the 6th sunday after pentecost
the PRAYER …
Eternal God, you draw near to us in Christ, and you make yourself our guest. Amid the cares of our lives, make us attentive to your presence, that we may treasure your word above all else, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
the READING …
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.”
luke 10:38-42
the DEVOTION …
Okay. Say you’re the HR person at your place of employment. There’s an opening and you’ll be doing the hiring. Two individuals apply. One is all business. Ambitious. Self-starting. Dedicated. Determined. Detail oriented. The other … well … not so much. Easily distracted. Mind wanders. Impractical. Unrealistic. Basically, clueless. Question is … which would you choose? (Yeah! Me, too!)
That’s the irony of this week’s gospel reading. It’s not Mary who’s called ‘distracted.’ Mary, the one you’d expect. It’s Martha! Martha, the one who’s anything but! Jesus says SHE – of all people – is worried, troubled, by many things! (The least of which is a sister who’s not doing her share!) Martha! Down-to-earth! No-nonsense! Matter-of-fact! The one voted “Most Likely!” But then, maybe this is that foolishness, Paul talks about in 1st Corinthians. God choosing what’s unexpected! God choosing what’s surprising! God choosing who no one else would even consider!