Too Busy To Listen
Luke 10:38-42
Preached by Pastor Tony Miano
Pico Canyon Community Church
December 31, 2000
Introduction: A few weeks ago, I was talking with Pamela and Linda after church. We were talking about the fact that while it is good to study God’s Word verse-by-verse, it’s also important to be sensitive to needs or concerns that come up along the way that affect members of the congregation. We agreed that when I become aware of such times when there are specific issues affecting members of our body, I should be willing to deviate from a series or book study to address whatever pertinent issue is important to the church family at the moment.
Not even a week after my conversation with Pamela and Linda, I became aware of a concern that is probably affecting more people in our church family than I even realize. During our first men’s discipleship meeting, a few of the guys, myself included, shared about how the business of their lives was negatively impacting the depth and breadth of their spiritual growth. I’m sure a few of us began thinking about the same passage of Scripture. But it was Lance who was first to mention it.
There is a passage in the Gospel of Luke that talks about two sisters and their attitudes and methods for spending time with the Lord. One of the sisters had her spiritual priorities straight. The other was too busy to listen.
Turn with me in your Bibles to Luke, chapter ten. This morning we’re going to study these two sisters and compare their walks with Christ to our own. As we look at a snapshot of the lives of these two sisters, we’re going to look at three things that can make us too busy to listen—too busy to listen to the Lord’s direction and counsel. You see, there are times when we can become too busy with distractions, too busy with complaints, and too busy with worry to listen to the Lord.
Let’s begin with word of prayer.
Backgrounds of Martha and Mary
This morning we will be giving our attention to verse 38-42 in Luke 10.
Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.”
But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
Now as we read this passage, there were probably some key words that jumped out at you as you listened to the story. There is, indeed, a wealth of instruction and encouragement in this passage. But before we dig into the text, let’s see if we can get to know the two sisters in the story a little better. Knowing more about the sisters may help us to understand why their attitudes were so different and why Jesus responded the way He did.
Martha and Mary lived in a village that was known, in biblical times, as Bethany. The name means, “house of unripe figs.” People in the times of Jesus also referred to Bethany as the “house of misery.” One of the reasons Bethany was given this unflattering nickname was due to the fact that invalids had a tendency to congregate in the village.
Bethany was also known for its hospitality, especially to those who were making pilgrimages to or vacationing in Jerusalem. Bethany is located about 1.5-2.0 miles away from Jerusalem, which places it east of the Jordan River and on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives.
Bethany had some significance in Jesus’ ministry. He spent a significant amount of time there. This is the place where John the Baptist ministered and verbally jousted with the Pharisees. Bethany was the place where John introduced Jesus to the world. John probably baptized Jesus in the area. Jesus would retire to Bethany after doing ministry in Jerusalem.
The gospels tell us that Jesus spent time in the home of Simon the Leper while in Bethany. After cleansing the temple of the moneychangers, Jesus went to Bethany. Jesus began His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, from Bethany. And He led His disciples to Bethany and allowed them to watch His ascent into heaven from this small town.
Martha and Mary lived in Bethany with their brother, Lazarus. Remember that it was Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead. Bethany still exists in Israel, but now goes by the name Lazariyeh, or “The Place of Lazarus.”
Martha and Mary were close friends of Jesus. Their relationship with Jesus was probably only second to that of the apostles, as far as closeness. In fact John 11:5 tells us that Jesus loved the family of Martha and Mary.
Martha: Martha is the first of the two sisters to be mentioned in our passage. The name “Martha” means “lady or mistress,” in the ancient Greek and Aramaic languages.
Martha may have been the head of the household. In verse 38 we read, “Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home.” The fact that Martha is mentioned with such prominence adds credibility to the idea that Martha was the head of the house.
Some have speculated that Martha would have served in the role of head of the house because she was a widow—having taken the place of her husband in the home. Another possibility is that Martha, along with her sister, Mary, simply managed the house for their brother, Lazarus. Either way, Martha was a person of influence in the house.
Mary: In verse 39 we read, “She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word.” As with Martha, very little is known about Mary. Some have speculated over the years that the Mary mentioned in this morning’s passage is the same as Mary Magdalene. There is no evidence, biblically or otherwise, that this is the case. The idea of the two women being one in the same comes from church tradition, and tradition alone. We know nothing of this Mary beyond what the Scriptures tell us.
What we do know about Mary, beyond our passage in Luke, is that this is the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet with costly perfume. Matthew, Mark, and John all tell the story. In John 12:3 we read, “Mary then took a pound [a Roman pound was equivalent to 11 or 12 ounces] of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.”
We find Mary “seated at the Lord’s feet.” The Greek word used here for “seated” is found nowhere else in the New Testament. It means, “to sit beside.” Mary was quite literally sitting in front of the feet of Jesus. The picture here is of a student sitting under a teacher’s instruction. The apostle Paul uses similar wording when describing his time under the tutelage of the great Jewish scholar, Gamaliel. Acts 22:3 says, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as you all are today.”
What makes this scene unusual is the fact that Mary was a woman. It was uncommon in ancient Jewish culture for women to be allowed to be involved in such intimate discipleship. The culture of the time was very segregated in many ways. One such line of segregation was between the genders. Be that as it may—Mary was accepted as a disciple of Jesus and she relished in the opportunity. She sat at the Lord’s feet as eager as a child waiting to here one of her favorite stories. But in her case, Mary’s eagerness and hunger was for the Word of God.
Verse 39 tells us that Mary was “listening to His word.” The word “listening” comes from the Greek word akouo. In addition to “hear” and “listen,” the word carries with it the idea of “comprehension through hearing.” Mary did not simply enjoy listening to Jesus teach because she found Him to be entertaining or because she was in some way enamored with the Man. She sat at Jesus’ feet because she wanted to comprehend everything He was saying. The tense of the wording here emphasizes this point in that Mary was continually listening to the Lord’s teaching for the expressed purpose of learning.
What we see here in Mary is so important for us today. Mary was not interested in having her ears tickled. She was not in the least bit interested in taking little more from Jesus’ teaching than a warm fuzzy. She wanted the truth. She wanted sound doctrine. She wanted teaching that did not simply appeal to her emotions, but stimulated her mind, convicted her of her sin, and challenged her to grow in her faith in Christ.
In Paul’s exhortation to a young pastor named Timothy to preach the word, he warned of a time when Christians would turn away from solid teaching. I Timothy 4:3-4 says, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.”
If we were to take the time to look at the history of Christianity, we will see obvious points in time when such a thing took place; where the religious leaders of the day turned away from the truth of God’s Word and turned toward teaching of their own making—teaching that closely resembled mythology.
My friends, I believe we are living in such a time today. More and more churches are turning away from the truth of God’s Word in order to preach social and political gospels of convenience. Instead of filling their pulpits with men who accurately handle the truth of God’s Word, churches are looking more and more for men who can entertain the congregation.
Part of the reason is that churches tend to grow faster when the pastor tells the people what they want to hear instead of teaching them what they need to know. We live in a consumer society that wants what we want, and we want it now. It has to feel good to be good. It has to be microwavable or it’s just too much trouble. The idea of cooking from scratch, which used to be the only way to cook, is now look upon as a novelty.
I’ve been told that if I don’t give you a creative illustration every seven minutes or so, I’m going to lose your attention. Although I understand that there is a certain amount of validity to this observation, and while I have a great deal of respect for the person who gave me the advice, I don’t believe we need to settle for that. I have more faith in you than that. I certainly have more faith in the power of God’s Word than that.
Maybe I’m an idealist. In fact, I’ve been called that more than once. But I believe that if I’m faithful to teach the Word of God, and I do so in such a way as to show you the relevance and practicality of God’s Word, you’re going to respond by wanting to learn more about what God has to say to you through His Word.
You’re not going to settle for having your ears tickled with cute stories that lack substance. Your not going to settle for false doctrine that’s comfortable and easier to digest than the truth. And—what’s very important to me and the life and health of our church—you’re going to hold me accountable for what I teach and how I preach. My hope is that in the process you will seek to sit under teachers who teach you, not just entertain you.
We can spend all morning talking about how a lack of hunger for God’s Word can keep us from listening to what the Lord has to say through His Word. I’m sure we will revisit the topic from time to time. But this morning we’re going to focus on how busyness can keep us from listening to the Lord.
Mary was focused. Mary had her priorities in order. In fact, later in our passage for this morning, Jesus will allude to this very fact. Martha, on the other hand, is another story. Martha was a very busy lady. She was so busy with distractions, complaints, and worry that she didn’t have the time to listen to the Lord.
Too Busy With Distractions
Verse 40 begins by telling us “Martha was distracted with all her preparations.” The word “distracted” is an interesting one. The only time it is used in the New Testament is in verse 40. The word “distracted” comes from the Greek word perispao. It literally means, “to draw off or away.” Luke uses the word in the imperfect tense. Luke is basically saying that Martha kept on being distracted.
What’s so interesting here is what kept on distracting Martha. She was “distracted with all her preparations.” Her preparations were literally the things she did in ministry, in service to the Lord. In Martha’s case, she was continually being drawn away from the Lord by her service, by her ministry.
Most of the men who were at our first men’s discipleship meeting are on the leadership team. Each of the men on the leadership team has worked hard to bring our church to the point where we were ready to open our doors. Each of them has served alongside me for a year or more before we started holding public services. Each of them has other obligations apart from Pico Canyon—work, school, or family, or any combination of the three.
The common theme among the men at the meeting was that we are each so busy serving the Lord that we aren’t actually spending any time with Him. This theme is certainly not relegated just to the men in the church. The ladies who serve here at Pico Canyon, I’m sure, can express similar sentiments. I mention the men because I was there with them voicing the same concerns.
Now you might hear me share this and wonder how a pastor could possible be drawn away from the Lord by serving Him. Believe me. It happens. It happens very subtly—so subtly that you become distracted long before you realize it is happening.
I spend anywhere from 30-40 hours a week studying God’s Word. Whether it is studying for my sermon or a class at seminary, I am in God’s Word several hours every day. Every day of my life I talk to somebody about God’s Word or about his or her relationship with the Lord. It might be through discipleship. It might be through counseling. It might be through fellowship. In many different circumstances, I have ample opportunity to talk to people about spiritual things. I guess it comes with the territory and I love it.
With all of that time being enveloped in things pertaining to the Lord, how could I possibly be distracted away from Him? The answer is a simple one, but one that is easily overlooked. Yes, I spend a great deal of time in the Word and with His people. But that doesn’t mean I am spending a great deal of time with Jesus. The bulk of my time in study and discussion is spent serving others.
The time I spend in God’s word, although I am learning every day, more often than not has the purpose of providing something for someone else. The time I spend in God’s Word, for no other reason than to drink it in and fill my own spiritual tank, is sometimes lacking. That’s why appreciate so much the men around me—men who are willing to ask me tough questions and hold me accountable. And I enjoy doing the same for them.
If you are involved in ministry, especially in a leadership position, it is very easy to be distracted to the point that you forget to sit at the Lord’s feet and listen—to sit at the Lord’s feet and listen to His Word and seek His face through prayer. Although Martha’s distractions involved ministry, other things can distract us from spending time with the Lord. Take life, for instance.
How many of you are like me? You don’t have to raise your hands. How many of you are like me that when push comes to shove and life just gets busy, time with the Lord is often first to be pushed aside? If you’re like me, in those busy times, you don’t consciously say, “You know, time with the Lord just doesn’t matter. I can take it or leave it. God will understand. It’s not like He needs me to spend time with Him.”
In fact, if you’re like me, you sometimes feel guilty because you realize, somewhere in the back of your mind, that you are setting the Lord aside in order to take care of business, in order to handle the day to day responsibilities of life. Yet what the Lord would consider a distraction, we might look at as an obligation—an obligation so compelling that, in our heart, we tell the Lord He is just going to have to wait.
It would almost be comical if it weren’t so true. Like Martha, we can rush around so much to set the table for others, we can rush around so much to serve in the name of the Lord, that we forget to set a place for Him. If we do not seek to control the distraction in our lives, whether they are caused by the negative things we do that distances us from the Lord, or even by the positive work we do in His name, we will stunt our own spiritual growth. This lack of growth will eventually lead to a spiritual burnout of sorts and you will find that you have stopped serving Him all together.
A healthy walk with the Lord is not one that exclusively feeds others. It also must be a walk that seeks to be fed regularly through personal, private study and prayer. Without it, we can all run the risk of letting our works for Christ—instead of our relationship with Him—define who we are.
Too Busy With Complaints
Distractions can often lead to the next thing we see in Martha that made her too busy to listen to the Lord. In the second half of verse 40 we read, “and she came up to Him and said, ‘Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.’”
Distractions can lead to frustration. We can become frustrated not only with our circumstances, but with the way we handle those circumstances. What we see in Martha is something, if we are all willing to be honest with ourselves, we will see in our own lives from time to time.
In those times when the distractions of life turn to frustration, our human nature does not always direct us to take responsibility for our actions. Instead, we have a tendency to complain. Sometimes we can be too busy with complaints to sit and listen to the Lord.
As a deputy sheriff, guess what I frequently dealt with? That’s right—complaints. Over the years I’ve learned that complaints are often an opportunity for a person to do a little blame shifting. Remember that a couple of weeks ago we saw how James addressed blame shifting when he wrote about the sources of temptation. Some of the people I dealt with had complaining down to a science—almost an art form.
For instance, there was the night the lady blamed me for her discomfort after an earthquake. It was about two or three in the morning. I was working the desk, dispatching calls. My partner and I were watching a little TV. It had been a pretty quiet night up to that point. As I sat in my chair, I thought I felt the floor beneath my feet roll ever so slightly.
I looked into the sergeant’s office and saw a set of keys hanging on the wall shake just a little. I asked my partner if he felt what I had just felt. He said that he thought he did. The sergeant came up to the front desk and asked the two of us the same question. Then the three of us engaged in a game common to seasoned Californians—“Name That Magnitude.” I won with a guess of 3.4.
After the game was over, my partner and I looked at our computer switchboards, waiting tentatively for them to light up like a Christmas tree with the expected slew of calls. With the consistency of the rising of the sun, the fair people of Santa Clarita did not let us down.
Typically, the calls went something like this: “Did we have an earthquake?” Or “I’m out of town, I heard on the news that there was an earthquake. Can you check my house?” But on this night, after what seemed to be an insignificant event, I talked to one lady that was, shall we say, different.
The call went like this:
“9-1-1. What’s your emergency?”
“Did we just have an earthquake?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Where was it?”
“About three miles south/southwest of Valencia.”
“Where is that?”
“About three miles south/southwest of Valencia.
”No, no, no! Where exactly is that?”
“I’m sorry, ma’am. That’s all of the information I have.”
“Fine!” Click.
A few minutes later, my phone rang again.
“9-1-1. What’s your emergency?”
“I just called you a few minutes ago.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Did you feel it?”
“Feel what, ma’am?”
“The earthquake!”
“Oh. Well, to be honest with you, not really.”
“You didn’t feel it?”
“It was only a 3.4, ma’am. We didn’t really feel it much here.”
“Was there any damage?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Are you sure?”
“No damage has been reported, ma’am.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t feel it!”
“I’m sorry.”
“My husband is out of town on business.”
“I can understand that ma’am.”
“What?”
“Ah, is there anything else I can do for you, ma’am?”
“Where can I get more information because you’re no help?”
“I would call channel four, ma’am. I’m sure they would love to hear from you.”
“Fine!” Click.
I released the line and looked at my partner with a look that said it all. “One of those, eh Tony?” He asked almost sympathetically. I just nodded my head and waited for her to call back. She didn’t disappoint me.
“9-1-1. What’s your emergency?”
“Hi. I think I talked to you before.
“Yes, ma’am. How can I help you?”
“When is the next one?”
“Excuse me?”
“When is the next one?”
“The next what, ma’am?”
“The next earthquake!”
“Ma’am, are you asking me to predict the next earthquake?”
“Yes!”
“Ma’am, I’ve received a great deal of training over the years, but no one has taught me how to predict earthquakes. I’m sorry.”
“So, you don’t know when the next one will come?
”No, ma’am.”
“You’re no help.”
“Sorry, ma’am.”
“Who can I call to find out when the next one is coming?”
“You can try Cal-Tech. I’m sure they would have a better idea than me.”
“Fine! Click.
Was this lady really upset with me? I don’t think so. I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt and assume that she didn’t really expect me to predict the next earthquake. I think she was upset because she was home alone, again, and had to go through a small earthquake by herself. It wasn’t fair, at least in her mind that she would have to be scared at home and alone. My guess is that her husband wasn’t answering the phone in his hotel room so lucky me, I got the blame for her problems.
The lady I talked to the night of the earthquake was too busy complaining to hear me tell her that the earthquake was small, there was no damage, and that she was in no danger. In our passage, we see Martha’s frustration, born out of a lifestyle filled with distractions, boil over and spill out in the form of a complaint.
Look again at what Martha says. “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” There are three things Martha reveals about herself in this sentence that I’ve seen in my own life when I’ve found myself too busy to listen to God.
First of all, Martha shakes her fist at God. The verse tells us that Martha “came up to” Jesus. Our English translation doesn’t convey the drama of the scene. The Greek expresses the fact that Martha literally burst in on Jesus’ teaching. Greek scholar A.T. Robertson described what Martha did as “an explosive act” (Robertson, vol. 2, p. 156). Can you imagine doing this? Maybe there have been times when you’ve thought about doing it—getting in God’s face. But Martha actually did it!
Martha interrupted Jesus as He was teaching and talks to Him as if He were unaware that something very egregious was happening. Martha’s question to Jesus—“Don’t you care?”—is another way of saying, “You don’t care!” Have you ever asked a question that way? Have you ever asked a question in such a way that a cutting, hurtful statement is woven into your words?
“Don’t you love me” is another way of saying, “you don’t love me.” Or, “Don’t’ you understand” is the same as saying, “you don’t understand.” Martha rushing toward Jesus with such force that she had to stop herself in her tracks to keep from running right by Him, accuses Him of not caring. She was shaking her fist at God. She was a person too distracted with serving and frustrated to the point of complaining. She was busy to the point of sin.
The wording indicates that Mary started to help Martha prepare, but left the house when she heard Jesus was teaching nearby. Martha is indignant because Mary left her to finish the preparations for Jesus’ arrival. This is the second thing Martha does in her complaining—she makes herself out to be a victim.
Martha said, “My sister has left me to do all the serving alone.” In a sense Martha is saying, “I would have spent time with, You, Jesus, if I didn’t have to do all the work.” Victimization and blame shifting seem to go hand in hand.
Victimization and blame shifting also fosters a tendency to exaggerate. This is the third thing we see Martha does in her complaining. Martha tells Jesus that Mary left her to do all the serving. Again, that just wasn’t true. Like Martha, we all have a tendency to embellish our struggles or what we perceive to be the wrongs we suffer at the hands of others, even though, deep down inside, we know we are just trying to mask the real reasons we’re upset.
Honest introspection would probably reveal that the reason we complain, the reason we shake our fists at God, play the victim, and exaggerate our difficulties is that we are frustrated with the fact that we know we are doing the things we ought not be doing. The apostle Paul understood this dynamic. In Romans 7:15-20 says, “For what am I doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.”
“For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.”
That was certainly a mouthful. When we realize we are being distracted away from the Lord, our natural and sinful response is to complain. We complain because it is easier than dealing with the fact that we are too busy to listen to the Lord, to spend time with Him, because of our own doing. It’s easier to give an excuse than to take the blame.
Too Busy With Worry
Jesus responds to Martha by addressing what is probably the root cause of her distractions and complaints—worry.
In verse 41 we read, “But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things.” With the first word of the verse, Luke gives us a good idea as to the emotion behind Jesus’ response. The word “but” is an adversative term. It is often used to express a contrast between two thoughts or actions.
We can picture the scene this way. Martha rushed toward Jesus with an attitude of frustration and indignation, but Jesus did not respond to her in like manner. Here we have yet another example of God’s grace and patience for His creation. Think about it. You’re having one of those days in your house. The kids have had one too many pieces of Christmas fudge and are bouncing off the walls.
You find yourself at the end of your rope, which you consider to be longer than most. You try to bring order to an otherwise chaotic scene by sending the kids to their room. Your eldest child, who recently discovered in their own mind that they know a lot more than you do about life, stands in front of you, toe to toe, and lets you have it. “You don’t care! You’re mean! Who do you think you are sending, me to my room?”
With the patience of God, you look at your child and say, “Martha, Martha.” NOT! The phrase “wrath of God” seems to come to mind as a description of the more likely response. That’s why God is God and we are not Him. Instead of meeting force with force, sin with punishment, Jesus addresses the problem instead of reacting to the behavior.
Jesus calmly goes right to the root of the problem. Jesus sees that Martha’s constant distractions and the accompanying complaints stems from the fact that she is too busy worrying to spend time listening to His words. Jesus tells Martha that she is “worried and bothered about so many things.”
Jesus chooses His words in such a way that He reveals the internal and external struggles facing Martha. The Greek word for “worried” also means, “anxious” or “overly concerned.” I know of no greater distraction in my own life than anxious thoughts. Worry or anxiety is the inward distraction that can very easily take our mind off the Lord.
Worry can also be a very noisy thing. I know in my own life there are times when I will sit down to pray and instead of making my petitions to the Lord, I find myself worrying about the things I want to bring before Him. Sitting quietly and worrying is not the same as praying. The apostle Paul told the Philippians, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Phil 4:6). The antidote to worry and anxiety is prayer and supplication.
Paul follows this exhortation with some great words of encouragement. “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7). Once we have set worry and anxiety aside, the peace of God will have room to work. The result will be a guarding of our heart and mind that will make us able to sit quietly before the Lord and listen.
Where worry is the internal struggle that keeps us from spending quiet time before the Lord, being bothered or troubled is the external manifestation of that struggle. The Greek word translated as “bothered” also means, “tumult.” When we worry a great deal, life can become tumultuous. The calm and peace we long for is lost in the hustle and bustle of trying to fix the things that worry us.
Jesus tells Martha that her internal and external struggles come from many sources. When we worry, we rarely worry about one thing. Our negative thoughts are rarely exclusive. Worry often has a snowball affect on our lives. We begin to worry about one thing only to find the increased anxiety level causing us to add other matters to the fray. Before we know it, we are overwhelmed with what seems like the crushing weight of a multitude of problems. And then we become distracted and the frustration causes us to complain. It’s a vicious cycle.
Jesus Gives The Answer
Jesus gives an answer to Martha’s dilemma in verse 42. “But only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” There are many different understandings of this particular verse. Part of the difficulty is that Jesus doesn’t specifically identify what “one thing is necessary.” I think the context of the passage will help us to understand what Jesus is saying here. In this verse, I believe, we see the bottom line.
Again we have a verse starting with the word “but.” Jesus is about to contrast Martha’s distractions, complaints, and worry with something better. The three things keeping Martha from sitting quietly before the Lord in fellowship were unnecessary parts of her life. Jesus gently rebukes Martha for complaining about Mary by telling her that Mary had “chosen the good part.”
Jesus’ words are interesting and I think they revolve around the idea of Martha’s hurried work to prepare the dinner table. The “good part” is not a reference to salvation because both Martha and Mary were disciples of Jesus Christ. What Jesus was trying to convey to Martha is that while she was hurrying to set the table she was missing the fact that the very best part of the meal, the main course if you will, is fellowship with Jesus.
Now Jesus is not saying that service is not important or necessary. What we see in Mary’s behavior cannot be used as an excuse for not being involved in service—serving one another and serving the church. He is not belittling Martha for her devotion through her service. After all, Jesus Himself said that He came not to be served, but to serve.
In the life of the believer, in the life of anyone who is a follower of Jesus Christ, however, there is something more important than serving the Lord. It is fellowship with the Lord. The time we spend setting the table before Him through our service will always be tainted by distraction, complaint, and worry if we do not take time to stop, sit, and enjoy the meal, enjoy nourishing fellowship with Him.
Worship should take precedence in our lives over service. Before we can fulfill the Great Commission and go and make disciples of others, we must first be disciples of Jesus Christ. “The word of the Lord has first claim. For the disciple an attitude of learning and obedience takes first place” (Liefeld, EBC, vol. 8, p. 945).
In order to maintain that attitude of learning and obedience without letting it become little more than shallow, religious activity, we have to follow Mary’s lead. Our greatest joy, our first priority in life, must be spending time at the Lord’s feet, quietly waiting for His tender, loving instruction.
I know this is not easy. I know most of us have probably started and stopped Bible reading and prayer programs many times over. And here we are—another New Year’s Eve. I will not insult you by calling for you to make yet another New Year’s resolution you don’t intend to keep past February.
What I will call you to do is choose the “good part.” Choose fellowship with Christ, not as a resolution, but as a way of life. We’ve all fallen short at one time or another in this aspect of our spiritual lives. But look at the great promise Jesus makes to Martha if she will only follow her sister’s example. Jesus promises at the end of verse 42 that genuine fellowship with Him “shall not be taken away.”
This incredible promise is not a license to neglect our fellowship with Christ, but is a mandate that should spur us to set aside our distractions, complaints, and worry so that we can experience a fellowship like none other as we quietly sit at His feet and listen. Are you too busy? Can you afford to be?
Look to tomorrow, not as a new year, but as a new beginning. Look to all of your tomorrows as an opportunity, born out of the incredible gift of God’s grace, to sit at the Lord’s feet and listen to His word.
Let’s pray.
