Sermon at Parish Mass Trinity 5 2019

Bassano (follower) Christ in the house of Martha and Mary

Genesis 18.1-10a

Colossians 1.15-28

Luke 10.38-42

What sort of hospitality do you offer the unexpected guest? Do you have something in a tin, or some half-baked scones in the freezer ready to warm up in the oven? Well there were no freezers back in the Book of Genesis. Sarah and Abraham seem to be taken by surprise by their visitor, and run around preparing food, little realizing that their mysterious guest, who appears as three persons and yet is addressed as one, is none other than the Lord.

In the Gospel, Mary and Martha too welcome the Lord into their home. Jesus and his disciples have arrived at Martha’s house. And Martha is running round doing all the work. Mary, instead, sits at the Lord’s feet and listens to his words. Which of them is offering the better hospitality?

And of course, we know, because Jesus tells us that she has chosen the better part, it’s Mary. The one who sits as Jesus’ feet and listens. Mary recognises that Jesus is no ordinary guest, but is a teacher, a prophet, who has come to speak the word of God to his people. And the best way to welcome a Prophet is to listen to him. To pay attention. There is nothing more important than what God wants to say to his people. So Mary is offering Jesus the hospitality of her attention, of receiving what he has come to give, his teaching, his presence.

Whereas Martha in all her frantic busyness has missed the main point, the one big thing that was more important than any amount of cooking and serving. The problem is not that Martha is busy. Rather, she is so occupied with her tasks that she is failing to offer the most necessary hospitality, that of her attention.

And, therefore, she is missing out. To meet the Lord, and to be attentive to his word, opens new possibilities, things that perhaps we had never even dreamed of – such as a woman taking the place of a disciple, which is precisely what is meant when we read that Mary “sat at [the] feet” of Jesus.

Being disciples of course is what we are about. We are ambassadors for Christ, we are to bring his word, his teaching, to others. But we can’t do that unless we are attentive to him ourselves. We can be busy, that’s alright – and in a parish church there are few times when we are not! But we must not become so distracted by the tasks of discipleship that we fail to be disciples. We must always give Jesus the most necessary hospitality of our attention.

So we need to ask ourselves, “where is Jesus, and what is he doing?”. Where should our attention be directed?

The hospitality of our attention requires that we look to Jesus where he already is, in the world with which we seek to engage. Jesus was already present in Martha’s house, but she was so distracted that she hadn’t really noticed him, whereas Mary had. And Jesus is already present in the world he has created and redeemed.

St Paul tells us, in our reading from Colossians this morning, that Christ is the ultimate reality filling the universe, all things were created through him and for him, in him all things hold together, through him all things are reconciled, whether on earth or in heaven. It’s like a drum beat with St Paul, “All things, all things, all things.” The Christian vision encompasses the universe.

Sometimes Christians talk about evangelism and mission as though somehow we have to bring Christ into places and lives where he hasn’t yet arrived. But that falls short of the vision of scripture. Christ is the Word of creation, who has ascended to fill the universe he has made.

True catholic evangelism recognizes that Christ is already present in every person’s life, in every human culture. The task of the disciple is to give him our attention where he already is, and so to awaken other people’s attention to his presence as well, so they can receive the fullness of grace that he offers.

We live in a privileged age, when we encounter more diversity in race, culture and religion than any generation before us. And in this global city of London that is particularly true. But this puts the Church in a new context, that we are not used to. We believe that Jesus Christ alone is the way, the truth and the life. What, then, are we to make of the plural world in which we live?

The Catholic Faith, rooted in Scripture, teaches us, firstly, that Christ is present everywhere, and that God’s spirit is constantly leading people to him. It also teaches us that God wishes everyone to be saved, and so gives to all people the grace necessary for salvation.

It is half a century since the Second Vatican Council gave a new expression to the faith of the Church, in recognizing explicitly the presence of grace among all people, whether they are Christians or not. The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World says: “the Holy Spirit in a manner known only to God offers to every [person] the possibility of being associated with [the] paschal mystery”, the death and resurrection of Christ.

The vision of the Second Vatican Council has proved to be truly prophetic. In a world of great diversity and change we can begin to see new depths in the scriptural vision of Colossians, the universal Christ who reconciles the whole world, which exists in him and for him. Our task as the Church bearing the Good News is to be good hosts to Christ present in the world, pointing to the salvation he offers to all. It is to offer him the hospitality of our attention in the wonderful diversity of the world he has made and redeemed.

This means welcoming Christ in our neighbour, in the stranger, in the refugee, in the marginalized and the outcast, in the person of different race or faith or gender or sexuality. Christ is present to all. It means rejecting racism and prejudice of any kind, as these are a denial that Christ is present in the world. It means not being threatened by difference, and diversity. In the diverse cultures we encounter we can discover something new of Christ, who is already there before us. And, by our attention to him, we can awaken other people’s attention, too.

The task of evangelism is not about bringing Christ into a world from which he is absent, but is about discovering the Christ who is already there, and who waits for our full attention. The world is worried and distracted by many things, but Christ is the better part, and will not be taken away from those who find him, whoever they may be.