Through the study of the story of Martha and Mary in Luke 10, Grant Partrick teaches how even good-natured distractions have the power to keep us from the one thing that matters—devotion to Christ.
Key Takeaway
We don't want to live so busy that we end up missing the one thing that matters most—Jesus.
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.
Luke 10:38-39 ESV
Mary is sitting at the Lord’s feet and listening to him teach. Being at the feet of Jesus was a familiar position for her. While Mary was sitting, Martha was serving.
Jesus was a big deal, and Martha was pulling out all the stops. She was giving Him her best.
Her serving Jesus well was not the problem; serving is a mark of the Christianity life. It’s a gift of the Spirit. Not only that it’s the model that Christ set for us to follow. Mark 10:45 says, “Even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.”
The issue was that Martha was distracted with much serving.
Distracted - to be pulled apart, torn in two different directions from the inside out, or to have two competing and conflicting desires.
She was cumbered or weighed and burdened by her service to the Lord.
Do you know what that's like? Maybe you feel burdened by working for the Lord.
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.”
Luke 10:40 ESV
So, as a response to her weariness and agitation for her sister not helping, Martha storms into the room and asks Jesus if he cares.
This is the same language used in Mark 4—when the disciples are on the boat in the storm and wonder why Jesus doesn't seem to care.
When we don't understand what God's doing or we don't like what He's doing, we assume He doesn't care either.
Have you been in that place before?
He isn't doing what you want Him to do in your time and you wonder if God is even concerned?
The reality is, He loves you too much to do things your way.
But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things,
Luke 10:41-41 ESV
Jesus repeats her name. God repeats someone’s name about 15 times. Only five or six in the New Testament.
In Genesis 46, when God spoke to Jacob through a vision, He said, "Jacob, Jacob."
In Exodus 3, when God calls out to Moses from the burning bush, He said, "Moses, Moses."
In 1 Samuel 3 God called Samuel in the night, saying, "Samuel, Samuel."
Where names are repeated in Scripture from God, it indicates intimacy, relationship, and concern. Jesus was not so much angry at Martha as he was concerned for her.
He knows she is anxious and troubled about many things. So, tenderly, graciously, and with a heart full of compassion and concern, God corrects Martha.
For the person who is absolutely exhausted, God is calling your name gently with the same heart.
but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
Luke 10:42 ESV
He tells Martha she's missing it—the one thing that matters (Himself)—because she's anxious from troubles.
Here are a few takeaways from this text:
1. Good things can keep you from the best thing.
While Martha was preparing a feast for God, Mary was feasting on God’s Words.
E.M. Bounds said, “One of Satan’s wiliest tricks is to destroy the best by the good."
Humans have a propensity to miss the main thing because they're distracted by many other things. Distraction is the great enemy of devotion.
Where the enemy can't destroy the plans of God for our lives, the next best thing he can do is try to distract us from them.
We are a distracted generation.
What was the distraction for Martha? Much serving.
While doing this service for Jesus, she missed the most important thing—being with Jesus.
Charles Spurgeon said it this way, “We must never let working swamp the believing, never let the servant be more prominent than the son. You lose your strength as a worker if you forget your dependence as a believer.”
Working for Jesus is meaningless if you don't understand the opportunity that where you work for Jesus, you work with Jesus.
There is a difference in giving the Lord your time, and giving the LORD your attention; spiritual activity doesn’t necessarily equal genuine devotion.
Jesus didn’t correct Martha for serving. She corrected Martha for being distracted and missing Him.
2. Busyness is not the goal of the Christian life
Busyness and faithfulness are not the same thing.
Busyness has become a status symbol.
When you ask someone how they are doing. Everyone used to say, "Good." Now what do they say? "Busy." Why? Because "busy" now means what "good" used to mean. We have to be careful here.
Some of us are suffocating spiritually because we cannot say no to anything. When we feel busy, we feel important. We like when people need us for stuff.
It’s easier to fill our calendars than it is to feed our souls.
In 1942, C.S. Lewis in his masterful work, “The Screwtape Letters” describes the enemy's plot to distract us by saying, "We will make the whole universe a noise in the end. We have already made great strides in this direction as regards the Earth. The melodies and silences of Heaven will be shouted down in the end. But I admit we are not yet loud enough, or anything like it."
83 years ago, C.S. Lewis wrote that the world will be so loud that no one will be able to hear from heaven.
The enemy is stealing from you in broad daylight.
Don't serve like Martha until you have first sat like Mary. If you strive before you sit, your work will be exhaustive and empty.
3. There is a massive difference between Jesus being one of the things and Jesus being the ONE thing.
He will not nicely fit in one aspect of your life or be contained to one day of your week. He is not to be one of the things, He is to be the ONE thing.
The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”
Isaiah 40:8
Everything Martha made that day will pass away, but everything Jesus spoke that day will last forever.
Mary made a decision to value most what would last the longest.
If you are empty and exhausted, there is an invitation for Jesus to come in.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30
If you are empty and exhausted today, gently hear the voice of God whose heart is filled with grace, compassion, and concern for you.
Martha, Martha.
You're missing it. You're so busy. He is right here, and He wants to meet with you.
He doesn't need you to prepare a feast for Him, He wants you to enjoy the feast He has prepared for us.
Discussion Questions
- Is sitting at the feet of Jesus a familiar position to you? How does this simple practice challenge you to change your faith?
- The problem wasn't that Martha was serving Jesus, it was that she was serving Jesus in place of spending time with Him. Have you allowed your ministry to take place of your relationship with Christ? If yes, how has that affected you?
- What are you waiting on God for an answer for?
- When God doesn't answer your prayers in your timing or in the way that you want Him to, how does that effect your understanding of His level of care and compassion for you?
- When you don't spend time with Jesus, do you picture Him responding lovingly or hastily?
- Would you say that you are living distracted or devoted to Christ?
- How have the distractions in your life kept you from a life devoted to Christ?
- What is the biggest distraction in your life? How can you take steps toward removing this distraction if it is an unhealthy one, or how can you rearrange you priorities to make sure that Jesus is first?
- Have you used busyness as an excuse to not spending time with Jesus?
- How can you make space for Jesus in your life today?
Scripture References
