July 06, 2009
Martha, Martha
As we settle into our new church facility there are some things that aren’t yet running smoothly. Because our house of worship isn’t quite in order I’m struggling with distractions during the service. For instance, the feedback from sound system contributes some squawks and screeches and serving communion doesn’t flow quite as smoothly as it should because we need a couple more serving trays. We’re unable to offer Sunday School for the young children because the classrooms aren’t yet prepared and if you want a fairly comfortable seat in the worship center you need to come early…or bring your own cushion. I can identify with Martha who was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. Clearly the Lord is talking to me when he says, “Martha, Martha,…you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed.” That is, to sit at the feet of the Lord and listen. (Luke 10:38-42 NIV)
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Gail;
-----Martha was distracted by much serving. Luke 10:38 points out that it was Martha who received Jesus into their house. Obviously, it became important for her to make the offered facilitation the best that it could be. Mary, on the other hand, was content to facilitate the Lord just adequately so she could benefit from whatever He might share. Their perceived needs were different. I believe it is instructive to note that Jesus did not address Martha as erring until she sought to enlist Mary into her own efforts. Had she been satisfied to carry the burden of her own conviction and enjoy the fulfillment of her own efforts to serve, that in itself would have been instructive to her. Each detail of making the meal and preparing the sleeping arrangements would have provided for her its own topic of meditation on what it is to serve in even the menial cause so His ministry could reach Mary. Maybe Mary chose to sit and listen because she needed to hear what Jesus was saying, or maybe what Jesus was talking about at that moment was deliberately focused upon what Mary needed to learn. We don’t know these details. But had Martha busied herself without complaint so that Mary could sit and hear, she would have been a good demonstration of serving the Lord by making opportunity for Mary. This is the kind of character Jesus teaches, and Martha’s opportunity in the situation was for practicing it rather than learning it. But instead, her demand for Mary’s enlistment into her service showed that she had not really learned anything she could practice. Therein was the distraction.
-----Doing church is much the same. We must meet together, so there are many arrangements that must be made. But making the arrangements gets out of kilter in two ways: by proposing them beyond what could be adequate, and by demanding the enlistment of others towards one’s own goals to do so. Paul gave good instruction in Romans 12 and I Corinthians 12 for the gathering of the saints to efficiently function as a body. Everyone does for the body according to the purpose the Lord has prepared for them, neither complaining that others are not doing the same thing, nor distressing that they themselves are not able to do differently than what they are able to do. We must be careful not to harness one another to our own purposes in the Lord. And we must be particularly careful not to incorporate our purposes into an organization and harness one another to it. For our purposes are our own proposals, not everyone elses'. Service to the Lord is expending one’s own self to accommodate both Him and those who are His.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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