As a progressive Christian, I believe there are many names for God and many ways to a loving God; this article reflects one of those ways. Take from here what works for you. Celebrate life with joy and peace!
Have you ever noticed how some words just flow off of your tongue as you say them? And even feel good while doing it? Take the word “flourish” for example. FLOURISH!
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary gives a definition of the word flourish: “As to make bold and sweeping gestures!”
The writer of Luke’s gospel invites us, along with Jesus, into the home of sisters Martha and Mary (Jesus was good friends with them and their brother Lazarus; in fact, I believe they were considered his “family of choice.”) In the story, Martha is concerned (OK, almost obsessed!) about making sure the table is set just right, the food is prepared perfectly, and that there’s more than enough, the home is clean, the floors are swept, there are fresh cut flowers for the centerpiece and enough oil in the lamps; while her sister Mary is content to sit with Jesus and just listen to all he has to say. After having had enough of doing all the work by herself, Martha finally asks Jesus to tell her sister Mary to help with getting dinner on the table.
I love Jesus’ answer: “Martha, Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things, there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.” In other words, “Martha, your sister Mary is cool, and what she’s doing (as Martha Stewart would say) is a good thing!”
This story shows two things:
The importance of listening to Jesus, and at the same time, it shows Jesus’ openness to and acceptance of women among his followers.
Some questions come up from this reading:
What does it mean to invite God and to invite those made in the image of God into our homes and provide hospitality?
And on the other hand, do we know how to rest in the presence of the Divine?
For many of us, being busy doing what Martha is doing, we hear the call to cultivate our personal relationship with God. How we need to find the balance between work, and resting, in the presence of God. Now, notice I didn’t say resting and staying away from God and God’s people, but resting in the presence of God, in community.
How can we live in the light of God’s goodness and generosity, finding that balance between necessary work and resting in God’s presence?
Merriam-Webster gives us further definitions of what it means to flourish: “To grow luxuriantly, to thrive, to achieve success, to prosper, and to reach a height of development of influence.
Now, given these definitions, who wouldn’t want to flourish? I’m here to tell you, God wants you to flourish!
In a newsletter from my seminary alma mater, I read an article by Richard Beaton and Linda Wagener that talks about a flourishing life. The article talks about a flourishing life as “one in which we take full advantage of the physical life on earth that God has given us. It’s about being able to enjoy our capacity to live and move and breathe, using every one of our senses, taking in the abundance of all that God has given us, and wants us to receive and enjoy.”
It goes on to say, “We lose ourselves in the beauty of the snow on the mountains, luxuriate in the warmth of the sun on our skin, are transported to our adolescence by an old, familiar melody. We love, tease, enlighten, support, and confront one another. Even more, we glory in our minds and the abilities to solve complex problems and engage in meaningful work. We create, discover, invent, engineer, build and worship. All of these things are made possible by our humanness.”
So, what do we need to be fully alive, fully human in the context of God’s abundant creation? That’s where the practice of human flourishing comes in.
Now, a practice can be an art, or just that, practice. At times we need to practice, over and over again until we get it right. I’m remembering when I was taking piano lessons, practicing scales was just no fun for me … but it helped me to be able to play the “fun” songs better. So, practicing looking around and seeing all of the blessings for us to enjoy in the midst of our everyday life will help us to flourish!
We read in the book of Genesis that after God created the sun, the stars, the plants, the animals and humanity, God said, “It is good.” We are all God’s creation: Fabulous, Unique, Strong, Amazing and Wonderful, and God says, “My, my, you are good!”
God, our creator, reminds us to be proud of who we are – created to be, to cultivate and manifest the many gifts that we are each given, and then, to flourish!
As we are reminded in our scripture reading this morning, maybe we need to call each other “Martha” from time to time, to call each other back to that essential relationship with Jesus. Mary’s choice, relationship and intimacy, will not be taken away from her.
In this time of rapidly shifting social, political and economic climates, our times of intimate community can never be taken away.
We need each other, more than ever before; I’m so glad our middle name is “community” – Metropolitan Community Church. I invite you to embrace your unique spirituality, to grow in your relationship with God and to flourish together, in community – growing stronger, ever closer to God and one another.
