Arroz a Caballo & the Word of God

By Seminarian Negron

Sunday, July 17, 2022

 I was lucky growing up… When my mom was growing up, she would always eat the meat first during supper, if they had meat. A typical Puerto Rican dish in the middle-lower class was white rice, red beans, and a sunny side egg up on top. It is called “Arroz a Caballo” which loosely translates to “Rice on a horse”. I have NO idea why we have rice as jockeys but apparently, it was a thing… They would call it “Poor people food” but to this day I would gladly eat that instead of a steak.

There was a reason why they would eat the meat first. There was very little food waste and everything was cooked in portions and most of the time it was exact to the number of people that were going to eat. But then we have visitors and guess what happens if your meat was still on the plate… It was taken away and given to the visitor.

Puerto Ricans are very hospitable people, it’s one of the things that we take in with pride. It is not uncommon for us to go all out when we have visitors trying to make them feel as if they live in our place and one of the things we tend to go overboard, me included, is in the food.

That has its pros and cons. I personally try to challenge myself every time I am cooking for someone. I try to make it as enjoyable and unique as possible, but the con is that I end up spending way too much time in the kitchen talking to whoever is visiting me while I cook and clean.

I become a Martha.

In the gospel Jesus gets to Martha’s house, now that is something interesting since you have three people in this household. Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. Lazarus is not mentioned in Luke’s gospel because the attention is placed on Mary and Martha but John does mentions in chapter 12 of his Gospel that Lazarus was in the house.

The reason why this is interesting is that in Jesus’ time, Men owned properties, not women. Martha owned a house, not her husband which could mean she was a widow, not Lazarus, which is the man of the house… The house belongs to Martha, and as the owner of the house once Jesus and the apostles come over she starts making the rice, beans, and eggs on top.

While Martha is being me in the kitchen Mary goes over and plops on Jesus’ feet to listen to him. This is a student’s posture, to sit at the Master’s feet and listen. This is also kind of scandalous because it was very unusual for a first-century Palestinian woman to join men in teachings.

I get the image of Martha just sweating, cooking, moving dishes and pots all over, cleaning, seasoning, serving drinks, and running back and forth while Mary sits looking up adorably at Jesus and smiling.

Martha Was UPSET.

I would be too! I mean, the Lord comes into MY house and I am slaving away trying to make sure they get all they need, and the one person I count on to help me is just sitting there chillin’. Martha then decides to go to Jesus and say “Hey, I am here just working hard to make sure you guys are well taken care of and Mary is just sitting there… Can you just tell her to help me?”

Now, let’s keep in mind… Martha is doing something necessary. The Greek word for Service is “Diakonia” and that is exactly what Martha is doing. “Diakonia” is where we get the word deacon -- an ordained minister of word and service. She is doing a service to her guests but what is interesting is Jesus’s response to it. “Martha, you worry too much about these things and you can’t be upset at Mary for choosing the best part.”

At first glance, this may sound as if Jesus is telling Martha to go back into the kitchen and make some more tostones (Smashed plantains) when, in reality, He is saying, “Just let the beans dry out and come and sit with us and bask in the Word of God.” Maybe Martha was so into the service part that she forgot she is/was/always will be minister of God’s word too.

Jesus does not want us to neglect the Word of God at the expense of servitude. Both are complimentary. When Jesus says that Mary took the best part he is not saying that Mary is just sitting there relaxing. Priority should be given to listening to the word of God, taking time out, sitting down, and taking His word as a guideline to be able to carry out our own Diakonia to the world.

I will not take sides on who got the best part, and why should we?

Think of this:   Be Mary, with a touch of Martha.  Or Be Martha, with a touch or Mary!

Here is the thing: We have gifts, each of us is unique and we serve the best we can.  Just center yourself in the word of God and let that be the propelling force to be able to serve others.

God loves you and God will welcome you whether you are Mary or Martha, or even our silent guest in this passage, Lazarus. The one thing we cannot do is limit ourselves to being just one of them. Serve with a purpose and listen to God while serving others. If we take anything from this passage it would be this:

Diakonia and the Word of God are not mutually repellent. We need both to be able to serve with a purpose and not just for the sake of serving. In other words :Sit and listen to the word of God… Cook the best Rice and beans with Eggs on top that you will ever cook. Serve it with the love that can only come from the word of God and if at all possible, eat the meat last.

Let’s humble ourselves in prayer:

God of multiple communities:

Thank you for walking with us upside down and backward,

to have the privilege of mobility that brings us to the places of transformation

 in acts of solidarity and deep listening and experience.

Help us to hold in our hearts the expansiveness of your vision

that may look very different from the vision we think is being enacted.

As we are broken open, may we connect with the brokenness,

the movement, and complications of those we encounter in the world.

Amen.