MARTHA AND MARY - "Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, 'Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.' But the Lord answered her, 'Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.'"
Every day of our lives we manage priorities. Whether personal or professional, we shift the bulk of our time, energy and resources toward what (we perceive) needs to be done rather than what we would like to get done. However, there are times when opportunity presents itself and we choose to cater to our wants at the expense of our needs. The challenge is that wants and needs become cloudy and difficult to discern in the moment, and we typically exhaust ourselves into that which nets little to no return on our investment rather than choosing wisely. The famous story of Mary and Martha encapsulates this premise. Both women made a choice based on self-perceived need, but Martha misunderstood Mary's choice as a selfish want rather than a selfless need. As a result, a root of bitterness developed in Martha's heart toward her sister. In contrast, Mary understood that the treasure of sitting at Jesus' feet and listening to His teachings far surpassed any administrative duty or cultural obligation which needed to be completed at that moment. There was no telling what limited amount of precious minutes they had to spend with Jesus in their home, but Martha was determined to ensure hospitality took precedence over all else. Thus when her expectations were not met, she complained without just cause and boldly accused Jesus of not even caring about her feelings. Granted, there was nothing wrong with Martha's desire to serve in that moment. But when she chose to judge her sister's decision, Jesus gently rebuked her for her lack of spiritual perspective.
The plight of Martha's decision echoes another famous story from Scripture. "And he (Jesus) told them a parable, saying, 'The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God'" (Luke 12:16–21). When we take time for granted, it is easy to see how far off track we can get. In the case of the rich man, he assumed he could relax and live off the bounty God blessed him with because life longevity was expected. In the case of Martha, she assumed there would be ample time to spend with Jesus, so she prioritized work over quality time with the Lord in her home. Again, neither decision in itself was necessarily sinful, but their choices had consequences when EXPECTATIONS and ASSUMPTIONS entered the equation. In the end, both missed out on incredible blessing because they focused more on what was temporary rather than eternal. The rich man could have shared the bounty of his wealth rather than hoarding it, and Martha could have set aside her bitterness toward Mary and joined her to listen to the Lord's teaching (or simply served joyfully). Sadly, both made the wrong choice in their respective decisions because spiritual perspective was not utilized.
It is difficult to discern what the right decision is at times because so many are important and carry grave consequences if we do not choose wisely. For example, a man may feel compelled to work late hours under the compulsion of job security, but is that truly the case? Is his decision grounded in a desire to move up the corporate ladder, or are the extra hours required to simply make ends meet and provide the bare essentials for his family? Those are 2 completely different motivations. Couple that decision with the need to spend quality time with the family. Is his absence at home negatively impacting his wife and children? For there is a distinct difference in perspective from a child whose father is absent in the home due to simply providing vs. a father who is consumed by money, power and status. While not ideal, a child can grow to understand and respect a parent who is working themselves to the bone to simply put food on the table and a roof overhead. However, many young adults have grown up with seeds of bitterness and dissension ingrained in their hearts toward parents who wanted them to "have it all" at the expense of quality time with them. Granted, there is nothing sinful about wanting to provide the best for our families, but we must take a step back and weigh the consequences of all our actions before choosing how we invest the time we have here on this earth to discern what is truly most important. "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ" (Colossians 3:23–24).
Martha's example should also convict us if we allow ourselves to dwell negatively upon our circumstances. Make no mistake, Martha filtered her attitude through a colander of self-perceived fairness and determined she was justified in her complaint to Jesus. She was focused on the superficial task at hand, but Jesus flipped the script on her by revealing how self-righteous her heart had become when she judged her sister and falsely accused Him as well. She had lost sight of the fact that "the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7b). Similarly, knowing how easily our hearts can be influenced when the scales of justice appear to be tipped against us should cause us to examine our faith, for there are countless opportunities to test this theory every day of our lives. "Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all" (Ecclesiastes 9:11). How we respond in the face of trial and adversity has always been God's primary method to help us gauge our spiritual maturity. It reveals to what depth we trust in God's provision and more importantly, His Word. Scripture reminds us, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" (James 1:2–4). Responding joyfully in trials might not be our first reaction, but learning to see our trials through the lens of God's perspective teaches us to shift our faith and trust on Him rather than our ourselves.
It is also easy to gloss over how easily we can relate to precisely what Jesus said to Martha. We live in a fast-paced, technologically-driven culture that demands our attention. There is no shortage of opportunities where we can invest our waking hours exhausting ourselves under the compulsion of accomplishment or distraction. But if we stop and take stock of how enthralled we have become in the "business of busyness," we will hear the echo of Jesus' words to Martha that we too are anxious and troubled about many things at the expense of what is necessary. As Christians, we would never want to be identified by God as hypocritical toward the faith we profess, but our lack of quality time with Him and His Word reveals how easily we have conformed to the pattern of busyness and futile thinking in our lives. "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men" (Matthew 15:8–9). Therefore, we must filter our thoughts and feelings through the absolute truth of God's Word because that is what is necessary to not only survive our tenure here on earth, but thrive in our efforts to live in freedom from anxiety as the Lord taught us. For the world teaches us to be agitated and worrisome in order to combat or self-medicate whatever fears we cater to in our flesh. However, Scripture exhorts us to walk in faith trusting the Lord's provision in every moment as a testament that we will not be distracted or enslaved by the things of this world. "Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble" (Matthew 6:31–34).
In the end, whether we personally relate/identify ourselves as a Mary or Martha is dependent more upon our big picture, spiritual perspective than our momentary blocking and tackling of unending tasks. It is probable that Martha was a devout woman of faith who strove to live for righteousness, but when push came to shove she made the wrong choice. Therefore, we should be both encouraged and convicted that God has given us a real-life example through Martha in order to guide and warn us to choose more wisely when we are faced with similar decisions. That is the beauty of Scripture to provide us such an example. "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Psalm 119:105). God loves us enough to repeatedly intervene in our lives in order to keep us from veering out of our driving lane (per say) and into oncoming traffic. Therefore, why would we not listen to His wisdom and more importantly, apply it unto righteousness? For if we confess Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, then we are no longer bound by our flesh but set free according to the power of His blood to choose wisely. "So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God" (Galatians 4:7). Keep in mind, Martha is not a poster-child of sin for us to avoid at all costs, but her testimony lives on as a warning and reminder of how easily we can become distracted by the things of this world at the expense of quality time with the Lord if we allow it. It was likely not her intention to vent frustration and bitterness toward her sister nor falsely accuse the Lord in that moment, but the fact remains that a seed of resentment took root in her heart despite her identity as a Godly woman and she reacted sinfully. Therefore, we are wise to discern those moments in our lives where we have emulated Martha's behavior in order to guard our hearts from falling victim once again to the same plight. "For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned" (Romans 12:3).
