family day for going to church and for enjoying Sunday dinner.

But as I told the story recently someone asked what about the cooks? It is great to come home from church and have Sunday dinner, but the women (I’m sure it was the women,) were unable to worship because they were too busy putting the potatoes in the oven.

Couldn’t the family have waited an hour or so for dinner so that mom or grandma could go to church? Couldn’t the cooks have put the potatoes in after they came home from church?

I’ve thought a lot about this question this week as I’ve read the story about Mary and Martha. It is a well known story. It is simple and short. But it is a story that speaks volumes about human nature.

Martha is the worker bee. She is the host who has welcomed Jesus into her home. Now the text doesn’t’ say she is cooking dinner, but this is what I picture. Wanting to show hospitality she attends to every detail to provide a nice dinner for Jesus. Martha is the woman who stays home from church and listens for the Potato Bell so that dinner will be served as soon as Jesus arrives.

Her sister Mary, however, is oblivious to Martha’s agenda. Mary spends her time at the feet of Jesus listening to his words. Mary is the one who goes to church, worships the Lord, and then comes home never appreciating the hard work that went in to prepare Sunday dinner.

And as we read Martha is not pleased by her sister’s actions. And so she appeals to Jesus.

But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, so you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself?

So are you a Mary or are you a Martha?

When we hear this story we have a tendency to simplify it. Jesus seems to be taking Mary’s side. He seems to be advocating a lifestyle that favors listening over serving, a lifestyle that favors being over doing, that favors worship over work.

Using Mary and Martha as examples we hear Jesus is telling all the cooks back in the good old days at Zion that it was more important for them to be in church praying the Lord’s Prayer when the church bell rang, than it was for them to be at home in the kitchen putting the potatoes in the oven when the church bell rang.

But understand that this short story in our gospel this morning is not that simple.

Jesus is not choosing sides. Jesus is not criticizing cooks who work hard preparing nice meals.

But at the same time Jesus will not let Martha compromise his agenda.

Martha’s place in this story is highly unusual for a woman living in Israel during Jesus’ day. Martha is a home owner.

Now as Jesus and his disciples went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home.

Women didn’t own homes in those days. Martha lived ahead of her day. To own a home she had to prosperous, independent, and of course a very hard worker.

Martha needs to be commended.

But her problem, which is typical of prosperous, independent, and hard working people, is that Martha tries to set Jesus’ agenda.

This is not a story that diminishes the importance of hard work; it is a story about not telling Jesus what to do.

Verse 40 tells us that Martha “came to Jesus.” The literal translation means to “stand over.” Martha is so sure of herself that she assumes Jesus agrees with her agenda. So she tells Jesus what to do.

If she had a problem with Mary why didn’t she tell Mary herself? Instead Martha drags Jesus into the conflict hoping that Jesus will side with her.

But Jesus doesn’t bite. Jesus cannot be manipulated.

It appears Jesus is siding with Mary, and in this instance he is. But more importantly he is telling Martha that life is not all about Martha. That is a hard lesson for prosperous, independent, hard working people to learn. Often they are fooled into believing that their success gives them an in, with Jesus.

Look at verse 40 again. Martha talks about me 4 times in one sentence.

Lord do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself. Tell her then to help me.

One of the dangers of the Christian life is the assumption that Jesus fits neatly into our agenda. Jesus represents our politics. Jesus agrees with our morality. Jesus confirms all of our decisions and agrees with all of our actions.

And the less time we spend actually listening to Jesus the more assumptions we make that Jesus agrees with all we say and do.

This morning Jesus is not speaking against hard work, service, and extending hospitality. He’s speaking against Martha’s assumption that her agenda is his.

Sometimes we need to stop being so busy. We need to stop being so productive, so anxious, so distracted. Instead we need to assume Mary’s position at Jesus’ feet and listen to what Jesus is really saying.

Maybe the cooks who put those potatoes in the oven when they heard the church bell ring during the Lord’s Prayer should have been in church.

We all know that dinner could wait.

What matters in the Christian life is worship. What matters is coming to church to hear God’s word and to share in the sacraments like Alexis’s baptism this morning. What matters is our fellowship, our life together as a faith community; where together we seek to discern God’s will and realize that our life is not about Christ fitting into our agenda, but it is about us fitting into his agenda.

In the end the potatoes don’t matter. What matters is what Jesus has to say.

Amen

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