So What?
People need Jesus, people desperately
need what Jesus has to say. We need Jesus more than we’ve ever needed
him before. Now is the time to evaluate our lives, look at our possible preoccupation
to the “service” of our society’s norm and our easy willingness
to mold ourselves to the expectations of our culture. Are these pursuits necessary
in regard to the value of the kingdom or are they the insidious control of
our lives by the powers and principalities of this age? Can we find our way
clear to make the choice to chose the very best? May we hear your voice and
learn from you, Lord Jesus.
Some Sermon thoughts…
How many of us, as pastors, have watched
our most valued parishioners work themselves to the bone, only to become bitter
and disillusioned by the apathy and inactivity of other members of the church?
I’ve read too many useless chapters on preventing church “burn
out” myself.
The reality is that service in Christ’s
name is often unrewarding, often unappreciated. Those of our folks who become
“distracted” by their tasks, that is, those who perform them for
the hope of approval or gratitude will soon find that bitterness raising its
ugly head. (Through which, Hebrews reminds us, many will be defiled…)
It is probably better to turn people
from the attempt to serve than to allow them to go on too long in “distracted”
service. As preachers, we have the opportunity to ask our folks to examine
their purpose in serving, their focus as they work.
Anthropological Reading
We readily acknowledge that real Christianity
is active Christianity. The question posed for us today is what constitutes
real activity. Like Martha, Christians of all sorts have become active in
service to their Lord. From Sunday School teachers to missionaries, from deacons
to food pantry directors, Christian servants come in all shapes and sizes.
Every pastor knows that their congregation could not survive without them.
Service is a hallmark of Christian faith and life. So what is wrong with Martha
serving Jesus and asking for help? Didn’t he say, “Pray the Lord
of the Harvest..”? We think that mimetic theory allows us two ways to
approach this pericope.
The first focuses on Martha’s anxiety.
Why is Martha serving? Isn’t she
just being hospitable? Isn’t hospitality a theme that runs through Luke
and Acts? How about Jesus’ eschatological, jubilary hospitality? The
apostolic breaking of bread house to house? Yet in this scene, Martha has
not understood that cultural customs, even when commanded by law, are to be
set aside and not fulfilled in order to listen to Jesus and what he has to
say. Jesus did not come to sanctify our social/cultural mores.
Martha wants Jesus to draw Mary into
a mimetic doubling of her own service, going so far as to question Jesus’
concern for her work and commanding him to get Mary to help. Martha is annoyed
because her ‘good’ or ‘righteous’ fulfillment of the
social/biblical hospitality requirements does not seem to impress Jesus. “Don’t
you care…”
The doubling effect is evidenced when
Jesus repeats her name twice, “Martha, Martha.” Why is Martha
worried and upset? Obviously there will be guests at dinner that night. Martha
can’t get a big dinner ready all by herself, she needs help. Her request
is reasonable. She desires Mary to mimetically double her as a servant, to
share her desires to meet those cultural norms. She thinks Mary should be
carrying her fair share of the load. Remembering that mimetic doubling results
in initial pleasure for the model when the “rival” first mimics
the model’s desires, Mary’s failure to mimic Martha calls into
question the value of Martha’s choices.
The second route into this pericope focuses
on Martha’s doubling of Mary.
In Martha and Mary we have something
of a Cain/Abel set of doubles already. What they desire is the same, Jesus’
attention/approval. Mary’s gift seems to be more readily accepted/approved
than Martha’s. Martha’s frustration doesn’t lead her to
murder, but it does lead her to demand that Jesus reject Mary’s gift,
her singular attention to his words, his presence.
What is different between the two? Primarily
that Martha has permitted herself to become distracted by her tasks. She has
lost sight of their purpose, to render service to Jesus. Rather than serve
him, she has begun to serve him “in order that…” The tasks
and their anticipated reward have taken the place of the One whose attention
and love she already has.
No matter which of these two routes we
use to find our way to the center of this story, they both lead us to understand
that it is the distraction that is the problem, not the activity. Jesus does
not say that Martha’s problem in her busy-ness, but her worry over it
all. Had her attention during her preparations been as focused on Jesus as
Mary’s listening, Jesus would never have commented.
Stalking Wolf, one of our favorite mentors,
referred to distraction as one of the three principal demons along with ego
and self-doubt. We are tempted, though, to confuse activity with distraction.
We have many demands on our time/energy. The difficulty lies not in our response
to these demands, but our forgetting that we do all in the service of the
One in whom all our “demanders” also rest. We become distracted
when we serve for the sake of the rewards (approval, paycheck, affection?)
rather than out of love for the one who created us all.
Historical/Cultural
Some of our recent conversations have
been around the potential sublimation of the Johannine tradition in Luke-Acts.
We mention this because today’s story of Mary and Martha is a key text
in our discussions. The Lukan doubling of Jesus/Paul (Luke-Acts) and Peter/Paul
(Acts) is a hermeneutic tour de force. This also goes under the rubric of
the Lukan view of ‘salvation history.’ But where is the Johannine
community in the Acts? What would be some of the reasons for and marks of
its sublimation?
We believe there is some evidence to
suggest the so-called Johannine community of Asia Minor, more specifically
Ephesus, was highly developed by the time Paul (Luke’s hero) gets to
Ephesus. We have begun to see I and 2 Corinthians as letters that reflect
the problem created when the Pauline, the Petrine and the Johannine traditions
all came together at Corinth. How the story of Jesus was told, and who Jesus
was, became very important. It was a significant mimetic crisis for the Corinthian
church.
We think the Fourth Gospel uses anonymity
as a literary device for literal reasons: the author’s life was at stake.
So the so-called Johannine community remains quiet about itself and its apostolic
figure’s name, address and telephone number. But it is strong enough
and has enough authority to compete with the Synoptic tradition; we can trace
the Peter/Paul emerging synthesis in the Synoptic tradition. We wonder why
Luke is so critical or quiet about figures from the Fourth Gospel or figures
in the Johannine community? Yet he chooses themes, details and directions
from the Johannine tradition.
We recognize Luke’s hand in this
pericope, but it is a hand that we by now appreciate. Luke is extolling the
practice of positive mimesis, the imitatio Yeshua, everything else can wait.
Either
this page has not yet been completed, or we have not found any significant textual
issues in the lectionary texts for this Sunday.
Introductory Articles
We will add articles as we are able,
or as users of the site request them, so if you have suggestions for additional
pieces, please write to us!
"Introduction
to Mimetic Theory"
"Mimesis"
"The
Scapegoat"
"The
Pillars of Culture"
"Jesus"
"The
Four Gospels"
A Brief Introduction
to Luke
What's New:
What's New? on Preaching Peace. (Hover your mouse over to pause cycling) |
Am 8:1-12 or * Gn 18:1-10a
Ps 52 * Ps 15
Col 1:15-28
Lk 10:38-42
(Amos 8:1-12)
This is what the Lord GOD showed me--a basket of summer fruit. He said, "Amos,
what do you see?" And I said, "A basket of summer fruit." Then
the LORD said to me, The end has come upon my people Israel; I will never
again pass them by. The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that
day," says the Lord GOD; "the dead bodies shall be many, cast out
in every place. Be silent!" Hear this, you that trample on the needy,
and bring to ruin the poor of the land, saying, "When will the new moon
be over so that we may sell grain; and the sabbath, so that we may offer wheat
for sale? We will make the ephah small and the shekel great, and practice
deceit with false balances, buying the poor for silver and the needy for a
pair of sandals, and selling the sweepings of the wheat." The LORD has
sworn by the pride of Jacob: Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.
Shall not the land tremble on this account, and everyone mourn who lives in
it, and all of it rise like the Nile, and be tossed about and sink again,
like the Nile of Egypt? On that day, says the Lord GOD, I will make the sun
go down at noon, and darken the earth in broad daylight. I will turn your
feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth
on all loins, and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning
for an only son, and the end of it like a bitter day. The time is surely coming,
says the Lord GOD, when I will send a famine on the land; not a famine of
bread, or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD. They shall
wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro,
seeking the word of the LORD, but they shall not find it.
* (Genesis 18:1-10a)
The LORD appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance
of his tent in the heat of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing
near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and
bowed down to the ground. He said, "My lord, if I find favor with you,
do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your
feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. Let me bring a little bread, that
you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on--since you have
come to your servant." So they said, "Do as you have said."
And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, "Make ready quickly
three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes. " Abraham ran
to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant,
who hastened to prepare it. Then he took curds and milk and the calf that
he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree
while they ate. They said to him, "Where is your wife Sarah?" And
he said, "There, in the tent." Then one said, "I will surely
return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son."
(Colossians 1:15-28)
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in
him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers--all things have been created
through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things
hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in
everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through
him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or
in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. And you who were
once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled
in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless
and irreproachable before him-- provided that you continue securely established
and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the
gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven.
I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel. I am now rejoicing in my sufferings
for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ's
afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. I became its servant
according to God's commission that was given to me for you, to make the word
of God fully known, the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and
generations but has now been revealed to his saints. To them God chose to
make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this
mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. It is he whom we proclaim,
warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present
everyone mature in Christ.
(Luke 10:38-42)
Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman
named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who
sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was
distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, "Lord, do
you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell
her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha,
you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing.
Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her."
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright
1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches
of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights
reserved.
Occasional Articles
As with the Introductory Articles, we
will add other articles as time permits or as our readers request. If you
have a suggestion for anything, please let us know.
Michael Hardin
Is the Apocalypse Inevitable?: Native American Prophecy and the Mimetic Theory presented to the Colloquium on Violence and Religion 2008
Michael's Essay for a Celebration Volume honoring Rene Girard
Michael's Response to Willard Swartley's Covenent of Peace at the November Colloquium and Violence Meeting
Does
Peace Make A Difference? - Michael's essay in response to Rick
Warren's P.E.A.C.E. plan (which somehow never mentions peace).
An Analysis of Rick Warren - Michael's response to "The Purpose Driven Life."
"The
God of Pat Robertson" - a response to Pat Robertson's words
to the people of Dover, PA.
"A
response to Charles Stanley's "A Nation at War"
"Must
God be violent? A Diagnosis and Prescription for Modern Christianity"
The
Scapegoat: Christologies in Conflict - A Study in Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Biblical
Testaments as a Marriage of Convenience: Rene Girard and Biblical Interpretation
Finding
Our Way Home: A Brief Note On The Authority and Interpretation of Scripture
"Does
The Passion of the Christ Preach the Gospel?"
A
sermon for the holiday devoted to Dr. Martin Luther King. (requires
Adobe Acrobat Reader.)
GRASPING
GOD: Philippians 2: 1-11 in the Light of Mimetic Theory
Essay on Brethren Life & Thought to Rene Girard and the Recovery of Early Christian Perspectives (Brethren Life and Thought)
Essay on Mimesis and Dominion to The Dynamics of Violence and the Imitation of Christ in maximus Confessor (St. Vladimir's Theological Quarterly)
"EcoSpirituality"
Or What Happens When You Sit Down With A French Literary Critic
Jeff Krantz
Mighty
One or Crucified Messiah? Competing Christologies and the Chiastic
Structure of Mark's Gospel
There's
No Such Thing as the Rapture - A sermon preached at the Church
of the Advent, Westbury (requires Acrobat Reader)
Holy
Scripture and the Consecration of Gene Robinson - a response
to the request of the Windsor Report for a Scriptural rationale. (requires
Adobe's Acrobat Reader)
Worship - The Redemption of Desire by Jeff Krantz
Myth
and Film - a piece written for the City of Angels Film Festival
The Stations of the Cross - Rewritten by Jeff Krantz
A Dramatic Presentation of the Stations of the Cross for Youth by Barb Fabijan-Waddell
Escaping
the Power of "My" - A NonViolent Approach to Stewardship
Preaching
Peace in Hollywood: The Theologies of Terminator, Lord of the Rings, and the
Matrix
V
for Vendetta - The Name Says It All A review of the movie.
Essays, Sermons and Liturgical Pieces by Friends of Preaching Peace
"Jesus and the Gibeonites: Reading the Bible from the Perspective of the Hidden Victim" by James Warren.
Mark Heim's "No More of This" - A hymn on Nonviolent Atonement
Kate Layzer's "No More of This" - A hymn on Nonviolent Atonement (and inspiration for Mark Heim's hymn!)
Alan Cork, "Transformation" in L'Arche: A Mimetic Account presented to the Colloquium on Violence and Religion 2008
"The Wisdom of God's Peace" a sermon by Jim Amstutz, co-pastor of Michael's church.
Girard's Christology - Per Bjornar Grande
Violence, Anarchy and Scripture: Jacques Ellul and Rene Girard - Matthew Patillo
Comparing
Plato's Understanding of Mimesis to Girard's - Per Bjorner Grande
C. Frank Terhune, an Easter Sermon: "God's Big But" (no kidding!)
Gerald Biesecker-Mast's paper from Theologia Pacis on Pacifist Gospel Epstimology.
An essay by the Rev. John Hill on Mimetic Theory and Catechesis
