(Continued from Part 1)
Then things got worse. A Scripture was poorly read and the sermon started. The Scripture had been about the time when Jesus had come to the home of Mary and Martha and Martha was upset that Mary would not help with the food preparation but rather sat and listened to Jesus. The preacher assured the congregation that Jesus was surely not criticizing the honorable profession of homemaking and then focused on the fact that Mary sat at Jesus’ feet and listened. He then developed the thesis that listening to the Gospel being proclaimed was a proper role for women but proclaiming that Gospel as a preacher was clearly not.
Terry felt it showed little relation to the Scripture and was little more than the ranting of an insecure ego being imposed upon the congregation. She was about ready to rise and stomp out when she again felt addressed by Christ. “What does the Scripture ask of you Terry?” “Do you know how to listen to me or are you like Martha ‘worried and distracted by many things?’” (Luke 10:38-42) Even as she left the church and resumed her journey down the road, the question was still playing in Terry’s mind. Terry knew that she had been hiding behind her busy life style and that she had some decisions to make. She had been a stranger in the congregation but she had been addressed by the Body of Christ.
