-Devotion by Jeremy Martin (TN)
Ok, to be fair, in the target verse I took the title from there are only 2 “Martha”s, but every time I read this verse I think of the old Brady Bunch television show and crack up laughing. In the context of the show, Jan (a younger sister) would often complain that Marcia was receiving all the attention, leading to the whined repetition of her sister’s name. This is often (and incorrectly) quoted as “Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!” (it’s actually “Marcia”, pronounced the same, spelled differently).
The sentiment expressed biblically is exactly the same though: hey, why are they getting all the attention, when I’m the one doing the work here? How often do you feel as if you’re going above and beyond when _______ (insert any name here) is really just not trying nearly as hard. I know I’m absolutely guilty of that at times, both at my job and at my home.
Here in America (where I live), we have a phrase: “phoning it in.”. It implies that the person in question is too lazy to even show up to work, and they are “phoning it in.”. I say with shame that I have on occasions in the past when I have felt like I was shouldering the majority burden of a load around the house called out to my wife “Hey, it’s 865.”. To which she’d go, “What is?” and I’d reply “that’s our area code, so when you’re phoning it in you’ll at least get close to where we live.” (I know, I know…).
The problem with that is, and I’ve said this many times: when we stand before the throne of judgment on the last day, what other people have done will not enter into the conversation. Each person’s actions are between them and God, when we make preliminary judgment we’re taking a dangerous action. Remember the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (in Luke 18)? The Pharisee was puffed up by all the things he had done, the Tax Collector just begged God for forgiveness, and only one of them went home justified that night before God.
The verse that the title is taken from is near the very end of this chapter, and says (Luke 10:41-42): But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things,but one thing is necessary; indeed, Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her.” (the REV translation is used throughout this devotion).
Like us, Martha is anxious and troubled about many things. Jesus tells her, and us, though: but one thing is necessary. What is the one thing? To listen to Jesus. To sit obediently at his feet and listen to the things that he tells us. Mary got to do this in person, to gaze up at our Teacher as he spoke. We have to rely on the scriptures, and the urgings of the spirit, but the one thing that is necessary remains the same. Listen to Jesus.
So backing up in this chapter, Jesus says and does a few things. Let’s listen to Jesus. If you flip back to the previous chapter (9) Jesus sends out the 12. At the beginning of this chapter, he sends out the 72, with roughly the same mission. One of the things he said to them stands out to me, in verse 3 he says “…I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.”.
When I first began attending Atlanta Bible College, freshly come from life as a career criminal (yes, of course there’s a story there…), Kent Ross asked me about a week in how I was doing with it all. Kent was awesome. I had to think about it really hard, so it took me a second to answer him, and I said “Kent, I feel like a wolf among sheep.”. He just smiled and patted me on the shoulder and said “It’ll get better”, and he was right.
When the 72 returned, they marvelled that even the demons submitted to them. Jesus warned them not to rejoice in this, but to rejoice instead that their names were written in heaven (presumably in the “book of life”).
When a certain expert of the law (Jewish Orthodox Law) asked Jesus “What must I do to obtain life in the age to come?” (ie, the kingdom of God), Jesus replied, “What is written?”. The implication here is that the understanding and practice of what is written in scripture can lead one to life in the age to come, in the kingdom. The man quoted the Shema (Deut 6:4-5), the absolutely most important commandment, and followed it with Leviticus 19:18. Both are pasted below, since Jesus himself said that this was the greatest and the next greatest commandment both here and in other accounts (in Mark 12:29-32). You should know these verses and have them memorized, because according to Jesus these are the most important commandments:
The Shema, The Greatest Commandment (Deut 6:4-5): “4“Hear, O Israel! Yahweh is our God, Yahweh alone! 5Therefore you are to love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. “
The Golden Rule, the second greatest commandment (Leviticus 19:18): “Do not take revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you are to love your neighbor as yourself; I am Yahweh. “
In the parable of the Good Samaritan, just after this conversation, Jesus tells us who our neighbor is that we are to love. It’s everyone, every other vessel of clay that the Lord God Yahweh has made, which is all of us.
What else did Jesus say? Well, Jesus has a God, and tells us that his God and our God are the same God (John 20:17). He says that God has sent him and that he can only say and do the things that God has told him to (John 12:49). Jesus tells us that the Father, Yahweh, is greater than he is (John 14:28). Jesus tells us that he is the Christ, the one whom God has anointed, the man whom God has chosen to be the king (John 4:26). How has the modern church confused and altered such simple teachings? Like Mary and Martha in this story at the end of Luke 10, we need to understand that only one thing is necessary: to listen to Jesus.
If you really want to listen to Jesus, and want a concentrated dose of what Jesus said, I really think (ie, it’s my opinion) that reading and putting in to practice Matthew 5-8 are probably the most important things that we can do to become citizens of the kingdom of God, and to have our names written in the book of life. Please read it for yourself, and tell me if you agree.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
- Do you ever fall into this trap, of comparing yourself to another human instead of measuring yourself up against God’s expectations?
- What is the best way to avoid this pitfall, and how can we implement it in our daily lives?
- How often do we just shut up, when we are praying, and try to listen? If we’re talking more than we’re listening, doesn’t that imply that we view the relationship in a skewed fashion?
PRAYER
Father God, please forgive my arrogance when I judge others. Help me not to do that, help me to avoid the things that can trap me in wrong thinking, and please create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me. Teach me and help me to listen, guide me and give me the courage to follow, hold me and help me to know I am loved. Thank you God, in Jesus name, Amen.
