Dear friend,

 

If you have sisters, you can relate to Luke 10.

 

In Luke 10, we meet Martha. Martha lives with her brother and younger sister Mary. The three are close friends of Jesus and live in Bethany, a few miles from Jerusalem. Jesus and his 12 !! disciples stop by the house and Martha wastes no time gathering food, preparing the table, and bustling about the necessary tasks for feeding 13+ people. Oldest sister vibes.

 

Meanwhile, her sister Mary has the gall to do… nothing. Or at least that's what it looks like to Martha. As Martha works and preps and cooks and labors, Mary sits at Jesus' feet to listen to His teaching.

 

I've heard countless messages on this passage. I've also heard this passage grossly misinterpreted to say that women with high capacity and high standards aren't capable of deep spirituality, which couldn't be further from the truth. At the same time, this passage challenges me - not because of the Martha-Mary dichotomy, type A versus type B jargon, or even the fact the work went undone. It challenges me because of Jesus' response to Martha.

 

I had the privilege of speaking on this passage on Saturday, and here's a little of what I talked about to the ladies:

 

Martha was solution/action oriented, but she was not Jesus oriented, so her actions were not in line with God’s will in that moment. She thought she knew what God wanted from her. But what she chose was performative, not relational. If she had oriented herself to Jesus first, she would have chosen the most important, necessary thing. Be Jesus oriented first and your actions will always be in line with His will.

 

Mary’s choice WAS a choice. She chose Jesus over the meal. But she could do this because she knew Jesus would not be put out by a late meal - she knew His character better than Martha, probably from repeated exposure. 

 

I think - based on her actions - Martha believed Jesus would judge or condemn her if she did not perform her duties. And her view of Him caused her to resent and rebuke God for expectations He did not even have for her. 

 

How often do we do the same? We blame God for the weight of our circumstances, the heaviness of the load. But Jesus is standing there with arms open, waiting for us to come to Him, saying: “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Mary did choose what was better, not because it was her personality but because it was her relationship with God. Because she had spent time with Jesus before, she knew time with Him would be worth it again. She knew He would not be angry if she put dinner on the table later than usual because He desires presence over performance. So she said “yes” to the better part. She made room for intimacy.

 

Jesus was compassionate to Martha's mismanaged priorities. “Martha, Martha,” He said. “You are worried and distracted by many things, but only one thing is necessary.” To Martha, ALL things were necessary; everything was urgent. Jesus told her the opposite: only one thing is needed, and that's Me.

 

Seeking God is not a feeling that leads to habit, it’s a discipline that leads to intimacy. You choose to seek God, and God, who never moves, goes deeper and deeper with you. But you must make room for the better part, the part Mary chose, and you'll probably choose it again and again, in different ways and in different seasons, until you truly believe the love He has for you. And when you believe Him at last, you won't perform out of duty - you'll serve out of love.

This week on Verity Podcast we will explore the question “Why do I still struggle with sin?” This is part of the new Beginner Believer series, exploring issues we face when we first come to faith in Christ. Episodes are new midweek. You can listen on: