Second Presbyterian Church

"Some Need to Do; Some Need to Be:
Preaching From the Gospel of Luke"
January 9, 2005

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Sermons Homepage » Sermons for 2005 » Sermons for January 2005 » Sermons from the Series on Luke

#37 in the Series on Luke
The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.

• Deuteronomy 6: 4-9
• Leviticus 19: 17-18
• Luke 10: 25-42

Today's lesson brings together two seemingly different stories, at least in terms of how we are used to viewing them. We have the parable of the Good Samaritan and the story of Mary and Martha. But what happens when we place these stories together? After all, it is neither accident nor coincidence that Luke places these two stories side by side.

When we do place them together into one section it develops a picture of how people of God struggle to hear the word of the Lord and to be faithful followers.

The first person in the passage is the Lawyer. He is someone who has spent his life studying the Scriptures. That is the Hebrew Scriptures, what we know as the Old Testament: The Torah (the Law) and the Prophets and the Wisdom literature. If anyone should know the word of the Lord, the Lawyer should know it. And he does. He is confident that he knows it and he is not asking Jesus in order to seek understanding, he is asking Jesus because he is putting Jesus to the test! He is trying to see how much Jesus knows, or should I say, doesn't know.

"Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus answers with a question, "What is written in the Law; how do you understand it?" The lawyer answers by quoting the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4ff) and Leviticus 19:18 (love your neighbor). Jesus agrees with him and tells him that he has answered correctly. Do this and you shall live.

The lawyer wants to push it further. "Just who is my neighbor?" And in response to that Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan. A man was robbed and beaten, left half dead along the road from Jerusalem to Jerico. A Priest walked by on the other side of the road. A Levite walked by on the other side of the road. But a Samaritan when he saw the man had compassion, dressed his room took him to an inn, paid 2 days worth of wages for his care, and promised to return and pay more if necessary. The Jesus reframed the Lawyer's question, "Who was a neighbor to that man?" (Answer: the Samaritan) Jesus finishes the parable with saying again, "Go and do likewise."

So we have the Lawyer. He is like the Christian who is good with knowledge of the Bible, but still feels like something is missing in his life. We can study the Scriptures until we are blue in the face, and still feel like the question as posed by the lawyer: what must I do to inherit eternal life? It reminds me of the familiar saying: "Don't just stand there, do something!"

The Lawyer represents those of us who tend to study the Scriptures, but not really act on them. It's the difference between memorizing the Golden Rule and practicing the Golden Rule.

So, one kind of Christian struggles with putting his faith into action. He learns and he knows, but he doesn't do such a good job of putting it into action. He needs to obey the phrase, "Don't just stand there; do something!"

Then we have Martha. Mary and Martha were sisters. They might have been the same Mary and Martha who were sisters of Lazarus, the man Jesus raised from the dead (John Chapter 11). But we cannot say for sure.

Jesus has come to Martha's and Mary's home for a visit. While there Jesus began teaching Mary. She sat at his feet and listened to him. In the meantime Martha scurried about doing this and that. She was probably preparing a meal and I am sure that she did not have the conveniences of an electric oven, microwave, or TV dinners! It would have been made from scratch and it would have taken some time and effort to prepare. In a very practical sense Martha could have put Mary to good use in preparation of the meal.

Martha got so flustered and frustrated that she asked Jesus to come to the rescue and get Mary to come and help her. "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?" What a question! Lord, do you not CARE…?" It was a rhetorical question; the answer was assumed that the Lord DID care. But Jesus didn't.

You see, Martha was caught up in all that she was "supposed to be doing." It was expected of women to go about preparing the meal and serving the guests. It was an important service that had to be performed.

It is much like the ministry service we have to do. We have to watch our finances. We have to take care of the building. We have to have our choir practices. We have to plan and print our worship bulletins. There are thousands of things that have to get done in order for the congregation to function smoothly. And we are called to service. We are called to do these things.

But sometimes we get so caught up in doing these things (even the missions we do) that we forget to stop and listen to the Teacher. He comes to teach us and we are too busy and flustered to even listen to him!

Some of us don't need to hear the phrase, "Don't just stand there, do something!" Some of us need to hear the phrase from Alice in Wonderland (I think), "Don't just do something, stand there!"

These are two spiritual pitfalls for any Christian and we all tend to gravitate toward one or the other, depending on our personalities. Some of us have a really hard time acting upon the Word and going out into the world and doing something. They study and learn the word, but the Word of the Lord is not heard, because their faith does not convert to action.

Others of us have a really hard time listening to the Word from God, because we become so busy doing things. We don't take the time to stop and sit at the feet of Jesus and let him teach us about life, such as loving God with all our might and our neighbor as ourselves.

Luke had good reason to put these two stories together in his Gospel. He was illustrating for us the pitfalls of losing perspective. There needs to be a healthy balance, or tension. All study without acting upon the tenets of our faith is a spiritual pitfall. All action without studying our faith tends to cause us to lose the basis of our faith - the reason we go into action in the first place.

Some of us need to: "Don't just stand there, do something!"
Others of us need to: "Don't just do something, stand there!"

Amen.

The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.