Memorial of Saint Martha

Fr Ken and Rev. Bren Bishop
at the Rex Robley VA Hospital

Saint Martha is a ready friend to anyone who thinks she cannot be a saint. Martha comes off badly in the only two stories we have about her, and yet she was dear to Jesus and a true saint – despite what appears to be a crabby personality. Hey, not everyone can be Ms. Personality! There is plenty of room in heaven for you too, and me.

In today’s gospel story, Martha again challenges Jesus, “Had you been here my brother would never have died.” To understand this gospel we should first understand something about story telling. Every good story needs a villain, or at least a foil. The character of Martha has to lack imagination to make the unimaginable more astonishing when it actually happens.

This eleventh chapter of Saint John’s Gospel illustrates Jesus’ teaching in the fifth chapter: Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

What can that mean? So let’s have a story:

First, we need someone who is dead to be raised. And what better person than Jesus’ friend and disciple, Lazarus? Remember Lazarus? He died in Saint Luke’s gospel too, in the parable about the rich man and the poor man. A true disciples, he’s got this death-to-self role down pat.

Now let’s bring in some mourners to accentuate the drama: the silently grieving Mary and the not so silent Martha. We’ll use her to challenge Jesus, “Where were you when we needed you?” She represents us in our more difficult moments.

She is also the pragmatic woman with both feet on the ground; she keeps her wits when others might do something foolish, like opening the grave of a man who has been four days dead. Phew! Bad idea!

And that’s because any reasonable person – or any unreasonable person, for that matter -- cannot imagine what Jesus will do. We need her to be surprised.

So Martha is Jesus’ foil, but she is no fool. She knows truth, goodness, mercy, and love when she sees Him. Like the merchant who sells everything to buy the field with buried treasure, Martha invests her all in Jesus.  

Let’s face it, in His presence we’re all foils. We make his goodness look spectacular; his innocence, splendid; his mercy, superabundant. If we sometimes look like fools we’re wise enough to be glad and grateful so close to Goodness.