Do you know that feeling? When you have a house full of people, all of them hungry and thirsty, waiting for you to serve them? It’s a lot of work, and a lot of stress.
Do you know that feeling? When you have a house full of people, all of them hungry and thirsty, waiting for you to serve them? And of course, the food needs to be good, the drinks need to be refreshing, and it all needs to look good, too. People just sit there waiting, while you are trying to finish everything with a smile on your face. It’s a lot of work, and a lot of stress.
Maybe you know that feeling, or maybe you know a feeling or situation that is similar: Busyness that just doesn’t seem to end; you, just continually working to satisfy everyone’s needs, or the need of seeing a few less items on that to-do list of yours. You just keep smiling through it all, but all you want to do is to sit down, or have someone help you so that you wouldn’t have to do it all by yourself.
There is a story in the Bible that shows us that this is not a new phenomenon: Martha felt like that, too! In Luke 10, Jesus had just come into town, or rather, her village, and she opened her home to Him and His disciples. How generous! I am sure feeding a group of hungry men was no easy task, and also came with a cost. It was likely that Martha was a widow, because there is no mention of her husband, nor her Father or brother in that story. She lived in a time where the men in her life would have been mentioned, unless she was a widow. So there she was, having invited all these men out of the goodness and generosity of her heart, now busy preparing everything they needed. We don’t know exactly what she was preparing, but it was most likely nourishment, as was custom in those times.
Martha also had a sister, Mary. Mary, however, didn’t feel like she needed to go help Martha with all the preparations. Instead, she was sitting with the disciples, at Jesus’ feet, listening to what He was saying, listening to His teaching. Martha was not able to listen to that, because she was distracted by everything she had to do. But what she did realize is that Mary was not helping her, which she would have expected her to do. So she went to Jesus and told Him that Mary should go help her, because that was the good thing they were doing, right? That is they were supposed to do as hosts, and maybe even as women. Why would Jesus not care about that? And just to make sure you got that: she didn’t ask Jesus what he thought of it, she just asked Him to tell Mary that she should go help her.
Do you recognize that from your life? How often are we distracted by everything we do in our lives, and instead of stopping to listen to what Jesus has to say, we just go tell Him what He should be doing. I tell you, I do that. Like, all the time. I always know what is best, what should happen, or how and when it should happen. But maybe that is not really what Jesus is thinking, and I just forget asking about that altogether.
So back to Martha – because we all want to know how Jesus reacts, right? Yeah, but it’s not what Martha probably expected: Instead of telling Mary to go help Martha, Jesus actually speaks into Martha’s life. He sees how she is worried and anxious, how she is distracted and doesn’t take the time to just sit at Jesus feet and listen. But much of what Martha is doing is not truly relevant in the long run. Actually, only one thing is truly relevant, truly needed. And that is what Mary had chosen.
Do you get it? Maybe I just need to repeat this for myself, but I need to hear this: Mary had chosen the better thing. Mary, the one sitting at Jesus’ feet, listening to Him, had chosen the better thing. Jesus isn’t saying that what Martha is doing is wrong. Her generosity, her servant heart, her hard-working attitude are not berated. But they are also not commended. Instead, Mary is commended, Mary and her listening to Jesus.
My life, so often, all too often, looks exactly like Martha’s. I am busy, distracted, worried, and I complain. But Jesus tells us that all of that is not actually needed, instead, only one thing is truly needed. I know I need to be reminded of it, I know I need to keep going back to that place at Jesus’ feet where I just sit and listen, without distractions. I want to keep choosing to go there, keep choosing the better thing, and not let anyone or anything taking it away from me.
So here I am, Martha – a Christian woman. That is who I am, and it is truly what the name means. And this is my Mary Project: My attempt in becoming more like Mary, in becoming a person who chooses to sit at Jesus’ feet, no matter how much I am supposed to be doing, because it is choosing the better. And I want to invite you, my friend, to choose that with me, and to sit there with me, at Jesus’ feet.
