Amy C Walters

Martha and Mary | Luke 10:38-42

In the story of Mary and Martha, I relate most to Martha. I know what it’s like to be busy and try to get everything done! But this story teaches even Marthas like me that our service cannot be a substitute for our devotion. What Jesus really wants is our hearts.

I must confess that I am on Team Martha. I feel like she and I are kindred spirits. I’ve hosted a lot of things in my home, and I know the work that it takes to prepare a house for guests to come over.

So when I come to this story, honestly, I tend to get defensive. I want to tell Jesus, “This is just not realistic. You don’t understand what it takes to be ready for guests. Of course Martha needs help. It’s not fair for Mary to sit there. We all want to just sit and listen, but somebody has to do the work.” 

So if you’re like me and also on Team Martha and also experiencing a busy season of life, then take a step back with me, let down your defenses, and let’s just see what God’s Word has for us. Because Jesus has so much care and concern. He speaks not out of frustration and anger, but out of a desire for us to experience him, to get what we need in the way that we need it. 

Luke lets us know that Martha is “distracted with much serving.” The Greek word for distracted here tells us that she’s pulled in many different directions. And I don’t know about you, but for me, that’s when I get the most frustrated and lose my patience. 

For Martha, it leads her to frustration with both Jesus and Mary. Martha thinks that Jesus doesn’t care about her situation and she’s frustrated that Mary isn’t helping her. 

Jesus also says that Martha is “anxious and troubled about many things.” Her heart is not in a good place. It’s distracted, it’s divided, it is anxious, it’s frustrated. So Martha’s in a difficult place. 

Notice though, Jesus does not criticize her work. He does not say that her work was unimportant. The problem is the anxiety and frustration that come from her focus on the work. 

But the Martha in me asks, doesn’t this work need to be done? Someone has to do it!

What else is happening in this scene? What’s the main event? Jesus is teaching. I don’t know about you, but I’ve always pictured this as a time where people were just hanging out and waiting for the food to be prepared. So of course, if that’s the situation, then yeah, Martha is going to be running around getting things ready for that meal. Instead, Jesus is teaching. 

Going back to that word “distraction”–it tells us that Martha should be focused on something else and her mind is being pulled in those other directions. You don’t have distraction if you’re supposed to be working and you’re working.

You have distraction if you’re supposed to be listening and you’re working. That’s what’s going on here. This is a time of teaching, but Martha is using this time to work. She’s placing higher value on the things that she’s trying to get done, on her service, than she’s placing on Jesus’ teaching. And that is the problem there. 

Now, I’m sure that Martha means well. She wants to show Jesus how much she loves him. She’s trying to give him the best. But Martha doesn’t determine how Jesus receives love. Jesus determines how he is to be loved and worshiped. And what does he say?

“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, and it will not be taken away from her.” Martha, you’re trying to do all these things. You’re distracted with much serving. But I don’t want those many things. I want one thing: a listening heart.

Our service cannot be a substitute for our devotion. Our heart and what’s going on there must come first. 

What do we see about Martha’s heart in this instance? It’s distracted, anxious, troubled, angry at Jesus and at Mary. It’s not focused on her Lord.

The work is not necessarily a problem. There is a time and a place for work. But when Jesus is trying to teach her something, that is not the time. Work and worship are not mutually exclusive. What is mutually exclusive is listening and distraction. You cannot listen to Jesus if you are being pulled by other things. 

Listening and worrying also don’t go together either. Worry tells us, “Jesus can’t help you, you have to do it, you’ve got more to do, this is not gonna get done if you don’t go out and do it.” 

So Martha is missing what Jesus has for her at that moment. You can hear his heart in his rebuke. He agrees with her that there is a problem, but he disagrees on what that problem is.

What does Martha think the solution to the problem is? Tell Mary to get off her butt and help me. But Jesus says the problem is not the lack of help, it’s the lack of heart. Where’s your heart, Martha? Direct it heart toward me and trust that those other things are going to fall into place.

Our key truth for today is that Jesus doesn’t need our service. He wants our hearts. 

Service and worship do go hand in hand. But if our heart’s not in it–if it’s pulled in many directions, if it’s divided in its attention–then getting our heart focused on Jesus needs to be our priority. 

Martha was talking to Jesus, who had just multiplied fish and loaves to feed thousands. If Martha had chosen instead to sit and listen instead of making a meal, no big deal. Jesus could make it! If nothing else on Martha’s list got done other than listening, that still would have been the right decision. 

Jesus wants our hearts–that is the priority. But we so often make the same substitution that Martha makes. When our schedules get busy, when life gets full and there’s a lot going on, what is often the first thing to go? Our time with God. That’s what gets dropped in favor of all the other things that have to get done.

Can we trust that sitting at Jesus’ feet is best? Can we trust that is how we show our devotion to Jesus? It’s not by doing more things. It’s by prioritizing listening to him.