Martha: A Woman Who Loved To Serve

Introduction

This evening I want to point you towards one person who loved to serve others. She had her faults - just like we do - but she was a woman that can teach us a thing or two about ministry today.

This woman’s name is Martha.

Read Luke 10:38-42.

Martha: “lady [of the house], mistress]

Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary Martha

True to her name, Martha is portrayed as a person in charge: she welcomed Jesus as a guest in her home (Luke 10:38); she was concerned with meeting the obligations of a hostess, whether preparing food (Luke 10:40; John 12:2) or greeting guests

Martha is often remembered for her faults. After all, Jesus does give her a word of correction here, but perhaps we are just a little too hard on her at times. This woman, despite her faults, is presented in the Bible as a woman who loved to serve. Her life is a permanent record that teaches us many principles about serving the Lord by serving others. There’s two that I’d like to share with you this evening:

The first point I’d like you to note from Martha’s life is that...

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Serving requires initiative

In other words, at some point you have to make the choice to step out and serve. This is the first time that we meet Martha in the Bible, and what we see in her is a woman who stepped up and said, “my house is open! Come on in!” She seems to have been the kind of person that knew how to get things done. She had learned that at some point you just have to roll up your sleeves and dig in and serve.

The first time Martha is mentioned in the Bible, we find her serving others as she receives Christ into her house. But here’s an interesting fact: the last time that she is mentioned in the Bible, in John 12:2, again, we find her serving.

Read John 12:2.

This was the pattern of her life. We don’t know how the Lord met Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, but at some point a permanent friendship was made and I think it may have begun right here when Martha welcomed the Savior into her home.

I wish I could have seen Martha and watched as she served. Her hospitality and warmth in her home probably made people feel at ease. Her cooking was probably second to none. I can’t help but imagine that she was something like Aunt Bea from the Andy Griffith Show.

You remember Aunt Bea? If there was a knock on the door she’d go running to answer it.

“Oh! Why hello Reverend! What a pleasant surprise! ANDY! The Reverend’s here!”

Andy comes and welcomes the reverend into the home. Meanwhile, Aunt Bea runs for the kitchen and can be heard saying, “Let me put some coffee on! The scones will be coming out of the oven any minute now.”

That’s what I imagine Martha must have been like - a warm hostess that loved to welcome others to her home.

As she welcomed Jesus to her house…

It was an act of love.

It was something that she jumped to do before anyone else did.

It was an act of ministry.

When someone was needed to step up and do the work of the ministry, Martha was that kind of person that would.

Application: Are you a “Martha?”

Two reasons why ministry requires initiative:

You can minister anywhere - be ready

“Desire to minister wherever and whenever God allows you”

We need to avoid the mindset that ministry is just something that you do at church. That’s not true. Ministry is not merely something you sign up to do once a week at church. Ministry is a way of life for every believer. As you minister it will point people to your Savior and to the church that He loves.

In the home

In the car

At the store

Ministry is more than preaching and singing solos. Ministry is not flashy. It is often time spent encouraging someone else. It can be a phone call, a text message, or a card put in the mailbox. It can be baking cookies to drop by someone’s house.

Please don’t misunderstand, ministry is not something you must always be doing doing doing. It is a mindset of service towards people and with the goal of pleasing the Lord.

My point is this: every child of God in this church can and should be involved in local church ministry, but it requires initiative on your part to be ready to minister anywhere.

Martha, to her credit, was ready to minister when Jesus came to her town of Bethany. She wasn’t a lead singer at her synagogue. She didn’t wait to have a title or position at her local church. But she did know how to minister in her home - and she was ready.

You can minister to anyone - be ready

Something that I heard often from my mentors in college was that “ministry is people.” Jesus knew that.

When He looked on the multitudes He saw lost sheep who had no shepherd.

When He looked out over Jerusalem He wept for the lost souls who would reject their Messiah.

When He met Zaccheus he didn’t see a rich publican, when he met the Samaritan woman He didn’t see an adulteress, He saw the spiritual emptiness of their hearts.

Application: Ministry is people. Let’s be ready to serve wherever we may be and whoever we may meet. For all of her faults, Martha was a woman who was ready to serve. She took the initiative before anyone else in Bethany did. She welcomed the Savior into her home before anyone else took the opportunity. And because of this, she became one of His close friends.

Not only does serving require initiative, but also…

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Serving requires balance

Luke 10:40 - “But Martha was cumbered about much serving”

Cumbered: “to be driven about mentally, to be distracted: to be over-occupied, too busy, about a thing”

Martha seemed to love to serve but her love for service was distracting her from loving people. You notice, Jesus was not impressed by Martha’s busyness. It’s a humbling thing to realize, but God is not impressed by how much you do. I can do more and more and more but it’s not going to make Him love me any more than He loves you. It’s not going to impress Him. My busyness is not going to earn His love. Why? Because God is not a respecter of persons James says. He cannot love me any more than He already does.

Martha was getting so busy and concerned about what she had to do that resentment was growing in her heart over the fact that Mary was sitting over there not doing her part.

Is it not easy to compare ourselves with others? Most of the time, we’re better than everyone else, but sometimes, we’ll make a comparison where we are worse than everyone else. Either way, it’s wrong. It’s unwise!

“When we minister to others, God cares about both what we do and how we do it.”

We know that we are supposed to be living lives of ministry:

Ephesians 2:10 KJV 1900

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Martha)

The church cannot minister without “Marthas” who are willing to serve alone… [but] Jesus must not be neglected in the name of service.

Application: don’t get so busy about something (even ministry) that you lose your love for God and your love for people.

Don’t lose that first love!

Let’s serve like Martha and worship like Mary!