Picture the scene related to us in Luke 10:38-42. Martha, a woman of purpose, has invited Jesus into her home. Of course, there are many others with him. By now he has quite an entourage—at least the twelve disciples and maybe some of the seventy-two. It must have been quite a party. She is the hostess and is doing her best for this distinguished and esteemed guest. It is her responsibility to at least provide a meal for him and his followers. Maybe she is also making preparations for them to stay. She is focussed on her task and fully occupied with it. In her culture a very high worth is placed on hospitality and she wants to make a good impression.
Now you would think her sister would have shared her burden, wouldn’t you? This is an important event in their lives. It’s not every day that the most sought after itinerant minister comes to town and is holding a meeting in their home. But Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus, hanging onto every word—not the usual place for a woman in those days. What does she think she is doing, leaving Martha to do all the work?
Mary has followed her heart and her heart has led her to do the best thing—to focus on her relationship with God, of eternal worth and consequence. Martha did what she felt she ought to do. She followed custom, the rule that women should be busy in the kitchen, being the ‘hostess with mostest’, doing her best for this important and beloved guest. She felt so righteously indignant that Mary wasn’t sharing her burden. She even rebuked her honoured guest, Jesus, for allowing Mary to sit at his feet. She expected Jesus to be on her side, to rebuke Mary, or at least suggest that she should get into the kitchen, her ‘proper’ place, and help her sister. Martha’s zeal to serve, however, did not move Jesus. He was more impressed with Mary’s devotion and gently chided Martha for her busyness.
I wonder if Martha was offended—if she went back to the kitchen in a huff. I wonder if she wanted to say, ‘Oh, well, get your own dinner! Blow you!’ Or if she let go of her burden for the meal preparation and simply joined Mary at Jesus’s feet, relieved that she no longer needed to impress anyone with her hospitality.
And what did Mary do? Was she offended by her sister’s open rebuke? Embarrassed, did she blush and go to get up and tear herself away from the one who was feeding her spirit to go prepare a meal for him? His answer to Martha was also an answer for her. She had chosen well.
I asked myself some questions too. Is religious zeal, doing my duty, serving God, really keeping me too busy to enjoy my relationship with him? Many things do need to be done; the ‘necessary’ tasks scream at me from every corner, but the inner voice of the Holy Spirit whispers,
'Come, sit with me. I have many things to show you—things of eternal worth and consequence. Choose the better part. It will not be taken away from you.’
I have come to understand that if I foster my relationship with him, I walk more closely with him. The time I have invested in listening and learning, and just being with him, nurtures me and causes me to grow into who I am, to be what he created me to be. Then we do may things together and it’s not stressful, but a divine dance, sharing a fruitful journey where he initiates and we walk together in harmony to perform exploits that are lasting in their effects.
I love the promise in Psalm 92:13-15:
The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
planted in the house of the Lord,
they will flourish in the courts of our God.
They will still bear fruit in old age,
they will stay fresh and green,
proclaiming, “The Lord is upright;
he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”
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