LK 10: 38-42 

Laterally Luke…Pentecost+6…Revised 2019

Short as it is, our passage is Alive with preaching possibilities. No doubt you can see others I’m not homing in on! How can we preach it in the Liveliest way possible? To do this we need to preach yesterday’s story in terms relevant to today. That’s what Jesus is all about! Starting points I can see include: Welcoming, Hospitality, Categorising people, Distractions, Griping about others, being Frenetic, &, of course, that all important ‘One Thing Necessary’. Take your pick, or pick your own!

How welcoming are we of people who ‘drop in’, at home, or in church? Are we as open to them as this home in Bethany is always open to Jesus when he drops by?

How generous in our hospitality are we to those who come visiting? What effort are we prepared to take to give of our best? Note how M & M express their hospitality in different ways.

Can we break out from any habits of categorising; not just M & M, but any & all of those we come in close contact with? Or, maybe, anyone we avoid closer contact with because they threaten?

I’m a fall guy for being distracted! Time & again I tell my loving & long-suffering wife, “Sorry - I was just distracted; I’ll do what needs to be done right now!” Who am I to preach to others about the dangers of being distracted unless & until I ‘fess up’ & change my ways?!

Do we find ourselves griping about the way someone else does things in our home, our congregation, our community? Could we not accept what they’re doing as their way of doing things, their contribution, even when we think they could do whatever it is better, or better still, do something else?! 

These wise words, ‘Frenetic service, even of the Lord, can be a deceptive distraction from what the Lord really wants’ (Brendan Byrne¹) may give us food for thought to get us started. What he says also fits well with that ‘One thing necessary’ Jesus expects, hopes for, or, is it demands of us? That we remain fixed on God, no matter what we’re doing. This means of course, doing things for others as we’d do them for God. And I take this to apply to everything we think or do.

Brian

Afterthought: In JN 11, after Lazarus' death, there's an element of role-reversal. It's Martha who goes out to meet Jesus & talk theology, while Mary stays at home passing coffee & cake for those calling to offer condolences!

¹ The Hospitality of God, Liturgical, Collegeville, MN, 2000, p. 103