Pew Sheet, Sunday the 20th of July 2025. Fifth Sunday after Trinity / Proper 11
This week, we read two stories of a divine visitation to someone’s home. In Genesis, we hear about the visit by ‘The Lord’ to the tent belonging to Abraham and Sarah in the form of three mysterious guests, whom most scholars agree represent each member of the Trinity as depicted in Andrei Rublev’s famous fifteenth-century icon. In the second, we see Jesus visiting the home of Lazarus, where his arrival causes the equally famous spat between Mary and Martha over Mary’s failure to help her sister prepare and serve refreshments as the strict rules on hospitality, still prevalent in the region, demanded of them to honour all who come under their roof - whether invited or not! Abraham exercised that same hospitality when he instructed Sarah to prepare bread (עֻגֽוֹת׃) (not the ‘cakes’ we read about in our modern translations), before rushing out to collect some fresh milk (וְחָלָ֗ב) and butter (חֶמְאָ֜ה) to put before them, and selecting his best calf to provide a more substantial meal. It is clear from this that the visit was not a short one, for the preparation of such a meal would have taken several hours in the absence of modern kitchen appliances, and one can only ponder what Abraham and his guests talked about in that time.
As was common then, the ‘men’ would have eaten the meal alone, without the women being present, and so it is left for the visitors to enquire as to Sarah’s whereabouts before promising Abraham that she would bear him a son even though beyond childbearing age. The lectionary ends today’s text in the middle of the verse here, but the rest of that verse and that which follows is important, since we read about Sarah’s response to those words which does her no credit. Eavesdropping on the conversation, she discounts the promise and responds sarcastically though denying it when they hear her laughing.
Martha too responds to Jesus’ visit in a somewhat bizarre way, for it would have been unthinkable for a woman to complain to an honoured guest rather than the householder (Lazarus), about Mary’s perceived failings, though it demonstrates perhaps, a degree of familiarity between them, and this may not have been Jesus’ first visit there. I do feel sorry for Martha. Not because of Jesus’ gentle reproach, or even her sister’s apparent laziness, but because of
the way in which that one story has shaped our opinion of her for the last two thousand years. It is evident from subsequent accounts of their meetings that Martha fully knows and understands who Jesus is, and it is she not Mary who runs to meet Jesus after Lazarus’ death and shows immense faith in reminding him that he could resurrect Lazarus even though he has been in the tomb for several days if he wished to. Martha is not an ‘icon’ of busy faithlessness as today’s reading, taken alone and out of context might imply, for she clearly heeded Jesus’ words and can be seen in a much more positive light on this occasion. Her desperate request that Jesus send Mary back into the kitchen is born out of frustration and tiredness perhaps, and is nothing like the far more damaging and much less healthy cynicism illustrated in Sarah’s sarcastic response to Abraham’s visitors; though it is notable that each is ‘redeemed’ in our eyes by later events, and God does not hold either event against them.
We can all be so busy in our daily lives that we fail to see the presence of God in our midst, which is why it is good to sit quietly at Jesus’ feet as Mary did in the gospel passage today. I am sure that Martha learned this lesson too, for later actions indicate that she fully understood who Jesus was, and her faith was commended by him. Rest is a useful antidote to frustration and tiredness – even to cynicism and burnout, so it is good to take time to pause and reflect when we can. As our weekly activities end for the summer in the coming weeks, let us all take the opportunity to do so ourselves, and even perhaps, relearn the ancient art of hospitality (baking optional!), for who knows what blessings may follow?
Collect
Almighty God, send down upon your Church the riches of your Spirit and kindle in all who minister the gospel your countless gifts of grace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Genesis 18:1-10
The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them and bowed down to the ground. He said, ‘My lord, if I find favour with you, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.’ So they said, ‘Do as you have said.’ And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, ‘Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes.’ Abraham ran to the herd,
and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to
prepare it. Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared,
and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.
They said to him, ‘Where is your wife Sarah?’ And he said, ‘There, in the tent.’ Then one said, ‘I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.’ And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, ‘After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?’ The The Lord said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh, and say, “Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?” Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son.’ But Sarah denied, saying, ‘I did not laugh’; for she was afraid. He said, ‘Oh yes, you did laugh.’
Colossians 1:15-23
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers. All things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
Luke 10:38-end
Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘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.’
Post Communion Prayer
Eternal God, Comfort of the afflicted and healer of the broken, you have fed us at the table of life and hope. Teach us the ways of gentleness and peace, that all the world may acknowledge the kingdom of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Monday
Bell ringing at 7.30pm in St Laurence. Contact Jan on 07835 461361.
Tuesday (Mary Magdalene)
Zoom Morning Prayer at 9am. Meeting ID: 539 3978774 Password: TuaR0T or contact Sue on [email protected] (The 0 in R0T is a zero not an ‘O’)
Evening Home Groups, contact Jo on 07803 942 687.
Wednesday (Bridget of Sweden, Abbess of Vadstena, 1373)
Morning Coffee from 10.00 am in the St Laurence Rooms/Great Horwood Village Hall followed by Midweek Holy Communion at 12 noon in St Laurence’s.
Thursday
Daytime Home Group, contact Jo on 07803 942 687.
Pastoral Care: Phone 07305 271 148 or email [email protected]
We are currently collecting items to go into our prize hampers for the Winslow show on Monday the 25th of August as well as soft toys for the stall sale. If you have any quality items which you would like to donate or know of a local company or business which would like to do the same, please speak to Jo or Colleen.
The Bishop of Buckingham will preside at the deanery confirmation service on Sunday the 16th of November in Waddesdon. If you or any member of your family would like to be confirmed at the service, please do let Steve know, and we will arrange an informal meeting to discuss what confirmation means and why it is so important in our walk of discipleship.
The PCC’s of St Laurence and St James’ have agreed to purchase Bibles for the 56 children leaving Winslow CofE School, and the 14 leaving Great Horwood CofE school this summer. If you would like to contribute to this important part of our mission this year, or in the future, please do speak to a churchwarden.
The Christians Together in Winslow Holiday Club will be in the St Laurence Rooms from 10.00- 14.00 hrs on the following Tuesdays: 29th July, 12th August, 19th August, and 2nd September. For further information contact Jo Anderson on 07803 942 687.
