Today we'll be taking a look at an interesting event which took place in Bethany at the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus. So, let's get right into it, OK?
Luke 10:38-42 NRSV
“Now as they went on their way, [Jesus] entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what He was saying.
“But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to Him and asked, ‘Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’
“But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’”
The Bible say nothing about the family of Mary, Martha and Lazarus other than they were siblings and they had a home in Bethany which was about 2 miles outside of Jerusalem.
We don’t know about …
Their parents
How they provided for themselves
How far apart they were in age
We can assume that Martha was older since she is usually named first when the family is described which was a custom in the time of Christ.
We can also assume that Lazarus was quite a bit younger, otherwise as a male he would have been considered to be the head of the household in spite of being younger.
Now, the last two things that I mentioned are logical but they are not mentioned in the Scriptures therefore they could very well be in error. These are the sort of things we need to be careful of when we read books ABOUT the Bible. Certain aspects may be treated as facts when they are really conjecture.
Beware! Check everything against Scripture!
What DO we know for sure?
There is only one home recorded in the Bible where Jesus visits on three occasions and that is the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus.
How do we know that?
Luke 10:38
“Now as they went on their way, [Jesus] entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home.”
John 11:1, 5
“Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha … Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.”
John 12:1-2
“Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor.”
“There they gave a dinner for Him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with Him.”
So, let’s return to the account of this gathering at Martha’s home …
Luke 10:38-39
“Now as they went on their way, [Jesus] entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what He was saying.”
OK, so we see that Martha opened “her home” to Jesus.
So far all we know is that Jesus has been invited into Martha’s home and her sister Mary is sitting at Jesus’ feet listening to Him.
Now, here’s an amazing thing. I all three instances where Jesus is in Bethany at the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus, Mary ends up at one time or another Mary ends up at Jesus’ feet.
Luke 10 - Mary is listening to Jesus teach
John 11 - Mary falls at Jesus’ feet proclaiming, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
John 12 - Mary is anointing Jesus’ feet with a fortune’s worth of perfume and wiping His feet with her hair.
OK. So, Jesus has been invited into Martha’s home and Mary is sitting at Jesus’ feet listening to Him teach. What else is going on?
Luke 10:40 NRSV
“But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to [Jesus] and asked, ‘Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’”
When Martha invited Jesus and His disciples into her home it was with the full intentions of providing a meal.
From verse 40 we see that Martha did not have servants as verse 40 indicates that she is doing all of the work all by herself.
If Jesus was coming to your home for a dinner I am sure that you would want everything to be just right! Right?
I remember when Kevin and Jan Dunlop, our new DS and his wife, were coming to Arcade for a visit to the church and to stay with us.
I wanted everything to be just right! The lawn mowed (thank you, Vicki), the church to be clean (thank you, Heather) and anything that was in disrepair to be fixed. Of course, I wanted things to be in good order when Coach Bill was our DS as well but this was special as Kevin and I have been friends for over 45 years and he has a special place in my heart as a friend. So, I was in Martha Mode.
Karenlee is like that with the parsonage when someone comes to visit. She cleans where I can’t see anything dirty but she does it anyway. She always keeps the parsonage clean anyway and she has always felt a special pride in keeping a clean home.
She may have gotten some of this from her Mother because in the early years of her Mom and Dad’s marriage her Dad’s Mom would come to their home and literally conduct a “white glove” inspection. I mean with a real white glove checking on top of the refrigerator and the tops of book shelves and under the sink, etc. By they way, they both mellowed out as they aged and became close friends.
The same thing goes for myself when planning services, preparing PPT presentations and sermon prep. I often get into Martha Mode.
Martha Mode is a good mode. You can get a lot done when you are in Martha Mode but it can lead to loss as we will see in the next two verses …
Luke 10:41-42 NRSV
“But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’”
Worried and distracted …
Anxious and troubled …
Worried and upset …
Careful and troubled … (KJV - meaning of careful has changed to "cautious" not full of cares as it did then)
Worried and troubled …
Anxious and disquieted …
Have you ever been worried, distracted, anxious, troubled and disquieted over something?
Just think of the duties of putting on a dinner for Jesus and His disciples and your own brother and sister and who knows who else and think about doing it with what was available in Jesus’ time.
This was not an event planned weeks or even days in advance. Jesus and His disciples were just passing through Bethany.
She couldn’t run to the grocery store to pick up what she needed. She would have to make the bread from scratch. She would have to build the fire to heat the oven. She may have had to slaughter and clean the animals for the dinner if there was going to be meat. This was a huge undertaking.
They didn’t even have smoke detectors to let them know when the bread was finished baking!
Now, don’t think of Martha as a frivolous person when it comes to theology.
Just look at this exchange that takes place right before Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead.
John 11:23-27 NRSV
“Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha said to Him,
‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’
“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in Me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?’
“She said to Him, ’Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.’”
Martha made exactly the same confession of Christ as Peter did. Martha was no theological slacker when it came to understanding and professing who Jesus really was!
Martha was not a “bad” woman.
Many times the choice is between good and better or better and best.
Huge amounts of prep work was necessary for a dinner at the time of Christ
Martha - wants to do something special for Jesus - put on a great dinner
Mary - wants to learn from Jesus
Is it possible to be too good of a Christian when it comes to doing things in the kingdom of God?
Many pastors, not so much in smaller churches like Crossroads, but in larger churches where there are multiple people on staff, many pastors end up living in Martha Mode. This can very well lead to burn out and heavy levels of stress and neglect of the pastor’s own family and spiritual life.
When I selected this Scripture to preach on it was with the intention of taking a break from James because the teaching had been very serious. Especially the last portion as we took a look at the aspects of faith without deeds, deeds without faith and faith resulting in deeds.
When Jesus said to Martha in Luke 10:42b
“…Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”
Should that be taken as a directive from God that we should quit doing what we are doing and sit only at the feet of Jesus continually? Until we all die of starvation?
No. God intended us to be doing; to be working in the kingdom of God.
If the Lord was calling us to only sit at His feet there would be no need for the 4th commandment. Every day would be a Sabbath Day.
Was Mary excused from every helping serve a dinner again? No.
But she was taking full advantage of being with Jesus while He was there.
We all know what the check engine light means when it comes on in our car.
Ed says that it means, “Drive to the dealership and hand over $600.”
Sometimes when the check engine light comes on we just need to do something simple light tighten our gas cap or check our fluids.
When our spiritual check engine light comes on we may need to ask ourselves, “How much time have I been spending at the feet of Jesus?”
While it may be true that you’ve been roaring down the highway of life working for the kingdom of God you may have to pull over and check your connection with the God of the kingdom!
Just as we learned from our last look at the book of James relationship with God is the fountain, the source of all activities that bring a true harvest of souls for Jesus. The maintenance of the relationship with God is ultimately critical.
Just in the last month I read an article on Sermon Central that asked this question, “When was the last time you wasted time with God?”
Seems like a ridiculous question doesn’t it?
Because we instinctively know that time spent with God is never wasted.
But we can get wound up with life or with ministry so much that we don’t spend the time we need to nurture our relationship with Jesus.
Before we look at what a spiritual check engine light might mean it needs to be pointed out that if you are not saved, if you have not trusted your eternal soul to Jesus and committed your life to serving Him, your check engine light will not only be on but every alarm will be flashing, the horn will be blaring and your engine will actually be on fire and exploding. Your eternal soul will be rolling down a hill with no brakes toward the brink of an active volcano.
It doesn’t seem like that, does it? It seems like everything is just fine.
That is exactly what the devil wants you to think.
But the fact is that the only way to turn your spiritual life around is to be saved.
(Explain)
Now, for those who are saved here’s a good check engine indicator.
When it seems like spending time with Jesus is taking away from something else, no matter how good that other thing may be, it needs to be checked out.
Remember, what Martha was doing was not sinful but actually serving in love.
This is an area of our lives where there is no benchmark.
Only you and God can know of your relationship.
I don’t want you to think that actively serving in the kingdom of God is a bad or unnecessary activity. That is exactly how our love for God is demonstrated.
But, like Mary, there are times when we must stop and sit at the feet of Jesus.
It may be at home in private Bible reading and prayer.
It may be out walking or sitting in silence and letting God speak to you.
It may be coming to church to bring an offering of praise to the Lord.
Whenever God calls you to “sit at His feet” then that is the best choice even if you have to stop doing what is “good” for a time.
Conclusion and invitation if the Holy Spirit leads
Communion
