Martha, Martha - You are Worried and Upset

An interesting, short passage that is frequently glossed over by many readers of God’s everlasting word occurs in the gospel of Luke. While certainly pithy, it nevertheless offers discerners of the word profound insight into what our priorities should be as believers. The specific text reads:

“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, NIV).

The 13 and two

In verse 38, Jesus and the 12 disciples are invited into Martha’s home. The text does not mention whether there were other followers among the 13 men, so we should refrain from speculation as to the total number of people in the passage. There are at least 15 including Martha, Mary her sister and the disciples and Lord Jesus.

Martha’s Home

We note that it was Martha’s home. Few women owned homes 2,000 years ago. And there is no mention of a husband in the story. Perhaps he had died. Maybe she had never been married and her parents, having no son as an heir, passed the home onto Martha. We simply do not know how Martha came to own the home. However, these types of homes were typically two stories, a bottom floor and a courtyard, as it were, and an upstairs section for dining and entertaining.

We immediately observe Martha’s love, graciousness and trust. She invites at least 13 sweaty, smelly men who had been travelling into her abode. As was customary of the time, food and drink were prepared for travelers. Custom dictated that Martha and Mary would prepare the food and serve the guests.

Lazy Mary?

But notice what occurs in verse 39. We read:

“She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.”

So, there was Mary, upstairs with 13 men and alone, something that was frowned upon among the Jewish customs of the time.

Now imagine you and me are Martha for a minute.

Martha had to prepare the fire for cooking, get her pots and pans and utensils at the ready, perhaps slaughter a lamb or a goat, cook some fish, make bread and whatever other customary foods for the men – by herself – because Mary is upstairs.

It’s not like Martha could open the refrigerator and thaw a few items out in the microwave oven, heat them up in mere minutes, serve the men, and then sit at the feet of Jesus along with Mary and the disciples!

Nope.

She would have been busy for a few or most likely several hours! Think of it as preparing a traditional Thanksgiving Day meal with all the trimmings in your backyard for a large family. By yourself. We would be scrambling and missing the football games!

Was Mary loafing? It seems that is what she was doing at face value. You or I would likely be upset with Mary for her unwillingness to assist us in preparing the amount of food and drinks that were necessary to feed such a large group. And outside and alone to boot!

Distraction

Let’s look at verse 40 where we read:

“But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.”

Martha was distracted. Gosh, how many times have we allowed ourselves to be distracted? The cares of this world tear us away from our communion with God. We sometimes become so busy that we have no time for prayer, study or even reading God’s word. You’ve been there, I’ve been there. We can all relate to Martha’s distraction.

Martha wanted things done right. She wanted to show her worthiness, her competence to Jesus and the disciples. She did not want to fail in this once in a lifetime endeavor. She sought to please others, and while there is certainly nothing wrong with that, we should not endeavor to be people pleasers just to fit in with the world.

But let us look even closer and zoom in as it were.

Martha comes upstairs to Jesus and asks a rhetorical question.

“Don’t you care?!”

Of course Jesus cared! He cares about all of us. Why? Because He loves us.

Martha is perturbed that Mary is chilling out while she is working exceedingly hard to please the Lord and his followers. Maybe she is catching her breath as a large cauldron of soup heats up and the lamb cooks on a makeshift spit over an open fire.

I see Martha as a hurried woman, sweating from her frantic toil, and wringing her hands with a towel. However, she spares a few minutes to complain.

Now look at what Martha says: “Tell her to help me!”

Whoa! She commands the Lord of the universe! She orders the Son of God, who created the universe, to compel Mary to get to work! How audacious.

Do you remember the last time you commanded God to do something you wanted done? I certainly do.

We live in a world that has created a sense of urgency within us. We do not want to wait – we want things now! We are hurried at times and wring our hands in our impatience and frustration.

And by golly, we strive for things to happen instantly, as we have been conditioned to do. And when things do not go our way…well, we know how our emotions can overcome our better judgments.

Jesus’ reply

In verse 42 we read: “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things.”

Note here that Jesus did not condemn Martha for her work. However, He does rebuke her for having her priorities wrong. Martha was “worried and upset.” In other words, she was angry at the circumstances she found herself in.

Many things. What are the many things in our sphere that distract, cause us to worry, and make us upset? And how often do we let them overcome our sense of peace?

The final kicker

Finally, Jesus says, to Martha, “…but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

See, Mary was listening to what Jesus had to say. It is the only one thing. It was better.

Striking a balance

Before any good work can be accomplished for the Lord, we need to listen to what God has in mind for us to do for His Kingdom. Far too often we run helter-skelter ahead of God and do things our way. When we are not doing His will, we can expect less than optimal outcomes.

We need balance. We cannot always be listening or working. We can do both because we are capable under Jesus to do so if we “lean not on our own understanding.”

When we listen to the Lord by reading His word, meditating on it, and praying, He will commune with us by the Spirit. And if we are listening carefully, the subsequent work we do in response to listening will be fruitful. It’s all a matter of abiding in God’s will.