Come we now to Luke 10: 38 Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. 40 But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me." 41 But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; 42 there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her."
There is a line from one of my favorite movies, A Christmas Story, by Jean Shepherd, noted radio personality in his day, where he says, "I don't think my mother ever enjoyed a warm meal in her life." That may not be the exact line, but I'll let you know this Christmas, but you get the point. Some folks get so preoccupied with household tasks that they may miss out on other things, like news of the day being shared at the table or guests sharing personal concerns for prayer, etc. Yet, for them, the house has to be in order, the meal has to be done just right, the places at the table have to be set; God bless them!
Martha was such a person. There is no condemnation for her or folks like her; but the main thing is the main thing, and in this story and hopefully in our lives, Jesus is the "main thing." He is the central person in our lives. Given what we know a visit from Jesus would be a priority to greet Him, welcome Him, and allow Him to share with us and us with Him. Given what Martha knew, from her upbringing and her own preoccupation with being a good hostess, her main thing was as stated above. But she gets annoyed when she notices that her sister is not in the kitchen alongside her, helping prepare all that they wanted to offer Jesus. The passage begins by saying this was Martha's home, Mary may have had some ownership, but the primary owner was Martha. Mary chose to sit at Jesus' feet and listen to all He was sharing. Mary knew that Jesus always had something powerful to say. Mary knew that those who listened to Jesus received a blessing and usually become blessings to others. Martha's request for Jesus was not one for healing or resurrection, it was one of "Could you ask my sister to come help me? I'm doing all the work by myself!" Seems reasonable enough. The man who raised people from the dead, Martha reasons, could be powerful enough to raise people from stupidity or laziness, right?
Jesus said, very lovingly I believe, "Martha, you're worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her." Oops. Martha, we pray, heard that and changed her heart about pots and pans, carpets and drapes, toilets and towels. The main thing is to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen, and to share what is on your heart. Given the power of Jesus He knew what was on everyone's heart and prayer was simply being in the presence of Jesus. And that has not changed. Today, we can be in the presence of Jesus through prayer and we need not worry about what we are to say, but what we can receive and share back with Jesus. Our time with Jesus is precious to Him. Our willingness to be with Jesus is precious to Him and us. Our being able to listen to Jesus is precious to us. I've taught for many years that when we say Amen, we're really saying, Okay, Jesus, it's Your turn, speak and I will listen.
It's your choice: Pots and pans or Prayer and Peace?
PRAYER: Loving God, thank You for Jesus and His love for us. Help me, if I am too much like Martha, distracted by the things I believe are earth-shattering and they're really not. Help me to seek the peace of Mary who knew that by sitting at Your feet we can be blessed. May I become a blessing to You. This I pray in Jesus' name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
