Reflections on Luke 10:38-42

When I was a teenager, my pastor initiated a new program in our church. It involved holding in-home, small group Bible studies. Of course, my parents were among the first to volunteer to host a study in our home, and, on Friday nights, three couples, each with a teenage daughter, gathered in our living room. This sent my mom into a frenzy of activity. She would clean and shop for a full day, always looking for a new recipe to try, then she would serve as hostess for the two or three hours they were there. After they left, she immediately started doing dishes and straitening up. Everything had to be just right for her guests. Imagine what it would have been like if the guest had been Jesus himself.

Martha didn't have to imagine. In Luke 10, Jesus and his disciple were the guests she was to entertain at her home in Bethany.  I imagine her running around, much like my mother when I was younger.  She made sure everything was spotless, the food looked as good as it smelled, and no one ever went with an empty cup. Maybe she caught a word, here or there, of Jesus' teaching and pondered it as she was doing dishes or preparing the meal, but perhaps her distractions were so great that she didn't even take the time to process the little nuggets of truth.  It was, after all, her duty as a woman to serve.

Mary took a different approach to Jesus' visit.  She sat, listening to his teachings.  I imagine her hanging on every word he said, letting them sink in to her heart and her mind.  Women were not supposed to learn in this way.  Most rabbis would have condemned her and sent her away to serve alongside her sister.  She was sitting as a disciple, among the disciples.

Martha, overwhelmed by all the work to be done, expected Jesus to follow the cultural norms and insist Mary do her duty.  After all, wasn't it important work to minister to the needs of one's guests? Later on Paul will even call this kind of service a spiritual gift ans some will even be set aside as "deacons" or literally servants.

Jesus' response to her is interesting.  He doesn't tell her not to serve at all, but he tells her only one thing is necessary.  He knew it was important to her to be helpful, bu he also did not need her to work herself into a frenzy.  Mary had chosen the better task, to spend time listening, letting his words abide within her.

As women, many of us find ourselves like Martha. We need to keep in mind the same thing Jesus tried to teach her.  We should not neglect serving those who Christ brings to us, but we also do not need to work ourselves to death. The most valuable thing we can do, for ourselves and for those God placed in our lives is to bring them to the feet of Jesus.  We need to learn with them there how to be more like him in every aspect of our lives.