The Prophecy of the Summer Fruit

July 20, 2025

Amos 8:1-12

The Prophecy of the Summer Fruit

Year C

 

Prelude

 

Greetings

 

Call to Worship

God calls us here to worship. We carry many worries and are distracted

by many things, but here, in this time and place, we are invited to set

them aside, to be fully present. Let’s pause and take a deep breath.

We remember who we are:

We are the body of Christ.

We remember whose we are:

We are God’s beloved children.

We remember our chief purpose:

To glorify and enjoy God forever.

Let us worship God!  (Presbyterian Outlook, Stephanie Sorge)

 

Invocation

Abiding God, we invite you to inhabit our space. We long to renew our minds, restore our souls, and rest our presence before you. Still, we bring the burdens we carry into this gathering. We hold our responsibilities, cares, and concerns. Let us bind ourselves in your love and strength and the community of faithful and curious. We affirm that this time with you and one another equips and fortifies us for the journey and helps us discern the better way. Be glorified in our worship. Be honored by our praise. Be known by your people, O Creator, Teacher, and Friend. In your many names, we pray. Amen.  (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Cheryl Lindsay)

 

 

 

 

Song

 

A Sermon for All Ages

 

Responsive Reading    Psalm 52 (Common English Bible)

Hey, powerful person!
    Why do you brag about evil?
    God’s faithful love lasts all day long.
² Your tongue devises destruction:
    it’s like a sharpened razor, causing deception.
³ You love evil more than good;
    you love lying more than speaking what is right. Selah
⁴ You love all destructive words;
    you love the deceiving tongue.

⁵ But God will take you down permanently;
    he will snatch you up,
    tear you out of your tent,
    and uproot you from the land of the living! Selah
⁶ The righteous will see and be in awe;
    they will laugh at those people:
⁷ “Look at them! They didn’t make God their refuge.
    Instead, they trusted in their own great wealth.
        They sought refuge in it—to their own destruction!”

⁸ But I am like a green olive tree in God’s house;
    I trust in God’s faithful love forever and always.
⁹ I will give thanks to you, God, forever,
    because you have acted..
In the presence of your faithful people,
    I will hope in your name because it’s so good.

 

 

Scripture     Amos 8:1-12

 

Sermon the Prophecy of the Summer Fruit

 

I am so excited!  It is summer time and things are starting to grow.  And I get to enjoy all of the wonderful fruits and vegetables that are available fresh this time of year.  Corn, zucchini, blueberries, cantelope.  I picked my first tomatoe of the year, and more are starting to grow.

 

When you think about it, a bowl of summer fruit tells us everything that we need to know about God.  The bible is full of life lessons about fruit.

Strawberries are my favorite fruit. I even love strawberry plants, for once they preached a powerful sermon to me which I've never forgotten. I was on my hands and knees in my garden pulling weeds, when suddenly I noticed something I had seen hundreds of times before but never caught the lesson. It was the "runners" on the berry plants. From the main vine a number of slender shoots extend like arms in all directions. They are thin, green stems creeping along the ground, being pushed out by that mysterious power in the mother plant. After reaching out about 6 inches, the end penetrates the ground and developes roots. Then the leaves of the new baby plant shoot upward. All the while, before the infant plant is able to sustain itself, it receives nourishment from the parent through the "runner."  When the new growth is fixed in the ground, the "runner" resumes its journey and reaches out another 6 inches, still nourished by the original clump of berries. Then the process is repeated. And while one plant is multiplying, there are several others doing the same thing in different directions. I forgot all about the weeds and saw only that mother plant sending out its runners. This caused me to cry out, "O God, make me like those strawberries, reaching out in a effort to multiply and bring forth fruit."

Source: Unknown

Fruit represents our faith, we are called to be faithful by being fruitful.

 

For instance, summer is the perfect time to talk about stewardship.  We are called to take care of the things that God cares about.  Also the assurance that God will provides for us.  We can plant the seeds, we can care for the plants, but only God provides the fruit.  This summer we are having a mini stewardship session to encourage us to think about the needs of the ministry.  During the days of the Bible, people were encouraged to bring their first fruits of harvest to the temple.  Today our first fruits can be  our money, our time, our talents and skills.  It can be other things like paper products, cleaning supplies, office supplies or helping with a ministry of the church.  First fruits are proof of God’s love for us, it is also an obvious sign of our faith and what is inside of our hearts.

 

Two Fruit Trees - Different Fruit

      A farmer one planted two fruit trees on opposite sides of his property.  The one he planted to provide a hedge hide the unsightly view of an old landfill; the other to provide shade to rest under near a cool mountain stream which ran down beside his fields.  As the two trees grew, both produced began to flower and bear fruit.  One day the farmer decided to gather the fruit from the tree nearest his house " the one used to provide a hedge from the landfill.  As he brought the fruit inside the house, he noticed that it was a little deformed " the symmetry of the fruit was not very good, but still the fruit looked edible. Later that evening, while sitting on his porch the farmer took one of the pieces of fruit for a snack.  Biting into the fruit, he found it to be extremely bitter, and completely inedible.  Casting the fruit aside he looked across the field to the other tree over by the mountain stream.  After walking across the field, the farmer took a piece of the fruit from the other tree and bit into it.  Find the fruit to be sweet and delicious he gathered several more pieces of fruit and took them to the house.

      The fruit was greatly affected by the nutrition of the root.  Just as the tree grew by the landfill to be bitter, and the tree by the stream produced sweet fruit, so the Christian has a choice.  He can either put down his roots into the soil of the landfill of fleshly pursuits, or into the cool refreshing stream of the person of Jesus Christ.  We must understand that the root bears the fruit.  The fruit of the Christian is the outward evidence of the inward motivation. 

 

      Psa 1:1-6, "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish."

 

A fellow I was reading enjoys telling something that he and his brothers did as children (my notes did not record his name; sorry).

When they misbehaved and were sent to their room, they were secretly pleased. Just outside their window stood an old fruit tree. The boys would softly raise the window, climb down the tree, and play in the field behind the house. After a bit, they would climb the tree, slip inside and close the window. Then, they’d call downstairs to mom and dad, asking if they hadn’t suffered enough.

One day they heard Dad tell Mom he planned to cut the tree down. “It hasn’t borne any fruit in years.” The boys panicked and went into action.

Pooling their money, they ran to the village market and bought a sack of apples and a spool of black thread. That evening, they slipped out the window and tied the apples onto the tree.

Next morning, they waited eagerly for Dad’s reaction.

Soon they were pleased to hear him call out, “Mary! Come see! It’s a miracle! That tree is covered with apples.”

The boys were congratulating themselves. Then they heard Dad say, “It really is a miracle…because that’s a pear tree!”

(The parents had the wisdom and good humor to allow the tree to survive.)

Just as a good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and vice versa, pear trees do not bear apples. We reap what we sow.

 

It is Jesus who says that we are known by the fruit that we produce.  Another fruit lessons in the bible is in the book of Galatians.  Paul says that the fruits of the spirit are “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control”

When those things are present in our lives and our actions then God is near.  The new testament just builds upon the aspects of God listed in the Hebrew bible.  The main aspect of God are love, mercy, holiness and justice.  When we talk about giving first fruits, we are talking about love and mercy.  When we talk about the fruits of the spirit we are talking about holiness.

Our scripture in Amos teaches us about the important aspect of justice.  God has a soft spot for the poor, the vulnerable, those who are suffering because of unjust systems.  In Amos 8 – Amos sees a vision of summer fruit.  There are a lot of positive lessons to learn from a bowl of fruit – it is nutritious, good to eat, and a sign of summer growth and abundance.  But fruit does not last very long.  If one fruit goes bad, it affects all of the other fruit around it.  Once it goes bad, it smells and is inedible.

If fruit represents faith – Amos’ message to us is that good faith can turn to bad faith pretty easily.  Amos is concerned that people have stopped caring for others, people have gotten greedy, they chose to take care of themselves at the expense of others.  People even come to church to look good on Sunday and are very cruel people during the week.

God is not pleased.  Fruit can look good on the outside and be rotten on the inside.  Amos warning is that when summer is over, and fruit goes bad it is thrown out and destroyed.  Amose gives us another warning – our stomaches may be full, our bank accounts may be full, our calendars may be full, but in reality our life will be empty – unless we put God first.

In the scripture, God speaks to Amos and asks him what does he see.  God says  Hear this, you who trample on the needy and destroy
        the poor of the land, Surely I will never forget what they have done.

Back in 2002, Rick Gillespie-Mobley gave a sermon on stewardship that I thought was pretty good.¹ It was more of a devotional. But he gave an illustration that I thought was outstanding. At the beginning of that sermon he shared a story that I think beautifully illustrates a major problem in Evangelical Christianity.

He told about a father who wanted to do something special for his five year old son, Jimmy. He asked his son to get ready, and said that they were going to go out for treat. The son was very happy, but when his dad said that this time he could pick anything he wanted, Jimmy was very, very excited. Jumping up and down he said he wanted McDonald's French Fries. Now, keep in mind that he's a five year old, so those of you who are jaded by McDonalds can hold your horses and not spoil the story.

Anyway, they went to the local McDonalds. And Jimmy was expecting a small sized French Fries, but his eyes lit up as his dad told the cashier that he was ordering a super-sized French Fries and a coke. After dad had paid for the snack, Jimmy was almost dancing with anticipation. Even during prayer he could hardly wait to start digging into those fries. As soon as prayer was done, Jimmy started eating the French Fries with obvious delight. And of course, it delighted the father that his son was enjoying such a simple treat. How easy was that be? It didn't cost much to bring delight to his son's heart. And enjoying the moment, dad reached over the take a couple of fries. And to his surprise, the son pulled the fries close to his body, quickly put his arms around the fries, building a kind of fort, and sad, "No, these are mine."

And dad was a bit shocked. But he pulled back his hand and kind of stared at his son for a bit. And during those moments he had an epiphany of how God must feel when God asks for a couple fries from the container of our life. He was thinking to himself, what is this little rascal thinking? I just wanted a couple of the fries. And after all, I am the source of these fries. I was the one who offered to take him out, I super-sized the order so that I could share it with him, I paid for it, and gave it to him. And he doesn't want to share anything. And apparently my little pip-squeak of a son has forgotten that I am stronger than him, so building a fort with his arms seems rather silly. I'm not going to force him, but it seems kind of silly.

And then he thought, “Why did I even want a couple of fries? It's not like I was hungry. And if I was, I could have bought my own. For that matter, I could buy ten containers of fries. It's not that I need the fries. I just wanted to share in his moment of joy and I wanted him to include me in his moment of joy.” One or two fries would not have made much difference to him as an adult. He just wanted Jimmy to invite him into this wonderful little world that he had made possible for his son, rather than excluding him.

And I think that is such a wonderful metaphor of what often goes wrong with our stewardship. God has given all of us a metaphorical bag of French Fries. Some of us have small bags, and others have big bags, and some even have super-sized bags. Some of your bags might have curly fries, and others might have jalapeño flavored fries. But God has given every one of you some things.

And like that dad, God desires to sit down at the table with us for some fellowship and connection time. When He reaches over to use some of the blessings he has freely given to us, far too often we say, "No God, these are mine. Go get your own fries." And it hurts God's feelings (speaking anthropomorphically, of course). It's not as if God needs our French Fries. He doesn't need anything. He has made all things. He made us, and gives us strength, and enables us to find employment, and prospers us in so many different ways. And God doesn't ask us to give because He is hurting. He could just utter the word and there would be billions of French Fries. So why does He ask us for any? He asks us to give because he wants us to find the delight of what it means to become more like Him.

David and the men in this chapter had it right. God had prospered them with super-sized French Fries, and it was their absolute joy to share those French Fries with God and to offer God more. And rather than looking at every word of this chapter, I thought I would give a rapid overview of 20 verses that show 15 right ways of engaging in stewardship that are better than Jimmy's hoarding.

 

 

What gifts has God given to us, What did God ask for us in return? When were we not willing to share with God? How can we share our fries with God?  What greed is rampant in the world today? What does God want us to do about it in faith?

A bowl of fruit teaches us all that we need to know about our faith.  Let’s enjoy our fruit while it is summer!  Let’s Pray!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Song

 

Prayer of Intercession

O Christ, your cross speaks both to us and to our world.

In your dying for us,
You accepted the pain and hurt of the whole of creation.

The arms of your cross stretch out
Across the broken world in reconciliation.

You have made peace with us.
Helps us to make peace with you
By sharing in your reconciling work.

May we recognize your spirit
Disturbing and challenging us to care for creation
And for the poor who most feel the effects of its abuse.

O Christ, the whole of creation groans.
Set us free and make us whole. Amen.

From the Iona Community’s Iona Abbey Worship Book (Wild Goose Publications, Iona Community, 2001). Re-posted on the re:Worship blog at https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2013/10/prayer-of-intercession-colossians-1-15.html.

 

 

Lord’s Prayer

 

Stewardship Moment

Life is all about choices and how we allow God to be present in our choices.  Banana here – represents something that you received recently – present, money earned, something weren’t expecting.   Lesson for today, is first fruits and putting God first in everything that we do.

Peel banana – peel off a tenth and put it aside.

Most of the banana left.   Life starts to happen.  Friend stops by and invites your out for ice cream – spend a dollar. Still have 8 dollars left.

Next day, your family goes to Catfish days – want to eat out – spend 3 dollars.  How much left?

Go to the store and you want a candy bar – 1.50. how much left

End of the week spent it all – but we set aside a tenth – still have money to put in church

Many people do it the opposite – so excited to get their gift – that that can’t wait to dive in – and in the next week. Nothing is left for God.    That stewardship calls us to put god first in everything that we do – not just money – but time talents, gifts.  Give our first fruits to God – have left to be blessed.  Everything else falls into place.

Have that opportunity to give first fruits to God.

Prayer of Thanksgiving

Loving God, you have given us life and called us to new life as disciples of Jesus Christ.  In gratitude and thanksgiving, we offer back to you our lives, symbolized in these gifts of coin and check.  Help us continue to offer “the better part” not only today but each day of our lives.  AMEN (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving)

 

 

 

Announcements

 

Closing Prayer for Facebook

Many tasks await us and distractions abound. Having been fed by the

Word of God and refreshed and inspired by the Holy Spirit, we go from

this place, renewed by our call to witness to and share God’s love in a

world that so desperately needs it.

As we do so, may the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the love of God,

and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you, now and always.

Amen.  (Presbyterian Outlook, Stephanie Sorge)

 

 

Community Time Joys and Concerns

 

Benediction

As you go,
Boast in the goodness of God
Live in the abundance of God’s love.
Remember that you are more than enough.
Find rest and joy in the day.
Know hope and safety in the night.
Go, in peace to love and to serve.  (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Cheryl Lindsay)

 

 

 

Additional Illustrations

Many Christians spend six days a week sowing wild oats and then come to church and pray for crop failure.

Source: Unknown

False Advertising

“Recently I saw a bag of potato chips with a bold declaration splashed across the front: ‘Zero grams of trans fat.’ I was glad to know that I wouldn’t be consuming any trans fat, which research has shown is detrimental to my health. But then I flipped the bag over and read the ingredients list, which included things like ‘yellow #6’ and other artificial colors, and partially hydrogenated oil (which is trans fat, just a small enough amount that they can legally call it ‘0 grams’). I thought it was incredibly ironic that these chips were being advertised in a way that makes me think they are not harmful, yet were really full of empty calories, weird chemicals, and, ironically, trans fat. It struck me that many Christians flash around their ‘no trans fat’ label, trying to convince everyone they are healthy and good. Yet they have no substantive or healthful elements to their faith” (Francis Chan, Crazy Love [Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2008], excerpted in Charisma Leader, November 4, 2008, https://ministrytodaymag.com/index.php/features/17801-serving-leftovers-to-a-holy-god).

 

 

 

 

 

Summer Fruits

July 21, 2019 Amos 8:1-12 Summer Fruits Fifth Sunday After Pentecost Year C Children's sermon: How do you like your banana's? Amos says that life is like a banana. It does not last too long. Amos 8:1-12 Common English Bible (CEB) A vision of summer fruit 8 This is what the LORD God showed me: a basket of summer fruit. 2 He said, “Amos, what do you see?” I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the LORD said to me, “The end has come upon my people Israel; I will never again forgive them. 3 On that day, the people will wail the temple songs,” says the LORD God; “there will be many corpses, thrown about everywhere.[a] Silence.” Judgment on oppressors and hypocrites 4 Hear this, you who trample on the needy and destroy the poor of the land, 5 saying, “When will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath so that we may offer wheat for sale, make the ephah smaller, enlarge the shekel, and deceive with false balances, 6 in order to buy the needy for silver and the helpless for sandals, and sell garbage as grain?” 7 The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob: Surely I will never forget what they have done. 8 Will not the land tremble on this account, and all who live in it mourn, as it rises and overflows like the Nile, and then falls again, like the River of Egypt?[b] 9 On that day, says the LORD God, I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in broad daylight. 10 I will turn your feasts into sad affairs and all your singing into a funeral song; I will make people wear mourning clothes and shave their heads; I will make it like the loss of an only child, and the end of it like a bitter day. 11 The days are surely coming, says the LORD God, when I will send hunger and thirst on the land; neither a hunger for bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the LORD ’s words. 12 They will wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they will roam all around, seeking the LORD’s word, but they won’t find it. Footnotes: a. Amos 8:3 Heb uncertain b. Amos 8:8 Heb uncertain Farmer Brown came to town with some watermelons. He sold half of them plus half a melon, and found that he had one whole melon left. How many melons did he take to town? You have an unknown number of watermelons to start. We'll call that unknown number "x". The farmer sells 1/2 of his watermelons and another 1/2 of a watermelon. This is represented by the formula x/2 - 1/2, the number he has sold. He is left with 1 watermelon. Now we have our complete formula: x/2 - 1/2 = 1 x/2 = 3/2 x = 3 So that riddle serves absolutely no purpose but to introduce our scripture for the day. It is indeed a scripture about a farmer coming to town bringing some fruit. But his message was not intended to be meaningless, as a matter of fact it is still relevant today. Amos was a farmer who lived just outside the capital city. Obviously, he never moved to the city, he found city folk to be a little strange. He would go to church or temple when he was in town. And bring his offering, but he felt the people were missing the point. They came to church to be seen and not to worship God. The book of Amos is a series of four of these visions, where God speaks to him through the simple things in life. today’s lesson is about a bowl of fruit. Fruit was considered a delicacy – when you had fruit life was good. You had more than enough , and as we all know, you needed to eat it as soon as possible, because it did not last for long. There is no worst smell than rotten fruit – it smells up everything. It is not in this verse, but at one point Amos calls the women of the town cows. All dressed up and looking nice, but rotten on the inside. What was their sin – they took good care of themselves, but there were people starving all around them. It was their job to take care of the people, and they didn’t. It was their job to share, but they didn’t. As a matter of fact the people that they should be helping, they took advantage of them. Amos says that the life of a sinner is a lot like the life of fruit. Once it goes bad, there is nothing you can do to make it good again. Yesterday, I left a banana in my car, waiting to eat it. But by the time I got to it, it was completely black and soft. The heat had cooked it – there was nothing I could do to save that banana. Amos was telling the people that the damage was done. God was already upset, and they would be punished for their selfishniss. This is called a lament – telling the bad news, that they would be exiled for their sin. They would be exiled for their sin. Amos was a simple farmer, but he had a way with words. He spelled out how people were cheating the poor. And it still happens today. For instance at the grocery store, the size of the bag is the same, but there is less in it. When you go to the restaurant, the price of the meal is the same, but the plate is smaller so you get less food. The last accusation really hit home- when people come to church they watch the clock. They are here, but they cant wait for church to end, so they can go back to their lives. Some it is lunch, some it is taking a nap. For those amos is talking about, they waited just enough to get out of church, so they could go back to being a sinner. None of us here – we are the good people. Scripture has a way of interacting with the times. We see different things in it according to what is happening in our lives and in the world. One thing that really stood out to me about this scripture – day will come when hunger is upon the land. Not a hunger for food – but for God. People will look for God and just not find God. That is our world today. More and more people wondering what is going on – every man for himself. No right or wrong, we are all at each other;s throats. What will happen to bring a sense of peace amongst the people. Where is God in this situation. Let me tell you another story about two women. There was a man, whose father died at when he was young. So when he got married, his mother lived with the man and his wife. Unfortunately, the mother and wife did not always get along. It wasn’t that they didn’t like each other, but it wasn’t that they did like each other. So the mother decided to move out on her own. As soon as she moves out the wife gets pregnant. A rumor gets to the mother that the daughter in law is happy that she is gone, and says that good things did not happen until she finally moved out. Upon hearing the rumor, the mother in law, gets mad and says that for the daughter in law to say such things, righteousness must have finally disappeared from the world. An angel is listening to this story and tries to reason with the woman. But the mother won’t listen. So the angel suggest that maybe she should have a funeral for righteousness since it is no longer in the world. The woman agrees and goes to the cemetery to have a funeral for righteousness. Her anger is still not satisfied. So the angel suggest that maybe she should burn the daughter in law and her unborn baby, since they are so unrighteousness. At this the mother-in-law realizes her mistake and begs the angel to spare them their life. The daughter in law too realizes her mistake of shunning her mother and she runs to the cemetery to make up with her and to welcome her home. They both seemed to realize their mistake and to realize that righteousness was not about judging the other, but in understanding one another. This story reminded me of the message of Amos. Amos too seemed to believe that righteousness was dead. There was no hope for Israel, their society had become so corrupt and unfair to poor people that God had no choice but to destroy them. In his prophecy he tells them that the end is near. There is no hope. Things will get so bad, that people will yearn to hear the word of God – and it will not come. They will desperately seek the light at the end of the tunnel and never see it. The good news for us is that day will never come. The good news is that there is always light, there is always hope, there is always Jesus. The presence of Jesus is always here. The thing is that you can’t be so caught up in life that you forget to look for him. Don’t get so distracted that you forget to listen. Jesus reminds all of us that he came into the world to serve and not to be served. Jesus welcomes us to his house- he had already done all of the preparation, all of the work. There is nothing that we need to do – just answer the invitation to leave your troubles behind, to listen to god’s blessed word and to gain strength and calmness for whatever may be going on in life. Hopelessness and the feeling that the end is near come out of our nervousness. It’s not what is going on, it is the attitude in which we experience it. Jesus came into the world to bring us a gift from heaven, that gift is peace and the knowledge that in a world, which says otherwise, everything is okay. Let us be the people who live in Jesus grace- fed by his word enpowered to give to others. Let us pray…. Amen.

A Balancing Act

Eighth Sunday of Pentecost
July 18, 2010
Year C
Amos 8:1-12
Luke 10: 38-42
A Balancing Act

A woman was vacationing in a quaint little New England village by the seashore; the town had a downtown of cute and unique little shops. She got a taste for a double dipped chocolate ice cream cone, so she goes into the ice cream shop. When she went into the shop, there was only one other person in the shop, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, sitting at a table reading the paper, having coffee and a donut. She glanced at the customer, but had to do a double take – it was Paul Newman. Even though he was one of her favorite stars, she didn’t want to be a nuisance, so she pretended not to really see him. She ordered her ice cream cone, paid for it and hurried out of the store. When she got to her car, she had to congratulate herself, she had acted so coolly in the presence of a movie star – she had acted as if this was a normal everyday occurrence for her. But she also realized that something wasn’t quite right, where was her ice cream cone. She remembered getting it from the clerk, but she didn’t seem to have it. So she goes back into the store, and asks the clerk what happened. Paul Newman responds; you put it in your purse with your change.
How many of us would not respond in the same way, if we were in the presence of our favorite star? Under normal circumstances, we are calm and levelheaded people. But there are those circumstances in our lives, and those people who make us nervous, uneasy and distracted. Even in the midst of our trying to calm down, our distracted state makes us do dumb things. This lady ran into Paul Newman at an ice cream shop. Can you imagine how she would have responded had she been told that Paul Newman was coming to dinner? How would you respond if you were told that someone who you admired a lot was coming to dinner? Everything would have to be perfect, the house cleaner than it ever was before, the perfect menu planned, the perfect dessert picked out, the right activities to keep guest entertained. You know that no matter how much you try to get accomplished, as the guest arrive, there is going to be more and more that you realize needs to be done. This would be the perfect opportunity for nervousness and distraction to take over your life.
That is what was happening for Martha, as she prepared for Jesus to come to her house for dinner. She wanted everything to be perfect for him. This story is in John and Luke, in the John version it is clear that this is the Mary and Martha who are sisters of Jesus friend Lazarus. Luke does not specify who these two women are. What we do know is that no matter how hard Martha tried, things were not coming together. All she wanted was a little support from her sister Mary.
Martha means lady or mistress. It is the female equivalent of Lord – meaning she was the female head of the household.
When Jesus arrives, some interpretations of the story say that he told Martha that only a few things were needed, others say that he said that only one thing was needed. And it is not clear whether he was talking about the food, saying that he really did not need a lot to eat, just one dish, not a full spread, or was he saying that it was okay for Mary to sit with him and not help, because it was more important for her to get the word of God in her life.
Jesus acknowledges Martha’s nervousness about the event. He tells her that she is distracted. And just like the lady in the first story- it is her distractedness that makes her act, do and say things that she normally would not.
When I think about this story, my initial reaction is to think that Jesus is on the one hand criticizing Martha for doing the work that any woman would do. Wouldn’t any women be concerned about dinner for guest coming to her house. Wouldn’t any women want everything to be perfect. And in the midst of Jesus telling Martha not to worry about dinner, he and his disciples still expected dinner, and ate with her. Why wouldn’t Martha asked Jesus to pull his sister away from listening and studying. Women were not allowed to go to school, and there was certainly no reason for her to learn, when she was not allowed to teach.
But even 2000 years ago, Jesus knew enough to take us beyond stereotypes of what a woman’s work was. This could have easily been a story about two brothers, Jesus tells the story of the prodigal son, in which the older brother complains about doing all of the work, while his brother got all of the praise.
But jesus is saying that it is not the work that you do, but the state of mind in which you do the work.
Jesus points out that Martha is worried about a lot of things, in trying to make everything perfect, she is distracted from what is most important.
It is interesting that this parable is sandwiched between the story of the good Samaritan, and teaching his disciples the Lord’s prayer. It is in between the advice to get up and act and do the right thing and the advice to sit down and pray. Which is more important – a life of service or a life of prayer. Or are they equally important. Perhaps Jesus is not chastising Martha nor uplifting Mary – but reminding us that God’s work always needs to be done, but don’t forget to listen.
There is a story of a man on an African safari. He needed guides to take him through the rough terrain. They traveled for a few days – and he was enjoying the trip, but all of a sudden without notice the guides stopped. They set up camp and said they would be staying for a few days. The man being a go getter, thought this was a waste of time and he was upset and ready to go. The guides explained that they had been traveling so far, that their bodies had outrun their souls. And they needed to stop for a few days to allow their souls to catch up. They would be staying here until then.
When you think about the pace of our modern lives, how many of us are living lives in which our bodies are steps ahead of our souls. And we just keep going.
Amos addresses the busyness of our lives. I didn’t focus on Amos because it is such a harsh lesson. Amos is coming from a dark dismal place – where there is not hope for the people. They have reached the point of no return. The consequences of their actions has already been determined. God is going to address their sin.
Amos uses the vision of a bowl of summer fruit. Fruit that is good only for today, tomorrow it will be rotten. To show that the time has come, no room to wait, what will happen is already going to happen.
He talks about people who go to church, but even in the midst of service are calculating what they need to do to get ahead in life. He says that their measures are unfair. They raise prices, but give people less and less. I don’t want to call any names, but I have noticed that in more and more restaurants, they have raised prices on things, but decreased the portion sizes. In some instances they even made the plates smaller, so they can give you less. And I often wonder if things will change when the economy gets better, or will they continue to same practice just to make more money.
But here is another way that we use unfair measuring devices – in the way we judge people. We set unfair expectations for them, that we know they cant meet and we judge them when they don’t live up to our expectations. We even draw conclusions about people before we get all of the facts, another unfair measure of others.
We too have gotten so concerned about ourselves that we forget to think of others.
That is why Amos says that there is no second chance – the damage has been done. There is no hope. There will be a famine in the land – but not of food. Martha is still cooking dinner. But of the word of God. We will ask and get no answers, we will hope and get no peace, we will hunger, and even eat – but never feel full. All because we have forgotten how to listen and pay attention.
If you pack ice in a cold place, it will stay forever. In the north they build a lot of ice houses and put sawdust over them so that they will stay. One day there were building an ice house – and one of the builders lost his watch. The watch became a part of the house. When he realized he lost it, he went back into the house to find it – but it had become frozen on the ice, he couldn’t find it. Another man continued the search, and he looked for it – but couldn’t find it. One day, on their lunch break one of the sons went into the house to look for the watch. In fifteen minutes he found it – they asked how he was so lucky. He explained it wasn’t luck – he just took the time to listen for the ticking of the watch and he found it.
The good news of the gospel is that jesus called Martha name – not once but twice. Martha, Martha – stop, listen. Sometime Jesus has to say to me Harriette, Harriette, stop listen, you are distracted. Your are unfocused. You have forgotten your purpose. Few things are needed, indeed only one – your relationship with jesus.
You cant work in a food pantry week after week, dealing with constant hunger,constant need without remembering that Jesus didn’t ask you to stop hunger – but to feed my sheep.
You cant work with kids day after day watching them misbehave and get out of line – without being able to see the presence of Christ in each one of them.
Few things are needed, or indeed only one, Mary has chosen the better portion and it will not be taken away from her.
Every day we have to stop and ask ourselves what do we need to make it through the day.
If I stop and look at that big picture, and survey all that needs to be done in the next five years, within the next year, even within the upcoming week. I can get overwhelmed and have no idea of where to start, or how it is all going to get done.
Perhaps that is why in the next section of this story the Lord teaches me to pray the lords prayer, and teaches me to pray for my daily bread. What do I need to get through today, and how do I learn to not be so concerned about what happens tomorrow.
In choosing to be a disciple of Christ, timing is everything. There is a time to be in faithful service and there is a time to sit and listen at the foot of Jesus.
If Mary was allowed to sit at the foot of Jesus and learn, it was expected that whatever she learned she was to take that out in the world and to teach someone else.
In each of our lives and in each of our days there is a balancing act. We have to act , but we also have to pray.
I want to end with my favorite prayer – that I put in my bedroom to pray every day – sometimes I do and most of the time I forget
I got up early one morning and rushed right into the day, I had so much to accomplish that I didn’t have time to pray. Problems just tumbled about me and heavier came each task, who doesn’t god help me I wondered, he said but you didn’t ask. I wanted to see joy and beauty but the say toiled on gray and bleak, I wondered why God didn’t show me, he said but you didn’t seek. I tried to come into God’s presence I used all my keys at the lock. God gently and lovingly chided, My child you didn’t knock. I woke up early this morning, and paused before entering the day. I had so much to accomplish that I had to take time to pray. Amen.