Luke 10:38-42
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. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Luke 10:38-42 LISTENING TO JESUS
Springford Baptist Church: March 5, 2023.
Sometimes we are surprised aren’t we, that two people from the same family can be quite different?
Martha and Mary were sisters, but they had very different outlooks.
What they considered important was very different.
In considering the stories of various people that we meet in the Bible, there are things for us to learn from their stories and things for us to consider in our own relationships with God. That is so as we have a closer look at Martha and Mary.
Now Martha was someone willing to provide hospitality. That is a good thing. It is good to cook tasty food and to invite others to share that food.
Martha wanted to welcome Jesus. We are told that she opened her home to Jesus.
Here we see the real difference between these 2 sisters:
Martha opened her home to Jesus.
Mary opened her heart to Jesus.
For Mary, this chance to sit at Jesus feet, to be near Him and to hear what He had to say was more important than anything else. Mary opened her heart to listen to Jesus and to be touched by Jesus and to be changed by Jesus and the words that He was speaking.
It is not that what Martha was doing was unimportant.
Food did need to be prepared and served. That was important, but Jesus maintains that what Mary has chosen is more important.
Food for the stomach is necessary, but food for the soul (lingering close to Jesus) is even more important. This is a key reminder on our journey to BECOMING more like Jesus. It will be essential to make listening to Jesus a priority if we are to BECOME more like him!
In her annoyance that Mary is not helping her, Martha responds with frustration. This is a common condition for which Martha shows symptoms. We could call it “Martharitis”. It develops whenever people grumble, “How come I’m doing all the work around here? Who is going to help me”?
The irritation of this condition means that a person is not drawn closer to Jesus, but instead moves further away.
There are always preparations to be made and things that need doing. This is not being disputed.
The concern arises whenever any one of us places more importance on and devotes more time to doing than to being. In order to open our hearts to listen to Jesus, we need to focus on being near to Jesus and affected by His compelling love and what He has to say to us.
Martha opened her home to Jesus.
Mary opened her heart to Jesus.
If we are listening to Jesus in this situation with Martha and Mary, we will need to pay close attention to what Jesus says,
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things,42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42)
What are the many things that we like Martha find ourselves getting worried and upset about? When we become upset over many things that we are trying to take care of, we could be missing the most important thing which is spending time listening to Jesus.
Jesus indicates here that there is a choice to be made.
We will need to choose if we are going to take time like Mary to sit at Jesus feet and to listen to Him. This will necessarily involve setting other things aside for a time so that can happen. We can expect that when we are still and waiting on our Lord that He will have things to say to us.
Jesus will want to assure us of His everlasting love for us.
Jesus may also want us to hear that there is something in our attitude or outlook or behaviour that needs to change if we are BECOMING more like Him.
Listening to Jesus can be a chance for us to be led by Him in specific activities that He has for us to participate in.
Listening to Jesus does not mean that we do that and nothing else. In fact, our time being with Jesus can prepare us well for the choices around doing.
Think of what you would do if Jesus was coming to your house for supper tonight:
Would there be cleaning to do?
Know that Jesus would be more concerned about a clean heart (letting go of regrets and bitterness) than He would be concerned about dust or tidying up things that aren’t put away.
What would you make for Jesus to eat?
Would you spend all afternoon preparing food?
This is where we could miss the best part of Jesus coming over-just relaxing and being with Him and knowing how much He loves us.
Here’s the thing and it is something that Martha did not understand. Jesus would be happy if we just made simple grilled cheese sandwiches or heated up a frozen pizza.
It is possible that we get so focused as Martha did on important things that we miss what is most important.
Jesus wants us to welcome Him into our lives each day, but that will require each of us intentionally taking time as Mary did to be with Jesus. We will need to listen carefully to what He has to say in order to really appreciate what it means to know Him more and more!
Martha chose to open her home to Jesus.
Mary chose to open her heart to Jesus.
What choice will we make in this whole matter of BECOMING?
Yes, “He must BECOME greater; I must become less.” (John 3:30)