Text: Luke 10:38-42
38 As they went on their way, Jesus came into a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who was sitting at the Lord’s feet and was listening to his word. 40 But Martha was distracted with all her serving. She came over and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her to help me.”
41 The Lord answered and told her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but one thing is needed. In fact, Mary has chosen that better part, which will not be taken away from her.”
Sermon
To the holy and faithful in Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. (Colossians 1:2).
Dan was a visitor to the town was walking through the park one day. Dan was a very friendly extrovert. He stopped to greet and talk to a local. He introduced himself and the local said his name was Bob. During the conversation, Dan asked Bob, “What do you do for a living?” Bob replied matter of factly, “I’m a Christian.” Dan was puzzled by the answer. He tried again, “I don’t think you understand me. What is your job? What do you do to earn a living?” Bob said, “Oh. My job is to be a Christian. I’m the local butcher. I just cut meat to pay the bills.”
What is your business? What do you do for a living? It’s very easy to get so caught up in your job, your career, your education, your family – that the business of being a Christian is left to a few hours spent in church on Sunday mornings. We are very busy people. How often don’t we make ourselves so busy that we forget about the business of Christ? Who of us here hasn’t used the busyness of life as an excuse to not do the business of Jesus?
Martha was busy. After all, what an honor – Jesus was coming to her house. Jesus, the Messiah, the great Healer and Teacher everyone was talking about was coming for a visit. Plus, he was bringing twelve of his closest friends with him. So, Martha was busy beyond imagination. She had to roast the lamb, cook the vegetables, bake the bread, and make a special pie for dessert.
Her sister Mary was busy helping her in the kitchen getting everything prepared. Then there was a knock on the door. Jesus had arrived at their Bethany home. Martha and Mary gave Jesus a big hug and showed him and his disciples into the living room. Then Martha excused herself and went back to the kitchen. After a few minutes she noticed that Mary wasn’t in the kitchen with her. She peaked into the living room and was upset to see Mary sitting there at Jesus’ feet, listening to Jesus tell stories.
Martha goes back into the kitchen and keeps stirring and tasting, tasting and stirring. But she can’t keep her mind on her work. All she can think about is how Mary isn’t there to help her. Another few minutes go by. She can still hear Jesus talking and Mary asking questions. Martha is asking questions, too. Questions like, “Why isn’t Mary in here with me?! Why doesn’t Jesus say something to her?! How am I going to get all this done by myself?!”
Then the fireworks begin. Martha jabs the fork into the lamb, jams the spoon into the vegetables, and bangs the cupboards closed. The temperature in the kitchen is rising … and so is Martha’s temper. She finally snaps. She slams her spoon down on the counter and storms out of the kitchen. And who does she lash out at? Not her sister! No. Her guest! The reason for all her preparations. She lashes out at Jesus!
“Don’t you care? Don’t you care, Lord, that my sister has left me to serve all alone? Don’t you care that I’m in the kitchen slaving away over a steaming stove while she sits here doe-eyed at your feet doing nothing? How about cutting the chit chat and telling her to get her lazy rear end in the kitchen to help me?!”
Martha had gotten her priorities all mixed up. She wanted to serve Jesus. But Jesus had come to Martha’s house to serve her. It was good that she stressed family and friends and a clean house and good food. But stressing all those good things only made her stressed out. She was all tired and worn out, but Jesus had come to her home to give her rest. It was good that she was busy, but it would have been better if she would have been about the business of Jesus – which is sitting and listening to him speak to her.
Jesus calmly replied to Martha’s temper tantrum, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is needed. In fact, Mary has chosen that better part, which will not be taken away from her.” I hear Jesus paraphrasing the voice of the knight in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, “You have chosen poorly.”
Strong words. Stinging words. But words that reveal much about Martha’s – and our relationship – with the Savior.
There is a lot of Martha in every one of us. We must confess that we are all too easily distracted from the Lord’s words. We are busy - very busy – sometimes even busy for the Lord. We’re busy with our jobs, our families, our homes, our recreation. In our busyness we worry about these lesser things and give little thought to the more needful things. Americans today worry more about inflation, their retirement fund, and their carb intake than they do about their eternal destiny. Worry leads to anxiety. Anxiety can cause Christians to turn on one another … and even turn on the Lord.
We fool ourselves into believing that as long as we are busy, we are serving the Lord. It’s no wonder we’re restless and lonely and anxious and distracted with many things. It’s no wonder we turn against our neighbor. It’s no wonder we’re exhausted.
Martha’s problem was not her service, but her lack of priorities. She wanted to please Jesus. She wanted to impress him with her house and a nice dinner. She wanted to serve him with her very best. And yet, it all failed. She wound up yelling at Jesus and being angry at her sister. She was occupied with many things, when one thing was needful. She was busy preparing a seven-course dinner, but Jesus would have been content with grilled goat cheese and tomato soup.
It was not Martha’s service that Jesus wanted. It was Martha. Jesus came not to be served but to serve. He came to give, not to get. He came to be where two or three are gathered in his name – even if those two are two sisters. He came not to be the guest, but to be the Host, to lay down his life as a sacrifice for sinful humanity, to offer himself up for the life of the world, to be the Bread of Life and wine from heaven to bring refreshment, forgiveness, life, and salvation to all. As far as Jesus was concerned, Martha’s house could have been a wreck, she could have laid out cold cuts and sandwich bread, she could have simply offered a loaf of bread and a dried fish. What mattered most to Jesus was that she make him and his words her priority.
Don’t we often find ourselves in Martha’s shoes? Busy with so many things that we have no time for rest in Jesus? So busy we have no time to hear his Word, to receive his body and blood. Distracted by this, that, and the other thing. Feeding our face. Feeding our ego. Feeding our bank account. When all Jesus wants to do is feed us with his Word. Feed us with his Sacraments. Feed us with his forgiveness. We think that we must do to please God. But if we are to please God at all, there must first be faith. Paul wrote to the Colossians, “Our goal is that you please [God] by bearing fruit in every kind of good work and by growing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:10). Faith comes by hearing the Word, sitting with Mary at Jesus’ feet and being the recipients of all that Jesus has to offer.
We need to repent of our busyness. We’ve let many things get between us and Jesus. The symptoms are all there. Frustration, anger, snapping at each other, complaining, griping, pointing the finger, accusing. When you sense that in yourself, read the symptoms of busyness and hear the words of Jesus, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Just be quiet for a while and listen. I know it’s hard to do, because we are tuned to being busy. The way of our world is Martha, not Mary. Be about the business of Jesus. Jesus’ business is easy. All it takes is sitting and listening. That’s it. Jesus is here to give to you. He wants to spend time with you. There’s plenty of opportunity to serve, but what good is our service if it simply burns us out on the Lord and on each other?
Mary is praised rather than rebuked. She has chosen the more needful thing. Her ears are open, and her heart is blessed. Jesus has come and he is speaking to her and with her. There is nothing more needful in this life than the words and promises of Jesus. Nothing! Receiving Jesus’ words Mary is receiving Jesus himself. She welcomes him as she surrenders her ears to his voice. There Mary finds peace. She rests at Jesus’ feet receiving his words of grace and mercy, love and hope, peace and joy. All she needs is given freely from the mouth of God.
Learn a lesson from Mary. Come to worship. Attend a Bible study. Send your children to Sunday School, WLS, and Shoreland. Have family devotions. Read your Bible. Listen to the podcasts of sermons from Water of Life or on our Raised with Jesus podcast channel. In these ways you are sitting at the feet of Jesus. Receive the forgiveness of sins. Strengthen your faith. Be comforted. What could be more important than this? Nothing! Nothing is more important than Jesus’ words of salvation. Through these means, Jesus words change our hearts. He rebukes so we repent. He warns so we slow down. He chastises so we cherish the rest we find only in him.
There are many things to occupy you. But there is only one thing that is needful, necessary, and indispensable. That one thing is sitting at Jesus’ feet. It is listening to him speak to you. It is setting aside everything else in your life and making Jesus your priority. It is not working or vacationing or carting your kids to their activities. It is resting in Jesus. It is not giving to Jesus but being given to. It is not serving Jesus but being served by him. It is gathering where two or three have come together in his name.
As you leave for work tomorrow, remember Jesus’ lesson to Martha. Also, remember the example of the Christian man who just happened to be a butcher on the side. You are called to be about the business of our Savior 24 hours a day/7 day a week. Set aside your busyness for Jesus’ business. That is what is better. Then you have chosen wisely. And that will never be taken from you. For everything else is just done to pay the bills. Amen.
The Father rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:11, 12).