"Notice me!"

Proper 11C - (Track 1) Amos 8:1-12, Colossians 1:15-28, Luke 10:38-42

Mary chose the “better part.” Fortunately for her, someone else was in the kitchen. Martha was probably thrilled that Jesus was visiting. She just wanted a little help so that she could listen to him too.

I don’t understand Jesus’ response. May I be forgiven for saying I think it’s a bit off.

There are so many people who have delayed or denied their own needs and dreams in order that others might have the better part. Most are women, but not all. Men make those sacrifices too. It doesn’t feel right to dismiss their generosity and hard work.¹

None of the scholars on my bookshelf vouch for me on this point, but I think this short passage is Luke’s stripped-down version of the anointing at Bethany which appears in the other gospels.² It is in those stories that where we hear, “the poor are always with you…” The point of those anointing stories is that Jesus is special. Attention should be paid. We know we should make time for God on the sabbath. And, if God shows up at another time, unexpectedly, we should drop whatever work we’re doing and pay attention then too! All of the good work we are doing will still be there when we’re done.

That is the point of this passage in Luke too. If and when God shows up, notice it. Pay attention. As Shug Avery said: “I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it.”³

Summer is a great time for this kind of awareness. Our schedules change a bit. We go new places, see new things, meet new people. Hopefully our gardens bloom and gift us with glorious new colors.

Whatever, wherever and however the holy and sacred graces our lives this summer, whether as expected or as a surprise, may we not hesitate to notice and appreciate it.

Peace.

1. Jesus’s response is out of sync with his understanding of himself as “servant” expressed elsewhere in the same gospel. See Luke 12:37 and 22:27. And then there is John 13:3-16 . . . Jesus washed the disciples’ feet. Would he really mind helping to wash the dishes?

2. In Mark 14:3-9 and Matthew 26:6-13, the anointing is at Simon the leper’s house in Bethany. An unnamed woman performs the anointing. In John 11, Jesus arrives at Mary and Martha’s home in Bethany. In John 12, while Martha “serves,” Mary anoints Jesus’ feet. In the dialogue which follows — in every gospel except Luke — Jesus says, “You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” This Sunday’s version in Luke keeps Mary and Martha but strips-out the anointing and replaces service to the poor with kitchen work. Luke uses the anointing elsewhere, performed by an unnamed woman who is a sinner (Luke 7:36-50) to make a point about forgiveness.

3. Alice Walker, The Color Purple, (1982.)