Sure, People Work Hard for Poverty Wages, but We Pray...Is that Not Enough?

The Rev. Brad Sullivan

Lord of the Streets, Houston
July 20, 2025
Proper 11, C
Amos 8:1-12
Colossians 1:15-28
Psalm 15
Luke 10:38-42

‘Hey Jesus,’ Martha said, ‘I have a bunch of housework to do. Won’t you please come over and sit around while I do my chores? My sister will probably pay attention to you, and honestly, that really gonna piss me off.’ 

That’s usually how we read this story, isn’t it, and it’s really weird. Why would you invite someone into your home just to ignore them? Also, the message that those who sit at Jesus’ feet and listen are better than those who have to do work is not a message Jesus taught. Jesus was consistently for those who had to work and couldn’t spend all day in the temple. After all, if everyone sat around reading the Bible and praying all day long, who would do things like grow food, work at grocery stores, operate power plants. We give thanks for those who work while others rest.

So, as we often read the story of Martha and Mary, it’s kinda weird. Thanks to my wife, however, I was introduced to a different reading of this story which came from Mary Stromer Hanson*. She points out that we tend to read some things into the text that aren’t really there. For one thing, Martha welcomed Jesus, but not into her home. That was an addition, and the most ancient texts don’t have those words. 

So, Martha welcomed Jesus. Mary, we are told sat at Jesus’ feet, meaning she was one of his disciples who learned from him. It doesn’t actually say she was there in this story. We’re told she also sat at Jesus’ feet, meaning Martha did too. Martha and Mary were both Jesus’ disciples. 

Finally, we’re told that Martha was distracted by her many tasks, which we assume means housework, but the Greek actually says “ministry”. Martha was distracted by her ministry in her hometown, and she was asking Jesus to send her sister back to help her. 

Jesus is telling her, then, that she has a good ministry and that her sister, Mary, also has a good ministry elsewhere. You don’t need her here, Jesus was saying. What you need is to draw near to God as you do your ministry. Look at all you are doing; it’s great ministry, but you are becoming distracted from the one who is with you. Don’t forget to join with me as you serve others. You can become so consumed in that work that it becomes a burden. Join again with God, let God’s love fill you, then your service will be a blessing both to others and to you.

Prayer and service work hand in hand. As Pope Francis said, “You pray for the hungry. Then you feed them. This is how prayer works.” At the same time, feeding the hungry can be your prayer for the hungry. Prayer and ministry of service are all tied up together as one.

We draw near to God by listening to God. Draw near to God by acting with love towards others.

In our reading from Amos today, God says, 

Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land…Surely I will never forget any of [your] deeds. I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation…The time is surely coming, says the Lord GOD, when I will send a famine on the land; not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD. (Amos 8:1-12) 

In "ABSOLUTE SUPERMAN",
Kal-El is a champion of the working
class and working poor. His symbol 
that of the working class on Krypton.

In Amos, the people were no longer able to draw near to God and hear his Word because of how they mistreated the poor and lowly. They went to God in prayer often enough, but they paid the poor poverty wages and rejoiced in their own wealth, blaming the poor for not doing more or working harder. 

Because of how they treated people, they could not draw near to God, no matter how hard they tried. God would not hear their prayers, nor would God let his Word be heard among them. 

Sitting at the Lord’s feet, being Jesus’ disciple, demands action. Drawing near to Jesus for our prayers to be heard demands following Jesus’ teaching and abiding in his love, living out his love for others. Living out Jesus’ love for others is sitting at Jesus’ feet. Following Jesus’ teaching is drawing near to Jesus in prayer.

At the same time, living out Jesus’ love for others requires us to return to Jesus for prayer and learning. That sounds contradictory. Prayer is service. Service is prayer, and we have to do both intentionally. 

Without drawing near to God for times of rest, we can become overcome by the work, the ministry, the suffering of others. That’s what was happening with Martha. She was getting overcome by the enormity of the work of ministry, the enormity of the work of loving others. She was getting overcome by seeing suffering all around her, and so she wanted Mary to come back home and do the work with her. 

What Martha actually needed, however, to take a break from her work, and spend some time sitting at Jesus’ feet, learning again, resting in Jesus’ presence, and drawing near to God in prayer. That means some of the work wouldn’t get done. That’s ok. There’s always more work to do, always more love to give, always more suffering to soothe, and God commanded us to rest, to take time to draw near to God. 

When we don’t take that time to rest, then we can’t hear God anymore, and we often start following the ways of the Adversary. When we’re overcome by the suffering of the world, we often become angry and hateful toward those who are causing the suffering. When we don’t rest in God, we turn against our enemies, rather than for those we seek to serve, and even our service can bring the darkness of the Adversary, rather than the light of the Holy Spirit. 

When we’re overcome by the Adversary, we can’t hear God’s word. We need rest to offer to God all of our hatred and all of our anger. We need rest to offer to God all of our righteous fury at those who pay poverty wages while enriching themselves. We offer all of that to God so that God may heal our hearts and we may live out the light of God’s love once again. 

So, when we hear the story of Marth and Mary, and we’re told we need to be more of a Mary than a Martha, that we need to pray and stop doing so much work, that’s not really what the story tells us. We need both. Prayer without service can lead to selfish faith, not caring about those around us, like we saw in Amos. Service without prayer can lead to being overcome by the enormity of suffering in the world. We need Martha and Mary, prayer and service. True discipleship means we pray for people and we love and serve people, walking with Jesus all along the way. 

* https://eewc.com/new-view-mary-martha/

https://stromerhanson.blogspot.com/2015/11/mary-of-bethany-her-leadership-uncovered.html

When We Help and Give Love to Folks in Need, We Have Jesus with Us

The Rev. Brad Sullivan

Lord of the Streets, Houston

April 6, 2025

5 Lent, C

Philippians 3:4b-14

Psalm 126

John 12:1-8

“You always have the poor with you,” Jesus said. I’ve often heard this said with a kind of fatalism. You’ll always have the poor with you so, there’s not a whole lot we can do; we wish it were different, but eh, we can’t really help. So, “You will always have the poor with you,” ends up being used as an excuse not to worry too much about poverty and those who suffer from poverty. The poor will always be with us, so just accept it and move on.

Call me crazy, but I’m pretty sure that’s not what Jesus meant when he said, “You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” Jesus taught extensively about caring for the poor. Jesus taught folks with wealth to live off of less so that those with little would have more. Jesus even taught that those at the top, in modern times, the CEOs and shareholders, should choose to earn less for themselves so that those on the bottom of the pay scale could earn more. 

So, when Jesus said, “You always have the poor with you,” he did not mean, “Meh, don’t worry about ‘em.”

Jesus was talking to Judas who was making a good self-righteous show, pretending to be upset about how much money Mary had spent on the perfume she was using to anoint Jesus. It was a huge amount of money, about 10 months’ worth of minimum wage, and she was using it all in one go to anoint Jesus’ feet. So yeah, fair point, that’s an extravagant expense, but as John tells us, Judas didn’t actually care about how the money could have been used on the poor; he just wanted to be able to keep more money for himself.

So, when Jesus responded, “You always have the poor with you,” he was telling Judas, “Dude, I know what you’re really on about, and if you actually care about the poor, like you say you do, I highly recommend doing something about it.” In fact, Jesus was commanding Judas to care for the poor. “You always have the poor with you,” was a paraphrase of Deuteronomy 15:11, “Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, ‘Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land’”.

Yes, Judas, you are commanded to care for the poor and needy in the land, so stop lambasting Mary, stop stealing, and start using what you have to care for those in need. In fact, Judas, not only do you always have the poor with you and should therefore care for them, but you do not always have me. 

Ok, on the one hand, Jesus was obviously speaking about his upcoming arrest and crucifixion. When Jesus was killed and then when he ascended into heaven, his friends and disciples truly didn’t have him there with them anymore. He continued and continues now to dwell in our hearts, in our very souls and bodies, and yet, Jesus is not walking among us physically, at least not in the way he was a couple thousand years ago. 

In Matthew 25:31-46, however, Jesus did say that whatever we do to the least among us, we do to him. We do have Jesus with us among the very poor and needy whom Jesus commanded Judas to care for. By not caring for others among us, we push Jesus away. 

So, anytime someone dismissively says, “You always have the poor with you,” and therefore figure there is nothing we can or should do about it, they are ignoring Jesus and pushing Jesus away. By words and actions that care only for the wealthy and do nothing for the poor and needy, people reveal the truth of Jesus’ statement, “you do not always have me.” When we push away, trample on, and ignore the poor and needy among us, we push away, trample on, and ignore Jesus and find his words are true. We don’t have Jesus with us. 

So, the truth is, we always have the poor with us; we always have people in need among us, but depending on how we treat them, we don’t always have Jesus. 

So, what are we then to do with the hugely expensive bit of perfume that Mary used up in one sitting to anoint Jesus’ feet. Well, it may not have been the best use of money ever in the history of the world, but Jesus meant a huge amount to their family. Beyond that, they seemed to have some idea of Jesus’ importance beyond just a family friend, and Mary wanted to honor and bless Jesus, and draw near to him in this act of pure love. 

Giving of ourselves to spend time with Jesus, never a bad idea. That’s part of what Paul was saying in his letter to the Philippians when he wrote, “I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” Paul had been one of the absolute best at his religion, and I don’t think there’s really a contest about being better than others at religions, but even so, Paul was the GOAT at his religion, and he gladly let all of it go when he came to know God as a human being, Jesus. 

Mary had this hugely expensive bit of perfume, and she got rid of all of it, used it all at once, in order to be near and offer love to Jesus. 

Now, don’t let anyone fool you into giving them all your money for some Jesusy, religious, whosadeewhatsit. “Send us $1000 and all your prayers will come true.” “Support our ministries with all you’ve got, and God’ll give it back to you with interest.” The only folks what get rich off things like that are the preachers.

No, when we give all that we have to draw near to Jesus, we’re giving our lives, our wills, desires in order to follow Jesus more fully. Sometimes we do give money to support ministries, and we do give money to help others in need, and when we’re helping those other people, we are drawing near to and loving Jesus. 

Realize too that when we give things up in order to draw near to and love Jesus, they’re usually things that we find we’re just fine without. Paul didn’t regret giving up his number one religious guy card, and Mary didn’t regret using all of that perfume on Jesus. She found afterwards that she didn’t need it anymore. 

When we help others in need, we tend to find that we didn’t really need whatever it was we gave up in order to give that help. We find instead that we have spent time with Jesus in those moments, and it was well worth it. We’ve always got folks in need among us, and when we help and give love to folks in need, we have Jesus with us as well.