Luke 10:38-42
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 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!”
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “You are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her”.
My Martha Story
A few weeks ago I attended a staff wind-up party at a Bible camp I had been serving at all summer. After a late supper, my friend Shalice and I decided we were going to bake a cake for one of the girls we worked with, whose birthday was approaching at midnight. It was 9:00 pm and time was ticking. Not only did I tell my family that I would be back home to play board games with them around 10:00pm, but we only had half an hour before the ‘last’ campfire started. With haste, I scoured the pantry and found the ingredients needed. As the batter was being whipped up, I worked on the icing, and before we knew it, the cake was in the oven baking. The only dilemma was that the campfire was starting in less than five minutes, and the cake still had fifteen more minutes left on the timer.
*Decision*
I told Shalice that I would stay behind and come as soon as the cake was finished baking. I would only be ten minutes late, right? I paced back and forth in the empty kitchen, studying the hands on the clock, and watched the timer slowly turn its hand back to zero. “Buzzzzz” Finally! As soon as I took the cake off the rack, I could tell it was nowhere near done. There was only a thin crust layer over what looked like a pan full of chocolate pudding. “AHHH”. I cranked up the heat to 350 and turned the timer on for ten more minutes. As I sat there glaring at the clock that now read 9:50 pm, I got a sickening feeling in my gut that I was in the wrong place. As if on cue, that inner voice came up in my spirit saying “What’s more important Jaycee, being here alone in the kitchen baking the cake, or glorifying God by sitting around the campfire singing worship songs to Him?”
I am being a Martha, aren’t I? The thought brought a silly smirk to my face, and my soul answered a resounding YES! Earnestly, I shut off the oven letting the cake cook on its own, and sent a text to my husband telling him that I would be late for board games. I could sense the Holy Spirit resting on me as I walked onto the path that led me towards the soft rhythm of the acoustic guitar and what sounded like a choir of angels praising God. Goosebumps slid down my spine as I found my place around the fire and lifted my own voice towards heaven. My heart whispered a sincere thank you to God for revealing the misplacing of my priorities, and for shedding light on the truth about where I should have been at that moment.
Back to Martha and Mary’s house
Let’s picture this scenario for a second here. Martha rushes to the entrance of the village and invites Jesus and his disciples into her and her sister Mary’s home. As she leads them to her home, her heart begins to race thinking about all the preparations that need to be done. Once in the door, Martha quickly rushes off to the kitchen and anxiously starts preparing dinner. With a detailed list of TO DO’s and a houseful of guests she starts to panic Where is Mary? I could really use her help in here. Walking towards the kitchen door, she sees her sister sitting beside Jesus’ feet listening to him speak with the rest of his disciples. Martha’s feelings of injustice start to flare up as she shoots glares across the room at her sister. How dare she just leave me in here to do all of this work on my own? A few more minutes pass by of kneading dough until Martha couldn’t take it anymore. Instead of just reaming her sister out, she wanted vindication from the Rabbi himself. I will tell Jesus to tell her to get her lazy little bottom in here and help me. He of all people should understand how unfair this situation is.***********************************************************************************
But to her surprise, Jesus sides with Mary. Why? Wasn’t Martha being a blessing to Jesus and his disciples by preparing a special supper for them? Yes. Wasn’t Martha using her gift of hospitality? Yes. So why did Jesus side with Mary, who’s home that was also?
“Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken from her” - Jesus
The word better, in Greek translation is portion. This is also the same word used for describing food in the Greek language. By sitting at the foot of Jesus, listening and swallowing each of his words, Mary is choosing the right portion, which is feeding the hunger in her soul. In fact, she is no longer worried about house chores or dinner preparations because her physical hunger has been replaced by fullness in her spirit by soaking in the words of Jesus. Mary understood that spending time with Jesus and studying the bible was more important than preparing an extravagant meal for him. She chose the right portion.
“A few things are needed- indeed only one” - Jesus
Martha on the other hand, was distracted by all that had to be done in order for her to be a proper host. Naturally, she thought that it was of top priority to prepare a special meal for her guests. I mean after all that is why they accepted the invite, right? Wrong! Martha missed the intention of Jesus’ stay in their home. Jesus was more interested in fellowship with Martha and Mary than he was about being catered to by them. Instead of first fellowshipping with Jesus, Martha busied herself with her To Do list, and missed out on the peace that comes from spending time with Jesus. If Martha only knew that relationship is more important to Jesus, than serving him, she would have never placed one before the other. Can you imagine if Martha would have just spent a half an hour at Jesus’ feet, listening to him, asking questions, and getting to know him? I bet that she would have been filled to the brim with his peace and would have received his blessing to prepare dinner. I mean, the story would have changed completely. Can’t you just see Martha in the kitchen humming to herself with a huge smile on her face as she reflects on the words spoken to her by Jesus? In fact, she would be so filled with joy that her service would be efficient enough to not feel the need to ask for Mary’s help. I imagine that after Martha finished setting the food out on the table, she would quietly take her seat beside her sister Mary, and consciously decide that spending time with Jesus is far more important than the other household chores at the moment.
Conclusion
Not every decision we make is based on Good vs. Evil. Jesus did not rebuke Martha when she came to him complaining, he gently spoke to her about what was more important in that moment. Although she was doing something to be a blessing to Jesus, he wanted her to know that spending time with him is the better choice. Relationship vs. Service. Similarly, in my experience, choosing to bake a cake for my friend was an act of love, but by choosing to bake it during campfire is where I had misplaced my priorities. I had put my To do list before building relationship with God through worship.
We make thousands of decisions every day. How can we be sure that we are putting our priorities in the right place? It’s simple, put Jesus first. When we do this, we make better decisions because we are relying on the Holy Spirit to guide us instead of habitually responding to our flesh. When we do not put our relationship with Jesus first, we tend to walk around with an attitude like Martha; anxious, worried and stressed out about all that needs to be done. Enter into the peace today that comes from putting your relationship with Jesus top priority in your life. Remember in Jesus’ heart, relationship with him always takes the cake, before serving him.
“ I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding for I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return” -Philippians 1:9-11 (NLT)
