Mary and Martha. If you've been in church for any length of time, you've probably heard the story.
Luke 10:38-42 ESV
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 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!”
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things,42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one.[f] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Jesus draws our attention to the tension we live in every day, sometimes every moment. In Mary we see the call to know and love God, to know the heart of our Father. In Martha we see the call to do all the tasks, handle our temporal existence.I love the image of the ladder Pastor Janis used to describe how we view our spiritual life. Complete spiritual fulfillment and connection with God is on the top rung of the ladder and in order to reach it we have to climb the lower rungs, checking them off our list. Spend time in prayer, check! Read 3 chapters of the Bible, check! Meet someone new at church, check! Be vulnerable with someone for a few minutes, check! Talk about Jesus with at least two people who don't know Him, check! And we strip all grace and love and dependence upon Jesus from even our spiritual lives. We successfully turn it into another to-do list.
Each person is different. Mary is not better than Martha but, according to Jesus, Mary did choose the better part. The choice to sit at Jesus' feet and rest in him is presented to us all, Marys and Marthas alike. Pastor Janis reminded us, "The living room intimacy Mary enjoyed with Jesus will never come out of the busyness of Martha's kitchen. Busyness breeds distraction." The world demands achievement and accomplishment but our Father is after companionship. When we put work before worship we grow weary. So, let's come to the river all of us who are weary. Let's taste and see that the Lord is good, take refuge in him (Psalm 34:8). Let's come to Jesus and exchange our burdens for rest (Matthew 11:28).
More than just a sermon or a Sunday School lesson, God keeps pulling me into the Mary and Martha story. Every time I try frantically to do something, anything, to prove my worth, to contribute something meaningful He gently reminds me to find my identity in Him. He invites me to spend more time with Him. He tells me to be instead of do. My friend Tom always says, "Leah, you're a human being not a human doing." And I chuckle and remark on his silly dad jokes, but Tom doesn't joke about identity in Christ. He wants me to have a real understanding of God's love and grace that radically changes my thinking. Just yesterday he told me to see the treasure in myself and in others. God is making me into something that has never before existed- something new. I am new! No longer regarded in the flesh, behold the old has passed and the new has come! "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come," (2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV). The desire to be with our Father and rest in him is contrary to the flesh, but it is the desire of our spirit, the new man. Let's run toward that. Run into his arms. He'll tell us what he wants us to do later. Let's drink in his goodness, let's sing of his faithfulness, let's dance in his love. Being his above all else.
As if weekly Sunday School lessons from Tom and now Pastor Janis' messages on Mary and Martha weren't enough, I randomly pulled up a Judah Smith podcast entitled "A Loophole in Love." Guess what it was about... Mary and Martha!!!!!!!! I'm paying attention, God- I really am! I've compiled a list of things below that I've been listening to and been encouraged by lately. If you have some time, I hope you'll listen too. I'd love to hear/read your thoughts and reflections in the comments. Thanks for sharing your morning with me!
Love,
Leah
For your listening enjoyment...
Pastor Janis' message from week 1: http://victoriouslifechurch.com/sisterhood-tug-of-war-week-1/
Judah Smith's message "A Loophole in Love": http://thecity.org/message/a_loophole_in_love
Come to the River by Housefires
In case you're weary, hungry, thirsty. This song really got me this morning.
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