Serving and Sitting
Last week, we looked at the parable of the good Samaritan and I said that the main point of the parable is that belief without action is nothing, or faith without works is dead. The ones who truly know the Lord are compelled to serve those in need. Knowing the word must be accompanied by doing the word.
Next we come to an incident where Jesus highlights knowing him. In back-to-back passages, Jesus says his true followers serve others and commune with him. He doesn’t give us the option of picking and choosing what our Christianity will look like. Following him isn’t like “Build-a-Bear” where you get to pick your favorite ingredients or emphasize the things you like. Rather, following him is a matter of hearing and doing.
But Jesus is careful to tell us how these things relate to one another, or what should take the priority. In our text today, we’ll see that sitting at his feet, communing with him and listening to his teaching, must be the disciple’s priority.
The main point of this text, especially when we read it in context with the parable of the good Samaritan, is that serving flows out of sitting. Serving others shouldn’t distract us from knowing God. In fact, we serve others best when we’re in regular contact with God.
I want us to read the text, then ask three questions: What is Martha doing, what is Mary doing, and what is Jesus doing?
What is Martha Doing?
What we see Martha doing is serving Jesus by showing him hospitality, and this is an admirable and noble and loving thing to do. But, according to Jesus, Martha is missing the point.
Notice a few things about Martha. First, Jesus loves her. The beginning of verse 38 says that as “they” were traveling “he (ie. Jesus)” went to a village. Luke moves from the plural to the singular to emphasize that Jesus is the one who wanted to go to Martha’s house.
Note that it was “her house.” It’s not Mary or Lazarus’s house, it’s Martha’s house. She’s a women of some means. She’s a wealthy woman. She’s probably the oldest of the siblings, and she’s a leader. Over in John 11, when Lazarus dies and Jesus is on the way to the funeral, it’s Martha who runs out to meet him while Mary remained in the house (v. 20). It’s Martha who says to Jesus, “If you would’ve been here, he wouldn’t have died” (v. 21). It’s Martha who tells Jesus that there will be an odor if they move the stone (v. 39). Martha is a leader. She’s a no-nonsense, get things done kind of person. She’s decisive and bold and doesn’t like sitting around and waiting for things to happen.
But, again, Jesus loves Martha. He not only chooses to go visit her, but in verse 41, when Jesus says “Martha, Martha,” we see his deep emotion for her. In Jewish culture, the doubling of a name is a magnification. It’s used for emphasis, especially to show emotional connection. This is why Jesus cries out “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem” and, on the cross, “My God, my God.” Doubling her name reveals his deep compassion for her. He’s counseling her out of love.
The other thing about Martha is she’s very busy and very anxious (vv. 40-41). She’s doing a good thing, “welcoming Jesus into her house” (v. 38), but this good thing distracts her from the main thing. She invites Jesus into her home, but after he arrives she had no time for fellowship.
It seems that she wants to hear Jesus’ teaching but is “distracted” from doing so (v. 40). But this was her choice. Instead of sitting, she’s serving. She’s overcome by the pressure of having the house and table and food ready for her guests. She chooses activity over communion.
And this decision starts to affect her heart to the point where she approaches Jesus about the situation in verse 40. Her request is a natural one, but it comes from an anxious heart that has lost sight of what truly matters. And this leads her to say some really concerning things.
She’s not just exasperated at her sister but is also annoyed with Jesus, “Lord, do you not care?” She’s so irritated that she accuses Jesus of not caring about her. She wonders how Jesus can be so focused on Mary and not see how hard she’s working for him. She’s saying that Jesus is at fault here and that he needs to intervene and tell Mary to get off her blessed assurance and help!
The reason she feels so hurt is because she feels alone, “Do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?” We often say rash and hurtful things when we feel alone, when we feel we’re suffering and no one sees us. Martha feels deserted by Mary and wants Jesus to act.
Are You a Martha?
How do you know if you’re a Martha? We all have “Martha moments,” but how do you know if you have a “Martha spirit”?
Does inner turmoil consume you? You have so many goals and aspirations and so many things you want to do, and yet frustrated that you don’t seem to get to do any of them. You’ve said yes to so many things but are inwardly frustrated by how much you have to do. Maybe like Martha, you’re ambitious and a leader and like getting things done, so you’ve made lots of goals. But you become unhappy because you’re not accomplishing them. You’re even frustrated with the Lord and wonder how he could let you be where you are. But he didn’t give you all those goals, you gave them to yourself! Maybe you have too many non-negotiable goals, while Jesus says “one thing is necessary” (v. 42).
A “Martha spirit” is also irritable, easily and consistently annoyed with people, critical and judgmental about people’s decisions, makes agenda-driven and passive aggressive comments in order to make people feel bad, runs over people with their attitude and words and actions, is preoccupied with what others are doing, controls and manipulates people and circumstances, is blind to inconsistencies in their life, quick to serve in noticeable ways to endear people to themselves, seeks praise for what they’ve done while wondering why others aren’t doing more, doesn’t make time for church or studying the Bible but has time for 100 other things.
Their lives are stressed and fragmented. Anxiety leads them to replay old negative thoughts and mind-read and judge other’s motives and hold onto resentments and seek drama and gossiping. A “Martha spirit” is perfectionistic or makes unrealistic goals and to-do lists and hates making mistakes. It can lead to sleep problems and trouble concentrating.
We all deal with these things at one point or another, but if you’re consistently irritable or consistently have inner turmoil (“anxious and troubled,” v. 41, or “worried and upset” – CSB), you may be more like Martha than you think. I know I am. And the good news is that Jesus loves Marthas. He goes to visit them and speaks to them with tenderness and compassion and wants good things for them.
In our text, what Jesus wants for Martha is for her to look at Mary and do what she’s doing.
What is Mary Doing?
Second, what is Mary doing? Verse 39 says that Mary was sitting at Jesus’ feet listening to his word. Martha decided to give herself to hospitality when Jesus came over, while Mary decided to give herself to Jesus. And this was a conscious decision. Mary chose to sit and soak instead of serving. Martha gave herself to prepare a meal while Mary simply sat down with Jesus.
Mary focused her time and attention on the Lord and his word. She was communing and learning. Do you have focused time with the Lord’s word? Is it always rushed? Have you made space for it, removed obstacles, and made a plan?
Mary wasn’t just listening to Jesus. Lots of people listened to him. She was putting herself under his authority. Notice that it says Mary was at Jesus’ feet (v. 39). Sitting at someone’s feet meant being under their authority. Disciples sat at their teacher’s feet. The man Jesus healed of a legion of demons sat at Jesus’ feet (8:35). Paul learned at Gamaliel’s feet (Acts 22:3). The Lord says he’ll make his enemies his footstool (Ps. 110:1). And the early Christians brought their gifts and laid them at the apostles’ feet (Acts 4:35, 37).
Martha tells Jesus what he should say while Mary listens to what Jesus has to say. She was having focused and submissive time before the Lord.
Mary submitted herself to the Lord. She was at his feet. She was truly open to what he had to say and trusted his words. This is why, in John 12, when Mary anoints Jesus’ feet with expensive ointment, and Judas asks why so much money would be wasted like that, Jesus says, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial” (v. 7).
Jesus tells Judas to leave Mary alone because she was preparing him to die. None of the other apostles understood this, even though Jesus had told them repeatedly. But Mary understood. Why? Because she put herself under Jesus’ teaching, accepting it with faith. The disciples ran Jesus’ teaching through their first-century grid and the Messiah dying didn’t fit the grid, so they didn’t accept it. But Mary didn’t run it through the grid. She submitted herself to his teaching, so she knew he would die.
Character Formation at the Feet of Jesus
Mary’s posture of submission before Jesus prepared her for his death. This made her truly great. Her character was formed at the feet of Jesus. And so it will be for us.
We only have several big events in our lives, life-changing, life-altering, pivotal events that we never forget. Our character isn’t forged in the big events of our lives. Those things reveal what we are, they don’t make us what we are.
Our lives are mostly mundane. We wake up and are swarmed by the mundane. We have to eat, go to work, have meetings, write emails, make calls, exercise, and spend time with family. It’s easy to be swept away by the mundane things of life. They’re like a river that wants to take us away.
The difference between Mary and Martha is that Martha is swept along by all the things that have to be done. But Mary puts her feet down in the bottom of the river and walks upstream. She walks where she wants to walk. She makes time for focused attention at the Lord’s feet. She knows what’s truly important. And this makes her truly great.
It’s not the big events that form your character. It’s the mundane, the day-to-day things that shape you. The big things reveal what you’ve become in the mundane. Being like Mary means setting your priorities and spending focused time at Jesus’ feet and not letting the river of little things sweep you away.
Mary decided what was important and didn’t get swept away by the little things and as a result was swept into true greatness.
What is Jesus Doing?
Finally, what’s Jesus doing in this moment? He’s contrasting Martha with Mary. But this passage has historically been used to draw a contrast between the contemplative life and the secular life. The person who truly loves God will devote themselves to focused Bible study and prayer, while those who don’t will be busy working in the secular world. Mary represented the contemplative, spiritual life. Martha the busy, secular life.
But if Martha represents anything, it’s those who’re busy ministering to Jesus. Her busyness is for him. She represents the 20% of Christians doing 80% of the work. She’s so active in ministry that focused attention on Jesus has been squeezed out.
Jesus isn’t contrasting the contemplative life with the active life. He’s rebuking a busy religious life that fails to commune with him. He’s drawing a contrast between two of his followers. Both Martha and Mary belong to him. Martha later confesses that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God (Jn. 11:27), but Jesus tells her that she needs to follow Mary’s example and get her priorities right.
The Priority of Pastoral Ministry
This passage if especially pertinent for pastors and those engaged in full-time Christian work. So many things are marketed to “busy pastors” because many pastors are consumed with serving. Many don’t make time to ponder and pray, to read and think, instead choosing ministerial busyness and pragmatic concerns over the more ancient way of prayer and study and meditation and contemplation. I agree with long-time presbyterian pastor Dale Davis, who says, “Ministerial busyness may fulfill our egos but it empties the soul.”[1]
The thing about pastoral ministry is that it’s never done. There’s a never-ending stream of needs and concerns and visits and calls and texts and emails and meetings that could be done. But the most important thing for me to do as your pastor is to sit at Jesus’ feet, listening to his word, being shaped by it so that I might bring it to you. Thank you for allowing me space to do that over the years, and please pray that I continue to give myself diligently to my most important work.
You Choose Your Priorities
Whether you’re a pastor or not, you choose your priorities. Whether or not we have time to spend at Jesus’ feet is totally up to us.
Martha was an amazing woman. She was hospitable and a hard worker. But her priorities were off. Only once in human history did God come to earth in human flesh, and Martha was too busy to spend time with him.
So Jesus gives her this gentle rebuke to remind her that everything she’s worried about will pass away, and only one thing will last. She should live for the things that don’t pass away!
Mary, on the other hand, had her priorities right. Every time we see her, she’s at the feet of Jesus. Martha wanted Mary to join her in the kitchen; Jesus wanted Martha to join Mary at his feet. Mary shouldn’t be deprived of the “meal” Jesus was giving her by helping Martha. “The good portion” shouldn’t be taken away from her by Martha or anyone else. Martha wants Mary to help her with the meal, but Jesus says she’s found the best meal. And Martha should come and eat too.
We’re so easily seduced away from the most important thing by all the practical things of life. But, Jesus says, the “one necessary thing” is to enjoy “the good portion” of the Lord. Or, as the psalmist says,
“Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from you shall perish…But for me it is good to be near God” (73:25-28).
[1]Dale Ralph Davis, Luke 1-13: The Year of the Lord’s Favor, Focus on the Bible (Fearn, Ross-shire, UK: Christian Focus, 2021), 192.