Sunday, June 10, 2012
Martha, Martha
f you have ever read the account of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42, like me, you may have thought that Jesus was a bit hard on Martha. After all, she was serving HIM and the least He could've done was rally some help for her from Mary, right? I could definitely identify with Martha; we ALL have a to do list that never seems to go away. Once one task is complete, it seems like two show up in its place. And when that happens, we tend to pull on family and loved ones to bail us out. But I now believe that Martha's busyness was only a symptom of a deeper issue. What Jesus was really concerned about was her relationship status--with Him and with her sister, Mary.
From this account, we can identify the following:
1. Martha invited Jesus into her house; she initiated the invitation. No one forced or coerced her to do so. Mary's position was already established--at Jesus' feet.
2. Martha was overly occupied with MUCH SERVING! She was serving Christ Himself and yet the Bible says that she was too busy!! Some may say that there's no such thing as "over serving" in the body of Christ, but this statement isn't Biblical, especially when that service is coming from the wrong place.
3. Martha recognizes that she has taken on too great a task and feeling overwhelmed, she goes to Jesus and asks Him to confront her sister and run interference between them. Yet, the text never states that she went directly to Mary directly! Martha, who once again brought this on herself, now claims the victim role to Jesus and makes her sister, Mary, the villain. To her surprise, Jesus doesn't say "Mary, Mary" but instead addresses her saying, "Martha, Martha, YOU...".
I'm sure that the behavior Martha displayed here was a pattern and characteristic in her life. She was probably always taking on too much, then shifting the blame onto others when she became overwhelmed. She made her lack of planning everyone else’s emergency. Her sister, Mary, had probably come to her rescue time and again and finally said enough is enough! If Mary would’ve gotten involved, she too would have missed Jesus! Sadly, Martha had served to the neglect of her own spiritual health. Imagine, Martha was one of the few humans alive during Christ's short ministry on the earth; she had the opportunity to hear God with skin, and yet she missed out because of busyness. It is also worth noting something extremely important--JESUS NEVER STOPPED HER! He let Martha's free will run its course and when she did come to Him, He helped her by identifying the true issue. Martha didn't appropriate her boundaries and make time or room next to her sister at Jesus' feet. And like the carnal nature displayed in the Garden of Eden, she blamed the one who was closest to her instead of looking at herself. When we don’t take full responsibility for ourselves, we bleed our issues onto our God given family.
Even in our desire to serve God and share Christ with others through Christian service, God treats us like the adults that we are and expects us to know when to say when. We must monitor our own limits or we will fall victim to spiritual apathy, rifts in brotherly and sisterly relationships, and just plain missing out on Jesus. When we grow up in the things of God, we become responsible citizens of His kingdom who deal well in our Christian family relationships.
Scripture of the Day: "Now while they were on their way, it occurred that Jesus entered a certain village, and a woman named Martha received and welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister named Mary, who seated herself at the Lord’s feet and was listening to His teaching." - Luke 10:38 (AMP)
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