Luke 10:38 - 42
38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus[d] 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.[e] Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
Questions:
ReplyDelete1. Should Martha have not been serving, but also sitting at Jesus' feet?
2. Was Martha's request reasonable?
3. What would it have looked like if Martha was not anxious and troubled?
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-10-commentary says:
ReplyDeleteMary had chosen to listen to Jesus, and that was more important than preparing a large supper. The story is not meant to teach the value of a contemplative life compared with a life of action, but to show that service to Jesus must not fill people's lives to such an extent that they have no time to learn from him. One honours him more by listening to him than by providing excessively for his needs (cf.) Joh 6:27.
Whenever work for the Lord brings upon us the worry of "carefulness and trouble," we may be assured that we have somehow got out of Christ's yoke, for He says, "My yoke is easy, and My burden is light. Take My yoke upon you, and ye shall find rest unto your souls."
The worried and cumbered worker will soon be found in the ranks of the grumblers. Martha's big task of "much serving" was self-imposed, and she, like all those in similar circumstances, soon got burdened and wearied. God-given work will never be cumbersome when done in His strength.
It is no honour to the Prince of Peace that His servants' hearts should be filled with restless solicitude about His business. "My peace I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27).
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-10-commentary continued:
ReplyDeleteAs Warren Wiersbe rightly reminds us "Few things are as damaging to the Christian life as trying to work for Christ without taking time to commune with Christ. “For without Me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5).....Whenever we criticize others and pity ourselves because we feel overworked, we had better take time to examine our lives. Perhaps in all of our busyness, we have been ignoring the Lord. Martha’s problem was not that she had too much work to do, but that she allowed her work to distract her and pull her apart. She was trying to serve two masters! If serving Christ makes us difficult to live with, then something is terribly wrong with our service! The key is to have the right priorities: Jesus Christ first, then others, then ourselves. It is vitally important that we spend time “at the feet of Jesus” every single day, letting Him share His Word with us. The most important part of the Christian life is the part that only God sees. Unless we meet Christ personally and privately each day, we will soon end up like Martha: busy but not blessed."
Distraction makes us oblivious to the presence of the Lord. And when we try to serve God without his presence we become angry and bitter with him and his servants. We also try to use the Lord to control others—“Tell her to help me.” Distraction can even lead to the arrogance of commanding God.
MacArthur comments that for Martha to "so rebuke the One Who is “compassionate and gracious” and cares for His people is one of the most foolish and graceless statements anyone ever made to Jesus.....After falsely accusing Him of not caring, Martha then presumed to tell the Lord exactly what to do, implying that her will and her plans were more important than His. She had lost her perspective; she was totally out of control; her view of reality was severely skewed. Martha was worried about the bread that feeds the body, while Mary’s focus was on the Bread of Life that feeds the soul.
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-10-commentary continued:
ReplyDeleteThere is a strong tincture of self-righteousness in Martha’s speech.
When we focus intently on the temporal, we are almost guaranteed to miss out on the eternal.
It is not so much that Martha's works counted for naught, but that her attitude needed an adjustment. If the church had all Mary's and no Martha's, it would be in a mess! Martha's work was necessary, but it lacked the proper perspective. The reality is that as followers of Jesus we need to cultivate a Martha and a Mary mindset in order to be properly balanced in the Christian life, manifesting an activist and a contemplative lifestyle. The issue in this story was a matter of not one totally wrong (Martha) and the other totally right (Mary), but was more a matter of priorities. Our priority should always be to listen to and learn from the Living Word of God (like Mary) before we carry out the service for the Lord (like Martha). Or stated another way, we will be more likely to do our work abiding in the Vine and bear much fruit, for as Jesus cautioned apart from Him we can do nothing of eternal value (John 15:5). Love God first like Mary, then you can love your neighbor like Martha! If we invert the order, we end up like Martha, distracted, worried and bothered about so many things! We end up feeling overworked and under appreciated! But if our priority is Jesus first, we will experience His Spirit enabling us to accomplish the works He has prepared for us (Eph 2:10) and we will do it with Spirit given joy and contentment! Have you inverted this supernatural order and placed work before worship? If so, then confess it, repent, and begin tomorrow morning with that "Quiet Time" that's been "much too quiet" for a long, long time.
Our Lord prizes our affection above our service. Service may be tainted with pride and self-importance. Occupation with Himself is the one thing needful, that good part which will not be taken away.
Questions and findings:
ReplyDelete1. Should Martha have not been serving, but also sitting at Jesus' feet?
This is a tough one. Somebody has to serve or nothing gets done. I think looking beyond the situations (and using prioritization) is the key. How much do people have to eat? By when? Is it possible that both of them could have listened to Jesus and then both prepared a meal? How much of a meal was warranted? It's possible that Martha may have mis-prioritized and bit off more than she could chew host-wise.
The key to this story is what we look beyond the situation (with eyes of love) and not concern ourselves with things that we shouldn't be concerned about. For example, if you are the host, you may prioritize making a good impression and making everyone comfortable. However, the more loving thing may be to just sit and talk to the guests, even if they have to wait longer to get fed. Perhaps, we need to break hosting convention and ask for help from the guests (so that we can also spend time with them).
The key is to look beyond conventions, duties and impressions to what is really needed. Martha did not do this. Mary did, even though it meant leaving Martha in a lurch. If Martha did look beyond, what would it have looked like?
2. Was Martha's request reasonable?
It was reasonable for Martha to make the request. The request itself could have been reasonable, but in this case it wasn't. Martha wasn't looking at what Mary was getting, which was more important than feeding people. If Mary was being selfish (i.e. making a wrong priority call), it would have been reasonable.
3. What would it have looked like if Martha was not anxious and troubled?
Her heart would have been joyful. She would have analyzed the situation through the eyes of love and she would not have worried about convention. She may have said something like, "please excuse us, but we need to listen to this. Your meal is going to delayed." Or she could have prepared something more modest. Or she could have done what she planned in joy. Love does not worry about fairness.
Excellent insights., particularly how "The worried and cumbered worker will soon be found in the ranks of the grumblers" and how "Distraction makes us oblivious to the presence of the Lord. And when we try to serve God without his presence we become angry and bitter with him and his servants." Good warning!
ReplyDelete