The Place of Privilege

The Rev. Joseph Winston

July 18, 2010

Grace and peace are gifts for you from God, the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ.1
Ah, the power of privilege and what gifts it brings to the chosen in this life.
Privilege provides the special people with immediate access to the finest food and
wine that money can buy. Those with enough financial resources are not like the
rest of the world, they do not worry in the least about trivial little details like how
much a meal might cost. The powerful are far above that. They have matters that
are more important on their minds. When they want something, they simply go
out and get it.
This is another significant difference between the privileged few and everyone
else in the world. The ordinary people like you and me never have first choice
in the market place. That spot is reserved for the powerful. They select the best
gated neighborhood in which to place their mansions. They choose the most pres-
1
Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:3, Ephesians 1:2, Philippians
1:2, 2 Thessalonians 1:2, Philemon 1:3.

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tigious schools for their children. They find deals that increase their net worth.
You cannot. Your place in life is to graciously accept whatever is handed down to
you.
There is a definite reason for this way of life. The privileged of this world do
no want to give up their hard earned spot to anyone else. So, they take whatever
actions needed to insure that no one moves in on their turf. Watch and see exactly
what they do. They structure society into distinct layers. In our history books, the
lords and ladies occupy one portion and the others everything else. In our world,
large salaries given to chief executive officers (COEs) guarantees they never mix
with the people they manage.
The powerful pass laws to ensure that no one takes their place. Government
sanctioned discrimination, whether it is known as apartheid in South Africa or
Jim Crow laws in the south, show this well-understood principle in action. Less
obvious but certainly present today are the tax laws that benefit the rich.
The use of story is the most powerful way by far that the privileged keep their
position secure. In the past, this included the official tales that made the ruling
class gods that literally stood above the rest of society. An important corollary to
this work of fiction is the message that you can see the privileged. They are the
ones blessed by riches, power, land, and a family. Then there is the well-known
“fact” (and I put that word in quotes) that men are better than women are. Men
are the only ones qualified to learn; women are not. God chooses men to lead
and women to stay at home. Today is not all that different. Our representative in
Washington do not stand in lines at the airport, pay the same taxes as we do, or

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worry about where the next raise will come from. They make sure to put distance
between themselves and the rest of the country by telling us their job requires us to
make these sacrifices. We still have people preaching the completely unbelievable
news that you can tell who God loves. They are the rich ones, with new cars, fancy
houses, and trophy spouses. Women still get the short end of the stick. Overall,
they make less money than men do. In many cases, they have less education than
their male counterparts do. We accept this situation by believing the story that this
is the natural order found in the world.
A typical sermon preached on today’s Gospel lesson would shy away from
the issues of privilege and instead focus on what you need to do. Certainly, you
like I have heard this type of message. One popular method is to sternly warn the
congregation to stop serving others and realize that the Lord is here. Problems
abound with this approach. First of all, every action in this message is directed
towards you. You stop. You realize. These are commands and they all lack the gift
of grace Jesus freely gives you. Next, this style of sermon makes the unspoken
assumption that sometimes Jesus is missing from your life. You do not believe
that. Jesus never leaves you. You confess with Paul,

[Tt]hat neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor pow-
ers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor
any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (KJV, Romans 8:35b-39)

Just as important as the other two reasons why this type of sermon is wrong, this
order to disengage your interactions with others so you can hear God flies in the

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face of what immediately precedes today’s lesson. Jesus asked a lawyer,

“What is written in the law? What do you read there?” He answered,

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all
your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your
neighbour as yourself.” And he (Jesus) said to him, “You have given
the right answer; do this, and you will live.” (NRSV, Luke 10:26-28)

Your charge directly from Jesus is to do both at the same time and not select one
option over the other. Clearly, the message that you are to start listening to the
Lord and put everything else aside is not quite right.
The reason why you continue to hear sermons that order you to pay attention
to what really is important in life is our shared belief in the power of the privileged
and the life this lets them lead. We literally cannot believe that Jesus on His way
to the cross would stop and teach an unknown woman in her house without any
other men present.
That is exactly what occurs. Martha invited Jesus into her home (Luke 10:38b).
Now, we know almost nothing about Martha because these three verses are her
only appearance in the book known as Luke. We cannot say if she is rich or not.
We cannot guess if the town loves her or not. We do not even know if Jesus had
met her earlier. All that is certain is she is a woman and we also know for a fact
that an unescorted man never enters the home of a woman. After all, tomfoolery
or worse might happen when a man and a women get behind closed doors. The
second female character in the story is Martha’s sister Mary (Luke 10:39). Like for

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Martha, the information about her is also missing.2 We do not know her economic
status, her reputation, or her relationship with Jesus. The only facts given to us is
that she Martha’s sister. This detail does not play down in the least the absolute
taboo of a man speaking to, much less visiting, a woman that is not his mother or
wife.
What happens next continues to erode the power that the privileged like to
wield. Mary sits down and takes the place of a student (Luke 10:39b).3 At this time
in history, women do not go to school and any instruction that they might receive
strictly comes from other women. Jesus ignores these traditional family values
and then gives Mary His Word of life and not some chitchat like the translation
might lead you to believe (Luke 10:39c).4
The work of hosting Jesus finally gets to Martha and she flat out asks Jesus to
solve her problem with Mary (Luke 10:40).5 Tell her, Martha asks, that a woman’s
place is in the kitchen. Remind her Jesus that a woman serves men. Teach her
Jesus that woman need not learn. In other words, she does not deserve it. She is
not privileged enough to have you.
In many ways, we are just like Martha. We invite Jesus in and we know that
2
There is no need to associate this character named Mary with Mary Magdalene. Luke Timothy
Johnson; Daniel J. Harrington, S.J., editor, The Gospel of Luke, Volume 3, Sacra Pagina, (The
Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1991), p. 173. This attempt to collapse
the two different women into one is nothing more than another symptom of our inability to believe
that Jesus talks with unfamiliar women behind closed doors.
3
This posture indicates learning from a teacher (Luke 7:38; 8:35; 8:41; 17:16; Acts 4:35; 4:37;
5:2; 22:3). Ibid..
4
The Greek reads, ἤκουεν τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ, “heard His Word.”
5
The use of πολλὴν διακονίαν by the author means Martha is simply overwhelmed by what
needs to be done at the house. Ibid.. Her mind is not continuously filled with thoughts that Mary
is shirking her responsibility as a woman. ibid..

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Jesus is here in this with us. We are comfortable with those facts and do not give
them a second thought. What bothers us is when Jesus breaks down the barriers
we have erected. For Martha, it seems that the walls Jesus destroyed are acceptable
cultural norms that include the rules for women to stay away from men who are
not their husband, for women to serve men and boys, and for women not to learn
from men.
Jesus comes to us in a different world from what was found in the first century.
Our problems of privilege seem to be based on our skin color and our age. We live
in a part of the world that almost one-half is populated by people of Hispanic de-
scent yet you cannot see that here. Our state and surrounding counties are younger
than the national average but we are not.
Jesus has brought these people here to us and we do nothing.
We fully expect the powerful to be saved. After all, they can afford the best
that this world has to offer. Their staff takes care of their every need. Their lawyers
keep them out of trouble. Their doctors provide around the clock care. This is the
story that we constantly hear from them. I am privileged, you can see that, and I
deserve to live forever.
Jesus brings another message that stands in direct opposition to what the priv-
ileged would have us believe. Jesus comes no matter who you are.
On the way to the cross, Jesus taught Mary, someone who we know almost
nothing about, the Word of life. He does the same for you. Jesus does not care if
you are powerful or not. He does not consider if you are white or not. It makes no
difference if you are old or young. He comes to save you.

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 In His journey to Jerusalem, Jesus took the time to enter Martha’s house, some-
one whose importance is lost to the sands of time. Her background might be for-
ever gone, but there is one part of her story we keep telling. Jesus came to her. He
does the same for you. It does not matter if you can put the most expensive meal
in the world on the table or have nothing at all for Jesus. He comes. Jesus does not
take into account the size of your house or even if you have no place to call home.
He comes. Jesus will not look at your gender and decide to stay away. He comes.
It never enters His mind if this stop is well known to Him or if this is the first time
that Jesus has been to your house. He comes.
The Good News found in the Gospel lesson today is that Jesus comes no matter
who you might be.
The privileged tell a different story. They rank themselves on what they can
do. They can afford the best money can purchase. They can control society. The
can write the laws. They can even convenience you that they actually deserve
everything they have.
They cannot make Jesus visit their homes. They cannot force Jesus to teach
them.
Jesus comes because He wants to. Jesus educates because He decides to. Jesus
saves because He loves you.
“The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus.”6
6
Philippians 4:7.

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References

Johnson, Luke Timothy; Harrington, S.J., Daniel J., editor, The Gospel of Luke,
Volume 3, Sacra Pagina, (The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN: The
Liturgical Press, 1991).