When “Help me!” is your prayer
Life hurts. Loss lingers. Fear speaks.
During these times, each of us has prayed, “Help me!”
Whether we locate ourselves as believers in God or not believers in God (or somewhere in between), we have all prayed for help in the a nearly silent sigh or at the top of our lungs.
In lectionary scripture this past Sunday, someone who calls for help is relatable to all of us. Her name is Martha. This matriarch is suddenly hosting a spur of the moment dinner party.
One of her guests is Jesus. The ongoing relationship Martha has with Jesus is not explained. The context of how these two know each other in not given in our text (Luke 10:38-42), but this host with the most calls Jesus her Lord.
Martha has a sister, Mary. At meal prep time, Mary is at Jesus’ feet, hanging onto every word this tired and likely hungry traveler is saying. To Martha, Mary’s actions (or actually lack of action) is a no. Seeking her sister’s help, Martha marches up to Jesus, points out that Mary should be doing far more than lounging and says, “Fix it!”
That’s not an exact quote. But she turns to Jesus. In essence, she is saying, “Help me!”
Some history on why Martha is feeling pressure is helpful. In the time of Jesus’s ministry, a family is known for its hospitality. In fact, it’s a cultural expectancy to welcome people into your home. This is exactly what Martha does. Now a couple of guests is one thing. Jesus and his entourage total thirteen.
Yep. It’s time to get the leaves out for the dining table.
It’s also time to make this a big deal. This is Jesus. This is dinner. And Mary? Whoa. She isn’t passing around the appetizer tray. She’s not filling drinks. Even if she did ask if there is anything she could do to help, she is doing nothing to help.
She. Is. Just. Sitting. There.
We are like Martha at times. Each of us tells (or has told) Jesus how things should be.
“Fix it!” may not be the words we use in prayer, but we do ask Jesus to do just that.
We are not to hold back in prayer. Instead, we are to be explicit in what we hope for, and in what we want. After all, Philippians 4:6 reads, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God (NKJV).”
In the face of this, we hear what sounds contradictory. “If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans.”
What are we to do? Stay silent? Roll with it? Do we thunder over to Jesus and tell him how, where, when and what we expect?
Jesus didn’t outwardly respond to Martha as she had initially hoped. Mary didn’t pop up and start performing host duties. Instead, Jesus brought Martha into a deeper—better—relationship with him as Jesus invites us into a deeper—better—relationship with him.
The thrust of this story is not on prayer. It’s on our relationship with Jesus as workers (Martha) and as worshippers (Mary). Like the wisdom teachers of Israel did, our author Luke invites us to hold both Martha and Mary in contemplation. We work. We worship. We find ourselves being like both women.
What Jesus longs for is for us to be close to him. Over distractions and the busyness of the day, Jesus wants us to hear him.
Fortunately, this isn’t the last exchange Martha has with Jesus. Their interactions are recorded two more times. After time, Martha realizes Jesus does far more than fix it. Jesus gives her, and all of us, more than we need.
Is the “Help!” prayer wrong? No, it does what it should. It draws us closer to Jesus as it drew Martha closer to Jesus.
Quick fixes? We sure want them. But Jesus gives us more than something in an instant. He gives us forever.
A good reminder here is that as Martha invites Jesus to her table, Jesus invites her (and, in turn, all of us) to spend more time with him, one on one.
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