What IS the Better Part? (Reflections on Pentecost 5, Year C 2022)

She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying.” (Luke 10:29) 

Did you ever sit at anyone’s feet? I’ve always understood the expression to mean being a pupil of the one whose feet you’re sitting at.[i] It’s a metaphor. I mean, unless you’re on a rug in a kindergarten class, I don’t think any student literally sits at the feet of a teacher. Although, I once had occasion to sit literally at the feet of a mentor of mine just as I imagine Mary did in the gospel lesson assigned for Pentecost 6, Year C in the RCL (Luke 10:28-42). 

Gosh. I think it must’ve been about 35 years ago (that long? Really?). It was a Sunday morning at St. Luke’s Lutheran in Long Beach, California, and I had some reason—I can’t remember what it was—to ask my pastor, Roger Magnuson, for something before church. Pastor Roger’s door was always open, so I came in without knocking and found Roger sitting in the chair visitors to his office usually sat in. The office was darker than usual as the shades were drawn and only a small desk lamb shown. He was listening thoughtfully to some classical music played on a small portable stereo. Roger was a big, robust man, but this morning he looked uncharacteristically quiet and small.

 The only other chair in the room was Roger’s desk chair. I couldn’t bring myself to sit in it. Sitting there seemed somehow disrespectful, like usurping a monarch’s throne. So, I sat down on the floor at Roger’s feet. The pastor began to share with me some trouble he was having with his youngest son. It was a serious matter and clearly grieved his heart. I have no idea why he chose to divulge this to me, a twenty-seven-year-old, unmarried community college teacher with no children of my own, but I guess he felt safe sharing and needed to express his feelings to someone. 

Over the years I heard Roger preach hundreds of sermons. He accompanied my high school youth group on a cross-country trip, and he flew to Philadelphia after his retirement to present me for ordination. Still, I never felt more present with the man than that Sunday morning sitting at his feet. 

In our gospel lesson for Pentecost 6, we find Mary of Bethany doing an outrageous thing—sitting at the feet of Jesus. In the world of our text, this really isn’t something a nice Jewish girl should be doing. Two reasons: First, listening to the rabbi and discussing theology was considered to be something reserved for the men. The guys didn’t consider the ladies were smart enough to participate. Second, the ladies were expected to be in the kitchen getting the food ready. If you’re a feminist, you could be pretty proud of Mary (and Jesus, too!) for breaking the gender stereotypes. On the other hand, if you’ve ever been abandoned to do all the work yourself while someone who should be helping you sits around on her butt, you can pretty clearly see why Marth has her knickers in a twist. Can you blame her? 

Jesus tells the—justifiably—irate hostess, “Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.” (v.42) I’m not sure what the Lord means by saying this. I think this is one of those times when the Bible has us stumped and is elbowing us (or me, at least) into one of those “chicken-and-the-egg” mental debates. Yeah, Mary is learning from Jesus. That’s pretty important. But: feeding folks and showing good hospitality like Martha is doing[ii] is pretty important, too. I mean, come on. People have to eat, right?

So here’s the question: Does knowing the Word of God lead us to servanthood, or does servanthood lead us to knowing the Word of God? Does sitting at the feet of Jesus lead us to be present in the world, or does being present in the world lead us to the feet of Jesus? St. Paul says faith comes from what is heard[iii], but might it not also come from what is done? Which of these sisters from Bethany is really choosing the better part? 

When was I most present with the Lord? Was it when I was in seminary learning all kinds of cool stuff about God and the Bible? Is it when I’m leading worship? Or was it when I handed a bleeding homeless man a sandwich at 2am on a street in Manhattan? Or when I was still trying to teach a fourteen-year-old gang member how to do long division? Or when I shared a bucket of KFC with our Interfaith Hospitality Network guests? Or when I sat with the parents of two murdered sisters to discuss the slain girls’ funeral? 

What really is the better part? 

I think back on that Sunday morning with Pastor Roger. For all the good lessons I learned from the man, did I learn the most important one sitting at his feet? Surely Mary felt the need to be present with Jesus and hear his message. But I wonder: did Jesus—who was fully human as well as fully divine—also have the need to know that his Word was reaching someone? Was that more important at that moment than lunch? Was Mary being a servant at the feet of Jesus, those feet she’d later anoint with costly perfume before they were pierced and nailed to his cross?

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[i] St. Paul uses the expression in this way in Acts 22:3.

[ii] Also like Abraham does in our First Lesson, Genesis 18:1-10a.

[iii] Romans 10:17