“As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42

“My grandmother called to tell me she’d gotten an e-mail account. “Great,” I said. “Send me a message so I’ll have your e-mail address.” I waited and waited, but she never sent it. Several days later, an envelope arrived—Grandma had written her info on a piece of paper and mailed it to me.” (Meagan Lundgren, Calgary, Ontario)

“Whatever my twenty-year-old self was, it was the pivot on which the circle of my life revolved. I do not think that I was a more selfish person than most. Through such unhappiness as I had known myself, I had a feeling for the unhappiness of others, and at least to those I liked I had it in me to be a good friend. But I was, as I have said, centered on myself. The tree, the cloud, the sun—I knew there was a wider world beyond myself and my small circle: the world that Saint Francis praised God for, the world that had marked with such sadness and pity and weariness the face of Jesus in Da Vinci’s study. And I knew that somewhere out there, or deep beneath, there might well be God for all I knew.” (Buechner, Frederick. Listening to Your Life. HarperOne. Kindle Edition.)

The story of Mary and Martha is a story of personal and collective devotion. Martha knew that there would be food to prepare, people to serve, and expectations from the community. Mary had a different viewpoint – she understood that sometimes we need to care more about ourselves than our familial or community expectations. And this is a hard balance to strike – no matter if we know it or not.

Frederick Buechner understood this about himself. He knew he cared for the other – but he also knew how his own selfishness impacted that compassion. I see this conflict Buechner understood, and Mary and Martha lived out, as a conflict between the old and the new. Martha was behaving in the manner that the old establishment of her culture and society expected her to act. Mary on the other hand was doing something new, and radical. Instead of assuming the role of the servant, she assumes the role of the student – sitting at the feet of the teacher – which would have been the place where only men would gather.

Here is the dilemma. Jesus desires our works but does not need our works to love us. But Jesus needs our ears, our eyes, our hearts and our very bodies in a relationship of worship and devotion. Of course, the church needs both – the Marthas and the Marys of our world and society. We need those who feel called to serve, and we need those who are obedient and called to learn. Our discernment is to know when we should do one or the other – and to make sure our lives are balanced with both.

Pastor Dave

“So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the fighting force with him, all the mighty warriors. The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have handed them over to you; not one of them shall stand before you.” So Joshua came upon them suddenly, having marched up all night from Gilgal. And the Lord threw them into a panic before Israel, who inflicted a great slaughter on them at Gibeon, chased them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah. As they fled before Israel, while they were going down the slope of Beth-horon, the Lord threw down huge stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died; there were more who died because of the hailstones than the Israelites killed with the sword. On the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the Lord; and he said in the sight of Israel, “Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and Moon, in the valley of Aijalon.” And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in midheaven, and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord heeded a human voice; for the Lord fought for Israel.”  Joshua 10:7-14

“Scene: A break room. Coworker #1 pulls out a bottle of vitamins.

Coworker #2: What’s that? Coworker #1: Vitamin D. Coworker #2: Why do you take that? Coworker #1: Because we live in Ohio, and we never see the sun. Coworker #2: Wait a minute … they make a vitamin that gives you a tan?” (Sally Churley, Cortland, Ohio)

“Frederick Buechner is remembering his Lawrenceville school years:

Mr. Martin, was the first to give me a feeling for what words are, and can do, in themselves. Through him I started to sense that words not only convey something, but are something; that words have color, depth, texture of their own, and the power to evoke vastly more than they mean; that words can be used not merely to make things clear, make things vivid, make things interesting and whatever else, but to make things happen inside the one who reads them or hears them.” (Buechner, Frederick. Listening to Your Life. HarperOne. Kindle Edition.)

The sun stood still. Did you know there are historical documents that speak evidence to this extraordinary event? Read on:

“It is reported by historians that records of the Chinese during the reign of Emperor Yeo, who lived at the same time as Joshua, report ‘a long day.’ Also, Heroditus, a Greek historian, wrote that an account of ‘a long day’ appears in records of Egyptian priests. Others cite records of Mexicans of the sun standing still for an entire day in a year denoted as ‘Seven Rabits,’ which is the same year in which Joshua defeated the Philistines and conquered Palestine.” (Bible-Science Newsletter, Daily Reading Magazine, Supplement, Vol. VIII, No. 5, May 1978, Caldwell, Idaho.)

So, why is this important? Because as Frederick Buechner notes in his short devotion, words are important. Words have the power to “make things happen inside the one who reads them…” In a world where there is the continual effort to find historical proof for biblical stories, to know that other cultures report something that corroborates the account of Joshua 10 does not confirm my faith – in fact it proves nothing to me. My faith does not need any proof, for if my faith needed proof, then it would not be faith, Amen? No, the story of Joshua and the reports from Heroditus and the account known as “Seven Rabits” just puts a smile on my face. Why? Because G-d is amazing – and G-d’s word has power — period – end of story.

Pastor Dave