Maretta Hershberger off ered what may
be a cautionary tale for pastors, church secretaries and Sunday school superinten- dents everywhere: don’t leave your stuff for someone else. As a new secretary of Good Shepherd
Lutheran Church, South Bend, Ind., she has the “dubious privilege” of cleaning the offi ce of a pastor who retired two years ago: “On top of his desk, I found church bulle- tins from 1991. On the up side, I did enjoy his joke fi le. ... Still, with my work about one-fourth fi nished, I have already carted out nine bag s of trash, one of which was completely fi lled with old church supply catalogs.”
Freed to do God’s mission Wayne Olsen, St. Paul Lutheran, Teaneck, N.J., wrote a spirited response just as his congregation celebrated its 90th anniversary. “It would probably take another 90 years for us to empty out our building,” he said.
20 In Luke 10, we read the familiar story of Jesus visit-
ing his dear friends Mary and Martha. Martha is a lot like my son Seth, a lot like me and maybe a lot like you. Martha has a life cluttered with many things, many tasks. And Martha is frustrated. She’s working hard. She wants everyone around her to be working hard too. But Martha’s sister, Mary, has diff erent priorities.
Mary sees right through the busy clutter of life, right through to what Jesus calls the “one thing,” the “bet- ter part.” Listening, learning, worshiping and spending time with the Lord—that is Mary’s focus, not the other clutter that takes up our time, eats up our money and lays waste to our souls. Do we really want to live this way? Do we really want to work longer and harder … so
we can buy newer and bigger stuff … so we can clut- ter up our space and time … so we can be too busy to listen, learn, worship and spend time in Christian community? Do we really want to live this way? Or are we called to lay aside the clutter and sit at the
feet of Jesus? Maybe you have heard of the Protestant work ethic. Hard work and frugality, diligence as duty. If you’re like me, maybe the Shaker phrase “Hands to work, hearts to God” seems to have been taken right
out of the Scriptures, right along with cleanliness is next to godliness (that one isn’t in the Bible either). A little later in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus reminds us
of the lilies: they neither toil nor spin—they just are. And they just are beautiful. Martin Luther said: “Whatever your heart clings to
and confi des in, that is really your God.” Do our hearts cling to busy schedules and cluttered lives? Or do they cling to the promises of and the relationship with Jesus? Maybe it’s time to declutter our lives, to refocus on
“the better part.” Maybe it’s time to be a little less Mary, a little more Martha: to simplify and organize, not so that we can “do more with less!”—but simply so we can do less and be more. Do we really want to live this way? I pray that we—my son, myself, my family and all of
you—may be inspired to declutter, refocus and embrace the one who calls us to sit at his feet and reminds us: “T ere is need of only one thing,” not two, 10 or a 100 things. One thing. Our Lord,
Jesus Christ.
Author bio: Zimmann, an ELCA pastor, is visiting professor of preaching at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg (Pa.)
January 2016 19
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52