Sunday 20th July 2025, Fifth Sunday after Trinity, St Joseph’s Cathedral, Morobo
Psalm 52; Amos 8:1-12; Colossians 1:15-28; Luke 10:38-42
We are taken on a journey today – from the corruption and deceit of Psalm 52, through the prophetic voice of Amos the shepherd, to hearing of the supremacy of Christ. And, amongst all that, the story of Mary and Martha – two women who loved Jesus.
Our Psalm shows us the worst of mankind – it’s the written thoughts of David as he reflects on the actions of Doeg the Edomite which led to the killing of all the priests in 1 Samuel chapter 22.
David cries out – you are a disgrace in the eyes of God; you love evil rather than good; lies rather than speaking the truth; you have a deceitful tongue. Then he considers – surely God will bring you down to ruin; he will pluck you from your tent. Others will laugh at him saying this is the man others will laugh at for not making God his stronghold – choosing to trust instead in his wealth and destroying others.
By contrast David considers himself to be like an olive tree – flourishing in the house of God; trusting God for everything; praising God for all He has done.
Are we Doeg or are we David? Do we lie and try to bring others down or do we speak truth; love God and praise Him in all situations?
Similarly, in Amos 8, the Lord shows Amos a basket of ripe fruit – symbolising a people ripe for judgement. The people of Israel are exposed for their unjust practices: they trample the needy, they cheat in their weights and measures, and they are eager for holy days to end so they can return to exploiting others.
These are people whose hearts are far from God. They have replaced worship with greed. God’s response is that a famine is coming – not a famine of bread, but of hearing the words of the Lord.
Amos speaks to a society where commerce has become god, where profit is prized above people, where injustice is cloaked in religion. Perhaps not so different to our own times…
Here, now, in South Sudan – and many other parts of the world, we also see structures that reward the deceitful, systems that elevate the powerful and silence the weak. Psalm 52 and Amos 8 remind us that such corruption will not go unnoticed by God. We will be held accountable.
The greatest danger is not physical hunger – it’s spiritual famine. When we no longer listen to God, when we no longer hunger for His word, we lose the very source of life.
Over the last three days we’ve been with the youth – teaching the word of God, feeding them with gospel truths that will help them as they live their lives as Christians. We know there are struggles, insecurity, lack of resources, lack of jobs, lack of education, to name just a few, but our faith, our belief and trust in God, strengthens us to endure the challenges and keep going.
Let us move then, from the very worst of what the world has to offer, to the glory of Christ – “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation… all things have been created through him and for him.”
Paul, in his letter to the church in Colossae, takes us back to the beginning – Jesus is not just a wise teacher or good example of how we should live our lives, He was there at the beginning – He is God – He is the one through whom all things were made and are held together. He is the head of the body, the church. In him, the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.
This majestic Christ comes not to condemn, but to reconcile. “Through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.”
This is good news for us, this is the gospel message. Though we may be surrounded by injustice and tempted by the distractions of the world, Christ stands above it all – He invites us into something greater. He calls us to be part of his body, rooted and grounded in hope.
Until we accept Jesus as Lord of our lives we are no better than Doeg and the Israelites. We are apart from God because of our evil behaviour. Sin is sin – to break one of the ten commandments is to break all of them.
As we share in Communion this morning we are reminded of the sacrifice God made, once and for all, giving Jesus up to death on the cross so that we might be holy in His sight, washed clean, free from accusation; so that we can have freedom in Him IF – we continue in our faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. So often as we learn from the Bible we see that the promises of God are dependent on action by us – in Luke … we are told if we ask we will receive, when we seek we will find, when we knock the door will be opened. When we make a commitment to follow Jesus, when we surrender our will to God and ask that He guide us and help us to live the life He has planned for us, we need to grow; it’s a process not just a one-off event; we read our bible, we pray, we learn more of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There will be times that Satan tries to distract us, tempts us to stop following Jesus, but we need to stand firm. In the challenges and struggles that we experience here in Morobo, and beyond, we are asked to hold tightly to the hope we have in the gospel message.
Paul describes his own ministry as one of “making the word of God fully known.” That’s the very thing Amos said would be lost in judgment – the Word. But in Christ, the Word becomes flesh and dwells among us. In Christ, the famine is ended, and the feast of life begins.
And so, from the deceit and corruption of our Psalm and Amos, and a review of all God did for us through the death of Jesus, we turn to our gospel.
A simple scene that may happen in many of our households. Two sisters preparing to receive a visitor. The visitor arrives, one sister keeps busy in the kitchen – boiling the kettle, preparing the food, while the other sits, and does nothing but listen to Jesus.
Mary and Martha are sisters, they both have a strong faith, yet they show us two different responses to having Jesus in their home.
Martha busies herself with preparing food and drink, Mary meanwhile just sits and listens to what Jesus is saying. I can understand why Martha may have got annoyed! Do you ever think – I’m doing all the work why doesn’t my sister, daughter, friend, mother, help me – they are sitting doing nothing!?
Yet Jesus doesn’t agree and tell Mary to go and help Martha; instead he gently tells her “you are upset and worried by many things, but few things are needed – indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her.”
The problem isn’t her service; it’s that her busyness has become a burden. In her effort to serve, she has forgotten to connect.
Jesus affirms Mary’s choice not because stillness is better than action, but because in that moment, being present with Him was the “one thing needed.” Mary recognised the sacred opportunity in front of her—the chance to sit in the presence of her Lord—and she took it.
This story doesn’t ask us to choose between Mary or Martha, but to see the value in both. There is a time to serve and a time to sit. A time to prepare the table and a time to feast. A time to lead, organise, host, and carry the weight of responsibility—and a time to rest, reflect, and receive.
In our modern lives, we often feel pulled toward constant activity, measured by our output. But our spiritual health depends on the rhythm of both doing and dwelling. Like Martha, we are called to serve with energy and purpose. Like Mary, we are called to be still and listen.
We don’t have to be always busy to be valuable. Nor do we have to feel lazy when we pause to breathe and be with God.
In the tension between Mary and Martha there is a balance. We need to learn, with wisdom and grace, when to move and when to be still – and in both we will find ourselves close to Jesus.
In summary, three points from our readings:
- They warn us. We must not allow our lives to be shaped by deceit, injustice, or distraction. Like the wicked man in Psalm 52, or the merchants in Amos 8, we are all capable of letting our hearts grow hard and our ears grow dull. If we chase after comfort, wealth, and efficiency at the cost of compassion, worship, and truth – we may find ourselves in a spiritual famine.
- They call us. Christ, the image of the invisible God, has come to reconcile us. He holds all things together – even when our world feels like it’s falling apart. In him, there is truth, hope, and fullness.
- They invite us. Like Mary, we are invited to sit at the feet of Jesus. To listen. To prioritise presence over performance. To make time for the Word, even when the work seems endless.
We have been with the youth these last three days, praying together, reading the Bible together, and looking at some of the challenges of being youth here in Morobo at this time, when many are displaced, when work is hard to find, when there are financial pressures on families. We were asked many questions and it’s been hard to answer them; the best we can say is to pray in all situations; to seek God; to stay close to Him. To do that we need to be like Mary, to take the time to sit at His feet and to listen to what He is saying.
Let us not be so busy with religious or worldly tasks that we forget the one thing that is needed: time with Christ.
May we become people who hunger not for more success, but for more of God.
May we, like Paul, proclaim Christ in all we do – not out of duty, because we think we ought, but out of delight.
And may we, like Mary, choose the better part – to dwell with our Lord, listen to his Word, and never let it be taken from us.
Amen.