But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, and she came up and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to serve alone? So tell her to give me a hand.” The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.” [Luke 10:40-42 (CSB)]

Martha, the elder sister of Lazarus and Mary, was chided by Jesus when she complained about her sister not helping with dinner preparations. Her fault, however, was in her fretfulness and reproach more than the work she was doing. She had more than a dozen hungry men to feed but, wanting to be the proper hostess, Martha’s preparations probably were more elaborate than necessary. Could it be that she’d become more interested in impressing her dinner guest than knowing Him? “Worried and upset by many things” that night, she lost sight of Jesus. Praiseworthy service must never obscure our view of the Lord!

Hard-working Martha was a woman of action; seeing what needed to get done, she did it. It was Martha who, even in her grief at Lazarus’ death, left her house of mourning and ran to greet Jesus while Mary stayed home in her sorrow. It was Martha who spoke to Jesus about the possibility of another miracle and it was Martha who declared that He was the Messiah. Apparently, Martha hadn’t been so busy with those dinner preparations that she’d missed Jesus’ message. Without a doubt Martha, like Mary, was a woman of faith; she just demonstrated it in a different way.

While industrious Martha was the busy one, Mary was the quiet sister who sat at Jesus’ feet to learn. She was the one who fell at his feet in grief and knelt before Him to anoint His feet. Busy preparing a meal, Martha made the mistake of comparison and judgment—of thinking her work was superior to that of Mary. Later, when Mary extravagantly anointed Jesus’ feet with a year’s worth of wages in perfume, there is no record of complaint on Martha’s part even though she was serving again! After Jesus’ first rebuke, she had learned to respect the different ways of service.

Both Mary’s choice of quiet contemplation and Martha’s of service and hospitality were worthy activities. Nevertheless, when reading about these sisters, we often judge one against the other. Because Mary was the deep thinker, inner mystic, and prayer warrior, we often think of her as the more faithful of the sisters. But, if we were all Marys, not much would get done around our churches. If we only had people who sit quietly listening, praying, and meditating on God’s word, there would be no food at the pot lucks, no teachers for the children, and no one to drive the sick and elderly to church or medical appointments. Tables and chairs wouldn’t get set up, the food pantry would be bare, sidewalks wouldn’t get shoveled, grass wouldn’t get cut, the choir loft would be empty, and flowers would never get on the altar.

Martha, the doer, was the practical sister. When Jesus commanded that Lazarus’ tomb be opened, she reminded him that the corpse would smell. While, on this occasion, she needn’t have been concerned because a miracle was in the works, a certain amount of practicality is needed in even the most faithful. There are times we all need someone to tell us an idea stinks!

There are both Marys and Marthas in our churches; neither way of serving is superior to the other and both should be respected. We need both thinkers and doers, worshippers and servers, the pious and industrious, the dreamers and the practical. Those of us who are Marthas, however, might want to temper our practicality and busyness with a bit more faith and contemplation while those of us who are Marys might want to temper our spirituality with a little more helpfulness and service.

Whenever we find that our religious life is making us feel that we are good—above all, that we are better than someone else—I think we may be sure that we are being acted on, not by God, but by the devil. [C.S. Lewis]

Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different ministries, but the same Lord. And there are different activities, but the same God works all of them in each person. [1 Corinthians 12:4-6 (CSB)]

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