March 3 - 3rd Sunday of Lent

Lessons from Downton Abbey - Jesus as the Master-Servant

Anchor: Downton Abbey

Frame: The Crawley Daughters: Mary, Edith, and Sybil

Thread: Monotations

Luke 10:38-42

Now as they went on their way, Jesus 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.’

When I first thought about this series, I focused on the obvious connection between Mary Crawley, the eldest daughter, and Mary of the gospel telling. But all three of the Crawley sisters are in their own ways yearning and stretching for a different kind of reality. 

Mary is very aware that she is being denied the family inheritance because she is female instead of male and she chafes at that injustice even if it the law of the land. She is stubborn and resists any suggestion that she should marry this man or that man just because she is told to, or that the marriage would position her well. 

Edith is the middle sister, often overshadowed by the family’s concern that Mary be married and fixed well. It is Edith who first learns to drive, a skill which she hires out during the war (which I would guess would never have been allowed otherwise). Later in the series she finds her voice and begins (much to her father’s chagrin) writing a column for a London newspaper.

Sybil most obviously challenges her status quo both as a female and as the member of a titled family. We see this when she models her new gown for the family, which turns out to be a daring outfit of bloomers (watch the eyebrows around the room!). But then beyond this rather symbolic dalliance, Sybil falls in love with the chauffeur: the Irish socialist, radical, Catholic, unlanded, untitled chauffeur. Her marriage shakes the family’s standards to the core as they struggle to accept her choice and then to accept this common man into their midst.

These three women embody the changes of the society around them. The privilege of the titled class is eroding away. They struggle to stretch and reach beyond the restrictions of their roles even as Sybil struggles against the practice of wearing a corset! The contrast between these three young women and the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith’s character) is often marked and obvious (but even she is faced with and undergoes change!).

We don’t have much back-story for this Mary from the bible. Like Mary Crawley, she seems to be dissatisfied with her assigned role. While her sister Martha is busy with domestic chores, Mary is seated at Jesus’ feet - taking the position of a disciple. Scholars have still not been able to come to a clear consensus to what is happening in this encounter, but it is clear that traditional gender lines are being crossed. Are there others in the house (it would be scandalous for Jesus to be alone in the house with 2 women to whom he is not related)? Mary is pretty clearly sitting in the part of the house reserved for men’s interaction. And as often been noted, Mary seems to be neglecting Martha and her own responsibilities as a hospitable woman with guests in her house. For all this, Jesus pronounces that Mary has “ chosen the better part.” He seems not only to accept her place in the teaching scheme of things, he upholds her unusual choices. Jesus appears to be embracing the changing of roles and it is this kind of encounter that later lets Paul proclaim “there is no male or female for we are all one in Christ Jesus.”

As we have spent a good deal of time discussing, our roles as religious people and as a church in today’s culture is changing dramatically. Which of these changes would Jesus embrace? What new positions are we ready to adopt? And if we take seriously the perception of many people in our society that they do not find Christ in church, in whose house will we find Jesus where we may find a place to sit and learn? The challenge of both the changing Crawley daughters and Mary and Martha is to eyes and hearts that can perceive where the Spirit is at work. These shifting roles are not the end of the story, but the wrenching beginning of a new chapter. If “religion” has become the corset of our day, then let us join Sybil and find some daring bloomers to wear out into the world!

I gave the invitation (and will post it on facebook) to create monotations that use the word “evolve” or “change.” I have seen a few already posted (yay!), and they may give us some idea of how we perceive this kind of ongoing Spirit-led  evolution. I hope that in the Studio this weekend that we may experience the bracing winds of change and evolution as a Spiritual, God-enlivened event just as the Crawley sisters seem to sense. Things for them, and for us, cannot be the same. Life will develop ot on the windy scarps where the Spirit gusts.