“Have A More Mary Christmas”
Luke 10:38-42
1Co 7:35 And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.
In the holiday season our problem in America is we have too much. Too much shopping to do, too many people to buy gifts for, and too many groups of people to share holiday get-togethers with. We end up spreading ourselves too thin and getting stressed out over all we must get done in such a short amount of time. In the holiday season we need to be careful not to get so busy that we leave God out. From duties to deadlines, desserts to make and dishes to clean, all could easily eclipse the time we have set aside to give thanks and praise God for the birth of our Savior. We’re in such a hurry at Christmas time that we write x-mas and leave Christ out of his own birthday celebration.
1.) Mary’s Approach Of Jesus
Each time we see Mary, we see her at the feet of Jesus.
A.) She Shares Her WOES John 11:32 Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
When was the last time you went to your knees to pray? Mary was filled with great grief, and turned to the only source to remove that grief. Who or what do we turn to in our grief? We are to be “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” (1 Peter 5:7).
While many may have great thoughts this time of year, this is the time of year that most suicides, DUIs, Spousal Abuse occur. These things happen because some don’t take it to the Lord. They have no support for there sorrows. Holidays have become their hollow days.
B.) She Spends Her WORSHIP John 12:3 Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair:
When was the last time worship was costly to you? David put it this way, “neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing.” (2 Samuel 24:24). For most of us, church has become habitual, and not really costly to us. We have adapted a routine for our worship that is resting in a comfort zone. Even in our giving, measuring out an exact ten percent has become ho-hum and hum-drum. What about a gift for Jesus this Christmas? Above that tithe? You might find out something a member might need within the Membership from the Pastor, or what the church might need. This is your first duty. (Gal 6:10) Then, to those who are outside the house of faith. The Bible says, “Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” (Matthew 25:40) It would be a gift to Jesus.
C.) She Soaks In His WORDS Luke 10:39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.
Here we see Mary just listening. How important it is to just listen. The Lord speaks to us in a “still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12), and through the Bible. This holiday season the noise of the world’s commercial Christmas can be deafening. It takes work to tune it out and to hear the Lord this time of year. The best way to know if you listening to Him is like when we are trying to listen to others. That is, are you trying to get closer to them to hear better. The Lord is trying to get us back to the relationship he had with us in the Garden. He’s taken great strides to seeing that accomplished, what have we done?
2.) Martha’s Approach Of Jesus
Before we attack Martha’s approach of Jesus, we need to see that each time we see Martha, we see her working. If you wanted something done, you went to Martha. At the death of Martha’s brother, Mary was paralized with grief over losing their brother, Martha went and sought out Jesus herself. Being a great worker is vitally important in our service to God, yet it is to be balanced with our worship.
She Sends Out A WELCOME (V38)
“…and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.”
The intentions of Martha started out very honorable. She had all intention to honor Jesus in her house. Martha was probably one like her sister who was at the feet of Jesus times before (v39). Like many of us this Christmas time with nativity scenes, angels on the tree, and carols that we sing our intentions are very honorable. This is a breathe of fresh air to Jesus who had no place to lay his head. This was refreshing to enter a house of loved ones who already held him as Lord of their life.
She Stresses Out About Her WORK (V40a)
“But Martha was cumbered about much serving”
Can’t you see Martha stomping around her house banging the dishes and pounding her fist in the dough, and frowning every time she walked by Mary just sitting there at the feet of Jesus? The service trap happens to all of us. How do I know? You ask a person about themselves, and the immediatley tell you what they do. I think we all do that. Why do we do this? It’s because we attach our worth to our work. This is not how God sees us. Our worth is attached to Jesus.
Martha started working as a way to show Jesus that she was sincere about her love for Him. That is not how it ended up. You may have started this Christmas season with great intentions, but if you have fallen into the service trap like many others, There’s a way out, it’s coming back under the feet of Jesus.
She Scolds Them With Her WRATH (v40b)
“Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone?” bid her therefore that she help me.
Being Too Busy can lead to being Too Bossy. The one she was to be honoring in adoration was the one she was now ordering in anger. This was a double edged sword she wielded out in anger that day. One side accuses Jesus for a lack of concern, the other cuts Mary, accusing her of Laziness. She was so angry that she doesn’t even address Mary by name. Now that’s being ticked off.
This is the same thing that happened with two other siblings. The first two brothers of the Bible. I’m sure that it took a lot of work for Cain to raise those crops. Yet, he looked in anger at his Brother and saw that His brother was closer to the Lord without raising any crops at all. I can see how someone who wasn’t right with the Lord would get angry and fall into the service trap. The Lord doesn’t honor all that we do, only the things he commands and what honors Him.
3.) Master’s Approach To Martha
He Speaks To Her In WARMTH (v41a)
“Martha, Martha”
The Lord had every right here to get angry at Martha for lashing out at Him, yet we see his nature of compassion. We this quality that endeers our heart to our Lord. Everytime you see the Lord mentioning someones name twice like this, we see his love for them and His great ability to overlook their setbacks to accept them. He did this with Jerusalem (Luke 13:34), Peter (Luke 22:31), and even later with the Apostle Paul (Acts 9:4). To recaptre this special time of year realize the Lord is calling out your name in an indearing tone.
He Shares How She Is WRONG (v41b)
“thou art careful and troubled about many things”
Interesting that Jesus this word careful. The greek word is “Marimnao”. This is the word we get Marionette from. This is the puppet being pulled by many strings. Do you know how it is to be pulled be many strings? Spreading yourself too thin? Seems to be as much a tradition this time of year as Egg Nog.
Our priorities have a lot to do with us being attached to too many things that don’t matter the Bible says, “let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us,” (Hebrews 12:1). Do you have some Christmas fluff to cut out of your Christmas flurry? Establish your priorities by who is closest to you. The Lord, family, church, friends, etc… If something gets in the way of the top ones eliminate it. Martha should have not thought so highly of the food, but her fellowship.
A.) He States To Her True WISDOM (v42)
But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
Talking about priorites, we must separate the wants from the needs. The Lord said that only one thing was needful. That is what is so refreshing about the Lord. He narrows things down to the nitty-gritty. Keep it simple. This holiday season what are the memories that will last forever? All the work you did cooking, cleaning, buying, and wrapping, or the love that is shared in the fellowship of friends and loved ones?
One day, Martha will not have the strength to create such commotion in the kitchen. But Mary will always get to worship Jesus. Another way to help set your priorites is put things in the catagories of temporal and eternal. Temporal are the here and now things with deadlines. Eternal are the things which start now and endure even after death. I have never read about kitchens being in heaven, but being at the feet of Jesus fills every thought of our eternity in heaven.
In Conclusion: The moral of this time with Mary in Martha is not that Mary is right and Martha is wrong. In fact, Mary would be wrong to not get up and start to work for the Lord. I believe that we many times have wrongly contrasted Martha and Mary, as though each Christian should make a choice to either be a worker like Martha or a worshipper like Mary. But in so doing I think we miss the point, the Lord wants each of us to imitate Mary in our worship and Martha in our work, and to achieve balance in both. This Balance is achieved in seeing that we set our priorites. The three classificaitons of priorites for our life. 1.) what’s most important, 2.) wants and needs, and 3.) temporal verses eternal. This is how we are able to “attend upon the Lord without distraction.”
This is how we will have a more “Mary” Christmas.
