Sermon: The Creation of We
Text: Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42)
It’s my first November in Victoria, and as a few people have told me/warned me… It means a lot of rain! I am also discovering it can mean a lot of wind as well, along with power outages. Even with the quick change of seasons this year, we will stay consistent by continuing to follow our theme… “Telling Our Story, Sharing Our Faith” with a new story: Mary and Martha. When the staff met for the first time and thought about the theme and stories, one of the hopes we shared was, Let’s present each story with an open-ended question… What if God gave us a magic pen, magic wand, and we can change how the story will end… the conclusion part of the story, the last chapter of the story… into an open-ended question? Among the many stories we had to choose from, Mary and Martha stood out.
So, what do we mean by if you are given a magic wand, how can you change the Gospel story, making a new question, an open-ended one? This picture, A Nail Salon by Chris Buck featured in Oprah Magazine is a good example of creating an open-ended question.
Because I am an Asian person, I tend to notice more when I see other Asian women. I see how they are treated, what they do, how many of them appear in a Movie or a Netflix show, and what their roles are, and whether “we” see them at the table for decision-making or forget to even invite them. And when I say “we”, it addresses another interesting question: who “we” are. When I say “we”, in my daily casual conversation, and when we say “we”, in a sermon or prayers during worship, who is assumed to be included, or excluded? For a very subtle example, if we prayed… “We pray for those who are hungry…” “We welcome newcomers….” Who are we?
It is interesting and challenging work to be mindful and reflect on how we use “we”; those who are assumed as “we” and those who are not.
Two Sundays ago, Michael E, the testimony giver that Sunday, with the Testimony with Question Mark (“Testimony?”), was going out after service and said to me… “You know, ‘queering’ is what artists often do in their art studio. To see if each part is in balance, they flip the canvas upside down. When you look at the same picture in the same angle all the time, you cannot really find it. When all parts are in good balance even when flipped, the job is done.”
The key is that when something is not right, something is missing, if something makes you, us, me, uncomfortable or sad, God gives you a new question… A magic, new, Gospel wand to flip the canvas upside down… for imagination.
When the need for creating a greater, inclusive “we” emerges… When there’s a message, even if it is not spoken, and even if nobody in the room is actually thinking it in the moment, in certain social settings, there are some of us hearing the message:
“You are not from here.”
“You don’t matter as much as me.”
“You are less than, not wanted, not as valuable.”
It is a tremendous burden for those who hear it.
Barriers adds to the burden. (Language, racism, disability or differing abilities, or gender)
The magic wand as “rigorous wonder” (Michael E and the philosopher he mentioned), and the creation of “we” will assist us to rewrite the story of our city, church, Canada, Korea, World… Everyhwere.
In today’s story, Mary and Martha play their roles in their places, respectively. There are accepted norms. Martha is in the kitchen. Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus, learning, and yet in the depiction of the Gospel writer Luke, Mary is so silent. Definitely, Mary is given unusual permission or acceptance at that time, “Crossing the gender-threshold into male space”, the learning, theological education, designated for male disciples. Mary, in the near future, would form the core of Jesus’ female disciples, and yet Luke, the Gospel writer of this story, gives no words to Mary. Mary is silent and passively listening to Jesus while Martha is fussing and distracted in her service. Jesus chides Martha, as if Martha is a little child, and these two sisters are not connected… Luke does not give space in the story for these two sisters, these two women, to talk to each other and figure out a solution together.
In contrast, in the Gospel of John, Mary challenges Jesus and accompanies him to the tomb of his brother, Lazarus. Martha emerges and “comes out” in the crowd from her hometown and confesses Jesus as Messiah. In Gospel stories, the action of confession is significant, a risky act, therefore, it is proclamation… it’s a kind of coming out. And Martha is doing it. Mary and Martha, with agency in their hearts, alive, undiminished, work together to bring Jesus’ attention to their brother’s death, lead him to mourn with them, and then, Jesus re-writes the story of the life of Lazarus, as the result. The magic wand of a resurrection story, preceding Jesus’ own.
So, how is the greater, more inclusive, WE, created, with every actor’s agency and joy?
Here, I would like to introduce a concept, called Ren/Yin. It’s from Confucianism, and this letter/character is used in a lot of words in Korean and I am quite sure, in a variety of East Asian languages. As you see, the letter is constructed with two parts. I hope you can find the figure on the left side that looks like a human being standing. Yes, that figure signifies a human being. Now, the two lines above and below signify the number two. It’s about how human community works. It needs more than two people, more than two hearts, more than two stacks, to be built upon. The principal definition of Ren means ‘benevolence’. It also means ‘consideration, compassion, humanity, charity.’ Human feelings of joy, anger, sorrow, happiness arise because every human being has ren as their human nature, as the deeper foundation of all feelings. If there is not the capacity to love as the deeper foundation in the first place, we would not be able to mourn, be disappointed, angry, or joyful. So, Ren is fundamentally about our innate nature and capacity to “feel” and respond, in compassion and benevolence. East Asian religions generally acknowledge and teach about our human capacity to feel and to respond to the other’s needs, other’s suffering, other’s joy, and the universe. It’s not just a religious concept; it’s a societal foundation. The key to building, establishing a community. To feel and respond is called Kameung. Because every being, every human being, everything in the universe, is connected in chi (energy). When we feel, we are moved by the other and move the other. To establish others first in order to establish ourselves is called the art of ren.
Here, we live in a society that is built on colonization, and the most problematic structure of colonization is keeping the frame of valuing one over the other. One kind must be better and valued more, and the other must be less than and valued less. Martha in the story represents diakonia. Diakonia does not specify domestic service. Martha is not distracted with kitchen duties as traditionally preached, but with her responsibilities that included care for Jesus’ followers and community.
If I were given a magic Gospel wand to re-write the story, I would insert the art of ren into how these three actors engage, Jesus, Mary and Martha. Us versus them occurs (show the picture of A Nail Salon) when we consider the other, the other’s situation, the others’ feelings, as having no bearing on our lives. We have nothing to do with them. What they feel has nothing to do with our lives, our present, our group. Their problems are not ours; we have no responsibility. This is the frame of us versus them, and the structure that enables this disconnection is the frame of spiritual, racial, gender and cultural hierarchy. One is more valuable than the other.
In today’s Gospel story, when Jesus says, “Martha, Martha, Mary has chosen the better part.” The better portion is not sitting passively and listening quietly. The better portion we are called to choose is reserving room in our heart for taking a deep breath, pausing, looking, really looking at the other, being able to feel the other’s feeling,
To do so, we need to flip the canvas, actively listen, and paint the next chapter of the story with our Gospel magic wand, "the multi-coloured wisdom of God. (Ephesians 3:10)"
We are able to overcome ‘us’ versus ‘them’ and create and recreate who “we” are … when we say, we!
It is helpful to remember that, even though we are not the same, and even if we cannot talk about us, assuming we are the same, we feel the same. When we are seen, valued, respected, honoured, included, recognized, Martha, Jesus, Mary, all of us, feel the same. “I am with friends. I could hang out for long time.” “I belong.” “I feel equal.”
Martha, Jesus, Mary, all of us, are connected in ren, the capacity to love and grow connection, seeking faith in understanding. The biggest magic, good news, Gospel wand is that in this universe, the blessings of chi flows rigorously, “God as vast flowing energy” like a stream, living water, enabling us to connect, touch, feel and respond, constantly challenging and changing our perception of who “we” are when we say “we”, in the new creation of “We”…
So, today, flip your canvas — ‘us’ versus ‘them’ — upside down, and take another look to see the beauty of we.
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