Mary and Martha

Luke 10:38-42 Mary and Martha,

This is the gospel reading for tomorrow in the revised common lectionary.... I know this as I'm preaching... and using the following story to open with...

There is an ancient Scottish legend that tells the story of a shepherd boy tending a few straggling sheep on the side of a mountain. One day as he cared for his sheep he saw at his feet a beautiful flower -- one that was more beautiful than any he had ever seen in his life. 

He knelt down on his knees and scooped the flower in his hands and held it close to his eyes, drinking in its beauty.

As he held the flower close to his face, he suddenly heard a noise and looked up before him. There he saw a great stone mountain opening up right before his eyes.

 And as the sun began to shine on the inside of the mountain, he saw the sprinkling of the beautiful gems and precious metals that it contained. With the flower in his hands, he walked inside. Laying the flower down, he began to gather all the gold and silver and precious gems in his arms.

 Finally with all that his arms could carry, he turned and began to walk out of that great cavern. Suddenly a voice said to him, "Don't forget the best."

 Thinking that perhaps he had overlooked some choice piece of treasure, he turned around again and picked up additional pieces of priceless treasure. And with his arms literally overflowing with wealth, he turned to walk back out of the great mountainous vault. And again the voice said, "Don't forget the best."

 But by this time his arms were completely filled and he walked on outside. All of a sudden, the precious metals and stones turned to dust. And he looked around in time to see the great Stone Mountain closing its doors again.

 For a third time he heard the voice… This time the voice said, "You forgot the best. For the beautiful flower is the key to the vault of the mountain."

 Don’t forget the best. We can never be able to truly grasp any precious thing in this lifetime, unless we can grasp the unsurpassing beauty of the MOST precious thing in this lifetime.

Don’t forget the best be maybe that is the message of today’s Gospel story.  The gospel is all about Mary and Martha … or should I say Martha and Mary? 

Like martha it is very easy for us to get so caught up in the day to day, like the Shepard boy it can take a short time to loose sight of the gift that opened up all that God has in store for us. 

Don't forget the best... Don't forget that in the story of mary and martha that there is a third person there. 

we can loose focus in the story making the importance that we are to be more like mary, that she is the role model for us.. yeah there is that... but it's not about being mary or martha but about being both... having a balance between spending time with Jesus and Working for (with Him)