A Statement given to All Saints Anglican Church after our regular worship on July 18, 2010
Dear Saints,
Over the past two months, I've had occasion to do some deep reflection about my own sense of calling and my place of ministry in the Kingdom of God. As a young Christian, I initially considered becoming a Pastor, but later discerned this was not my calling and instead trained to become a Christian Counselor. Thanks be to God, he has allowed me to serve Him in various counseling settings since 1984.
In 1995, I was introduced to the Rule of St. Benedict and collaborated with with St. Luke's Episcopal Church to create the 8th Day Life Center, a healing ministry based on Benedict's Rule. That experience affected me profoundlyl and eventually led me to make my profession as a Benedictine in the Company of Jesus and become ordained as a priest - both in 2002.
Although it was exciting to be equipped to serve the Lord’s Supper, I was always uneasy about being a ‘priest with no Table’. I didn't feel called to be a church planter per se, but in 2006, the Episcopal Church began to explode in earnest and several of you called me to be your spiritual leader. I accepted that challenge because I love Anglicanism and wanted an Anglican church where Cindy and I could worship in 'spirit and in truth'.
Over the last three years it has been a joy to worship with you as we blend “Word, Sacrament and Spirit”. It has also been a joy to work on reclaiming Hope House from the devil’s clutches. A couple of recent shootings in the vicinity have highlighted just how urgent the need is, and have reaffirmed my desire to make an impact in what seems to be the epicenter of violence in Huntington. At the same time, I have been amazed by the number of new vocations coming into the Company of Jesus – and especially by young men and women who want to ground their ministries around their monastic callings.
During Bishop Loomis’ visit, I talked with the Vestry about all of this and how I had come to the conclusion once again that parish ministry is not my primary calling. Instead, I feel very much called to spend more time advancing the Company of Jesus and also to develop a new expression of the 8th Day Life healing ministry.
Cindy and I have been very privileged to serve in the founding and establishment of All Saints Anglican Church. We also look forward with excitement to what God will do in our midst through this new adventure. Please pray for us as we launch out into the deep. We love you all and hope to continue our relationships with you even as we refocus our ministry.
Together with Him, for the Gospel,
Fr. Andrew and Cindy Counts
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Mary and Martha
A Sermon Delivered to All Saints Anglican Church on July 18 2010, at the Convent Chapel of St. Mary's Medical Center, Huntington, WV and based on Luke 10:38-42:
38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” (ESV)
Have you ever gotten into your car and automatically turned on the radio? Perhaps it's always on and you don't even think about the need to turn it on...Have you ever come home to an empty house and turned on the TV - just to have some noise or a human voice going on in the background? Have you ever just stopped and observed how NOISY our world is?
If so, you may have also tried to enter in to some level of silence. Maybe you just get tired of the incessant voices that come over the media - You turn them off and just bask in the relative quiet, alone with your thoughts. It can be a pretty nice respite from time to time.
But what about practicing silence regularly - or taking in a big chunk of silence all at once? Maybe that's a little more difficult.
In today's Gospel reading, we have a contrast between one busy, noisy sister and another who practiced silence - so that she could listen to Jesus. Jesus tells Martha that she is anxious and worried about many things, and that Mary has chosen the good portion by quietly sitting at his feet. On the surface this looks like a categorical endorsement of a reflective temperament vs. a more active one.
But there are a couple of variables that enter in here that are perhaps not immediately apparent.
The first has to do with temperament itself. We've said before in other messages that Temperament seems largely God-given. And various personality types are drawn to various expressions of spirituality. So, I don't think that in this instance, Jesus is categorically saying that active people are inherently less spiritual than contemplative people. In fact, here's a kind of prayer that Martha might pray as she is doing her housework:
Martha's Prayer
Lord of all pots and pans and things,
Since I've no time to be
A saint by doing lovely things,
Or watching late with thee,
or dreaming in the dawnlight,
Or storming heaven's gates,
Make me a saint by getting meals
and washing up the plates.
(quoted in Wm. Barclay, The Gospel of Luke, Daily Study Bible Series, pg. 141,142).
One of the great insights put forward by St. Benedict is that the Work of God, the Opus Dei, is not just our times of formal liturgical prayer and private 'quiet times' - but that even our driving, our sweeping, our mowing or the activities of our daily occupations can be made into a prayer through a simple intention to praise God in all our works. You can practice the Presence of God by getting meals and washing plates just as surely as you can by storming heavens gates and watching late. It all depends on what kind of an attitude you bring to your work.
In Martha's case we can imagine her bustling around with such intensity that Jesus could walk quietly in the room and sit down - and along would come Martha telling him to lift his legs while she runs the sweeper!
She was determined that nothing and nobody would get in the way of making a nice meal for Jesus - even Jesus! The attitude we bring to our activities matters!
And it's certainly possible for one personality type to look down on another. We can perhaps imagine Mary sneering at Martha and saying, "See...he likes me best!"
This is also not a good attitude to bring to our time with Jesus!
No, our individual preferences in prayer and spirituality are all acceptable to God as we offer them up in humility.
But there is something else going on in this Gospel story - something that we don't hear in the selected passage. And that is the context of Jesus' visit to Mary and Martha. Remember, in Luke Chapter 9, Jesus had been Transfigured and counseled by Moses and Elijah about his earthly mission. He warns his disciples that "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” (v.21) He repeats the warning in v. 44: "The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men."
Jesus' focus as he came to the town of Bethany was on his death!
Therefore, it's likely that he was pensive and may have needed some peace and quiet to collect his thoughts. Mary and Martha and their brother Lazarus were his good friends, so he may have gone to their home looking for some calm before the coming storm.
But Martha didn't know that. All she knew was that Jesus had come to her home and that the most important thing was entertaining him in a suitable style! She was trying to be kind to Jesus by rushin' and fussin' - but that was precisely what Jesus did not want! (Barclay, pg.142).
William Barclay comments on this passage, "With the cross before him and with the inner tension in his heart, he had turned aside to Bethany to find an oasis of calm away from the demanding crowds if only for an hour or two, and that is what Mary gave him and what Martha, in her kindness, did her best to destroy!"
Mary understood - and Martha did not.
Barclay goes on, "Here is one of the great difficulties in life. So often we want to be kind to people - but we want to be kind to them in our way; and should it happen that our way is not the necessary way, we sometimes take offense and think that we are not appreciated."
"If we are trying to be kind the first necessity is to try to see into the heart of the person we desire to help - and then to forget all our own plans and to think only of what he or she needs." (Barclay, pg. 142).
Jesus loved Mary and Martha - but Martha made a self-centered fuss over him, while Mary understood him and gave him what he needed.
Mary minimized the noise in her life so that she could focus on Jesus - God's Word (Logos). She practiced listening in the midst of her life so she could hear the voice of God. But one can easily imagine that this attentive listening was not merely silent, but that there may have been a conversation going on with Jesus. Mary might well have asked questions or made comments. Even if she didn't speak, there was no doubt an active engagement with the words Jesus spoke. Her silence fostered a dialog and communion with God, that Martha missed because she was so intent on accomplishing her agenda.
And so it is that if we truly want to hear God, we must draw apart in silence on a regular basis in order to have space and time to converse and commune with Him.
Thomas Merton, in his book Springs of Contemplation, reminds his Christian readers that 'it is terribly important for us to be clear about our silence,' ... 'The tyranny of noise always has a will behind it...
There is a note of supreme injustice in noisemaking; the noise made by one person can compel another person to listen."
Anyone who has ever heard the insistent thump-thump of a car's subwoofer coming down the street knows the truth of that statement.
Speaking of his own context as a Trappist, Merton says that "the monastery's service to the world might simply be to keep a place where ...people might be silent together."
But I wonder whether this actually may be the birthright of all Christians, exemplified by Mary sitting at Jesus' feet? Of all people, we have God's ear. He delights in our presence and is much more willing to give than we are to receive.
Why then are we so reluctant to cultivate silence?
I think it's because we know we will hear Something - and that Something may make us uncomfortable; may compel us to face an unpleasant truth about ourselves; may demand that we take actions that challenge our easy illusion of being in control of our lives!
Silence is dangerous! But if it's true that God speaks to us in silence, then it's also true that what he speaks is Truth and Life - even if we perceive the Word to be hard or difficult.
I encourage you then to practice silence regularly - not only exterior silence - turning off the radio or TV, but active inner silence as well - becoming aware of the interior noise and learning to silence this as we release the distractions into the Great Silence who is God himself.
In other words, as we become aware of interior distractions such as gluttony, impurity, avarice, sadness, anger acedia, vanity and pride - we dash them on the Christ, my Rock (Psalm 137:9) and take these thoughts 'captive to the obedience of Christ' (2Cor. 10:5).
As an example of this, when I begin to quiet myself to listen to God, I almost immediately think that it would be nice to have a bologna sandwich. I attend to that thought, but I don't give in to it. Rather, I dash it against Christ and take it captive. I don't reprimand myself for having the thought, but I release it into Christ and cease to let it disturb me. Then I move on, simply dealing with each thought as it comes up, until such time as I can find a clear space to listen attentively to God.
It's definitely work - but it's definitely worth it!
It is, as Jesus says 'the good portion', 'the better part', the 'one thing needful' in our lives.
All of us have numerous distractions, numerous time commitments. And we all feel lost and alone at times.
A couple of days ago, David Frederick reminded us of a prayer by Thomas Merton. I'd like to close with it because every time I encounter it, I am reminded about how clueless I am, but how loving our heavenly Father is.
Try to read this slowly and make it your own prayer. Try to enter into that interior silence and face the uncertainty of your life, but then also pay attention to the hope and trust that arises at the end. And remember that you are never alone - that you are at the feet of Jesus and he will protect and guide you.
From Thomas Merton, A Prayer
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think that I am following your will
does not mean I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though
I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and will never leave me to face my perils alone.
In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. AMEN.
38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” (ESV)
Have you ever gotten into your car and automatically turned on the radio? Perhaps it's always on and you don't even think about the need to turn it on...Have you ever come home to an empty house and turned on the TV - just to have some noise or a human voice going on in the background? Have you ever just stopped and observed how NOISY our world is?
If so, you may have also tried to enter in to some level of silence. Maybe you just get tired of the incessant voices that come over the media - You turn them off and just bask in the relative quiet, alone with your thoughts. It can be a pretty nice respite from time to time.
But what about practicing silence regularly - or taking in a big chunk of silence all at once? Maybe that's a little more difficult.
In today's Gospel reading, we have a contrast between one busy, noisy sister and another who practiced silence - so that she could listen to Jesus. Jesus tells Martha that she is anxious and worried about many things, and that Mary has chosen the good portion by quietly sitting at his feet. On the surface this looks like a categorical endorsement of a reflective temperament vs. a more active one.
But there are a couple of variables that enter in here that are perhaps not immediately apparent.
The first has to do with temperament itself. We've said before in other messages that Temperament seems largely God-given. And various personality types are drawn to various expressions of spirituality. So, I don't think that in this instance, Jesus is categorically saying that active people are inherently less spiritual than contemplative people. In fact, here's a kind of prayer that Martha might pray as she is doing her housework:
Martha's Prayer
Lord of all pots and pans and things,
Since I've no time to be
A saint by doing lovely things,
Or watching late with thee,
or dreaming in the dawnlight,
Or storming heaven's gates,
Make me a saint by getting meals
and washing up the plates.
(quoted in Wm. Barclay, The Gospel of Luke, Daily Study Bible Series, pg. 141,142).
One of the great insights put forward by St. Benedict is that the Work of God, the Opus Dei, is not just our times of formal liturgical prayer and private 'quiet times' - but that even our driving, our sweeping, our mowing or the activities of our daily occupations can be made into a prayer through a simple intention to praise God in all our works. You can practice the Presence of God by getting meals and washing plates just as surely as you can by storming heavens gates and watching late. It all depends on what kind of an attitude you bring to your work.
In Martha's case we can imagine her bustling around with such intensity that Jesus could walk quietly in the room and sit down - and along would come Martha telling him to lift his legs while she runs the sweeper!
She was determined that nothing and nobody would get in the way of making a nice meal for Jesus - even Jesus! The attitude we bring to our activities matters!
And it's certainly possible for one personality type to look down on another. We can perhaps imagine Mary sneering at Martha and saying, "See...he likes me best!"
This is also not a good attitude to bring to our time with Jesus!
No, our individual preferences in prayer and spirituality are all acceptable to God as we offer them up in humility.
But there is something else going on in this Gospel story - something that we don't hear in the selected passage. And that is the context of Jesus' visit to Mary and Martha. Remember, in Luke Chapter 9, Jesus had been Transfigured and counseled by Moses and Elijah about his earthly mission. He warns his disciples that "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” (v.21) He repeats the warning in v. 44: "The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men."
Jesus' focus as he came to the town of Bethany was on his death!
Therefore, it's likely that he was pensive and may have needed some peace and quiet to collect his thoughts. Mary and Martha and their brother Lazarus were his good friends, so he may have gone to their home looking for some calm before the coming storm.
But Martha didn't know that. All she knew was that Jesus had come to her home and that the most important thing was entertaining him in a suitable style! She was trying to be kind to Jesus by rushin' and fussin' - but that was precisely what Jesus did not want! (Barclay, pg.142).
William Barclay comments on this passage, "With the cross before him and with the inner tension in his heart, he had turned aside to Bethany to find an oasis of calm away from the demanding crowds if only for an hour or two, and that is what Mary gave him and what Martha, in her kindness, did her best to destroy!"
Mary understood - and Martha did not.
Barclay goes on, "Here is one of the great difficulties in life. So often we want to be kind to people - but we want to be kind to them in our way; and should it happen that our way is not the necessary way, we sometimes take offense and think that we are not appreciated."
"If we are trying to be kind the first necessity is to try to see into the heart of the person we desire to help - and then to forget all our own plans and to think only of what he or she needs." (Barclay, pg. 142).
Jesus loved Mary and Martha - but Martha made a self-centered fuss over him, while Mary understood him and gave him what he needed.
Mary minimized the noise in her life so that she could focus on Jesus - God's Word (Logos). She practiced listening in the midst of her life so she could hear the voice of God. But one can easily imagine that this attentive listening was not merely silent, but that there may have been a conversation going on with Jesus. Mary might well have asked questions or made comments. Even if she didn't speak, there was no doubt an active engagement with the words Jesus spoke. Her silence fostered a dialog and communion with God, that Martha missed because she was so intent on accomplishing her agenda.
And so it is that if we truly want to hear God, we must draw apart in silence on a regular basis in order to have space and time to converse and commune with Him.
Thomas Merton, in his book Springs of Contemplation, reminds his Christian readers that 'it is terribly important for us to be clear about our silence,' ... 'The tyranny of noise always has a will behind it...
There is a note of supreme injustice in noisemaking; the noise made by one person can compel another person to listen."
Anyone who has ever heard the insistent thump-thump of a car's subwoofer coming down the street knows the truth of that statement.
Speaking of his own context as a Trappist, Merton says that "the monastery's service to the world might simply be to keep a place where ...people might be silent together."
But I wonder whether this actually may be the birthright of all Christians, exemplified by Mary sitting at Jesus' feet? Of all people, we have God's ear. He delights in our presence and is much more willing to give than we are to receive.
Why then are we so reluctant to cultivate silence?
I think it's because we know we will hear Something - and that Something may make us uncomfortable; may compel us to face an unpleasant truth about ourselves; may demand that we take actions that challenge our easy illusion of being in control of our lives!
Silence is dangerous! But if it's true that God speaks to us in silence, then it's also true that what he speaks is Truth and Life - even if we perceive the Word to be hard or difficult.
I encourage you then to practice silence regularly - not only exterior silence - turning off the radio or TV, but active inner silence as well - becoming aware of the interior noise and learning to silence this as we release the distractions into the Great Silence who is God himself.
In other words, as we become aware of interior distractions such as gluttony, impurity, avarice, sadness, anger acedia, vanity and pride - we dash them on the Christ, my Rock (Psalm 137:9) and take these thoughts 'captive to the obedience of Christ' (2Cor. 10:5).
As an example of this, when I begin to quiet myself to listen to God, I almost immediately think that it would be nice to have a bologna sandwich. I attend to that thought, but I don't give in to it. Rather, I dash it against Christ and take it captive. I don't reprimand myself for having the thought, but I release it into Christ and cease to let it disturb me. Then I move on, simply dealing with each thought as it comes up, until such time as I can find a clear space to listen attentively to God.
It's definitely work - but it's definitely worth it!
It is, as Jesus says 'the good portion', 'the better part', the 'one thing needful' in our lives.
All of us have numerous distractions, numerous time commitments. And we all feel lost and alone at times.
A couple of days ago, David Frederick reminded us of a prayer by Thomas Merton. I'd like to close with it because every time I encounter it, I am reminded about how clueless I am, but how loving our heavenly Father is.
Try to read this slowly and make it your own prayer. Try to enter into that interior silence and face the uncertainty of your life, but then also pay attention to the hope and trust that arises at the end. And remember that you are never alone - that you are at the feet of Jesus and he will protect and guide you.
From Thomas Merton, A Prayer
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think that I am following your will
does not mean I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though
I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and will never leave me to face my perils alone.
In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. AMEN.
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