The Tale of Two Sisters

Genetics is a funny thing. It is marvelous to see how traits are passed down from parent to child and the diversity that exists when the DNA of two people come together to form a new human being. I am one of eight children born to the same two parents. It is always striking to me how when we take a family photo we can all look so similar and different at the same time. The same goes for our personalities. Sure, there are some common traits, but we are still very unique people. None of us respond to the same situations in exactly the same way. You might think that two parents having eight children might lead to more similarities than differences, but I can assure you we are very different.

In Luke chapter 10 we meet two sisters who could not be any more different than one another. Though they were from the same household, they responded differently when Jesus came into their home.

Luke 10:38–42 NASB95

Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

On the surface we see two sisters who engage in two different ways. One is busy with serving and the other is sitting at Jesus’ feet. The one serving grows frustrated with the lack of help from her sister and gets a response she does not expect when she goes to address it. As we look through this short passage, I want to emphasize some very important truths.

It is entirely possible to serve God and miss his presence.

Service is a good thing. What Martha was doing was not wrong. It was customary to feed guests when they came to visit. As she invited Jesus into her home, she was probably thinking of all the things that would need to be done for her to be a good host. Perhaps as all these plans were forming in her head she was counting on her sister’s help and planned accordingly. So she goes to work and she notices she is working alone.

Are we supposed to be hospitable when we have people in our homes? Of course. But verse 40 says Martha was distracted. Distraction is the pulling away from something to something else. It is not giving your full attention to something that needs that attention. Notice the problem here is not with what Mary was doing or not doing, but where Martha set her priorities and where she thought her sister should have set hers.

Martha was distracted by her busyness that she was missing what was happening right in front of her. Jesus was in her home. God himself, the creator, ruler, and sustainer of the universe by the power of his word was sitting in her home and she was so preoccupied with serving him that she missed just being with him. You can be so busy trying to serve God that you miss being at his feet. Service to the Lord is a good thing but it cannot be at the expense of living in the moment.

You can be so busy, even with good things, that you neglect sitting at the master’s feet. Our society idolizes busyness. We live in a fast paced world and there is pressure to keep up at every moment of every day. There is a 24 hour news cycle and a constant connection to the internet. There are opportunities for all kinds of things every day. I can fill my schedule this week today if I wanted to. We do not have a full church calendar but we could. But a busy church calendar without an investment in our personal walks with the Lord is not his plan for our lives. As we get busy with church involvement and encourage others to do the same, we have to make sure we are not too busy to sit at the feet of Jesus. The first sign of trouble for a church, its pastor and the people is when they lose intimacy with the Lord. Be careful about becoming so busy that you miss the Lord’s presence.

Busyness stands in the way of seeing the bigger picture.

Did you notice there was not a problem until Martha made it a problem? She was doing what she was supposed to do. Jesus made it clear that Mary was doing what she was supposed to do. It was only when Martha thought that Mary was supposed to be doing the same job as her that it became an issue. The reality is that Mary was busy.

Martha went to do what was customary when a visitor came to your home. We Baptists are not that different. When have people at our house, unless we know it is going to be a quick visit, a meal is prepared. You don’t come to my house and leave hungry unless you do it on purpose. Martha took the role of servant by preparing the meal. That was good for her. Mary sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to his words. She was busy but in a different way. She was busy yet free of anxiety.

Martha was distracted with much service. When she went to Jesus to have him tell Mary to get up and help her, she got an unexpected reply. Jesus says, “Martha you are worried and bothered about so many things.” The word for worry there is also the word for anxiety. Her distractions led to anxiety. Her focus was on the service more than on the one she was serving. Did she even hear a word Jesus said? Her solution was to pull Mary away into the same distractions.

The opposite of this is also true. You can desire to sit in the presence of God so much that you neglect your service. We are not saying Mary was guilty of this. Jesus said she was doing what she was supposed to do. But it could be that someone gets so obsessed with being in the presence of God that they neglect their service.

I was listening to a former pastor of mine and he told a story about a woman who was talking to him and she mentioned she went to five Bible study groups per week. That’s in addition to Sunday morning and Wednesday evening services. Listen, there is no way that going to five Bible study groups every week is the healthiest thing for you. The key is in balance.

While work and service cannot and should not be avoided, balance is key to healthy living.

There was nothing wrong with serving. It was the misplaced priority of serving that got Martha into trouble. She worked herself up and did not take time to sit at Jesus’ feet. We had a busy summer here at First Baptist Church. We sought to relaunch a children’s program and we got it off the ground. It was hard work, but we did it. We put on two block parties in June and July and they were busy. We got to meet some neighbors and meet members of the community we did not know. We put on an event on the football field last Sunday. It was hard work. There may have been 70 in attendance and we may have ended up with a ton of food and drinks left over, but ten of those kids came forward for salvation that night. It is a good start.

We have been reading thirteen to fourteen chapters of scripture for six days a week for six weeks now. It has been an extraordinary challenge. Have you wanted to take shortcuts? Have you wanted to just get through it? This is a way we have the opportunity to sit at the Lord’s feet. Do we find ourselves trying to get through it so we can rush to the next thing? We have time and we must make time.

In every house there is a Mary and a Martha. In our house I am the Mary. Marci is the Martha. Marci has more of a tendency to work and serve until everything is done and sometimes she can get anxious about serving. I am the Mary and it is much easier for me to be in the moment and not get caught up in the busyness of “serving.” We have learned to help one another and balance each other out, but here is the thing I have come to learn. Both are important but all of it must be done from a posture of being in the moment.

Remember that as busy as life can be you have to preserve time for being present in the moment. There is a time for work and there is a time to be at Jesus’ feet. I had a professor in college say, “Wherever you are, be there.” Sometimes we can be present but we are not there. You might be present, but are you thinking about where you are going to lunch in a few minutes? Do you have somewhere else to be when the service is over? Are the cares of the world distracting you from sitting at the feet of Jesus? Are you worried? Anxious? Restless? The God of the universe has not stopped calling your name to invite you to come sit at his feet.

I have a challenge for you this week. The Afghanistan debacle is still going to be there next week. The border crisis is still going to be there next week. The labor shortage, the goods and services shortages, coronavirus, your favorite TV shows, and all the problems of the world will still be around next week. What I want you to do is avoid distractions. Make a list of all the ways you are distracted from what the Lord would have you do and strive to do none of them this week. For some it may mean you remove all social media apps from your phone. It may mean that you remove all games from your phone. It may mean that you may need to turn off Fox News, your TV, your video game console or whatever other distraction you may find. Look for new ways to be in the moment this week. Enjoy your family. Enjoy your friends. But look for ways to sit at the feet of Jesus and enjoy his rest.