Mary & Martha, part 3

This week, I began telling the true story of two sisters, Mary and Martha. Martha was an energetic, outgoing, take-charge kind of person. In the gospel of Luke, chapter 10, we found her rushing around the house, doing her best to serve Jesus of Nazareth, her Guest of Honor.

In the middle of her busy service, as she hustled from one task to another, she became increasingly angry at her sister, Mary. Instead of helping Martha serve Jesus, Mary was simply sitting in the living room and listening to Jesus.

In the emotional outburst that followed, Jesus complimented Mary for slowing down, sitting down and focusing on Him. Then Jesus rebuked Martha for her busyness and distraction - even though all that busyness was generated by her desire to serve Him.

Is it not true that most of you who are listening to me today live in a world where things are generally the other way around? That is, in your world wouldn't Martha be rewarded for busy service and Mary reprimanded for choosing to commune with God rather than serve God and help her sister? It's another reminder that the realities of God are different than the perceptions of mankind.

Yesterday, we began noting several principles of lifestyle worship that are illustrated in lives of Mary and Martha. First, we learned that lifestyle worship is simple, not complicated. To be truly effective and on-purpose, we need to give significant time and attention to a few simple, basic priorities and resist the complicated lifestyles that come from trying to chase too many competing goals. Like the lifestyles of Mary and Martha, lifestyle worship, is simple, not complicated.

Second, we noted that lifestyle worship welcomes heart, not formula. Martha seemed to be following a formula that said, 'Show your relationship with God by trying to impress Him - and whoever else may be watching - with your busy service for Him. Mary simply followed her heart, relishing the opportunity to spend time alone in the presence of Jesus.

Today, let's summarize one more principle of lifestyle worship that we learn from Mary and Martha. The third principle is this: lifestyle worship is daring, not dull. The original words used in this passage from Luke 10 reveal that Martha was truly distracted by all her activity. It appears that she was so intent on doing the impressive thing that she missed the main thing. Jesus perceived this problem immediately and, Friend that He was to her, dared to confront her about her dull conformity, and her seeming unawareness of what pleased Him most. "Be different," He challenged her. "Dare to focus on true worship."

Mary, in contrast, dared to do the nonroutine. "How can I show Him His worth to me? How can I worship Him?" she asked herself. "I've got it!" her heart responded. "I'll set aside a portion of today's busy schedule and simply relax in His presence." This is interesting because it's very counter-cultural. She made a deliberate decision to endure the rebuke of her sister, which she probably expected.

As far as she was concerned, this act of worship would be just a private understanding between her and her Lord. I suspect that, had she hungered to be noticed by others for having spent time with Christ, we would likely never have heard of this incident.

Instead, God led Dr. Luke to include it in his account of Christ's life. As a result, millions of people across hundreds of years have been stirred by the story of Mary.

This true tale of two sisters could have ended like that of two brothers in the book of Genesis. Do you remember Cain and Abel, and the time when God approved the worship of Abel and rejected the worship of Cain? That confrontation ended in a nightmare: When Cain's wrongly motivated heart was exposed, he became consumed by bitterness, and in anger he killed his brother.

Not so with Martha. She may have had the proverbial cart before the horse in putting serving ahead of abiding, but she was a willing learner.

Later on - in fact, just one week before Christ was crucified - He came back to Bethany for another visit with Martha, Mary and their brother. Again Martha served dinner, as was the custom. Again Mary broke with tradition...as was becoming her custom! ("How can I worship Thee? Let me count the ways!" her heart responded.)

Do you know what happened this time around? Tune in tomorrow, and I'll tell you 'the rest of the story!'

© 2007 John Garmo. If you would be interested in using this article, please contact us at Info@MissionToChildren.org.