Are You A Mary Or A Martha? - SermonCentral.com

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Are You A Mary Or A Martha? Series

Contributed by Tom Shepard on Jul 23, 2013 (message contributor)

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Scripture: Luke 10:38-42

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Summary: This sermon looks at how we can become distracted from seeking Jesus.

Are You A Mary or A Martha?

38 Now as they were traveling along, He (Jesus) entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord's feet, listening to His word. 40 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." 41 But the Lord answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; 42 but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her." Luke 10:38-42 (NASB)

Are you a Mary or a Martha?

Trouble! This story of Mary and Martha always seems to always spell trouble doesn't it? Whenever I have preached on this passage of the Bible a number of people will say to me, “I think Martha was right. I mean you can't just ignore all those things that needed to be done - can you?” I have even heard a person say, “I don’t think Jesus was very fair to Martha - do you?”

From such feedback I conclude that there are many of us who have been left with all the "dirty" work. You know what I'm talking about don't you. You are out at the bar-b-que grill cooking 40 lbs of hamburgers. It's hot out there and the flies are buzzing around. Everyone else is off in the living room relaxing - watching the game and here you are stuck with all the work. You cry: "Jesus - come on now - give me some help won't you? Look at all the things that have to be done. Why don't you send someone in to help me out? Life just doesn't seem fair. Come on now - send me some help." The dirty work is never fun.

I can assure you that if you have trouble with this story - you are not first one. I mean - the dirty work has still got to be done. Martha was doing her best to provide all the guests and she should be commended for it. Even Jesus is there and he needs to be taken care of too. She is a very good worker bee and I am sure she wanted to make it a very special event for Jesus. She wanted to give him her best. But something negative happens in the story. Rather than being a "happy" occasion it turns into a bad occasion for Martha. It is found in verse forty. Let's look at it again:

But Martha was distracted with all her preparations. Luke 10:40a (NASB)

Can this be a case where Martha is so busy serving Jesus that she is not paying attention to Jesus? Her attention has been distracted off the one thing that is most important. Could we become so busy serving God that we are distracted and we just don't listen to Him?

Of course the food is important - people have to eat to survive don't they? The basic necessities of life must be taken care of. But what if food becomes our focus? What if food becomes our primary objective? You know Jesus said:

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. "For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Matthew 6:24-25 (NASB)

He also taught: "People cannot live by bread alone but by every word of God that proceeds from his mouth.." Matthew 4:4

Someone has said - It is better to go hungry than to go wrong.

I think our frenetic generation needs to hear this teaching. Often we place a value on ourselves based on how busy we are. We rush here and we rush there and when we meet others we talk about how much we have to do and how little time we have. We have a frantic life rather than a focused life. We are like Martha when Jesus said, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things."

Perhaps the best thing we could do is stop rushing and start resting in Jesus. Stop moving and start meditating. Perhaps we need to stop worrying about "so many things" and refocus on those things that are really important. You see it is very easy to get out of focus. There are several things that happens when we get our lives out of focus - at least they happened to Martha. Let me go down the list with you.

1. Loss Of Focus Causes Questioning God’s CARE

Look at verse forty again. Notice the first thing that Martha says to Jesus: "Lord, do You not care...."

There seems to be accusation in her voice. "Lord are you not paying attention to what is going on here? Lord don't you see all the work that I'm doing? Lord come on do something. Don't you care about me?"

Martha was angry at Jesus because He continued to let the situation go on and on and on. Notice that Martha addressed her irritation at Jesus - you have to admit that she is one gutsy woman. Martha is accusing Jesus of not caring for her, because she was sure that if Jesus really cared for her He would have done something about the situation.

I wonder if you have ever wondered if God cares for you? Have you ever accused Him of NOT caring for you? Have you ever questioned where God is when you are going through times of trouble? I know that I have. You know what I am talking about don't you? You know that God could fix the situation - yet He seems to sit in silence. Doesn't God care for me? Is He going to sit back and do nothing?

But the Bible teaches that God does care for you. It says:

"I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU," Hebrews 13:5b (NASB)

'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 (NASB)

"Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. "Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows. Luke 12:6-7 (NASB)

Folks here is a great truth: God always takes care of His children.

There may be times in your life when you want God to speak and He doesn't. Don't judge the silence of God as being unconcern for you. He knows what you are going through and He will always watch over you.

But Martha was worried more about the biscuits than she was about blessings. She was more concerned about her roast than she was about her relationship with Jesus. Loss of focus always confuses the issue. God always cares for you.

2. Loss Of Focus Causes Finding Fault With OTHERS

In second part of verse forty, Martha finally explodes with anger and she comes out of the kitchen boiling mad. She says: "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do all the work alone? Tell her to help me."

Martha doesn’t even call her sister by name. She is mad at the world and those who are close to her should know it. "How can Mary just leave me out here to fend for myself? Can't even my sister come and help me? Can't she see what is going on? Who does she think she is just sitting there doing nothing?"

Have you ever been around people that when they get mad - you don't want to anywhere in the neighborhood? The explosion may not kill you but the shrapnel will. There are people that when they get mad they are mad at the world. They take there frustration out on everything and everyone. Here is some wisdom from the Bible on anger:

This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. James 1:19-20 (NASB)

Do not associate with a man given to anger; Or go with a hot-tempered man, Or you will learn his ways And find a snare for yourself. Proverbs 22:24-25 (NASB)

Folks if you get angry all the time - pay attention to what you are focusing on. If your focus is on your situation rather than the Savior - perhaps you need to refocus.

3. Loss Of Focus Causes Resorting To SELF-PITY

Do you know what all this boils down to? Martha is feeling that life is not treating her fair. "It's just not right that I am being treated this way. No one should have to do all the work that I am doing by themselves. No one cares about me."

This becomes the world of self pity.

Look at verse 40 with me again:

But Martha was distracted with all her preparations. Luke 10:40a (NASB)

Go ahead and circle the work "distracted". The sense of the word translated “distracted” here means “to be pulled away” or to be “dragged away.” In other words - to be taken captive. To be made a prisoner against one's own free will. The implication is that Martha wanted to hear Jesus herself. She wanted to be seated at His feet too. She wanted to be seated next to Mary - but she was pulled away - taken captive - by her sense of “duty.” Fretting about the meal has robbed her of the joy of listening to the Lord.

We should of course, take our responsibilities seriously, but not to the point where we neglect listening to Jesus.