Martha

Part one

Luke 10: 38-42 Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village:  and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.

And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.

But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me.

And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:

But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

Have you ever felt completely overwhelmed by everything that needed done, especially when entertaining someone in your home? Daily life requires a certain amount of cooking and cleaning anyway, and when you have company, you feel that burden so much more. You want the house to look perfect; you want your food to be tasty, and hopefully not burnt, so you are running around like crazy trying to prepare for and serve your guest.

I love Martha’s hospitality that we see in this text. She welcomes Jesus and his disciples into her house. The impression we get is that she is not only serving them, but is busy with all the preparation. I believe her heart is in the right place, so why does it appear that Jesus rebukes her?

Well, notice Mary. She is sitting at Jesus’ feet, listening to whatever He was saying, instead of helping Martha to serve. I can imagine the annoyance that would be. You are busy trying to serve and do a good thing, but the burden is heavy and you are left to do it alone, while your sister sits and does nothing. Again, from first appearance, Martha seems right on track, and Mary seems to need a little kick in the right direction. So why is it that Jesus doesn’t see it this way?

I believe Jesus is trying to teach Martha a bigger lesson here. There are little things in life, and then there are big things. Although it is wonderful and important to be hospitable and to want to serve others in our home, in this case, Martha was so concerned over what needed to be done that she failed to see the big picture.

Mary saw and realized the value of listening to the words of the Master. The housework could wait. The food didn’t have to be perfect. The lessons she would learn at Jesus’ feet were more important than anything else. Jesus is gently trying to make Martha understand that to get caught up in the little things will only overwhelm you, and you will miss out on those that are more important.

Although we do not have the pleasure of physically welcoming Jesus into our home, we have plenty opportunities to be hospitable to others, whether it be to an evangelist, an elder in our congregation, or our neighbor across the street. I encourage you to take those opportunities to serve, but in doing so, keep in mind that the conversations, the friendships and the company you keep is more important than if your house is perfectly presentable. How wonderful it is to visit with someone about biblical things, to strengthen each other’s faith and test each other’s knowledge. The conversation we can have with our brothers and sisters in Christ can help us grow spiritually. We can gain so much wisdom by a simple conversation around a dinner table. And I believe the lesson we can learn from Martha goes beyond keeping hospitality in perspective, but in every aspect of our life. In the next devotional we will look deeper at what that means for us today. We need to know and realize that the mission is before us. There are souls to save. There are more important things that our daily activities. So let’s spend our time with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Whether it be to receive help when we feel down, or to strengthen others in their walk, it is amazing what we can accomplish in the Kingdom when we are working together. Sometimes it’s better to leave the dishes for later. After all, they’re not going anywhere!

Prov. 15:7 The lips of the wise disperse knowledge: but the heart of the foolish doeth not so.

Prov. 10:21 The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom.

Melody Chatman