Written and Delivered by The Rev. Philip Schaffner

We have a choice. We have a choice between Mary and Martha. We have a choice to be disciples of Jesus or slaves of convention and obligation. We have a choice to be evangelists or club members. We have a choice to be prophetic witnesses for justice or mute enablers of unjust privilege. We have a choice.

I must admit that for a long time I really struggled with this Gospel passage. I think I've always resonated with Martha. I appreciate her service, her hospitality, her invitation to Jesus to stay with them and become their friend. I also appreciate her frustration with her sister. My own sense of faith was formed in the trenches of service. I firmly believe God calls each of us to a life of service and so I just almost betrayed in this Gospel passage by Jesus. It's as though Jesus is belittling servant ministry.

However, when I read it this time and prayed about this passage, I saw it with new eyes. I saw a powerful and poignant message for us today. I saw a different choice. Jesus is not putting down service, but rather inviting Martha to see the reason for service in the first place. Martha was unable to hear the good news, because she was distracted with her sense of obligation and position. She was concerned about being a good host and making her guests feel comfortable and welcome in her home. In the process, she missed the opportunity offered to her by Jesus. So often, I think we as the church get distracted with all the mechanics of being church and we cease hearing the word of God and its call for our transformation. We cease being disciples of Jesus and instead become stewards of tradition.

We have a choice. It's not that what Martha did was wrong or that the business of running a church is bad. It's only bad when these activities get in the way of preaching the Gospel, healing the sick, working for Justice and going out to share the good news with the poor, the forgotten, the vulnerable and the abused. Sadly, I think that has happened here far too often. The Quaker writer and teacher Parker Palmer once wrote "don't conspire in your own diminishment. "

We have a choice. We have a choice to be disciples. We have a teacher, we have a guide, we have an example, we have a lord. His name is Jesus. As baptized Christians, we must be attentive and constant students of his teachings and his example. He taught us to live a life dominated by love. He taught us to recognize our neighbors to be even those we hate and to love them. He taught us to heal the sick, to be with the poor and the oppressed. He told his disciples to go out to where people live and work and to share the good news that God's kingdom has drawn close...that God is accessible to everyone. We must practice listening and speaking of our faith with strangers. We must be willing to get close to sickness, oppression and enslavement, whether its cancer, mental illness, poverty, racism, sex trafficking, or drug addiction. Discipleship is an invitation to live more truly and more fully. Discipleship is a choice. We have a choice.

Sometimes I think we live in the time described by the prophet Amos. In today's reading we hear Amos describe a time when God will send a famine, "not of bread or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Adonai, the Lord." (Amos 8:11b) People will look everywhere in search of God's Word, "but they shall not find it." We live in a time of great spiritual hunger. There is a great search for meaning and significance. All of us seem to be on a desperate search for life-sustaining spiritual sustenance.

Here's the good news. We have fruit to offer. God is in our midst. God is in our hearts. Indeed, God is in all things. God is speaking to us and calling us into a new life. We have a choice to share that good news with our friends, co-workers, neighbors and acquaintances. We have a choice to hear that good news ourselves - to accept that God does indeed love us and has a desire for us to transform ourselves into disciples of service, prophets of justice and ministers of forgiveness.

Discipleship also means striving for justice. I love Amos. He is perhaps my favorite prophet. Of all the prophets, Amos makes the clearest link between economics and God's justice. All of the prophets proclaim God's judgment on those who oppress and burden the poor, but Amos speaks with a clarity of conviction and premonition. "Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor...I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all of your songs into lamentation." (Amos 8:4,10a) I think we need to heed Amos' warning. There is real economic injustice in our community and our world. We have a calling from God to rebuild our cities, establish justice at our borders and repair our world. We have a choice.

We can follow Amos' example and call out for justice or we can turn a blind eye to how our consumer choices, business practices, farm subsidies, trade policies and foreign relations trample on the needy and conspire to keep the poor trapped in debt. The Millennium Development Goals are one attempt to counteract generations of injustice, but they must become more than just a worthy cause. They must become a way of life and an integrated vision. We have a choice.

We have a choice to study and examine our individual and collective decisions and ask how they impact the poor, how they affect the environment, how they maintain racial privilege, and how they separate us from our neighbors.

To the extent that I have failed to lead, teach and practice discipleship as a deacon in your midst, I ask for your forgiveness. I have been honored and humbled by your faithful witness, but I see so much more potential here for the proclamation of the Gospel. I truly believe you have the ability to move mountains. There is indeed a great harvest of work to be done. I pray that God will inspire each and every one of you to go out as laborers in the service of God's Kingdom.

What will you choose? Are you a disciple of service? Are you a prophet of justice? Are you a minister of forgiveness and reconciliation?

God waits for you. Our broken, battered and bruised world waits for you. The spirit longs for you and your unique gifts. We have a choice. What will you choose?