From time to time, when our Lord has some great truth to teach the People of God, he gives that priority. Nothing is to undercut the power of that message, and nothing is to deflect us from focusing on it, and nothing must be allowed to make it less clear, less memorable. And so, from time to time, he uses language and images and examples that are so stunning, so unexpected, and hence so unforgettable that he may seem harsh, or unfeeling, unkind “Shall the children’s bread be tossed to the dogs? The poor you have with you always, you do not always have me. No one who loves father or mother more than me is worthy of me. Leave the dead to bury the dead.” The context of all of them shows that they are examples, teaching moments, illustrations, attention-getting and attention-keeping devices. So it is, I believe, today. Generation after generation, in every parish and family I bet, there are hard-workers who do so much, so very much, to make people welcome, comfortable, provided for, cared about, and safe. These are the Marthas. We recognize them, we appreciate them and are so grateful to them. Is our Lord different? Does he not care, respect, honor all that Martha is doing to make her guests welcome and comfortable, wanted, taken care of, and provided with a wonderfully hospitable place where the followers of Jesus can sit, and listen to him, and hear his teaching? Is her scolding her for this, rebuking her, discouraging her? No. Never. It is not just every parish and family that would fall apart without the Marthas, even our Lord himself and his disciples would have seen their ministry collapse without the provisions of the Marthas that God has called to service. The point is, Martha resented her own offering, wanted it shared, or more accurately, “assigned” or “equally endured” by someone who did not, at that moment, also minister in that way. Mary must have prepared food, kept house, worked for others at other times and on other days. Martha is not so much busy as distracted by it, and resentful, judgmental. That gets mildly and gently scolded, and only when she becomes coercive and unkind to her sister. But our Lord also has a point to make beyond this, and he makes it without compromise or equivocation. Nothing, not even the important, necessary, appreciated ministries of welcome and hospitality and provision and service are to take priority. Hearing, paying attention to the Word of God, just being in the presence of Christ, of our salvation, is the most important and significant thing for human beings. Worship God, spend time in his presence with him, listen to him, and pay attention to him, above all things and before all things. Before all else. It is the first part, the best portion for followers of Jesus. Mary chose that part, that response. It is commended. And Martha, depriving Mary of that, would be at fault. Martha, depriving herself of that, breaks our Lord’s heart and he speaks to it. But Mary without Martha becomes simply self indulgent, self-centered, unhelpful. Not here, but later, our Lord will say (I hope Martha heard about it), “Not everyone who says Lord, Lord will come into the Kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” The reassurance to Martha, and to the Marthas in our midst, and to the Marthas in ourselves, is that we need to do something about the saving word we have heard. But the warning to all the Marthas and the “Martha parts” of us, is to stay well away from an unpleasant, dismissiveness disregard for someone else's role, making unkind demands on others, and then feeling bitterness over what we ourselves do, and resenting that others are not doing what we are doing, or at least at this very moment. That our Lord dislikes, of course! Offering, exercising our own glorious and needed service and ministry is not what our Lord criticizes. It is the manner and the mood and the nastiness that he scolds. He must come first, this passage says, and says it in a way that is so striking it may seem harsh. He must come first. And in almost every other place he also adds, “and then, then you must go and do as I have done, go and do likewise for others. First him, and then, but then, of course then, those around us. First him and his holy word, and then, then, others - our family and friends, his church and his world, for which he himself laid down his life.