Confessions of a Martha

Confessions of a Martha

September 6, 2012

 

In the Bible, a scene is described of two sisters entertaining company. One sister is in the kitchen, bustling around and working frantically to get everything done so her guests can enjoy their meal. The other sister is lazing around in the living room, hanging on every word the guest of honor is saying. The sister who is working like crazy gets frustrated that her sister has left her to do all the work. It’s not fair! Can you guess which sister I relate to?

                Of course, there is a lot more to the story of Mary and Martha than I described. The guest is none other than Jesus, and as He did quite a bit, He is teaching and instructing the others there on the ways of God. Admittedly that is more important than setting the table. But still. I have always struggled with the story of Mary and Martha. Not the beginning – I agree with Martha. But once Martha gets fed up, she goes and tells Jesus that Mary’s lazing around and would He please tell Mary to get off her booty and help Martha. (I’m still with Martha on this, though it seems bad form to put your guest in that position.) But Jesus rebukes Martha, and tells her that Mary has chosen the one thing that is important and right. See, right there. That’s the part that gets me! Jesus said WHAT? But Martha was doing everything right, being a good hostess, taking care of everything and everyone. Mary was doing diddly squat and not helping one iota. And Martha gets yelled at? Where is the justice?

                That right there has been my take on that story for quite some time. I am obviously a “Martha” – I cannot sit still if something needs to be done, I cannot ignore the things that need doing, I want everyone to be fed and happy, and have a nice clean environment to hang out. Of course, the end result is I don’t get to visit until everything is done, but that’s part of being the hostess – the guest is important, you are not. But all these years, I have been missing Jesus’s message. He is not telling us to be lazy, nor is He saying ignore the tasks at hand. He is saying don’t get caught up in all the stuff you have to do and miss Him. He was sitting in their living room, very accessible, and Martha was so busy taking care of the things that needed to be done, she missed an opportunity to simply be with Jesus.

                How many times have I missed an opportunity to bask in Jesus’ presence because of my to-do list? How many times have the dishes stared at me across the house and distracted me from being with Jesus? More that I care to admit. Don’t get me wrong – I still do the dishes, and I still mark items off my to-do list with satisfaction. But I need to try harder to chat with Jesus and notice Him around me instead of ignoring Him to take care of stuff. Stuff is temporary. Jesus is forever. Don’t ignore the forever.

 

Coming Up Later: Martha, Martha, Martha – Mary’s side of the story