Goodwill

"Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. “But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42

Normally when I try to write a sermon it goes easy. I know what I want to say and get a title fast. And then there are days when lord Jesus Christ has to wrestle me down like Jacob who was trembling because of his brother he had previously conned the birthright out and has to face again. This kind of facing a bible quote never looked so pleasing – especially if it involves Martha and Mary. The title is derived from Luke 2:14 from the lips of an angel who was exalting God Allmighty about the birth of Lord Jesus Christ, when he was happy around some sheppards. Let this sermon be a good will and not a woeful one as the testaments of mortal men these days…

Before we even go there – the house of beloved Martha and Mary – let's study and analyze the back-ground. Before that story unfolds another story is going rounds in the town. The story about lord Jesus Christ, and who he really is. He had just cast out 70 of his disciples in sets of two and commissioned them to be humble; meek and only depend on the charity of the benevolent giver and not on their own charms or abilities or success. He even grants them the right to “bless the house” - not all the people in Israel there allowed to “Bless” something like that. Especially not uneducated; undisciplined and unschooled pupils as the bulk of the fellowship of lord Jesus Christ. I mean he even said, that if they aren't received as messengers of God, they can also condemn that house or that entire city to Hell! Please raise your hand, who can do that for lord Jesus Christ ye Christians! What? No takers? Anybody?! I didn't think so… And if the house is worthy of that blessing a divine goodwill shall be bestowed upon that dwelling. The same kind of goodwill what the angel was referring on Luke 2:14 the kind of goodwill what the Nazis abused and other leaderships to state their own goals and feats and not the wants and needs of God.

“Everybody wants to rule the world” as Mojo Jojo from Powerpuff girls sings on Cartoon Network.

It must have really angered the pharisees into an overzealous frenzied glee, the likes of when he said the parable about the disloyal steward and making friends with Mammon later on (Luke 16) it checked the authorship and respectfulness of pharisees in more than one count. Basically, the service on earth, as lord Jesus Christ was, pissed on everything what the pharisees wanted to be in Israel. Read the woes on Luke 10:13-16 and try to understand them in unison of being a Jew who has lived his entire life for Yahweh, being a faithful follower of God in these places – and it all shall perish. They believed ardently and with all heart, that if one single pharisee could produce one single day of piety – it could be more than sufficient to exalt the entirety of the world into Heaven – but when the disciples of Christ come back and even the wicked spirits gave way!! Luke 10:17 That must have made them grind their tooth to dust... The very reason why lord Jesus Christ was cast down to earth, to be born as a man, was to listen and grant those prayers, so many Jews had been dying off. And now he was there – the answer and goodwill of God Jahweh Sebaot, who is El Shaddai, who is El Elyon, who is Adonai! And his own people despised him in being that Man who they wanted to come. He was they Messiah and they didn't recognize him. They denial was so fervent that they sent a young pupil to molest him with words. I mean, if you really want to destroy somebody Christian or Jewish in origin, send a young troll against him to askew about Eternal Life. It doesn't matter what he says there, its a guaranteed lawsuit in motion already, if he agrees with that asking. Somebody will always be offended if you say who gets granted to Heaven and who gets booted out. Remember Luke 2:14 the angel and the sheppards – no pharisees around to be happy about it!! Lord Jesus Christ answered that challenge with the parable of the good Samaritan. It was such a great answer that still good people are called “Good Samaritans” although at Jesus times, a Samaritan was thought to be as good as a mujahidin warrior today – a terrorist and usurper of the true and righteous path! That was also a slap in the face of the Pharisees, to dare use the name Samaritan in positive and not as “nigger” as other Jews did. All the other Jews who there listening heared him say that sentence: “And all who are of true faith, do it like a good nigger does!!” They thought of themselves better of as the Samaritans, because the Samaritans didn't read the prophetic books like the pharisees did. They only had the 5 books of Moses to begin with! That was the first contempt what pharisees had against Samaritans. Strike two was genealogy – they didn't mind who they there begetting with and how Jewish that person was. Most of them didn't even knew their true genealogy – did they have Syrian blood in…? I don't know, they could have been even descendants of Goliath the Philistine or related to some other nativities who had a blood feud with Israel. One of the reasons Jews had to suffer bad karma under the nazi-boot as they did unto the Samaritans… I don't say Holocaust was nice – I am saying it was the logical answer of not following their own religion and ignoring all criticism… And that's why these days a Jew doesn't even have to be circumcised to be one then previously they had to kill off all offspring who was not at the age of 8 days!! But I am deviating from my path now. The topic was “Goodwill” Let us go back to our bible quote. After that quote comes the Father who art in Heaven prayer and the question whether or not does lord Jesus Christ need the help of the devil to do his bidding… So that sums up the back-grounds. In comes the next character who is – Martha!

Martha is a humble and pious Jew who sees a rabbi strolling around and wanting for him to be next to her. Nothing frivolous – just as a teacher. You have to keep in mind, that girls had a lot harder time in getting into a rabbi's class. Every time something needed to be done in the kitchen or in the house, that kind of student was immediately excused from her studies while the boys there excused from their chores to study the Torah! That was the very reason why Martha got so mad at her sister little Mary who just forgat herself listening to Jesus. Think about it. A person as famous as Marilyn Manson enters your house, because your crazy older sister invited Him in for... I don't know what – obviously He doesn't travel alone but with his staff and followers and groupies and news-reporters… I want to see a 14 year old girl who can think of doing her chores at that moment… or even a boy and not wanting an autograph or just sit there and listen – for that moment will never ever happen again! And they all knew that… On the account of Martha, I must say thus: She wanted to be “Worthy” of that “Goodwill” lord Jesus Christ was arguing about his disciples and pharisees. She wanted to be worthy of Eternal Life – but she also knew that she was not a pharisee – not even a Man! How should she qualify for that honor in the first place? If she could but be a good host to lord Jesus Christ, that would be her slice of Heaven! – And little Mary dost not play along! What a shame as the older sister, when the younger does not listen in Judaism or other semitic countries… So many honorable guests, and Mary doesn't behave like a girl!! She must have been feeling like an older sister who spots her little sisters Google account, and its covered in Mary's nudes and all their relatives can see em… She felt like dying there – and she pleads mercy from lord Jesus Christ, so she still would be worthy of that “Goodwill”. The problem never was, that Martha couldn't do it alone or she would have been too jealous about Mary and her place. If she had those kind of feelings towards her sister, Jesus had told her so: it ain't cool. I think what she was really feeling there, resonated to the same feelings Joseph had towards his fiancee Mary, who was found pregnant before marriage, when he intended to dump and forsake her lest to let her be stoned to death. She wanted to save her little sister from public shame – not many sermons about Martha and Mary point that out – Martha was scared as hell, that some of the followers of Christ or his enemies would remember the name and face of Mary – but like at the ending of the parable of the ten maidens of honor – and she would be one of the moronic ones, who dost not get married. She wanted her little sister to get married with the very best, for that also highlighted a good older sister who has to be like the Godfather, when the parents are dead. It is really funny, that the story never talks about their parents, when normally Jews aren't that way shy. Every living Jew wants to be remembered that “Jesus was here! At my house!! My name is this and that my genealogy is thus! And now only Martha and Mary are mentioned alone… They must have belonged to an impoverished family who's parents and maybe even brothers there dead or at least to poor to grant them normal life and marriage. They lived and waited like the daughters of Lot til' someone would marry them from the Hills but too proud to do as they did... Martha maybe have wanted that kind of proposal from Jesus either for herself or for her sister, for that would have really made it for them both. To be the wife or even the maid of honor in such a marriage, there your sister gets to marry Jesus – that is true bliss!

And Jesus is offering her the same place as is underneath Mary. Basically lord Jesus Christ said that He didn't expect that they had to service him, but wanted them to accept the honor what was held to men! The words of God! And now Martha understood – though the bible doesn't say that, but since it ended so abruptly from there I guess the problem of serving dinner was postponed to some other time… Lord Jesus Christ may want to grant you such a “Goodwill” that it exceeds your wildest dreams… You just wanted to worship Him with your life, but he is putting you onto the honorary place you never wanted to sit on – to avoid all the evil eyes who would shoo you away from there for not deserving that honor… Accept that good will from me and know that you can live your lives as Mary and Martha did and that is perfectly sufficient in receiving Heaven. For you don't need to be Christian to be able to read this, do you now! Accept the good parts from Heaven and be yourself! Amen!