Yesterday I began posting some expanded and edited excerpts from my sermon last Sunday as part of this Lenten Series on "communal spiritual disciplines" called The Gentle Yoke. After considering the spiritual disciplines of "showing up" and "slowing down" we are now considering the spiritual discipline of "sitting under" or as it is usually called, "submission."
Now, some of you are probably wondering how a discussion on submission snuck into a series on communal spiritual disciplines. Well, in many ways, true biblical submission is more an attitude of the heart than a rote action. It is the humble opening of ourselves to others, to surrendering some of our autonomy and activity to regularly sit at the feet of Jesus coming to us through another Christian. And, through the influence of biblically sound and wise Christians, discerning and living more effectively for Christ.
And that takes practice. We are by habit human ‘doings” rather than human beings. We prefer to think of our selves as captains of our own ship, sailing off to the destinies of our choosing, consulting only our own counsel, and being in charge of our own lives. Independence, freedom, autonomy: these are the hallmarks of our existence we think. These are our aspirations.
But Jesus models for us and teaches us a different way of living, where knowing and submitting to the will of God is the first priority, not accomplishing or doing things. Look at Jesus’ statements about his own life. Here he is the incarnate God in the flesh, the ruler of all nature, the Lord of all nations, the King of Kings, the Prince of Peace and what he says is:
“I can do nothing on my own…I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me.” (John 5:30)
“My teaching is not mine but his who sent me.” (John 7:17)
“I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak.” (John 12:49)
Jesus demonstrates through his own actions that the life of devotion to God is not doing what we want, but doing the will of God in every circumstance. And the key to doing the will of God is learning and discerning the will of God. And here’s the brutal fact: you and I cannot do that alone.
Neither you nor I can figure out the will of God for our lives, the goals and aspirations of our lives by ourselves. Your life calling, your life purpose, your life direction, your life decisions are not going to come as a result of your own deciding and doing. They are discovered through mutual submission to each other as an expression of our complete submission to Christ.
Now this one is really going to chafe at some, so let me encourage you to understand submission from the picture given to us by Jesus and then encourage you to use this season of lent to practice the spiritual discipline of sitting under: of being first and foremost a committed learner of Jesus through a lifetime of learning Jesus’ word and ways... from other Christians.
In our scripture passage, Jesus and his entourage of disciples arrives at the house of his friends, Martha and Mary. Martha and Mary are sisters and immediately Martha starts scurrying around the house taking care of all the many tasks that need to be done when such an important guest comes. And with Jesus and twelve hungry disciples (some of them ex-fishermen) there was certainly a lot to do.
In Jesus’ day, honored guests sat at meals, reclining at low tables. The disciples sat at their masters’ feet. It was understood that someday the disciple would become the teacher and that they who were sitting under the teacher today, were aspiring to be a leader tomorrow.
But Mary, who is very likely Martha’s younger sister, shocks her sister and probably everyone else in the room by taking her place as a disciple, sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to him teach. Martha was doing what women usually did in that culture (the domestic chores) and Mary was doing what men usually did in that culture (sit at the feet and learn from a rabbi). In essence she joins the men and leaves Martha for the women’s work.
Martha complains to Jesus that Mary has left her to do all the work alone. Martha expects that the Lord will order Mary to get back to work fixing the meals, cleaning the house, and genuinely doing what needs to be done to take care of him.
We don’t know if Martha was really bugged that Mary wasn’t helping in the kitchen. She may also have been unobtrusively trying to hint to Mary that she was sitting in the wrong place. Men are disciples, she was saying, you need to get up and get back where you belong with me. Maybe she thought that a quick word from Jesus would get her back in line. “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.”
Jesus surprises Martha by chastising her instead. “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.”
So many of us feel like we have so much to do. So many responsibilities, so many pressures, so many deadlines. So many cultural expectations. We tell ourselves “Don’t just sit there, do something.” But I want you to consider a different approach to this Lenten season. Here’s the next spiritual discipline that I want you to consider. As you are worried and distracted by many things, consider this instead: Don’t just do something, sit there.
Don’t just start doing whatever is in front of you, whatever you think you have to do but instead take the time to sit at the feet of Jesus by submitting your life and your priorities to the influence of other Christians and reconsider all that you are doing. (This is a slight twist on a post that I offered in the wake of the Tsunami disaster.)
Let this season of Lent begin a process where you see yourself first and foremost, not as a “doer” but a “disciple”, not one who has to accomplish everything, but one who is supposed to learn from Jesus what really needs to be accomplished. Don't just live life, learn!
Let it be a season of discernment, a season of letting go of some of that which you must accomplish to instead sit under and learn from Jesus primarily by sitting under and learning from other Christians. The body of Christ is the presence of Jesus today, so we learn from Jesus through his word, proclaimed and taught by the body of Christ. Let Lent be first and foremost a season of sitting under and learning from Jesus through his body.
So, what does this mean? Tune in tomorrow for more.
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