I always cringe when the pastor begins preaching about Martha and Mary. Mary is always made out to be the one who has it right, while poor ol’ Martha is missing all the blessings of hanging out with Jesus because she’s so busy cooking their dinner. I have one question for you: What are you going to serve Jesus for dinner if we are all hanging out, chit-chatting away instead of preparing a meal? That dinner ain’t gonna fix itself! As you can see, I’m a Martha. I have had many occasions that I have felt exactly as Martha felt the day Jesus came to visit her and her sister, Mary.
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
I really do realize that when Jesus spoke to Martha about Mary showing her understanding of the “good part” by worshiping at His feet, He wanted Martha to know that us worshiping our Savior is by far more important to Him than anything else we can do with our time. If you had the choice to either sit in fellowship with Jesus Himself or to work away in the kitchen, you would probably say that sitting with Jesus is always going to be the better choice.
In day-to-day life, though, we rarely have to choose such a cut-and-dried matter as cooking dinner or sitting with Jesus. Often, our choices are more complex. For example, do we prepare dinner for our family or do we hang out on the couch and visit with them instead?
If you are a Mary, you may say hang out in the couch, and in some cases, that is the right answer! What if your child is feeling bad and needs you to hold him to feel comforted? Then you forgo dinner for a bit and sit in the couch! What if your husband just returned from a six month deployment overseas? Again, sit down and enjoy having him there! But, what if your neighbor is in the hospital and his yard needs mowing? What if your child is a diabetic and needs to eat a healthy meal within a certain time frame? Those scenarios might prompt you to act like Martha and place work first, instead! As you can see, the answer depends on various circumstances.
The real problem we face in a Mary or Martha situation usually comes down to selfishness. We aren’t always sitting at the feet of Jesus out of love like Mary was doing. Many of us want to sit on the couch because we enjoy not having to act. We want to relax and enjoy our lives at others’ expense, reaping the benefits of their hard work. We take the attitude of, “Why should we work if someone else will do it for us?”, or, “What’s in it for me?” Mary, however, wasn’t just hanging out with Jesus for her own selfish motives, unfairly leaving Martha to do all the work. She was worshiping Him. Worship is a sacrifice, an offering. Mary loved Jesus enough to shower Him with the gift of undivided love and attention.
Martha loved Jesus too, but at that moment she was so focused on making dinner that she forgot to let love be her guiding force. Instead, she was irritated that Mary wasn’t helping out. When Jesus talked to her about it, He could see that Martha had it all wrong. Her motive for preparing Him a meal should have been love, not the recognition and justice that she seemed to desire. If Martha had acted in love, she would have not resented Mary for worshiping Jesus in that moment, and she herself could have also been in the spirit of worship as she cooked a meal for Jesus to enjoy.
A person may think their own ways are right, but the Lord weighs the heart. To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.
The craving of a sluggard will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work.
So, should you be a Martha or a Mary? When it comes down to it, we really need to decide what the most loving choice will be for the moment at hand. What needs are of utmost importance at that moment? We sure don’t want to miss out on life because we work right through it. But, if our motive in our work is love, doesn’t that honor God as well? He knows our hearts. He knows work needs to be done in order for us to live, but He wants us to have a loving attitude about it. He wants us to worship Him in all we do. That is the message I believe He wanted Martha to understand. Let your servanthood reflect love. Worship Him. Love Him, in spirit and in truth, and sit at His feet for a while.
God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.
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