The text this morning is from the Gospel according to Luke, the 10th chapter:
Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
Coming hot off the heels of the parable of the Good Samaritan, where Jesus tells the lawyer to go and serve even the most unlovable of your neighbors, Luke brings us to the home of Mary and Martha. Luke organizes things in his Gospel by logical progression, so this tale of Mary and Martha is directly related to the Good Samaritan, so that’s what we’re going to look at today.
The parable of the Good Samaritan reminds us that loving and serving our neighbor are actions, they are outward ways of expressing the love that God Himself has shown us. You can love someone in your head or in your heart, but if it isn’t expressed through your mouth or your hands, would they ever know? And even our outward expressions must be consistent with each other if our neighbor is going to know of your love and service. If you told your wife you loved her, but struck her face as you said it, would she know you love her? If you helped the old lady next door mow her lawn, but burned down her house, would that be love? If you work hard to provide for your family, but always ignore them, will they know of your love?
The outward expressions must be consistent with each other and our inner processes. Otherwise, we come across as contradictory, as confusing. So, when Jesus tells the lawyer to go serve his neighbor, even if it’s a Samaritan, Jesus isn’t just saying to physically love them, but even to change his heart towards the one who is need. You cannot love someone you cannot stand. You cannot love someone you despise. You cannot love someone with hatred in your heart toward them. You must change your heart, even if they never change theirs, to love them. Jesus tells the lawyer to go and love and serve, and this will be obedience to the Law of God.
But then we get to Bethany, as we find out in the Gospel according to Matthew, to the home of Mary and Martha. What is Luke going to show us? How does this relate to the meaning of the parable of the Good Samaritan? Well, you’ve got Martha, this extraordinary woman who was cooking and cleaning all for Jesus. She is demonstrating her love for this man and what He teaches and who He is by all that she’s doing. She makes herself so busy in order that He might have a good meal, a comfortable house to stay in, a soft bed, a warm pillow, water to drink, water with which to wash. Martha is the preeminent servant, and her outward example we should all follow.
And then we have Mary. Mary. Mary, who chooses to ignore all the work. Mary, who doesn’t see how her sister is slaving away. Mary, who isn’t cooking. Mary, who isn’t cleaning. Mary, who isn’t serving. What’s lazy Mary doing? Sitting down on the floor, listening to Jesus. In the culture of this time, when a guest came into your home, small talk wasn’t really all that necessary, so far as we can tell, but providing for them was. Mary wasn’t doing that. Compared to Martha, she was taking a vacation.
So, Martha, incensed by the lack of service that Mary is providing, and by Mary leaving it all to her, went to Jesus to have Him tell Mary to get to work. Get to work, go and do likewise, go love and serve.
And Jesus turns the whole thing around. Martha should be praised, not Mary, at least if we were going to ask which of the sisters was demonstrating love. But Jesus turns it around by saying that Martha has it wrong. Mary has chosen the good portion, Martha had chosen the portion that made her anxious and troubled.
This is not to say that housework is a bad thing. It is good. It is a great way that we love and serve our neighbors day in and day out. A clean house is a good house. A good meal is a blessing. Knowing that you’ve made someone’s life a little cleaner, a little easier, a little better, a little taster, it’s a wonderful thing. But it is a lot of work. It takes hours out of your week if you cook and clean. It makes you anxious when you don’t have dinner ready on time before the kids have to get in the bath. It troubles you to see that layer of dirt and dust you’ve missed for the last 10 weeks, and you have guests over and you’re so afraid they’ll notice. Now, again, I’m not saying these things are bad in themselves, but the Son of God just walked into your home. Do you think He’s going to ask you about the dust or do you think He’s going to something greater?
So it was for Mary. Like a sunflower following after the sun in the sky, when Jesus entered her home, Mary turned her face toward the Son of God. She could not turn away from Him; her outward expression of love, which was simply to learn what He taught, matched her inward expression of love, which was worship, honor, and blessing. Where He led, she would follow. Where He sat, she sat at His feet. Where He taught, she learned. It is true that there was much to do in the home, but Mary would only have her Lord with her for a little while. She could only sit as His feet for a little while before He was crucified. She chose the good portion, the one which will satisfy her beyond this day’s troubles.
We expect Jesus to commend Martha for all the good that she is doing. And He doesn’t condemn her, not really. In fact, the double use of her name, Martha, Martha, points out the deep compassion, even the thanks He has for Martha. He loves her; He loves what she’s doing for Him, for her sister, even for herself. He just points out that one thing is needful, and Mary has chosen it.
And what is that one thing? What is that good part? That Mary was not distracted by the many things, but focused on the most important. In all that house, in the furnishings, in the food, in the kitchen, in the bedroom, in the cookware, it’s easy to have your eyes drawn away from one thing and to try to balance it all. But Mary had her eyes drawn to her Savior, and there she chose to dwell.
When we become distracted in our service, when we’re troubled and anxious over life, our eyes are tempted away from focusing on Jesus and become flitting little hummingbirds, always seeking out more and more nectar to live, but ignoring the source. We can get so anxious about what is going on all around us that, though we began by serving out of love, our hearts turn sour within us. We begin to despise the neighbor we serve, and even those we suppose should help more. Our outward actions and inner motivations become conflicted and there is no love.
Instead, our eyes should be focused on the Christ, our God and Lord, who has come to this earth to save you. Have you ever tried to mow a lawn in a straight line? I don’t mean following the mark from another spot, but, like, if you took a mower down the middle of the lawn, could you make a straight line? Let me ask, what would serve you better: looking straight down at the grass to watch each and every blade of grass as it falls under the wheel, or looking ahead, down the yard, at a pre-fixed point that you aim for? If you’ve ever tried this, you know it’s the latter. When you’re looking down, you get distracted and you end off-course. Your straight line looks more like the path a toddler lays out in a candy store. But when your eyes are focused on your goal, that line is as straight as you can make it.
When your eyes are focused on Jesus, when you’re focused on learning from Him, receiving what He has to give you, you always end up at the cross. When you become distracted, you start to make a path that looks like a cardiogram and you miss the goal. It’s not that you’re not trying; it’s that your focus isn’t in the right place. You have been called, you have been justified. You have the Holy Spirit living inside of you by faith. You know where your focus should be.
We should be like Mary in her devotion. When Jesus enters the room, all our attention should be there. When we come to the place He has promised to be, by Word and Sacrament, that’s where we should be focused. Jesus has promised to come into the midst of us, and He does, and we turn our eyes off Him and onto our thoughts, our desires, our perceived needs. Our inward motivation doesn’t match our outward actions. It makes it hard for us to be authentic people.
But, by faith, even this is forgiven. The death of Christ covers over even our troubles and anxiety. The death of Jesus covers over even our lack of piety and reverence. The death of Jesus covers over our lack of interest, our desire for worldly things, our ill-intentions for people. This is not to say any of this is alright or acceptable to God, but, when we are drawn by faith to repent of these sins, our Lord forgives them.
And, beyond that, there are still those moments, those God-given moments, where our attention and focus is drawn exclusively to Christ. We have to be thankful for these things, because, outside of faith, we wouldn’t desire them. But, by faith, they come to us, when we heard Him forgive our sins, when we hear Him teach from His Holy Word, when we see Him in the bread and the wine, when we hear Him bless us. In these moments, we become the sunflower. We become a still hummingbird. We look at the Jesus who gave up all things to focus on one thing: the redemption of you.
Everything He has done, He has done for you. He has always loved you, and He has always served you. His motivation and His actions always line up. And in Him, we find all the authenticity we need. He is always faithful, He is always loving, He is always serving. He has done it through His life, through His death, through His resurrection, and He does it still today. All He does is serve you, day in and day out, and He will serve you for eternity, for that is who He is, the One who loves you no matter what, the One who serves you no matter what, the One who set His eyes on His goal, the cross, no matter what. He has done it for you, to redeem you when you cannot be like Him. He has set you free from your sins and given you a promise: that, even though you die, yet, in Him, shall you live, and He shall serve you for eternity in that life which is to come. That shall never be taken from you. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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