She sat at Jesus'feet and listened.

Genesis 18: 1-10a. The visit of the three men (The Lord in verse 1) to Abraham is one of the most enigmatic stories in the Bible and provided the subject matter for probably the most famous icon of all time, Andrei Rublev’s Trinity. In this icon the three men represent the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (from left to right) depicted as such through the colours of their clothes.

Colossians 1: 15-28. “The image of the invisible God” is a phrase that immediately testifies to the inadequacy of language when trying to express divinity, for something invisible cannot have an image, and yet we somehow know what Paul means. He then describes what Jesus has achieved for us “reconciling all things to himself”

Luke 10: 38-end. The story of Martha and Mary, coming as it does after the story of the good Samaritan is no accident. It affirms that discipleship is not only limited to love of neighbour but also love of God. The Samaritan and Mary belong together. Doing without listening can degenerate into purposeless busyness while listening without doing just mocks the words. We are told only two things about Mary – that she sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to Him. This story has nothing to do with the merits or otherwise of housework!

Let me say right off that the story of Mary and Martha is not about housework or its importance. I don’t think Jesus held any strong theological convictions about dusting!

The key to understanding this story is noting its position in the text. It comes directly after the parable of the Good Samaritan for good reason – they are to be seen in parallel.

The Good Samaritan is about putting your beliefs into practice and loving your fellow man. Mary and Martha is also a parable if you like. It emphasises that as well as loving your fellow man, loving God is quite important too.

We are told only two things about Mary. That she sat at Jesus’ feet and that she listened to Him. There is a tendency amongst some more activist parts of the church to see the church as only being church when it is doing something and that time spent in worship is time wasted. This is the people this story is aimed at, just as the Good Samaritan is aimed at people who are happy to spend time in worship but don’t put their faith into practice.

Worship and action are two sides of the same coin. One should feed the other in fact.

It might be good to think of worship as the time to stop reflect and re-fuel. It is the strengthening of worship that feeds and empowers the manner and character of your life – like a virtuous circle.

That sets the scene for two readings that extol the glory of God nature and purposes.

In Genesis, in a story that has always captured my imagination we are told that Abraham was visited by the Lord. In the very next verse, the Lord becomes three men. Sarah is detailed to prepare an appropriate meal, so if anyone is still perturbed by Martha’s treatment in the gospel reading, let it be know that hospitality and taking time and trouble to welcome visitors, especially so here as it is God himself, has always been central to the Judaeo-Christian tradition.

But the striking thing about the visitors is that their concern is practical and related to the lives of Abraham and Sarah. Their concern is that there be physical offspring even at this time in their old age. Carrying on the theme of last week that God is both transcendent and at the same time intimately involved with creation.

What an episode like this emphasizes, much like the birth of John the Baptist, or like the virginal conception of Jesus, is that, God’s power is able to overcome all human limitations.

Being interested in the lives of humanity, Christians believe that God visited his people decisively, not in the guise of three men, but one special man Jesus Christ, and Paul’s description of Him starts with his role in the creation of everything, then moves to describe his redemptive work for all people, then moves to the work of the church which is the vehicle for continuing life, and all held together by the cosmic universal nature of our faith.

In this, the church has a vital role. Paul tries to describe how the Spirit of the risen Christ is bonded with all the disparate Christian communities that were rapidly springing up.

He was trying to express a bond that was much richer and more intense than just a teacher and his followers – it was experienced as much more personal than that.

My hope and prayer is that our relationship with God through Jesus Christ wherever it happens to be now continually matures and deepens into a more personal connection. Paul affirms here the oneness of Jesus and his people, even though it is hard to articulate exactly how that occurs – Just that is to what the experience of the church bear witness.

A oneness Jesus prefigured in life when he instituted the act of Communion that we celebrate. Do this in remembrance of me, and word remembrance is anamnesis, which carries with it not just the notion of remembrance but also of “making present”. So lets make manifest God amongst us as we commune with both earth and heaven.