HG104 Luke 10:38–42

Luke 10:38–42 NKJV

38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” 41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Today’s reading was short and sweet but contains so much that it was necessary to just look at this on its own. It is not found in any of the other gospels but the characters are familiar if we know the Gospels. Jesus and His disciples are on their way down from Galilee to Jerusalem. We are told that a certain woman by the name of Martha welcomes Him, and by extension His entourage into her large house which belongs to her. We know that Martha, Mary and Lazarus have a house in Bethany just outside Jerusalem but this may actually be another house that they have.

Jesus needed the support of others including this family. We are aware that there were many women, especially, supporting the ministry of Jesus. And therefore we are introduced to a woman, which without her support, the ministry of Jesus would have not gone as smoothly.

Of course, we are also introduced to her sister, Mary, who thought to leave all the work to her sister instead. Well, that is what Martha thought.

Martha was the kind of person who would have scrubbed the house clean, been to Asda to get the food with the special bits from Marks and Sparks. She’s been slaving in the kitchen making sure that all the food comes out right and that is on top of making sure all the drinks are topped up, snacks are filled, and the guests are happy. But things are starting to go awry. There’s just too much to do and some things are starting to get burnt, the potatoes are overcooked, the spilt drinks are not getting cleared up, and the timing of all the other foods is starting to fall apart. This is hard for those who have the gift of hospitality big time!

Grrr. Where is my sister?! Help! You’d think that she’d speak to her sister: What are you doing? How rude to be sitting with the other guests! But this seething suddenly explodes but not at who you’d expect, no, not at her sister, but at Jesus.

“Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” Even though Martha is asking a question it is plainly rhetorical. The answer is yes, you should care by telling her! Her decorum has dissipated. She is not in control of her feelings. She’s not asking but demanding. Mary’s not pulling her weight. She’s doing nothing at all.

Martha is only concerned with what Mary is NOT doing. Martha is judging Mary’s choice as wrong, and now she is demanding that Jesus judge her the same way. Look, Jesus. I am right; Mary is wrong; and you need to tell her the same thing!

What I find interesting is that Jesus is the guest of honour but she is now treating Him with disrespect. I’m doing all this work for you and your disciples and I am not getting any help and you are just allowing her.

Now I am absolutely sure that the majority of us here have had this rising feeling with someone else whom we think is not doing what they ought to be doing. There has been a build up and then, trying to be in control of our anger, told them what they should do. I have found that the most intense place for this is wen driving. I am right and you are wrong. Maybe we are right but our attitude most certainly is not. And we certainly have not been able to see things from their perspective.

For Martha she has a hundred things on the go all at once. When one of those things goes wrong or another one is added there is no room and it can no longer be handled. She is at the end of herself. There is no margin, no space left.

She is the picture of Western living. We fill our lives with so much that when something goes wrong or another task needs doing the margin is overflowed and there is no space. I am one of those people who wants us as a Church to be a go-getter. Where we do the work that God has called us to in meeting this community in good deeds and word, making the Gospel known.

I have said before that everyone needs to do their part both spiritually and practically using the gifts that we have for the building of the Kingdom. But do you know what I have discovered? No one has time for anything. Our lives are already too busy. There’s no space for anything else. Maybe we have shrinking space because of health or lack of it. We’ve already had to tighten what we can or cannot do. We are overworked, overbooked, over-stressed and the result is frustration at God and others.

It’s not always that way. There are times of serving that feel different, invigorating, fulfilling, worthwhile. What’s the difference? Is it that some things are worth volunteering for and some things are not as worthy? What is it that has sometimes made some service opportunities feel so absolutely right, and other service opportunities feel so stressfully overwhelming?

Let’s look at what Jesus has to say in response to Martha. As Martha bursts into the room and lets her explosive tirade loose upon the entire room. “Martha, Martha”, Jesus says, with obvious care and a little chiding: “You are worried and upset about much. But few is needed, in fact, one.”

Martha is worried and upset about the details of the meal. This dinner party is quite a project. In all the commotion of this project, it seems as though Martha lost track of the people and relationships for whom this meal is being prepared in the first place. The people disappeared from importance, and only the project mattered. Somehow in the midst of Martha’s serving, the project of hosting dinner became most important, and the people who were there only served as part of a project.

Jesus turns the whole thing around to the right way. When it comes to serving, people matter most. Projects and programs are inferior to real relationships with real people. In this particular instance, Jesus commends Mary for recognising that it is He who is important rather than the timing of the food.

Let’s review what we have heard so far for there are a couple of things we need to keep in mind.

First: check your margins. If every opportunity to serve comes at you as something that needs to be packed into your already-filled diary, then maybe it’s time to lighten the diary and create some margin. Maybe you’ve got the best of intentions but sometimes we need to drop things and say no to others instead of saying ‘yes’ to everything. I think that we have to have the ministry of disappointment. There are only so many hours in the day, it is not possible to do everything.

When I say “margin” I assume you know what I mean. On an A4 piece of lined paper there is a line down the side which is a margin. This used to be where comments or notes were made on the work but it was space that you left unfilled. But it is into this space we have pushed all of life so now there is no margin, no space for when things go wrong.

The second checkpoint is to always put people before projects. Programs and projects are not bad things for this is where relationships can happen. So, relationships with people are the ultimate goal of programs and projects. Whenever we find ourselves in a place where the programs or the projects are getting in the way of relationships more than helping to create and nurture relationships, then it is time to shift our approach, change what we are doing or stop it altogether.

Jesus shows these things in the way he demonstrates service. In one village he is approached by a ruler named Jairus who asks Jesus to come heal her daughter. This was unplanned but Jesus creates some margin in his schedule and goes with him. On the way there is a woman who has suffered from chronic bleeding who sneaks through the crowd and touches Jesus in order to be healed. Again unplanned but there is still space in the margin. Jesus stops everything and turns his attention towards the woman. He creates margin for relationship with this woman—not just the project of healing her. Then Jesus continues with Jairus. He shows the importance of having margin in order to serve. This is just not possible if we are already overwhelmed.

On one occasion Jesus is travelling through Samaria. He stops off by a well and asks a woman there for a drink. Instead of just thanking her for her hospitality, he begins talking with her and goes into her entire life story. This Samaritan woman wasn’t just a way to get a drink of water, she was a person. And Jesus made space for her.

There were times, of course, when ministry was extremely busy not having time to rest or sleep but this was rare and not the norm. If it is occasionally when things are a bit mad then let us not discount doing it. For instance the Fair. It is once a year. If it was every week that might be a bit much! But maybe it we should have another one in the year! Maybe!

Let me bring us back to Martha and Mary. Who is the better person? What is better? To be practical or to be spiritual? Actually I am leading you on, here. Both are needed. Both Mary and Martha are laudable examples to us of good. But it is also a matter of priorities. Jesus needs to come first. The Word of God has to come first. Listening has to be first. And out of these will flow living water, space and time to do the things that we should do. Jesus said I do what I see the Father doing. And it was only that which Jesus did. How is this possible without communication and relationship?

Martha, though, wanted to be spiritual but she was being dragged away by her responsibilities as she saw them. The thing is that Jesus made it clear that only one thing was necessary. What was that one thing? It is a curious phrase here for really it means there are a few things but really only one. Martha was setting about giving a 10 course meal but really a few things only were necessary, that is no grand feast but a little buffet would have sufficed, a few things only were are necessary and really only one, and that was to sit at the feet of Jesus, and Jesus said that Mary had chosen the better part. Do you remember when Jesus said when being tempted by the devil?

Matthew 4:4 ESV

4 But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

Food, even when hungry, is secondary to the spiritual. Then who will prepare the food? It is easy to think we are indispensable for all the practical things we do but, actually, He has no need of us at all. We overestimate our importance. Martha wanted Mary in the kitchen but actually she was doing the more important work. And what was this work but to listen to the Word of God. She had a spiritual hunger for the Word and the Lord. We can get caught up in all of life or all of our ministry which may seem like the most important thing but space has first to be made for the Word of God. There are examples in Scripture of such people:

There was Anna:

Luke 2:37 NKJV

37 and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.

Acts 17:11 ESV

11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

Let me give you a modern illustration:

Preaching the Word: Luke, Vol. 1—That You May Know the Truth Mary’s Anointing

Billy Graham once told a story about the Word-centeredness of his father-in-law, Dr. Nelson Bell. When Bell served as the single doctor for a 400-bed hospital in China, he made it a point

to rise every morning at four-thirty and spend two to three hours in Bible reading. He didn’t use that time to read commentaries or write; he didn’t do his correspondence or any of his other work. He just read the Scriptures every morning, and he was a walking Bible encyclopedia. People wondered at the holiness and the greatness in his life.

It was his spiritual life that led to his practical one. He found the space in the margin. Martha simply had to give the Lord and His word priority even over loving service. And in this little story we here, especially in the West have much to learn.

Communion

Jesus did not come to be served but to serve. What an amazing statement that is. But He only did what He saw His Father doing which meant that they were in constant communion. We come to this table today as a sign of our communion with that same Father and with His Son and a sign of our communion together as the body of Christ. And this was the point of the sacrifice of Jesus which was to reconcile us back to God so that we could have eternal life instead of eternal judgement. There was no way to avoid the cross if this was to happen and so Jesus willingly gave completely of Himself for the task. It is this that we commemorate today and thank Him that despite all the suffering, all the judgement placed on Him it was not the end but gained victory over the grave and so we are raised together with Him to the Heavenly places where one day we shall go to be with our Lord and Saviour forever. Hallelujah!

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 ESV

23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Benediction

Hebrews 13:20–21 ESV

20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Bibliography

https://sermons.faithlife.com/sermons/306985-vision-or-serve

Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

Blum, E. A., & Wax, T. (Eds.). (2017). CSB Study Bible: Notes. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

Exell, J. S. (n.d.). The Biblical Illustrator: St. Luke (Vol. II). London: James Nisbet & Co.

Fitzmyer, J. A., S. J. (2008). The Gospel according to Luke X–XXIV: introduction, translation, and notes (Vol. 28A). New Haven; London: Yale University Press.

Gaebelein, F. E., Carson, D. A., Wessel, W. W., & Liefeld, W. L. (1984). The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke (Vol. 8). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

Hughes, R. K. (1998). Luke: that you may know the truth. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

Larson, B., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1983). Luke (Vol. 26). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.

Leadership Ministries Worldwide. (1996). The Gospel according to Luke. Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.

MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2014). John MacArthur Sermon Archive. Panorama City, CA: Grace to You.

McGee, J. V. (1997). Thru the Bible commentary (electronic ed.). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

Redford, D. (2007). The life and ministry of Jesus: the Gospels (Vol. 1). Cincinnati, OH: Standard Pub.

Ryle, J. C. (1997). Luke. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

Spence-Jones, H. D. M. (Ed.). (1909). St. Luke (Vol. 1). London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company.

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 19:34 17 November 2018.