With these words, Jesus concludes one of the most familiar and beloved stories in Scripture—the story of the Good Samaritan.

If you were here last week, you heard it read. If not, you probably know it by heart. A lawyer comes to Jesus and asks what he must do to inherit eternal life. In response, Jesus asks: What is written in the law? What do the Scriptures say? To which the man replies: You are to love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself."

That is simple enough, but the lawyer wants to play games. "Who is my neighbor?" he asks. So Jesus tells him a story. A man was on his way to Jericho when he fell among thieves. They robbed him and beat him and left him for dead. Along came a priest. He saw the man, but he crossed the road and walked by on the other side. Then a Levite, came by. He also saw him, and he too passed by. But then a Samaritan came by. Samaritans were half-breeds, hated by men like the lawyer, like the one left in the ditch to die. But the Samaritan goes to the man, binds up his wounds, carries him to shelter, pays for his care.

"Who, then, is the neighbor?" Jesus asks the lawyer.

"The one who showed mercy," he replies.

"Then go and do likewise."

Of course, this is a familiar story. It is one of our favorites; one of the most important in Scripture. Many a preacher has stood in the pulpit and exhorted people to "go and do likewise." They have used it to rally the troops, to call Christians to social action, to challenge us to reach out to the needy, to those left beaten and bloodied.

"Go and do likewise" is a word we all need to hear.

Yet what follows this story is curious. It is the story of Mary and Martha.

Jesus goes on down the road, to a certain village. There he is invited to dine in the home of two sisters—Mary and Martha. When he arrives, Martha is a whir of activity. The Lord is in her midst and she busily sets out to serve him. She heads to the kitchen and readies a feast. And that is, according to Jewish custom, according to the rules of hospitality, what she should do. It is what Jesus would expect.

Yet when Martha complains because her sister Mary is sitting around listening to Jesus rather than helping, Jesus doesn’t tell Mary to go and help. He doesn’t tell her to go to the kitchen and fix the meal. Instead, he gently corrects Martha, telling her that Mary is right where she belongs.

Isn’t that strange? In one story we have Jesus’ exhorting the lawyer to go and do. In the next, he is telling Martha to sit and listen. In one story, Jesus seems to be calling for an active, servant-oriented faith and in the next he seems to be calling for a more contemplative life.

What is going on here?

The answer is really quite simple. Yes, Christians are called to serve God and neighbor, but that service is rooted in the teachings of Scripture. Only by listening to that which God has to say are we prepared to act in his name.

Both the story of the Good Samaritan and the story of Martha and Mary make this point.

Notice that when the lawyer asks what is needed to inherit eternal life, Jesus asks him what the Law of Moses says. He asks him what the Scriptures have to say. Jesus wants to know if he’s been diligent in studying in the words of God. If so, he will know what is required. He will know what it takes to receive eternal life.

The story of Mary and Martha is similar. While Martha was running about, worrying about the meal, distracted by all that she must do, Mary sat at Jesus’ feet, listening to his every word. When the Go-and-Do Martha complains, Jesus lifts the sit-and-listen Mary up as a model because she first and foremost paid attention to God. He applauds her for listening to what it means to be a disciple, for making that her priority, for letting what Jesus had to say determine her service to God and neighbor. That which she is learning is "the better portion" of which Jesus speaks. It is that which cannot be taken away.

As one preacher put it: Our works are the fruit of our faith, and faith comes from hearing the word spoken by Jesus.

Sitting and listening remains a priority for the faithful church.

In his book The Contemporary Christian, evangelical theologian John Stott says that in the 1960s and ‘70s, many mainline Christians opted for what he called "religionless Christianity. Rightly upset at the self-centered, inwardly turned Christianity that dominated the church, they rejected worship and Bible study, preaching and prayer, and turned instead to social action, mission and service. Yet separated from the biblical and theological roots, separated from the reminder of why, how and who they serve, these churches began to decline.

What have we seen since?

The numerical rise of congregations and denominations that are first and foremost rooted in Scripture, devoted to worship and Bible study, given to preaching and prayer. What we have seen is the pushing of the mainline to the sideline by congregations more determined to sit and listen before they go and do.

We are called to do the same.

Last week I was at the General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Like all mainline denominations—Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians and so on—the Disciples are wrestling with the issue of homosexuality. There are activists on both sides. Some are arguing that it is a matter of justice and that Christians ought to be leading the charge for the equality of gays and lesbians in both the church and society. There are others who argue that its a matter of holiness and that Christians ought to resist the broader acceptance of gays and lesbians. Talk to either side and they want action now. They are go and do people.

Yet, to its credit, the task force studying this issue has said: "Let’s sit and listen. Let’s read the Scriptures and explore their meaning. Let’s talk about our theology and how it shapes our understanding of this issue. Let’s worship and pray together; let’s listen to one another and to the Holy Spirit." What the task force has done is affirm that whatever we ultimately may do must, must, first be rooted in attention to God’s word expressed in Jesus and Scripture.

That is true of all issues.

A few years ago, the Christian Church set out to develop materials to help renew floundering congregations. The study that led to the production of the Faithful Planning Process discovered that spirituality proceeds action. They discovered that before congregations were ready to go and do, to start new worship services, reach out to the community, serve as a sanctuary for those in need, they needed to sit and listen to the teachings of God. In its first incarnation, the Faithful Planning Process had the congregation spending a full year in prayer, Bible study, worship--a full year listening to God--before beginning to do what was necessary to grow. Their service had to first be informed by their faith, by listening to what God had to say.

As we contemplate the story of Martha and Mary, I think we have to ask ourselves: Which are we? Are we Martha, going and doing, but worrying about this, that and the other, distracted from what really matters? Or are we Mary, devoted to worship, present in Bible study, faithful in prayer, diligent in devotion, listening to God?

Clearly God needs both. But when we first listen, when we first choose the greater portion, when we first sit at Jesus’ feet, when we first commitment ourselves to discipleship, then our works are truly the fruit of faith.