Martha and Mary (and Abigail)

Feast of Martha and Mary 
St Paul’s Church Ipswich
27 July 2025

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Most of the time in our calendar of holy days and holy people, we look to celebrate extraordinary events: people who stand out from the crowd, events that amaze us, achievements that defy the odds,  and so on.

Today is different.

Today we celebrate two sisters sharing a house and entertaining a guest.

Even so, we celebrate one sister above the other as we often refer to them as Mary and Martha, although Martha seems to be the senior sister.

It was “her house” to which Jesus came for a meal, yet I still described today’s festival as “Mary and Martha of Bethany.”

So here we are on the second Sunday in the Season of Holy Women.

Last week we celebrated Mary the Magdalene. The Magdalene was far from ordinary, and seems to have been a passionate and perhaps feisty follower of Jesus. She was—it seems—unforgettable, although the early Christian Church did its best to forget her and erase her memory from among us.

This week we have two very different women, although each of them may have been feisty in their own way.

Martha and Mary were from the village of Bethany, now known—as I mentioned in my reflection in today’s bulletin—as the village of al’izariyya, the “Village of Lazarus.” 

Even in their hometown their memory has been lost in favour of their brother.

Luke—we note in passing—seems to have misunderstood their location as he has their entertainment of Jesus happening in the north, while Jesus is still en route to Jerusalem.

As John tells the story, their home is at Bethany on the Mt Olives outside Jerusalem. It was safe house for Jesus and his followers, and the place where Jesus stays of an evening during his final week or so in Jerusalem. In John’s version of the story, it is Mary of Bethany who anoints Jesus’ feet as a prophetic action prior to his arrest and execution.

But wait, there is more!

As a bonus we also get the amazing story of Abigail, who also excels in hospitality although under rather more adverse circumstances. To fully appreciate her story, we need to read the paragraphs before and after the lengthy excerpt in today’s reading.

At the heart of today’s celebration lies the theme of hospitality.

Hospitality is a major cultural theme in the ancient world as it remains today in Arab society.

Hospitality was also at the very heart of Jesus’ own mission and ministry. There were three strands to his program: 

• announcing good news
• healing the sick, and 
• sharing meals together.

It is reflected as well in our reading from Romans this morning:

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

In our gospel today we have that classic story of Martha busy in the kitchen, while Mary is sitting at Jesus’ feet.

Martha is doing what a woman was expected to do: prepare the meal for her family and any guests.

Mary was doing what no respectable woman was allowed to: spending time with the men and engaging in their conversation.

Martha is not impressed.

Mary does not speak for herself.

Jesus does not offer to assist.

Worse than that, he implies that Mary is the one making the right choices, while Martha—who is doing everything correctly—has made the wrong choice.

Jesus could have invited Martha to come and join them. After all, he could easily fix a meal for them to share. He had fed 5,000+ people, so a small group in a cottage at Bethany was no challenge at all!

Ultimately, this is not a story about catering, but about agency and our response to God’s disturbing presence in our lives.

Do we stick to our safe zones, or do we “launch out into the deep,” as Jesus would later say to the fishermen on the Sea of Galilee?

Abigail took a risk and claimed her own agency in a patriarchal social system.

Mary took a risk (not for the last time), in her desire to learn from Jesus.

I like to imagine that Martha put down the pots and also came and sat with Jesus and Mary.

What would we do?