Come Away

Preached at Hallam and Martell United Methodist Churches July 22, 2007.

The Hog roast yesterday, I believe, was a success! We served a lot of people and made a few dollars. There was good music, good fellowship, and good food. Every single guest seemed to have a good time. But did the people of the church?

The preparation for this event seemed to all come in a flurry at the end. There was meat to cook and pull apart, salads and desserts to make, setup to be done for seating. A lot of work went into this event. And how many of us thought that, at some point along the line, this thing isn’t going to work—the tickets are too pricey, nobody knows about it, the food isn’t good enough, the band is too expensive or too secular, there’s not enough toilet paper in the ladies room, whatever? I have to admit that I felt that way at many times the whole week before.

Then, this morning’s scripture is about Mary and Martha. Talk about appropriate! Now before you think I’m pointing fingers, you need to know that I didn’t pick it, it is part of the lectionary, a listing of passages to be read on any given Sunday, chosen many years ago and planned for years in advance.

Martha was doing all the preparation for the meal that had to made while Jesus was there. Everything had to be made from scratch—there was a lot to do—and Mary was just sitting on her butt listening to Jesus! If it wasn’t for Martha, nothing would have been done and dinner would have been terrible. At least that is how Martha felt. I’m sure that many of us can identify with Martha. There were things that had to be done, and she was the only one who was going to do them—if she didn’t do it, it wouldn’t get done.

Our culture looks at Martha and asks, “What’s the problem?” She is productive, she is hard-working, dependable, conscientious—all admirable traits—especially to us as Americans. We look at Mary and call her a slacker—she’s not getting anything done! We think that maybe Jesus was a little hard on poor Martha. We hear Jesus words as a rebuke to Martha, and it goes right over our heads as o why we think that.

Perhaps Jesus’ words were not a rebuke. Perhaps they were nothing so harsh and stinging. They seem to me to be gentler, a calling rather than a rebuke.

Jesus is concerned about Martha—Jesus described her as “worried” and “distracted.” --words that can describe us almost any given day. We rush about our lives accomplishing one task after another, all while looking ahead to the next. Many of my days could be described as worried and distracted.

Oh, I want to be less distracted and worried, like Mary. Yet so much would go undone! Worse yet, I find myself jealous of Mary—oh, for the luxury of sitting at Jesus feet! That would be just another thing on my long list of things to do!

Worse yet, we know we need to spend that time with Jesus. So we come up with quick devotionals—we read the Upper Room—spending five minutes or less in the practice of being close to God, thinking that we are being fair to Jesus and ourselves, yet really only checking an item off our lists.

How many of us know we need to spend some time at the feet of Jesus—yet think we don’t have the time? Worse yet, how many of us think that time would be…wasted? Friends, I believe that Jesus calls each of us to spend some time with him…not a token 5 minutes, but real time—time to know, to understand, to simply be.

How can we do that? There are a lot of things.

First, let’s establish some time before church, or sometime during the week—either early or late—to get together and talk, encouraging each other and praying together, growing deeper in fellowship and sharing our burdens and joys with God.

Second, I want to recommend the Walk to Emmaus. There is something special about getting away for a weekend with God. I promise you that you won’t regret it. I’ve heard all the excuses, but the most common is, “I don’t have time.” By the way, the worst excuse I’ve heard is, “I don’t need it.” …We all need to spend that time with God.

A few years ago, a singer named Norah Jones came out with a love song called “Come Away with Me.” Now, she intended it to a song between two lovers. But friends, I believe that this song is appropriate for us to consider. Jesus calls us to spend time with him, and OUR hearts long for the time spent with Jesus, just as we long to be loved and accepted by others,

Come away with me in the night
Come away with me
And I will write you a song

Come away with me on a bus
Come away where they can't tempt us
With their lies

I want to walk with you
On a cloudy day
In fields where the yellow grass grows knee-high
So won't you try to come?

Come away with me and we'll kiss
On a mountaintop
Come away with me
And I'll never stop loving you

And I want to wake up with the rain
Falling on a tin roof
While I'm safe there in your arms
So all I ask is for you
To come away with me in the night

Christ calls for us to set aside our worries and distractions, to simply “come away” for a moment—to love and to be loved. Won’t you respond to the calling? Let’s pray…