I like to think of September 20 as our “all the eggs in one basket” service. At this one outdoor worship service in the Greene Community Center parking lot, we gave Bibles to our third graders, celebrated First Communion for our 6th graders (since we weren’t meeting in-person in the spring of their 5th grade year), and confirmation with our 9th graders. I’m so grateful the weather worked out and it turned out to be a lovely service!
The text for this weekend is the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42, and entire worship service is framed around the baptismal promises affirmed in the confirmation service:
• To live among God’s faithful people,
• To hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s supper,
• To proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed,
• To serve all people, following the example of Jesus,
• And to strive for justice and peace in all the earth.
As I do each year for Confirmation Sunday, this week’s sermon seeks to connect the verses chosen by our five confirmands to the story of Mary and Martha and the baptismal promises our ninth graders are affirming.
Also, the text below is the Sunday version of the sermon (with all the above mentioned events) and the audio and video versions are closer to the Saturday service version, which was in the church building.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen
Raise your hand if you’ve ever heard that story of Mary and Martha before?
If you’re in Sunday School right now, I certainly hope you have, because that’s the story we’re looking at all month, so if you didn’t raise your hand, when you get home today, open the packet of Sunday School stuff and go watch the videos Christin’s put together.
I don’t expect any of you to remember this, but this story of Mary and Martha was actually our reading on my very first weekend as pastor here at St. Peter. That’s also the only time I’ve every preached a sermon on it.
We picked this reading today because it’s the story the Sunday School kids are exploring, but I also really like it for this service today with our celebrations of different faith milestones.
As the bulletin says, today’s service is framed around the baptismal promises our ninth graders will make in a few minutes, and the whole idea is to consider what it looks like to live a life of faith. Being a disciple, being a follower of Jesus means you’re called to do some things, like live among God’s faithful people, hear God’s word and share in the Lord’s supper, proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed, serve all people, following Jesus’ example, and strive for justice and peace in all the earth.
I like Mary and Martha, because they show some of the tension we run into when we try to live out that baptismal calling, the tension between listening and studying in church, and serving and working in the rest of our lives.
Some Christians see faith as mostly following Mary’s example, sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to his teaching. And of course, that’s good! Jesus affirms Mary. He even says she’s chosen the better part.
It’s important to spend time with Jesus, to not fall into the trap of getting so busy that faith and God and church become afterthoughts for when we don’t have anything better to do.
Those Bibles we just gave you? They don’t do any good if they sit on the shelf in your bedroom. Even if you put it under your pillow and try to just sort of absorb what it says when you’re sleeping, it won’t work. You have to open it and read it. You have to be like Mary and take the time to listen to what Jesus wants to teach you.
Mary is a great example to us because she’s willing to pause from the work that’s going on and to take time to just be with Jesus. She doesn’t let anything get in the way of her listening to Jesus.
One of the remarkable things here is that in that culture, people assumed being a student and sitting at a teacher’s feet was something only a man could do. Women were supposed to be taking care of the work so the men could learn, yet Mary crosses that boundary, and Jesus welcomes her. She knows how important listening to Jesus is. She’s got those promises about living among God’s faithful people and hearing God’s word nailed down.
Tanner, the verse you picked for today is Psalm 16:8, which says, “I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.”
And you said you picked that verse as a reminder God is with you in all aspects of your life, in football, when you’re hunting, when you’re wrestling, all the time. The Lord is with you.
Keep your eyes open to noticing the Lord around you. Don’t get so caught up in the doing and the working and the practicing that you forget to pause and intentionally spend time with Jesus, because like your verse says, he’s always with you. You just need to pay attention to what he’s teaching you and where he’s calling you.
Of course, Mary is not the only person in this story. She has a sister named Martha, and Martha often seems to get the short end of the stick when this story is taught.
Mary is the studious one, but Martha is the one who gets things done. She’s using the gifts God gave her like hospitality, and she’s doing good work. That’s not a bad thing – our faith is supposed to lead to action! The problem is that Martha gets so focused on her work that she loses sight of Jesus.
Jack, you picked 2 Chronicles 15:7, which says, “But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.” That’s a great verse as you live out the promises to serve all people following Jesus’ example and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth.
We Christians are called to listen to Jesus, and we’re called to put his teachings into action. I don’t need to tell you there’s a lot of need in the world right now. We have lots of neighbors who need serving, and there’s plenty of work to be done towards justice and peace.
As you live out those promises, as you do that hard work, be strong. Don’t give up. Look for the reward of helping others, the reward of knowing you’re serving God.
Emma, you picked Proverbs 27:23, “Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds.” Like you said, that’s a fitting verse for you as a farm kid who loves animals, but I think you can take it even farther than caring for literal sheep–it’s a picture of how God cares for us!
When Biblical writers like David and the prophets look for words to describe God, one of the many images they land on is “shepherd.” The Lord God is the good shepherd who cares for the sheep, who leads the flocks beside still waters and through green pastures, who knows everything happening the lives of the flock.
Later, when God entered into the world at Christmas, the first people to receive the good news that the Son of God had been born were shepherds, out watching their flocks.
In confirmation class this week, we talked about the creation story in the first chapter of Genesis. I know for you getting confirmed, it’s been two years since that lesson, but the very first thing God tells people to do—the very first command God gives—is to care for the world, to take care of God’s good creation.
I hope you take this verse beyond literal flocks, and explore how God is also calling you to care for people. After Jesus rose from the dead on Easter, he asked Peter three times, “Do you love me?” And each time when Peter said, “Yes, Lord, I do love you” Jesus instructed him, “Feed my sheep.”
I don’t know if God is calling you to be a pastor, but the word pastor literally means “shepherd” – the pastor is the one who cares for the flock. So, be diligent and faithful in your work—know the condition of your flocks and herds; and follow the Good Shepherd who cares for you.
Kirsten, you picked a great verse from Luke 1:37, “For nothing will be impossible with God.” I don’t know how much attention you paid to where your verse comes from, but it’s from the Christmas story, from the angel Gabriel talking to Mary—a different Mary, not the same Mary as in Mary and Martha, this one’s Mary the mother of Jesus—and the angel is telling Mary she’s going to give birth to the baby Jesus, who’s going to be the Son of God.
And Mary’s like, “Hold on a minute…I have no idea how that could happen. But, if that’s what God wants, I’m in. I’ll trust God. Let’s do it.” and the angel says, “Let God figure it out. It might seem impossible, but God can make it work.”
Like you said when you picked this verse, in the times when you get scared, or frustrated, remember God is always with you. God can figure it out. All you get to do is be like Mary the mother of Jesus and say, “Ok, God, I trust you.”
Reagan, your verse is really similar to Kirsten’s, although it’s from a very different place. You picked Matthew 19:26, “Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’” That comes from a conversation where Jesus tells a rich guy to sell everything he has and follow Jesus, and when he can’t bring himself to sell everything, Jesus says, “It’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” The disciples ask, “Well, how any anyone be saved? Who has enough faith for that?” And Jesus says, “God can figure it out. With God, all things are possible.”
None of you are going to follow all these promises perfectly. You’re not going to remember everything in the Bible. Our first communion kids aren’t going to understand everything about communion perfectly.
But that’s ok, because none of this is up to us. If we had to be good enough to get to heaven, none of us would make it. It’d be impossible. But with God, all things are possible. God can figure it out.
God takes our anxiety and our distractedness and the times we run away and forget about Jesus, and all the things we do wrong, and God forgives us. God looks at you and says, you are my child and I love you. I’ve claimed you.
You don’t have to have it all figured out. Today is a beginning, not an ending. Your first communion shouldn’t be the last time you come to Jesus’ table! Confirmation is not graduation!
These promises are for all of us. God’s call is for our entire lives. Keep living among God’s faithful people. Keep coming to the Lord’s table. Keep serving and striving. And like Mary and Martha, keep proclaiming the good news of God’s love in both your words and your actions. Amen