Luke 10:38-42 (NIV) 38As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. 40But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" 41"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, 42but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
We might easily imagine what must have been going on in Martha and Mary’s home the day of Jesus’ visit. Martha began the day by getting the house ready. Mary got herself ready. Martha began preparing the meal for Jesus. Mary began preparing herself for the visit. Martha was excited over the opportunity to be a gracious host. Mary was excited about the opportunity to visit with Jesus. Martha worried if things would get done. Mary wondered at the things Jesus said.
As the mealtime grew closer Martha’s efforts to please put her in a place of anger because Mary had not done anything to help her. She was caught between the guilt of saying no to all she was trying to do, and the anger for having said yes. That is not a happy place to be. What happens when Martha comes to Jesus with these feelings? She found someone sympathetic to her plight who offered words of warmth, not a cold rebuke or fiery rebuttal. But, what He does say to Martha is that what He needs most from her right then was her time and attention. In a gentle, caring way, Jesus asks Martha to give up her need to please for the one need of listening to Him, learning of Him, and being willing only to do what He asks of her, nothing less, and nothing more.
Jesus still asks those of us who are frayed and frantic to come to Him, to give up our need to Him, to receive from Him a daily list of people we can help and a daily menu of people who can help us. In the presence of Jesus we lose the need to please and are pleased to be and to do whatever Jesus asks. This is what Jesus was doing with Mary and what He wanted to do with Martha. He wanted to invest Himself in them, that they might invest themselves in others.
When we think back on the people we feel most indebted to and grateful for, are they not the ones who somehow were able to share themselves with us, whether by the hospitality of their home, or work done together, by time spent together? We need people whose own needs have been met well enough that they naturally invest themselves in the lives of others. Do we help others out of a need to please, or because we are pleased to help? Do we often have so many things going that we are really not doing justice to any of them? Let us bring our need to Christ, give up the need to please, and receive from Him the orders for our life.
From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope September 8, 1991
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