Daily Scripture:
Luke 10:38 On their way Yeshua and his talmidim came to a village where a woman named Marta welcomed him into her home. 39 She had a sister called Miryam who also sat at the Lord’s feet and heard what he had to say. 40 But Marta was busy with all the work to be done; so, going up to him, she said, “Sir, don’t you care that my sister has been leaving me to do all the work by myself?” 41 However, the Lord answered her, “Marta, Marta, you are fretting and worrying about so many things! 42 But there is only one thing that is essential. Miryam has chosen the right thing, and it won’t be taken away from her.” (Complete Jewish Bible).
Reflection Questions:
In Jesus’ day, most rabbis thought women couldn’t learn, and were not worth teaching. Not Jesus, who matter-of-factly taught Mary. Dorothy Sayers, a devoted follower of Jesus, was the first woman to receive a degree from Oxford (with highest honors). She said Jesus was “a prophet and teacher who never nagged at [women]; never flattered or coaxed or patronized; who never made arch jokes about them; who never treated them either as ‘The women, God help us!’ or ‘The ladies, God bless them!’; who rebuked without [demeaning] and praised without condescension; who took their questions and arguments seriously; who never mapped out their sphere for them, never urged them to be feminine or jeered at them for being female; who had no axe to grind and no uneasy male dignity to defend.”*
- In the New Testament, to “sit at someone’s feet” meant becoming that person’s disciple. (In Acts 22:3, the apostle Paul used the literal Greek phrase “at the feet of Gamaliel.”Acts 22:3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city and trained at the feet of Gamli’el in every detail of the Torah of our forefathers. I was a zealot for God, as all of you are today.) In this story, “Martha did what the culture valued in women: cleaned the house and cooked the food. Mary did what the culture valued in men: became a disciple.”** Jesus did not scold Martha for getting things ready for the meal. He did challenge her notion that it was wrong or improper for Mary to listen. (In John 11:17-27, we see Martha, as well as Mary, as a disciple in dialogue with Jesus.John 11:17 On arrival, Yeshua found that El‘azar had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Beit-Anyah was about two miles from Yerushalayim, 19 and many of the Judeans had come to Marta and Miryam in order to comfort them at the loss of their brother. 20 So when Marta heard that Yeshua was coming, she went out to meet him; but Miryam continued sitting shiv‘ah in the house. 21 Marta said to Yeshua, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 Even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” 23 Yeshua said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Marta said, “I know that he will rise again at the Resurrection on the Last Day.” 25 Yeshua said to her, “I AM the Resurrection and the Life! Whoever puts his trust in me will live, even if he dies; 26 and everyone living and trusting in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”(Complete Jewish Bible)) The story was striking because Jesus treated these women the same way he treated his male disciples. In what ways does our society still need to catch up to Jesus’ ideal? How does Jesus’ example either affirm or challenge any of your personal attitudes and actions?
Lord Jesus, in our “enlightened” times, we still too often hear jokes about “woman drivers” and similar topics. Guide me as I discern and live beyond any gender stereotypes that my heart still harbors. Amen.
Family Activity:
Psalm 37:30 says, “The mouth of the righteous articulates wisdom,
his tongue speaks justice.” Invite each family member to share a time when they experienced someone being bullied or hurt. Ask each person how they felt and how they responded. Discuss if they felt they did what was wise and just in God’s eyes or if they wish they had said or done something differently. Role play ways to respond to these situations with God’s wisdom and justice. For example, practice what you might say or do when someone is being left out at school. (Include the person at lunch and on the playground.) When others say mean things about someone, how can you respond? (Speak up for the bullied person.) If someone tells you they are being hurt, what should you do? (Believe them, be their friend and tell a safe grown-up.) Pray and ask God to help you speak words of wisdom and justice!
* Dorothy Sayers, Are Women Human? Penetrating, Sensible, and Witty Essays on the Role of Women in Society. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005, p. 68.
** John Ortberg, Who Is This Man? The Unpredictable Impact of the Inescapable Jesus. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012, pp. 54.
Read today's Insight by Dave MaGeeDave has served in rezlife Student Ministries since 2006, serving as the Director since 2013.
Dave grew up in a large UMC in the Houston, Texas area, attended Vanderbilt University for college, and went to Duke University for seminary. He has served in full time youth ministry since 1999.
In ministry Dave has a passion for teaching the Bible and theology, leading missions, and raising up student leaders. In his free time, Dave is an enormous sports fan, especially SEC football and Duke Blue Devils basketball.
The story of Mary and Martha got me to thinking about the family I grew up in, and my own mother. I was trying to figure out if she was more a Mary, seeking to listen and connect, or a Martha, working hard behind the scenes. As I was reflecting I remembered a story from my childhood.
When I was in fifth grade, I played baseball simulation games on my Apple II-E computer. See, I was a sports “nerd”, so I would simulate the games, then write down the stats from the games in spiral notebooks. One day I was playing a game on the computer and something distracted me. I left the computer for a while. When I returned, the computer had been turned off! Who would do such a thing to my important simulated baseball games?!? When I discovered my mother had turned off the computer, I went up to her and literally screamed, “DON’T EVER DO THAT AGAIN!”
I still remember this story because I believe it is the only time I ever yelled at either of my parents, at least that angrily and at the top of my voice. While I know my mother forgave me (and God has too), I am still embarrassed and ashamed I would speak to my mother that way.
I heard a speaker at a youth ministry conference last summer challenge all of the students, especially the male students, to never ever speak down to any girl or woman, particularly not their mothers and sisters. I know that for some reason a lot of us feel we are just sort of “stuck” with our families and they are “stuck” with us. We assume they will just deal with our moods and however we choose to speak to them. How many of us in an honest moment might admit that we often treat our families worse that anyone else in the world? That speaker convicted me, both about my family of origin and my current family. I believe I am a pretty decent son, husband and father--but could I genuinely say that I always use my words to uplift my family, to show value to my family, and especially to the women who I deeply love and care for? Do my jokes about our family love languages being sarcasm and passive aggressiveness (I hope they're just jokes!) reflect changes I needed to make?
Since that conference last summer I have prayed that I would be more thoughtful with my words, to seek to reflect Christ to others and to see the godly value in others with special emphasis on my family, and to never tear other people down. In times of stress or elevated emotions I literally pray that God will help me to pause for 2-3 seconds before speaking, to be quick to listen and slow to speak (James 1:1919 Therefore, my dear brothers, let every person be quick to listen but slow to speak, slow to get angry;). It has changed my responses and replies so many times in ways that I pray honor God. Whether a Mary or a Martha, every woman is a child of God and potential sister in Christ. Is there someone in your life who you may need to change the way you speak to?
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Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
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