Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39
And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40
But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41
But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things,42
but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
The city of Bethany was a comfort, a refuge, a place to retreat and rest, to be received and welcomed. Truly this was the case when Jesus would retire to Bethany and
to the home of Mary, Martha and as we find out elsewhere, their brother, Lazarus. This was a home and Jesus often would find himself there, in covenant company, with covenant people, in the midst of the world’s tumult.
There is much made in commentaries and sermons of the different temperaments of the two sisters, Mary and Martha. It is often pointed out that Martha was active,
and stirring, impulsive and a worker, as well as being relatively blunt in her speech and demeanor. Her sister, Mary was more quiet, and reserved, not as prone to be up and about, always needing to find something to do. And so, we are told that we must not
expect all believers to be exactly like one another. People are different and this difference is to be appreciated. We are not asking for some kind of cookie cutter, where all Xns look, act and react exactly the same way, listen to the same music, enjoy the
same leisure activities and watch the same television shows.
I agree with this and it is a point that is important if we are to live in true Christian communion and fellowship with one another. I often find a tendency to confuse
principles and methods. In other words, to think that the outworking of our principles must always look exactly the same, and by that usually it is meant that it always looks the way I do it. And if other Christians don’t look exactly like me, like my family,
well then, they are obviously lowering the bar, not keeping the standard and are compromisers. We are NOT all the same. And we must trust one another and by that I do not mean that we trust each other to never make a mistake, but that we trust each other,
to work out their salvation with fear and trembling, always judging ourselves more strictly than we do anyone else.
HOWEVER, I say all of that to then say that I don’t think that is the point that we are to take from this text. In fact, I don’t think this text is about that
at all. It is clear that Martha was distracted, distracted by her serving. That is an interesting thing don’t you think? Her service a distraction? Her service IS her problem? It is a good thing to be found serving others, and especially to be serving the
Lord Jesus. But her service became a distraction for her.
Martha’s crying out to Jesus in the midst of this, asking Him to take her part as her sister Mary is not helping but sits at the feet of Jesus listening to Him…Martha’s
complaint engages in the irony of self-betrayal, her attempt to win the Savior’s support against her sister ends in self-indictment. The nature of hospitality is realized in attending to one’s guest, yet Martha’s speech is centered on herself. Three times
we find her using the first-person pronoun, ‘me’. In other words, she calls Jesus Lord, but she most wants to engage his help in her plans and what she wants and thinks is correct, instead of bowing to Him and learning from Him. Our Christian
service, our ministry to others, can often be, not about loving others as the outward suggests, but actually about SELF!
Have you ever stopped to think about this? Can it be the case that our Xn service, our calling up other people and finding out what the need is and our rushing to
help meet the need…that it is possible that it can be for reasons that are NOT pure and set on other people, let alone done unto Christ, but actually are done for self-centered reasons? If the truth were known about our service and the things we do for others,
would they strike the irony of self-betrayal? Would they end, again if our heart was revealed, would your service to others end in self-indictment?
I have listened to Xn people referring to how certain people are not doing their job, not being faithful in whatever arena the speaker thought necessary, and so, they
say, “I had to go and do this, I had to go pick up the slack.” Mercy became a means of self-congratulatory antics. Service became a vehicle for pride. Oftentimes we can become very busy in the lives of others, so as not to deal with issues in our own
lives that need to be dealt with!
Martha seems a bit miffed at her sister, she, after all, has to do all the work. But she was missing something, the work wasn’t bad to be doing, in fact it was good,
but there is something more important going on here. There are times when our service needs to stop, our work, our frantic racing about, is simply in the way of things that are more important. Mothers learn this when they have little children at home and things
are difficult to get done, there doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day and of course this is not an eight-hour job, it is 24-7. Some things will slide at times AND you know what, they NEED to slide, let them slide. We can get ourselves away from true
following of Christ not only by involvement in those things that are sinful. But it is also true that excessive attention to those things which are lawful in themselves, even good in themselves, end up causing us to be encumbered and we miss the bigger picture.
Like Martha we can be distracted by our service, by excessive attention to good and necessary things, it could be that here is where the danger lies. Our families,
our businesses, our daily callings, our household management, our interaction with the culture and society around us, all of these things necessary, but if not placed in tension correctly may actually serve us to move AWAY from our Savior.
The real problem between Martha and Mary wasn’t the workload, oh that was real, but it wasn’t the real issue. In that culture, women did not sit at the feet of the
teachers, that was a position that spoke to discipleship and it was reserved for the men. This phrase of “sitting at the feet” is used by those disciples seeking to glean from their teacher, even as Saul of Tarsus is said to have sat at the feet of Gamaliel.
But women did not do this. Men, yes, women no. Women could serve and bring out food and care for those present, and it was a good and noble thing for them to do, but they were not to be taught by the teachers of the day. However, Jesus continues to turn everything
upside down. He is not bound by social convention, in fact, He is going to destroy social convention. He is going to establish a new culture, a heavenly culture, that demolishes all worldly ideals. And just as the good guy Samaritan would have been an insult
to the social convention, so would a woman being commended for sitting at the feet as if SHE were a disciple of this great teacher. She was sitting at his feet, listening and learning, focusing on the teaching of her master, because that, Jesus says, is where
women belong, just like the men, at the feet of our Lord.
This action and others like it that Jesus took, must not be in any way connected with western feminist ideals for there is no common ground with that either. To put
it simply, feminism is against women, it works against them, while everything Jesus did was FOR women. Feminism discriminates against women, while the glorious gospel of God discriminates FOR women. Mary was His student, Martha was still caught up in cultural
convention, women can’t be students!
In this contrast and in Jesus’ kind rebuke we are brought to a very important life principle of the Kingdom. As important as service is, and as connected as it is
to a true and right following of Christ and even as connected as it is the necessary fruit of our conversion, it must flow from sitting at the feet of the Christ.
Our actions come as a result of our listening to the Word of Christ, of being bound to the Savior, hanging on and trusting every
word that proceeds from His mouth. Jesus’ rebuke of Martha brings down HER barrier. Stop with all the doing Martha, all the Christian actions, and begin here, for this is the beginning, listen to Jesus. All of our doing, if it is not the result of sitting
at the feet of Jesus is more than worthless, it can even be damning. This is what sets us in the path of self-righteousness, a doing…for the sake of self, or for the sake of doing.
We see all of this from the home of Mary and Martha. There is peace here in Bethany, a big sigh of relief and comfort. There is an understanding of the kingdom that
our Savior brings…a kingdom that turns everything on its head. A kingdom that destroys all barriers, and all social and cultural barriers as it institutes a new, heavenly culture. We see as we sit in Bethany with Jesus, we see a kingdom that lifts us up to
the place of dignity and honor in Christ Jesus.
And NT Wright concluded: “Come with me, then, come with me to Bethany. It’s a short journey, but a steep one. From there, on a clear day, you can see forever.”
Prayer: Father, forgive me for being too busy to listen. May I be found at the feet of my Savior, daily. Help me to listen, to learn from Him so that my service
is void of self and filled with Your Spirit. In Jesus name, Amen.
Hymn: Blessed Jesus at Your Word
