Mary: The Woman Disciple Who was Daring to Sit at the
Feet of Jesus
Let me introduce the theme of this year’s annual conference
by drawing insights from a familiar story narrated by the evangelist Luke about
Jesus and the sisters of Bethany (Lk. 10: 38-42). We know that the sisters were
Martha and Mary. Both were from almost the same background. They shared the
same social, cultural and spiritual locations in the sense that the challenges that
appeared in their lives in the Roman occupied Palestine were almost the same. As both belonged
to the female gender, they were victims of multilayered oppressions and
deprivations. The spiritual and material resources available for them to
negotiate with the situations of life and the challenges therein were also the
same.
But astonishingly the way the two perceive the challenges
and respond to them differs a lot in its nature and ramifications. Here we need
to differentiate between the “sight” and the “insight.” “Insight” is not merely
more than “sight;” it is also foresight, after-sight and deeper-sight. It is
the “sight” within the “sight.” There is an easily identifiable qualitative
difference in the way a person with insight responds to the challenges of life
as in the case of Mary in the story. Not only that but also there is a
qualitative difference palpable in the way the challenges are perceived. In the
story mentioned in Lk 10: 38ff Martha is seen as a person, who is moved
immediately by the presence of Jesus to extend him a warm welcome and arrange
for his happy stay in Bethany. Mary is nowhere in the picture when Martha
rushes around with a burdened heart to serve Jesus. But Mary is presented in
the next plot of the story as a person sitting at the feet of Jesus,
curiously listening from Jesus. Was Mary lazy and evasive of household
responsibilities? But then, why did Jesus praise Mary by saying that Mary chose
the right part?
The problem may be the way they perceive the challenges of
life. Martha’s perception of life and its challenges is very shallow and it
could not pierce the surface level to reach the deeper levels of realities of
life. Whereas, Mary is not frightened by the abounding household works and its
demands; but is more concerned about the social realities outside and inside
the household which deprive people including herself from living life in its
fullness. Martha’s response is one of piety in the sense that she finds joy in
simply showing reverence to Jesus. But for Mary it is far more important to
share in Jesus’ vision of the worldly realities and comprehending God’s will in
the midst of those realities. It is far more important to be a disciple or a
follower of Jesus than remaining as a passive pious worshipper of him. Therefore
it is imperative on all the faithful followers of Jesus to engage oneself in learning
exercises and practices that make one a real disciple of Jesus. Sitting at the
feet is not simply an act of thoughtless submission, but it in its figurative
level of meaning connotes sharing in the faith and perception of Jesus. It is a
meditative and reflective participation in the Movement (the Jesus Movement)
initiated by Jesus in extending God’s reign to the ends of the earth. We see
Mary sustaining herself in this movement outliving all the challenges of the
time even up to the foot of the cross at Calvary .
There are three
equally important parts in the theme on which we need to deliberate by giving
due emphasis to all; they are namely the “time”, the “challenges”
and the “responses.”
What about our time? It is very complex in the sense that it
generates a lot of apprehensions about the future that we as the church and
communities going to share together. Violence against women increase, terrorism
promotes mutual distrust, traditionalism and revivalism questions the right of
women to express and so on. At the same time it gives us a lot of hope about
tomorrow as life becomes more comfortable because of new inventions, because of
the interventions made from some parts of the world to alleviate poverty,
injustices in social relationships (gender discriminations), because of
increasing freedom (in comparison with older days) we as women experience and
so on. Therefore the time is an oxymoron of opportunities and crises.
What are the challenges?
The women across the globe cutting across the boundaries of
religion, caste, colour and class are in need of emancipation in one way or
other. In India
the women are the most powerless, illiterate, undernourished, uninformed (in a
world of information revolutions), violated against, unhealthy and so on. In
almost all cultures in India
a boy child is preferred over a girl child. Women coming to the leaderships
ending up in the stereotyped male leadership modalities, the great vacuum
within the church in particular and society in general in women leadership, the
wide range of differences in women experiences (problems facing the women
around the world are not the same everywhere), are all challenges experiencing
in efforts to emancipate women.
What should be our response?
Weeping over the misfortunes?
Seeing crises as opportunities?
Women Fellowships and prayer-groups? Charity?
What used to be our responses in the past?
Can we think for a moment about a few women like Kandamma
Varghese hailing from a very ordinary rustic background in Ayroor? As a young
widow of 4 or 5 children she never wept over her fate, but thought of opening herself
up to the painful realities that women of her time experienced. Her ministry as
a founding leader of the Sevika Sanghom was a beautiful
expression of her experiences of “sitting at the feet of Jesus.”
Do you think that our ministries to the women today are
patterned and lifeless? Do you think that it needs some compelling detours from
the present patterned course to bring in some freshness?
What does it mean by sitting at the feet of the Lord in our
times?
Hope all may meditate over the theme and get prepared to
participate in the discussions during the conference.
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