Don’t Just do Something Today, Sit There

By Pastor Bill

(Luke 10:38-42)

Jesus didn’t have a case of FOMO, the “fear of missing out,” usually associated with social media. And that wasn’t because he was protected from overexposure to Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. He was perfectly comfortable in his own skin and valued his alone time. Once, some would-be disciples came to him asking about the fringe benefits of discipleship. And he told them that foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no permanent place to lay his head (Luke 9:58). Seemingly, there were times when Jesus slept solo out in the fields wrapped in the starry sky as a blanket resting on a stone for a pillow. But on other occasions he enjoyed the warmth of good sociable hospitality, and probably no more so than when he dropped into Bethany to see his cherished friends Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. Jesus loved them dearly (John 11:3, 5, 36). For someone who never owned his own home Jesus was at home among people.

So, when passing through with his disciples, Martha welcomed them into her home for dinner. And what an Olympic challenge! Preparing a full meal for 13 unannounced, hungry, drop-in men must have required a minor miracle. But for all her zeal to be the perfect hostess, her so-called miracle was fizzling out. Maybe her stove was throwing more smoke than heat and she grew afraid that the result would smell more like a burnt offering than a dinner. Exasperated, and with no help from her sister, she glances into the living room to see Mary sitting at Jesus’ feet! Then her inner volcano explodes. Feeling as burned up as the meal, Martha storms into the room and erupts: “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do all the work alone? It’s unfair. Tell her to help me!” But there’s no rushing to Martha’s defence; instead, like a mother calming an upset child, Jesus says, “Martha, Martha, you’re worried and troubled by many things but only one thing is needed. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken from her.”

Sharing this story with my granddaughter once reminded that you don’t have to be in Grade 2 to understand who comes out on top. But for me, drawing a sharp contrast between “bad choice Martha” and “good choice Mary” creates an internal arm wrestle between my head and my heart. Maybe you too feel a secret sympathy for Martha. She has that admirable quality, that “don’t just sit there do something” attitude that translates into a roll-up-the-sleeves practicality.

But Jesus is not actually faulting Martha for her practical service because in Luke’s previous story, also on the theme of discipleship, he tells the parable of the Good Samaritan (10:25-37). And that account clearly teaches that a disciple’s outgrowth of love for God is an active response of need-meeting love towards fellow humans, which is the very definition of neighbourliness. The Good Samaritan served up a cup of mercy to a person half-dead. In the same spirit of love, Good Martha served up hospitality to hungry travelers.

Nevertheless, Martha had a leaky love cup and the cracks started to form when she was under pressure. Sometimes when we busily serve the Lord, we get frustrated or disturbed just before a sideways glance takes us down. We turn to compare ourselves to others in our families, in church, in our neighbourhood, or on social media. And because of rivalries, petty jealousies, selfish ambition, or defeatism, even self-pity that can devolve into a victim mentality, we end up blaming others and even the Lord for neglectful unconcern, if not favouritism. And what happens? The joy of our service drains out the bottom of our cup.

Maybe Martha was one of those people whose motto was “if a thing’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.” Growing up as a kid I was trained in that motto myself for which I’m thankful. But sometimes, especially when we’re stretched and overextended, a thing that’s worth doing may be worth doing simply. A soup and a sandwich will suffice. Wouldn’t you rather have a simple meal with enjoyable fellowship than a five-course meal with unsavory tension in the air? The Good Samaritan didn’t start the Jericho Road Missionary Society; instead, he did what he could and got involved meeting the immediate needs of a fellow human. But how do we know when to exercise the spiritual discipline of simplicity? The lesson of Martha gives us a clue. When we’re driven to distraction and become anxious or irritable and hard to get along with, it may be time to uncomplicate things and unscramble ourselves before God. Why tarnish good service with a bad spirit? Why spoil the menu for everyone with the gristle of grumbling and curdled complaint? If things are worth doing, they may be worth doing simply.

After Martha said her piece, Jesus offered her a pathway to peace. In Luke’s account, the silent witness of Mary leaves us with two more important lessons. The secondary lesson reminds us that the dawning of the kingdom of God was barrier breaking. Mary was sitting for instruction at Jesus’ feet! Luke also tells us that the Apostle Paul sat at the feet of Professor Gamaliel I (Acts 22:3). Those who’ve done the heavy lifting of researching gender roles in the Roman Empire during Mary’s cultural moment tell us that it was not only ill-mannered for her to sit among men in such a setting, but her posture and eagerness to be tutored by a rabbi at the expense of a more traditional role would have shocked most Jewish men. The nerve! But with the coming of Jesus, the messianic King, the transforming and dignifying love of God challenged many stereotypes and redrew many traditional borders with kingdom norms for kingdom disciples. Just as Luke used the Good Samaritan story to display the wideness of God’s grace across ethnic lines (despite the Samaritan-Jewish divide), so Mary is meant to display God’s grace along gender lines (despite the harsh patriarchalism of the day). In socially unacceptable ways, Jesus made time for women and treated them equally as image-bearers of God. He loved them and affirmed them with great care and respect in their personhood and their spiritual access to him and his word while seeking their responsive love of heart, soul, strength, and mind.

Service of the hand cannot supersede service with the ear, since the ear guides the heart and the hand (Darrell Bock).

The never-ending demands of life, along with its worries and overstimulation should never prevent us from sitting at Jesus’ feet like Mary did. She was a sponge for the word of God. Are you?

Mary chose the good part because that’s what Jesus wanted when he came to their home that day. Being with Jesus must always take precedent over doing for Jesus. Love for fellow humans on its own, whether toddlers in the home, next door neighbours, or missionaries on the field will threaten to burn out, but when it’s fueled by love for the Lord it has staying power. The Lord’s word sustains us. There is no more important meal.

So, will you be distracted by the work-to-be-done, like Martha, or will you be centered on the Lord-to-be-loved, like Mary? Not that contemplative spirituality throws shade on spiritual acts-of-service, but first things first. The primary discipleship lesson from Luke 10:38-42 is this: Don’t just do something today, sit there – at the feet of Jesus.

Bill

HT: Darrell Bock, Luke 9:51-24:53: Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, vol. 2, ed. Moisés Silva (MI: Baker Books, 1994): 1037.