~ If you think about it, many people that Jesus encountered in the Gospels, go unnamed. Jesus heals “a woman with a hemorrhage” or “a possessed man” or “a paralyzed man.” During Lent, we hear of Jesus’ encounter with the “man born blind” or the “woman at the well”, but we do not know their names. Jesus has an encounter with the “rich young man”, but who is he? His name and identity is lost to history.
When a character is named in the Gospels, it is significant. The twelve apostles are named, of course, but sometimes we are told the names of people outside the Twelve. Jesus meets a man named Nicodemus. After his death, Joseph of Arimathea helps with the burial. Jesus is accompanied during his public ministry by Joanna, Susanna and of course Mary Magdalene.
Chief among these named friends, disciples, and followers of Jesus were the sisters Martha and Mary. Their house in Bethany, just outside of Jerusalem, was a place of respite for Jesus, as we read in today’s Gospel. A scripture scholar once told me that Jerusalem was the place where the rich and powerful stayed, but the common folks lived outside the city, so it makes sense Jesus would shun where the powerful folks stayed, and instead stayed outside the city with his friends. It was Martha and Mary’s brother Lazarus who would later fall ill, die and be raised by Jesus from the dead. One scripture scholar calls them “resident disciples,” since they are not following Jesus “along the road,” as other disciples did. They remained in Bethany and their gift to Jesus is friendship and hospitality.
They also knew Jesus well, which comes across strongly in today’s reading when Martha complains that she is doing all the work during Jesus’s visit, while Mary sits at his feet listening to him.
Traditional depictions of this event sometimes show Martha bending over a table with a loaf of bread or some other food in her hands. But actually, the New Testament scholar Amy-Jill Levine, who I was privileged to hear last year, has pointed out that the word used for Martha’s work was diakonia, more properly translated as “ministry” or “service.”, not cooking or housework. The reason that Martha has been consigned to “peeling potatoes” in many depictions, she says, is that people were probably uncomfortable with her being linked to diakonia, whence comes the word deacon.
In this setting, Martha is remarkably blunt to Jesus: “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” It’s an almost shocking statement directed to the Son of God. The closest analogue may be the disciples saying to Jesus, during the storm at sea, “Don’t you care that we are perishing?” But Martha goes further, instructing Jesus what to do: “Tell her to help me.” Even the disciples, fearing drowning in a storm, aren’t so direct.
But Martha is equally as blunt after the death of her brother. When Jesus finally reaches Bethany, a few days after the sisters have sent word that Lazarus is ailing, she greets him with what sounds like a reproach: “Lord, if you had been here our brother would not have died.”
What enables Martha to be able to speak so bluntly to Jesus? Well, she clearly knows him. We speak that bluntly only to people we know very, very well. Yet Jesus is untroubled by her bluntness. In today’s Gospel, it doesn’t prompt an angry reproach, but a calming response: Don’t worry Martha, your sister has chosen the “better part.” In other words, there is a time and place for everything, and now is the time for companionship and listening. Likewise, at the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus does not scold Martha, but declares himself to be the Resurrection and the Life. In both instances, Martha’s honesty leads to Jesus being honest with her, in the first case by giving her some life advice; in another, by revealing something new about himself. Martha is rewarded for her honesty.
For Martha, openness, honesty and intimacy lead to an even closer relationship with Jesus. Friends, it is the same in our spiritual lives. If you say only the things you think you should say to God, or that you think that God wants to hear, you may find your relationship growing more distant, colder, as you would in any relationship. By contrast, more openness and honesty help us feel closer to God, which begets even more honesty.
It is the same with our human relationships, too, isn’t it? In my experience, when we reveal ourselves to another person, with honesty, humility, and vulnerability, that deepens the friendship and relationship. My own life experiences, especially the things that I have struggled with or that have beaten me down, help me to be more sympathetic with others who may be experiencing similar things. Remaining aloof or not being honest with another person is a sure sign that a relationship is unimportant or stagnant. But sharing with honestly and vulnerability is usually met with the same honesty and vulnerability from another, and strengthens the bond that two people share.
Is there someone that you can be more honest with? Is there a relationship that you want to deepen? Maybe some honest sharing is the key. Do you want to grow in your relationship with the Lord? I’m assuming the answer is yes, since you are all here today! If so, then how about ditching your rote prayers and list of requests and just tell God what’s on your heart? What makes you angry, what breaks your heart, what he could be doing better? I often tell folks, don’t worry about offending God; he’s pretty big, so he can take it! But I think that the witness of Martha tells us it’s OK to be blunt and honest and vulnerable in our relationships, even with the Lord.
Martha is memorable for many reasons: she was a close friend of Jesus, she hosted him in her house, and she called to him to heal her brother Lazarus. She should also be memorable to us as an avatar for openness, honesty and intimacy with Jesus, Let us follow her example! St. Martha of Bethany, pray for us!