SERVICE. SMILES. SERIOUSNESS. STUDY
16th Sunday Year C
July 21, 2013
SERVICE. SMILES. SERIOUSNESS. STUDY
Abraham was not one to miss an opportunity. Seeing three men
on their way towards some place else, Abraham saw the chance of a lifetime to
offer some welcome and winsome service with a smile. And then some … rolls and
some meat; curds and some milk … The guests surely were well provided.
Martha and Mary sure knew their places. Both did not pass
off an opportunity as it came their way … in the person of their friend Jesus,
whom Martha, by the way, called “Lord!” The “Lord” merited some five-star
quality service. This, Martha gave “gratis et amore.” The same “Lord” surely
was worthy of some serious attention and personal care. This, Mary did, by
sitting down right next to the Lord’s ottoman chair, gracious and generous with
her listening ears, as she was gracious and winsome in her heart.
Abraham and Sarah did their best to offer service and
hospitality to the unexpected guests. Martha and Mary each had a way to make
their guest feel important and needed, and definitely welcome. All four had a
style. They pampered their guests with the best they had. Abraham had his
“tender, choice steer,” curds and fresh milk to boot, and even “waited on them
under the tree while they ate.” Martha showed her culinary and administrative
skills, and lost no time putting her pots and pans to good use, and her
long-lost recipes resurrected to life. Mary, on the other hand, lost precious
time gracefully with the Lord, listening to Him intently, solely, with focus
and passion – and, one more time – with feeling!
The three of them served with panache! And the fourth
provided welcome with passion!
Who says the Lord can be approached and served in only one
particular way? Who says that the Lord only wants service, and that He cares
not much for anything that does not go beyond a five-star quality meal?
In our times, there are two extreme types of people … those
who say they believe in God and spend all their time doing godly things, good
things, worthy things – ostensibly for God, yes, but not necessarily on account
of a God they personally are related to. Yet, there, too, are those who spend
all their time in religious things, those who do nothing but engage in holy
things, pious stuff, spiritual concerns, but for whom all other worldly
concerns do not count for much. The former are definitely attuned to the world
and contemporary reality, but never attached to a personal God. The latter, on
the other hand, can be, and may be attached, but never attuned to the God they
think they relate to.
I, too, can be an activist, and engage more than just pots
and pans, and even fields and farms to do good. But if I am not attached to a
personal God, all that activism is nothing more than a noisy gong and a
clanging cymbal. I, too, can be a pietistic prayerful person, and boast about
being attached, but if I have no love either that shows in action, I am equally
what the other one is – another noisy gong and a clanging cymbal.
All four individuals in the readings did hospitality. But
real welcome and hospitality is given by one who can recognize their guest for
who he is … who, then, does justice and who, then, can live in the presence of
the Lord!
Abraham saw more in the three men. They were more than just
lost and weary travellers expecting a bed for the night and food for sustenance
of body and soul. They stood for someone higher, someone greater, someone as
deeply mysterious as God who would later reveal Himself to be one in three –
Triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!
This is the same God that Paul saw and knew first hand –
“God, the mystery hidden from ages and from generations past,”now “manifested
to his holy ones” … “the Christ in you, the hope for glory.”
What does one do before a presence so august, so sublime, so
real, so near and yet so far, so real, and so invisible to many? How does one
behave in His presence, in His coming-in-flesh in our midst?
Let us all do an Abraham and a Sarah! Out with the best the
house can offer! Choice meat, and the best curds and milk. Everything’s on the
house! This is hospitality at its best. Service galore to the utmost and the
highest! Let us all do a Martha and offer service – five star excellent
service! But let us all do a Mary, too, and offer that same service with a
smile and some seriousness for the long haul – some spiritual nourishment, replenishment
for the heart and soul as much for the body.
Service, yes! … and a plus that is more than Google Plus+
--- service and a smile, service plus serious study and reflection that is
worthy of a faith in Him that “comes from hearing!” Attunement, yes, and
attachment, too! … to a God with us, a God come-in-flesh, a God-wth-us.
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