Grace and peace to you from our creator God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit 

Tomorrow I leave on a much anticipated week-long canoe trip in the boundary waters. 

I began going on these trips with this same group of friends in 1999. Over 26 years we have formed a bond and developed trusting relationships. Even though we have missed a few years, our time together is a blessing. One of the greatest gifts for me is being fully present with God. Where do you feel closest to God? 

In the wilderness I am able to slow down and listen to the melody of creation. A symphony with many beautiful and haunting movements, created with love. This trip began when my last trip ended, lunch at the Trestle Inn. 

With a stomach full of a Trainwreck Burger with Casualties and an ice cold beverage I was content, satisfied, and in the moment. 

A moment of peace that calms the surrounding noise and chatter. When I go on a canoe trip I look forward to tuning in and being in the moment. I learn to appreciate all of the stuff that I don’t really need, just the basics. In the wilderness I seek peace, quiet, and solitude. 

To sit at the roots of a giant white pine or on the rocks while listening to a waterfall are places of holiness for me. 

Being present is about being aware of your surroundings.

In preparation for my trip I am blessed to be part of a group that doesn’t need much planning; a date, a destination, and a little bit of packing is all it takes. 

Even after 26 years of trips I still get excited and a little distracted. 

In our gospel reading from Luke we hear a familiar story, a story that feels uncomfortable to me. 

Doesn’t it feel like we have to choose between Matha and Mary, or can we appreciate both of them for what they teach us? 

I know what it’s like to live like Martha. 

Trying to get everything done, when it seems no one else is helping, or for that matter even noticing. 

Has that ever happened to you? 

When you try to think of every detail and take care of all the loose ends only to feel like you’ve come up short, or missed something important? 

Martha is described as being distracted and Jesus says, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things…” 

I don’t know about you, but if Jesus suddenly showed up I’m not sure that I wouldn’t be distracted too. 

In our reading from Genesis, Abraham and Sarah offer hospitality. 

Their hospitality was a gift of relationship to a visitor, a survival skill in the ancient world, one passed on to this day when a stranger is in need. 

It’s not a question of who to help, but to help everyone, even when that visitor is the Lord, or an angel that we host unawares. 

Relationships that invite welcoming and taking care of others needs, like the good Samaritan, some days it is ourselves who are in need.

God wants us to recognize and literally sit at God’s feet in a relationship of mutual love. 

Twice we hear that Martha is distracted. 

The word distracted, periespato, is in the passive voice that suggests that Martha is not in a moral quandary or on trial; rather, the use of the word distracted suggests that Martha is being drawn or pulled away from Jesus, not simply being busy. 

Maratha is not choosing to ignore Jesus, or the “better part” that Mary has chosen. 

How we use our words and describe things as we perceive them helps us understand the situation. 

By understanding that Martha is not guilty of moral failure, or being willfully disobedient, but so absorbed in service that she cannot hear the WORD of God at Jesus’ feet, like Mary. 

Jesus seeks a relationship with us that requires attention on our part. 

That is the choice we all have been given and the choice that is so hard to commit to when the world chatters at us with the distractions of jobs, cars, repairs health, the list seems endless. 

Jesus doesn’t ask us to make a list, only to follow. 

Follow by listening and choosing the better part. 

The end of verse 41: “there is need of only one thing, Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.” 

My canoe trips are like Mary’s better part, a relationship with Jesus that can’t be taken away from me.

The moment I begin paddling and settle into the rhythm of movement I can feel the presence of Jesus. 

The calm that lies ahead as the distractions float away on the gentle wake of the canoe. 

My focus becomes the treeline, the shore, and the reflection of creation in the water. 

Moving through the wilderness, my attention to time is measured by the sun. Going to sleep when it is dark and waking at first light. 

While one part of me slows down, another part awakens to the natural rhythm of creation. 

Where do you find yourself sitting, listening to Jesus? 

A place to turn off the distractions, to sit with rather than pull away from Jesus? Jesus invites us to be with him. 

Teaching us that our relationship with him will never be taken away. 

Martha helps us to learn that we are not failures when daily life overtakes what we really need. 

We need peace and calm with Jesus. 

A peace that is given to us to share, to pass along. 

Choose the better part, a life with Jesus. 

Jesus loves you, take a moment, sit down, rest and breathe. 

For this we can say, “Thanks be to God.” Amen