Moth-proof/ Rust-proof?

Have you ever had a posession you were particularly proud of? I remember the first new car my husband and I ever bought.

This photo is in our album, captioned: "A NEW CAR!!" That's me posing next to the car with the Vanna White hand gesture.

I was 23 years old and had never had a new car. I was excited.

But if I think about it, where is that car now? We got rid of it. I guess it's possible it's still on the road somewhere, but I doubt a 1995 Chevy Cavalier is worth much of anything these days. Probably it's in a junkyard somewhere.

Also I loved our first house.

We spent a lot of time and money on that house: painting it and fixing things, et cetera. We put an addition on the back. My husband and my father-in-law installed wood flooring throughout the upstairs. I still have those floors in my head as a model of what flooring should look like.

But where is that house now?

Well, it's not in a junkyard. It's still there on that suburban lot. Someone lives in it, walking on my beautiful floors and opening and closing my special double-paned easy-clean windows in the sunroom addition. But it's not ours anymore.

There's nothing better to remind you of the temporal nature of possessions than to look back in your photo album and remember things that you once loved. Even clothing:

My prom dress in 1989. My mother and I made this dress. I was super-proud of it.

But I just saw a dress very similar to this at a costume party. A friend had bought it at the thrift store for 99 cents. That dress was lucky to still be around. Most likely, my dress has been in a landfill for a long time.

My point here is not to be maudlin and sentimental about my 80's prom dress and dyed-to-match shoes.

My point is, these things that I spent so much time and energy, pride and, yes, even love on, are gone. Even if they still exist in the world somewhere, they are no longer mine. These things were temporary.

So why did I think they were important? As Jesus tells us:

¹⁹ “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth,

where moth and rust destroy

and where thieves break in and steal;

²⁰ but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,

where neither moth nor rust destroys and

where thieves do not break in and steal.

²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:19-21

 

So what should I be investing my time and energy in instead?

What has eternal value?

PEOPLE.

That's a short answer, but it's much easier said than done, of course.

Lord, help me to remember today what really matters in life.

(Partially inspired by the devotion "The Moth and Rust Reality" by Claire Cloninger
and the sermon of 16 September by Rev. Nobuko Miyake-Stoner at Harris UMC)

Martha and Mary, Jesus' friends in Bethany

"Christ in the House of Martha and Mary" by Vermeer

http://en.wikipedia.org

Has this subject been done to death?

In case it hasn't, here's the Scripture:

³⁸ Now it happened as they went that He entered

a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha
welcomed Him into her house.

³⁹ And she had a sister called Mary, who also

sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word.

⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted with much serving,

and she approached Him and said,

“Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?

Therefore tell her to help me.”

 ⁴¹ And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha,

you are worried and troubled about many things. 

 ⁴² But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part,

which will not be taken away from her.”

Luke 10:38-42

I think we've all heard the story of these sisters and we know which one is supposed to be the "good" sister. But honestly, something about this has always bothered me a bit.

Maybe it's the number of sermons I've heard on this subject from (male) preachers who still expect the ladies of the church to have the coffee and doughnuts ready in the fellowship hall after service.

I mean, it's all very well to sit at the Lord's feet and listen, but when Jesus and the disciples had gotten hungry, they probably would have been annoyed if Martha had said, "Oh, I'm sorry. Did y'all want food? I was too busy listening to the teaching."

Let's be realistic here. Martha had a job to do, and she was doing it. There were (at least) thirteen men in the house who needed supper and beds for the night. Not to mention breakfast the next day. No wonder she was distracted!

So I don't think Jesus was chastising her for being "too busy." In fact, I'll go out on a limb and say I don't think He was chastising her at all. He wanted His dinner, same as everyone else.

I think He was reminding her to adjust her attitude a little, and remember Whom she was serving.

Anytime people came to Jesus and asked Him to resolve some dispute between them and another person, or tried to get him to "take sides" on something, He refused to do so. He always brought it back to the person who asked the question, telling them to take a look at themselves first.

Luke 12:13-15

¹³ Then one from the crowd said to Him,

“Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

¹⁴ But He said to him, “Man, who made

Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” 

¹⁵ And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness,

for one’s life does not consist

in the abundance of the things he possesses.”

In this example, He could have asked the guy and the brother to come up and each give their side of the story. After all, there was a code in the Hebrew Law about inheritances. Jesus could have pointed out who was right and who was wrong and who owed money to whom.

But that was not what Jesus was about. He loved all of God's people and did not take the side of one over another.

So I think Jesus' reply to Martha's accusation of her sister was this: He simply wasn't taking sides, either Martha OR Mary's. He wanted to remind them that love for each other was the most important thing.

And, it may be pointed out, He knew that His time with this little family, and their time with each other, was limited. The next time He came to visit, their brother Lazarus would be dead, albeit temporarily. After that it wouldn't be too long before Jesus Himself would be condemned to die.

Jesus was reminding Martha that relationships were the most important thing, that being embittered with her sister would only hurt her, Martha, in the long run.

Not a bad lesson. And one you can still have a doughnut after hearing.