Martha and Mary - Luke 10:38-42

Luke 10:38-42

Martha and Mary lived, probably with their brother Lazarus, in a town called Bethany which
was about 1.5 miles east of Jerusalem on the slope of the Mount of Olives. So I guess it would have been a favourite retreat for Jesus—a place to rest and pray in his favourite place on the nearby Mountain. On this particular day the two women were alone and Jesus calls with his disciples causing Martha to go into panic mode. What happens during the course of Jesus’ time there is a studyin contrasts between the two sisters Martha and Mary.

First contrast, Martha opened her home but Mary opened her heart. Verse 38: “As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.” Martha’s focus was on the preparations and getting everything right and ready. And in normal circumstances with everyday guests that would have been fine. But this guest is different. It’s Jesus—the Saviour of the world, God incarnate, the Son of God and Mary recognized that this was an important moment to probably join with the other disciples and listen to Jesus’ teaching. She “opened her heart” which is another way of saying that she gave herself completely to listening to all that Jesus was saying. By contrast Martha was much
too busy in the kitchen.

I think sometimes busyness and service—even service for God - can be another way of closing God out of our lives– a means of running away from God. In Psalm 46:10 the words come as a command “Be still—and know that I am God..” Or “cease striving and be aware of me”. Or the Message: “Step out of the traffic and take a long loving look at me.” Each translation is a cry from God to stop what we are doing and take time to just be with him so we can be open to all he wants to say to us. Martha opened her home but Mary opened her heart.

Second, Martha was distracted while Mary was focussed. Verse 40: “Martha was distracted by
all the preparations that had to be made.” I heard a quote the other day which goes: “Don’t let the urgent get in the way of the important”. It’s from a book on management and it goes on to say that often you find that the things that seem to shout the loudest for out attention—the urgent—are often just that. Loud. Whereas the important are usually a lot quieter and get easily overlooked. The “still small voice” or whisper that Elijah heard after the earthquake etc..
Luke talks here about “all the preparations that HAD to be made.” And anyway who decided that these HAD to be done and done then? Martha probably. And in deciding and committing
herself to them you have to wonder what made them so urgent? Had she planned something
over-elaborate to impress Jesus a sort of showing off how good she was? Perhaps she was one of these people who like to organise everybody and be in charge? Which is fine—to a point - but what happens when something really important happens? Well it just has to wait. So Martha was distracted “by much serving” the KJV puts it when it wasn’t serving but being still that was needed. Mary, by contrast was much more focussed and therefore knew that the urgent needed, for now, to be laid aside in order to be with the Master. Verse 40 “but only one thing is needed” said Jesus.

Thirdly, therefore Martha worried while Mary trusted. Worry comes sometimes from a feeling that we are not in control. That things are getting out of hand or are overwhelming us. Jesus wasn’t worried about the preparations and could easily have waited or eaten something more simple. His calmness was reflected in Mary who sat with Jesus, tuned Martha out and Jesus in.
Trust comes from stillness. Blaise Pascal once wrote: “All the troubles of life some upon us
because we refuse to sit quietly for a while in our rooms.”

Sometimes hyperactivity is a form of running away from something. Or a means of closing our ears to something we don’t want to hear. Perhaps we are afraid that if we heard God he would ask us to do something we didn’t want to do. Or that our life would change too radically? No wonder C.S. Lewis said that “Busyness isn’t OF the devil it IS the devil!” The last thing he wants us to do is be still and listen to God, because by being still we would come to trust him. So Martha was content—wrong word - committed to worrying away at what she was doing, shutting
out Jesus in the process.

Finally, as a result Martha was chastised and Mary commended: “Mary has chosen the good or best portion and it will not be taken away from her.” There seems to be a subtle reference to
a well-known passage about the need to listen and listen well. It’s from the parable of the Sower
where Jesus is explaining what it means: “Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what He has will be taken from him” (Luke 11:12)
The commendation of Jesus was that because Mary had given herself to listening she what she had would not be taken away from her. What better encouragement then to become focussed, to open our hearts, to be still and listen to Jesus than to be assured that what we then receive
from him, we will not lose.

So we need to learn from Mary and Martha the lessons God wishes to teach us which will remain with us always.

Disciples and witnesses - Acts 1:7-8

One of my favourite quotes is from St. Seraphim of Sarov a nineteenth century Russian Saint. He says: “Acquire the Spirit of peace and a thousand souls around you shall be saved.”

In these days of frenetic activity and frantic busyness one of the first casualties of the Christian’s life - let alone the priest’s life—is that of spending quality time in the presence of God. I don’t mean saying the offices or attending services—although they are, I believe, the minimum requirement of the Christian’s life—I mean silent engagement with God in a way which enables us to meet Him at the very deepest levels of our existence. It is this engagement that enables us, says Seraphim, to acquire the spirit of peace which will itself have an impact not only on our own lives but that of others around us.

As one who has made Jesus’ call to “make disciples of all nations” his own personal mantra, evangelism has for much of my ministry been one of concentrating on the outward activity of setting up and running various courses from Emmaus to Alpha, or Christianity Explored to Saints Alive, any tool that would help me fulfil the charge that Jesus has laid at my feet and the feet of His Church. But those words of Seraphim have caused me to re-visit the scriptures and look again at what else Jesus said with regard to this calling to make disciples of all nations.

It was in Acts 1:8 that I discovered how the words of Seraphim fit in so perfectly with Jesus’ plan for taking the message of the Good News and making it known to a needy world. Here Jesus reminds the disciples that taking the message out from Jerusalem and into the ends of the earth should not become a human resourced activity, but like any other God-directed work, be dependant on the power of God manifested in and the through the presence of the Holy Spirit. It is in this context that Jesus adds a further comment which suddenly gelled with the words of St.
Seraphim. He tells them: “and you will become my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”. And it’s that word ‘witness’ that suddenly struck me. It is not just the witnesses words that are important in a court of Law but whether:

First, whether his/her words can be corroborated with that of other witnesses or pieces of evidence; and,
2. Whether the character of the witness is such that he/she can be deemed trustworthy when
considering what they say. The point is that in terms of evangelistic outreach of any sort, the medium is the message. It is the quality of our Christian character that ultimately gives the message of the Good News both legitimacy and power. No wonder Jesus tells the disciples to wait until the Spirit comes—the same Spirit that produces the fruit of love, joy and peace etc—so that by continual contact with Him we may be ready to take a more holistic approach to evangelism and mission.

So to come back to St. Seraphim of Sarov, his message is a soundly biblical one. That if we do take the time to spend with God and acquire the spirit of peace then in and through the same Spirit we will be able to do as Jesus has called us to do and be His instruments in the salvation of many souls.

O heavenly King, O Comforter, the Spirit of truth who art everywhere and all places, come and abide in us. Cleanse us from all impurity and of thy goodness, save our souls.

Baptism talk - Mark 10:13-16

Props—sweet bars wrapped as presents for the children.

1. God loves to give (verse 13).
In our reading the people knew that God, in Jesus, would bless their children. So they brought them to him. We can have that confidence too that God wants to give us good things.

2. But often human beings get in the way of that (verse 13b) and the disciples didn’t want Jesus bothered. And tried to stop them. But Jesus told off his disciples and told them allow the
children to come to him for a blessing.

3. God loves to give but the thing about gifts is that in order to be something good they need to be received.

4. Here are some presents for the children—imagine they are God’s blessing for them. (Give out presents - but don't open).

5. Now what happens if you never open them? Every year £68 million pounds of lottery money is left unclaimed. 1000’s of pounds of unclaimed parcels are auctioned off by the Post Office.
It’s crazy—but there are lots of people out there who are missing out on gifts they have been given but have never opened.

6. Baptism contains within it a gift to us from God. In it He gives us Himself. But like any gift we need to ‘open it’ as well as receive it. Lots of baptised people who have been given, never opened this gift from God.

7. But what is this gift? It’s God giving Himself to us.

8. What is God like? He is—the Bible tells us—love. When we look at Jesus we see the most loving person who ever lived. Everyone wants to be loved. God wants to give His love to us.

9. God is also perfect peace. The one thing you notice about Jesus is that whatever situation he finds himself in, he is at peace. Who else could sleep in a boat when there’s a storm going on
and the boat is near sinking!

10. God is also eternal, and by giving us Himself He offer us His life so that we can live forever when this life is over.

11. Love, peace, eternity, these are just a small part of God’s gift to us through baptism and the great tragedy—for me –is that so very many people are failing to understand, investigate and open this precious gift from God to us. Just think what they are missing.

12. Baptism is about God giving himself to us. Will we open it?

Now open your gifts and enjoy them. Amen.

St. Illtyd - November 6th

Like many of the early Celtic saints of the dark ages, details of Illtyd’s life are at best, sketchy. There is a 12th century ‘Life of Illtyd’ written in Latin which draws from and expands on earlier details of his life, emphasizing the miraculous nature of some of the things he did.

Sceptics will say that much of this is a work of fiction as miracles underline his authenticity as a true saint of God and worthy of veneration. Believers would say that there is no smoke without some fire and point to the existence of an age which was more believing and comfortable with the miraculous than today’s scientific age. So more faith, more miracles, less faith, less miracles.

As a Christian I will always lean towards belief in miracles for several reasons. First, Jesus performed miracles during his life, and his disciples after him. Second, Jesus clearly dead, rose again from the dead. Lastly, Jesus promised his Church: “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” John 14:12

These words were fulfilled after the Holy Spirit fell on the disciples following Jesus’ Ascension —when he went to be with the Father - and as the church began to expand. Since then it has always been accepted that those who were true to Jesus would, like them, see similar miracles during their life.

Early accounts of Illtyd claim that he was originally from Brittany, the son of a minor Breton prince named Bican Farchog. He began a career as a skilled warrior serving his cousin King Arthur and others until his wild ways brought him into trouble with one of the early welsh saints, St, Cadoc at Llancarfan Abbey (West of Barry near Cowbridge). According to one account he attempted to raid the abbey with his warband, but was driven off by the monks and was pursued into a treacherous bog where all but Illtyd perished in the deep mud.

When rescued by the monks, Cadoc, their abbot, is said to have spoken to Illtyd about the Christian faith, leading a humbled Illtyd to repent, give up his weapons and his warlike ways, give life to Christ and become a monk. Cadoc then was the right man, at the right time, pointing Illtyd in the right direction.

Illtyd went on to become renowned as the most learned Briton in the study of scripture and philosophy, later becoming abbot of his monastery in Glamorgan and being responsible, in turn, for the discipling of other welsh saints including Pol Aurelian, Samson of Dol, Gildas and of course, David himself.

His monastery attracted hundreds of monks and many churches were subsequently dedicated to him across South Wales includingSt. Illtyd’s Church, in Llanilltyd Fawr or as we know it LLantwit Major.

There is a simple cross at LLantwit—thought to date back to the 6th century and on the site that was once the monastery—which bears the inscription: “Samson placed his cross here for his soul, for the soul of Illtyd, Samson, Rhain, Sawyl and Ebisar”

Of the miracles associated with Illtyd one involves the land on which the cross now stands. In his days it was originally a small waste island, but through the saints intercession it was miraculously joined to the land and used for the building of his school.

What lessons can we learn from his life?
First, about his conversion. It was whole-hearted. After his brush with death, Cadoc became God’s instrument to share the good news about Jesus with him, leading him to give up his life of violence and the instrument of death, his sword, only to take up another instrument of death, the cross, which he then carried into a peaceful life of self-denial and prayer to the end of his life.

Conversion is about what the French call a “volte-face” - a complete “about turn” - a change of life and direction. Nothing less than this would have made Illtyd the man which we remember and who, with others, turned Wales Christian.

Second, it’s interesting that the most commonly attested miracle associated with Illtyd had to do with the ground, just as David’s great miracle also had to do with the ground as it raised him up to preach to the crowd. The early Celts had a deep affinity with nature and worked hand in hand with it to serve God. We have largely lost touch with creation and the result we see is this ongoing battle between the two—nature and man. Paul talks in Romans of creation “groaning as in the pains of childbirth” Romans 8:22. I wonder how much “groaning” is down to this disconnect between the two today?

Lastly, again we find the Celts a people soaked in the scriptures. St. Illtyd’s reputation was as a man who knew his scriptures inside out. As a result he was able to pass on his faith and knowledge to others and raise up saintly men and women to, like him, follow Jesus. Someone once wrote that knowledge of the Bible is knowledge of Christ, for Christ is to be found in all the scriptures—Old and New. In other words if you want to know Christ better, read your bible more. And if you want to get closer to Christ, get more familiar with the scriptures.

Illtyd did and churches dedicated to his name are living a legacy of his faithfulness to Christ, His word and His church.

St. Cyprian - died September 14th AD 258

Cyprian was born in Carthage, N. Africa from a wealthy pagan background. Before becoming a Christian he was an orator and a teacher of rhetoric. We don’t know the date of his conversion but two things stand out when we consider his change of heart. First, after his baptism circa 245-8 he gave away a portion of his wealth to the poor in Carthage, and second, he took the additional name of Caecilius in memory of the presbyter to whom he owned his conversion (a presbyter was the ancient and original title of what we now call a priest).

Not long after his baptism he was ordained deacon and soon after presbyter and some time between 248 and 249 he was elected bishop. He was a popular choice among the poor although there was opposition among the church hierarchy.

His election was followed by what has become known as the “Decian persecution” when
pressure was put on all bishops and church officers to sacrifice to the emperor. On the face of it, it would have been a simple thing just to do what was expected, make the sacrifice, and get on with it, but to the Christians such as Cyprian, this was unthinkable. There is only one Lord and one God, and to acknowledge the Emperor as God—which was what the sacrifice meant - was to deny God. So rather than do that Cyprian, with others, fled Carthage.

But the persecution divided the church between those who resisted and those who capitulated. Because Cyprian ran away it was seen as cowardice and Cyprian’s enemies in the church accused him at Rome. Cyprian’s defence was that he ran away because he had received various visions
and commands from God to tell him to, but I obedience to Rome he returned after 14 months and stayed faithfully serving his people until another persecution flared up under Emperor Valerian and both Pope Stephen 1st and Pope Sixtus 2nd were martyred in Rome.

This time Cyprian stayed and refused to sacrifice to the pagan deities and firmly professed Jesus as Lord. He was banished to Curubis where he continued to encourage his flock through various writings and epistles. In a vision he saw his approaching fate and after a year he was recalled
and put under house arrest in his own villa. On September 13th 258 he was imprisoned he returned to his villa where he was cross examined and sentenced to die by the sword. His only answer was “thanks be to God”. The sentence was carried out in an open place near the city in front of a large crowd. After removing his own garments he knelt down and prayed and after blindfolding himself he was beheaded. His remains were buried near the spot and later various churches erected although Charlemagne is said to have had the bones transferred to France.

There are a few lessons we can draw from his life:

1. Although Cyprian later refers back to his baptism as the moment he received grace from God to believe and live the Christian life he also acknoweledges that baptism alone is not enough—there has to be a corresponding change of heart leading to a change of life. God’s grace must
be met with man’s—and woman’s—willingness to believe and trust in Him on a daily basis.

Second, Cyprian was known in his lifetime as a defender of the faith. In his writings and in his preaching he vigorously defended Christianity against the pagan world. And even though he was
gifted as a speaker and thinker, he still had to learn about his faith so that he knew enough to “give a reason for the hope that was within (him).” (1 Peter 3:15.) So must we all, now more than ever, be ready to speak for Christ, when the time comes or the opportunity arises.

Lastly, Cyprian was a realist about the world and it’s problems. Listen to this extract from one of his writings to a pagan called Donatus:

"This seems a cheerful world, Donatus, when I view it from this fair garden under the shadow of these vines. But if I climbed some great mountain and looked over the wide lands, you know very well what I would see. Brigands on the high road, pirates on the seas, in the ampitheatres men murdered to please the applauding crowds, under all roofs misery and selfishness. It is a really bad world, Donatus, an incredibly bad world. Yet in the midst of it I have found a quiet and holy people. They have discovered a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure
of this sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They have overcome the world. These people, Donatus, are the Christians… and I am one of them.

Louis Armstrong was right that this is sometimes a wonderful world but it is not perfect- far from it - and we need to keep on working with God to make it better.

Barabbas

Barabbas is referred in some of the Gospels as man who was freed by Pilate in place of Jesus when the crowds demanded that he observe a custom of allowing someone to be set free in place of the accused. There is no extra-biblical reference to such a custom but that does not mean it did not exist because we often find that the Bible records something history has overlooked or not thought
appropriate to mention.

He is described in Mark as a “notorious prisoner” and John fills out that description by calling him a bandit a word Josephus the historian uses to describe a freedom-fighter or a revolutionary. This would account for his popularity with the crowds.

Some other interesting details emerge: his name means: “Son of the Father” which draws
an interesting parallel with Jesus who is the true “Son of the father”. In fact some translations refer to him as Jesus Barabbas! And other writers speaking about Barabbas, also draw our attention to the Old Testament practice of taking two goats, sacrificing one and releasing the other as a scapegoat, introducing Barabbas as the scapegoat set free while the other, Jesus, is sacrificed.

Apart from that information later traditions tell that Barabbas after his release followed Jesus to the cross and watched him die curious about the character of the person who, effectively, took his place. Still other traditions tell us that after his release Barabbas went back to his old ways and was killed in another rebellion against the Romans.

What can we learn?
1. Like Barabbas we are guilty of our sins but Jesus “took our place”. Maybe Peter was thinking
of Barabbas when he wrote in 1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.” Like Barabbas we deserve punishment for our sins
but Jesus takes our place on the cross and recieves the consequences of our sins.

2. Barabbas’s story is not a happy ending and there is no record of a 'St. Barabbas' who turned from his life of sin to follow Jesus. Some do reject God and die in their sins. God desires that all be saved but He never allows that desire to infringe our freedom to say 'no' to him.

3. Jesus’ commitment is so great however that “God demonstrates his love for us in this: even while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5:8) As bad as Barabbas clearly was, Jesus loved him and desired his salvation. No sin is too great that Jesus can't save us.

Hilda, Abbess of Whitby

Hilda was born in 614, the daughter of Edwin, King of Northumbria. She was baptized at a young age through the preaching of St. Paulinus, one of the first missionaries sent from Rome to the British Isles.

At the age of thirty-three, she renounced the world and entered monastic life. At first, she sought to enter a monastery near Paris, but she was called back to her homeland by St. Aidan, Bishop of Lindisfarne, who, discerning her already-apparent spiritual gifts, assigned her as the Abbess of a small monastery. As her gifts of spiritual guidance became more widely-known, she led larger monasteries, finally establishing the Monastery of Whitby in 657. She spent the next thirty-three years directing the monastery, which became a beacon of Christian life throughout the British Isles and beyond. The monastery was unusual by modern standards in that it contained both a women’s and a men’s monastic house, with Mother Hilda as spiritual head of both. The community became a training-ground for priests and bishops who went on to spread the Gospel of Christ throughout Britain.

Commoners, kings and Bishop Aidan himself came regularly to Mother Hilda for spiritual counsel, and she was in her own lifetime regarded as the mother of her country. For the last six years of her life, she was afflicted with an unremitting burning fever, but continued her holy work undeterred until her repose in 680. At the moment of her death, St. Begu was awakened by a vision of Hilda’s soul being borne up to heaven by a company of angels.

Reflection

On the surface of it what relevance has a seventh century abbess to do with us sophisticated people of the 21st century? They were very different times – dark ages – where life was not as technologically advanced and the average life expectancy was probably in the mid-thirties. England was divided into nine different kingdoms and large parts of the British Isles was pagan. What bearing then has Hilda on us today?

First, underneath the animal skins and the chain mail people were essentially the same as today and like us needed to hear the good news of the gospel that would set them free from sin, death and the prospect of an eternity without God. Hilda’s task was the same as ours – to win people for Christ.

Second, society was fragmented. Nine different kingdoms in a religious landscape that was a mixture of different faiths where Christianity was in the minority has a familiar ring to it, doesn’t it.

Third, England was moving into a very uncertain period of history where it would have to withstand invasion after invasion of angles, jutes and Vikings. Uncertainty about the future is not something particular only to us.

Finally, the challenges that faced the Christian Church of the day was not only one of evangelization but preservation. For the message to retain it’s power to transform it had to be the same faith that was imparted to the apostles and handed down to each succeeding generation.

How did Hilda and her contemporaries face these challenges?

First, they recognized the importance of building communities of Christians who could pray and work with each other. Jesus set the precedent when he gathered around him twelve disciples and taught them all they needed to know and do. This community formed the ‘base camp’ from which they set out on their mission to evangelize the world “beginning in Jerusalem, then Judea, Samaria and the ends of the world” (see Acts 1).

Second, they had a strong devotional life which was undergirded by a rule of life. A rule of life gave their lives a shape centred on prayer and bible meditation. They fasted on certain days (Wednesday and Friday) and at certain times of the year (Lent and Advent) and they lived lives of simplicity and generosity.

Third, they preserved the scriptures not only by copying them by committing them to memory and living them out in life.

Hilda, and the work she did, is as contemporary now as she was then. We need more people like her today, willing to give their all to Christ, his CHurch and His cause. Is God calling you?