Radical hospitality - A reflection on Martha and Mary
Mary and Martha: Vie de Jesus MAFA
AT OUR Open Table Liverpool communion service this month, Revd Frances Skinner, a trans priest from the Diocese of Chester, shared this powerful sermon on the radical hospitality Jesus practiced which we are called to emulate.
Reading Luke 10:38-42.
When Jesus decided to drop in on Martha and her sister Mary, Martha's first impulse was to get something going in the kitchen. In doing so she was being faithful to the tradition of hospitality started long ago by Abraham when he welcomed the three guests to his tent [Genesis 18:1-8]. Just as Sarah was expected by Abraham to carry out the duties of hospitality, Martha, as a Palestinian Jew, is anxious to ensure that Jesus and his disciples feel welcomed at her home.
However, her sister Mary appears to neglect her traditional duty of helping her sister - instead she assumes the posture of a student learning at the feet of a rabbi, preferring to listen to Jesus’ teaching rather than slaving in the kitchen, even though it was unusual for a first-century Palestinian Jewish woman to join the men in learning. Martha’s expectation was that Mary would join her in the preparation of food - her expectations did not include Mary's flopping down on the rug at Jesus’ feet leaving her to do all the work. Is there any wonder then that the noise of banging pots could be heard from the kitchen and that plates being put on the table with a rather loud thump!
We don’t know what happened next, whether Mary and Martha were reconciled, whether they were all able to enjoy the meal that Martha had prepared, whether Martha was finally able to sit and give her full attention to Jesus. We do know that Jesus invites all of us who are worried and distracted by many things to sit and rest in his presence, to hear his words, to know that we are all loved and valued as children of God.
In today’s culture of hectic schedules and the relentless pursuit of productivity, how many of us, like Martha, are tempted to measure our worth by how busy we are, by how much we accomplish, or by how well we meet the expectations of others? It’s true that much of our busyness and distraction stems from the noblest of intentions. We want to provide for our families, we want to give our children every opportunity to enrich their lives, we want to serve our neighbours, and yes, we want to serve God. Indeed, where would the church be without its ‘Marthas’, all those faithful volunteers who perform the tasks of hospitality and service so vital to making the church a welcoming and well-functioning community?
So what do we mean by hospitality?
For most of us, hospitality is about food and comfort with people who are like us, who share our values, who look like us, who think like us. But is that alI it is? What about caring for the vulnerable, is that not hospitality?
Perhaps we need to upgrade to a more radical hospitality. But to do this, the rule of treating people ‘how you want to be treated’ needs to be adjusted to the idea of treating people how they’want to be treated.
Radical hospitality can also be likened to mission. Mission is primarily about how we live and present ourselves and our way of life to others, to treat others as we would wish to be treated, especially those whom we may not know. When we meet Jesus around people who are just like us and then continue to follow Jesus with people who are just like us, we stifle our growth in Christ and open ourselves up to a world of division.
However, when we’re rubbing elbows in Christian fellowship with people who are different from us, we can learn from each other and grow more like Christ. Christian mission is not just about ‘ramming the Bible down peoples throats’, although some of our more fundamentalist colleagues might disagree. It is about changing the cultures and unjust structures of society, including those of the Church, which hamper the spread of the Christian message, through social reform, because we are told by Jesus that the second most important commandment is ‘to love our neighbour as ourselves’. Our neighbour is of course anyone, not just the person living next door, as we can see from the story of the Good Samaritan [Luke 10:25-37].
The parable of the Good Samaritan offers some guidance on how we should welcome other people, including those we naturally want to reject. Jesus is so radical he breaks down every barrier, his hospitality is for everyone, there is no assessment, no vetting, everyone is welcome, especially the ‘other’, the one no one wants. ‘Loving our neighbour’ is a way of emphasising the presence of God in relationship within a community, and a way of expressing the inclusive requirements of the Christian faith. It is a way of welcoming everyone because love knows no cultural, tribal or national boundary. Jesus’ reached out to everyone, to the blind, the lame and even the lepers, the ‘untouchables’ of his day. He was accepting of prostitutes, tax collectors and rather smelly fishermen! He also accepted all those who were considered to be impure or ‘sinners’ because they had violated the strict man-made purity laws of Judean culture, as well as others considered to be on the fringes of society.
These actions tell us we are all welcomed by God just as we are, because God’s love is not blocked by unjust structures. As Jesus welcomed everyone, so the challenge for the Church today is to be prepared to welcome those who, today, may be considered by some to be on the fringes of society. Christianity is distinctive because of its radical theology of inclusion and its ethical orientation towards the stranger and the outcast. Authentic Christianity seeks to break down divisions rather than put them up. So why, we could ask, has the Church of England only now agreed, in General Synod, not to remove, but to work towards the removal of all remaining barriers full participation for disabled people in the life and ministry of the church?
In first century Judea, inclusivity was focused on the status of gentiles, women and social outcasts. Today these issues include giving equal status in society to LGBTQIA+ people. If we accept the basic tenet that Christianity is inclusive, then is it right that the Church, like the Israelites, should exclude from its life and ministry those who fall foul of cultural prejudices? Christ had many things to say about issues of his day such as divorce, but had nothing to say on the issue of homosexuality or same-sex marriage because these were simply not social issues of his day. The message that Luke is repeating to us today is that we too need to give equal status to the marginalised of our society; the drug addict, the alcoholic, the prostitute, the homeless and the LGBTQIA+ community. After all, we are all equal in dignity before God.
