29 July 2019 - now and later

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Lord, if you had been here,
my brother would not have died.
But even now I know that whatever you ask of God,
God will give you.

Martha is a woman of profound faith in the power of Jesus. It is doubtlessly this faith that gives her the strong desire to serve Jesus when he comes to visit her.

Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said,
"Lord, do you not care
that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?"

Perhaps she is even speaking for Mary's sake, insisting that she would be making better use of her time by serving Jesus, so deserving of service, rather than lounging near him.

But there is something correct about the attitude and posture of Mary. There is something about being present to Jesus here and now rather than simply setting things up for the future that Jesus wants us to share.

Jesus said to her,
"Your brother will rise."
Martha said to him,
"I know he will rise,
in the resurrection on the last day."

Martha is quick to learn this lesson. She is able to help us to see it as well. The resurrection is not a future-only event. Rather, we can come to partake of that life even now.

"I am the resurrection and the life;
whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live,
and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this?"
She said to him, "Yes, Lord."

As we read yesterday from Colossians:

And even when you were dead
in transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
he brought you to life along with him,

Even when the Israelites were dead because of their idolatry God nevertheless forgave them and raised them up. Things happen that seem to cement negative events as unchangeable. We learn first a vague future hope, perhaps another life, perhaps a future generation will break free. But Martha is showing us that the resurrection power of Jesus is meant to fill our lives here and now.

Let us learn to confess what both she and Peter confessed at the prompting of the Spirit:

She said to him, "Yes, Lord.
I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God,
the one who is coming into the world."

No circumstances we face are any match for this belief.