TEXT: Luke 10:38-42

SUBJECT: Luke #43: Mary’s Choice

Today’s story is a study in contrast. The contrast is not between good and bad, but between good and better. The two main characters are Martha and Mary, sisters very dear to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Both ladies love the Lord and are eager to serve Him with all they’ve got. They don’t travel with Him, of course, and so the chances to do Him good are few and far between. But now, after months of waiting, their chance has come, and they’re going to make the most of it.

Martha welcomes the Lord and His friends and spares no effort to make them feel at home. The dear lady is "given to hospitality". Entertaining the saints is no burden to Martha, but a high privilege.

When her friends are comfortable, she gets to work making sure that they’re more than comfortable. Nothing is too good for her Savior and His disciples!

It’s easy to picture the woman: she’s scurrying about the house making sure everyone has a pillow, that everyone’s glass is filled, that there are plenty of snacks to go around. Who knows? Maybe she was even washing their feet! And then there was dinner to think of. And sheets to change. Although there was a lot to do, Martha was happy to do it.

Until something occurs to her.

"I’m doing it all myself". There’s a lot of housework to be done and only two women to do it. And one of them is not doing it! Mary is sitting at the Lord’s feet and not helping her sister at all!

This must have annoyed Martha at first, but surely Mary will snap out of it soon. But she doesn’t. She stays there, hanging on His every word. As the minutes became hours, Martha gets madder and madder and madder…

Until she boils over!

Frustration has a way of clouding your judgment. It’s had that effect on Martha. Seeing Mary sit at the Lord’s feet makes her doubt the Lord’s care. Of course, there’s ample reason for her doubt: after all, all He ever did for her was raise her brother from the dead!

It also made her forget her place. Martha is not mad at anyone but Mary. Why her and not Lazarus or someone else? It’s because she believes the woman’s role in the home is to serve the men. But is that what she’s doing here—serving the Lord? Or is she giving Him orders?

The irony mustn’t be lost. If the Jesus Christ is Lord, then He gives the orders and we take them—and not the other way around.

The Lord is not happy with Martha’s complaint—or with the sulky attitude that produced it. His words are relatively gentle, but there’s no missing the rebuke they convey:

Martha had a dozen things on her mind—and all of them were good. Mary had only one thing on her mind—and it was better. Martha served the Lord by making sure the table was just right—spoons on the left, knife on the right, salad fork suitably chilled and so on. Mary served the Lord by enjoying His company.

The Lord preferred Mary’s listening to Martha’s working. Martha’s choice was good, but Mary’s choice was better.

That’s the story.

From it we learn several lessons.

A disciple’s first responsibility is to listen to the Master, not to serve Him.

Serving the Lord is important. But how do you serve Him without knowing what He wants you to do? Mary sat quietly and learned His will for her life. You cannot hear the Lord’s voice—as she did—but you can find a quiet place to read the Bible, meditate on it, and pray for understanding.

This is hard for some of you to do: you’re high strung, you prefer activity to contemplation. You’re more comfortable doing something than thinking about it. But there is no substitute for learning the Lord’s will. And you do not learn it by going in six directions at the same time.

As fine as Christian as Martha was, Mary was better—because she listened to her Master. What the boy said to God one night, we ought to say to Him every day and night,

Listen to the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s what Mary did. That’s what He wants you to do.

The time spent listening to the Lord will allow you to do more for Him—not less.

The Gospels do not provide a complete history of Mary and Martha, of course. But what they say about them is quite telling. Martha was busier than Mary was yet—from all we know—Mary did more for the Lord than Martha did.

Quick: name one notable thing Martha did for Christ. But Mary? The dear lady did more for the Lord in His last days than anyone in the world. It was she who anointed Him for His burial. And, wherever the Gospel is preached, what she did is brought to mind. It seems that slow moving Mary did more for the Lord than her high strung sister.

Few men have been busier than Billy Graham. He has preached to more people than anyone in the history of the Church. Some time ago, I heard him interviewed on the radio, and he made a very surprising comment. When asked what he would do if he had three years to live, he said, "I would study for two years and preach for one". Dr. Graham thinks one year of informed obedience gets more done than three years of uninformed activity. And this from a man famous—not for his scholarship—but for doing things.

We can go too far in this direction and become "hearers of the Word and not doers". That’s always a danger. But not the only one. Zeal without knowledge is no better than knowledge without zeal.

Listening to Christ applies to His People of both sexes.

If the rabbis had written today’s story, they would have turned it around: Martha would have come off better than Mary. To their way of thinking, study is a man’s job, while women are better served keeping the house, cooking, washing, and so on.

It’s true of course that these things need to be done and traditionally it has fallen on the woman to do them. But women and girls also need to study the Bible, to think hard, and to pray for understanding. If women and girls are disciples of Christ, then they too, need to know His will for their lives. And they learn it the same place men and boys do: in His Word.

You ladies need to take this seriously. Your husband cannot study for you; you’ve got to do it for yourself. Listen to your husband? Of course! Respect him? Sure. But Jesus Christ is your Master and you’re responsible to do His will, which means you’ve got to know what it is.

This means: Parents need to train their daughters to read the Bible and teach them how to do it. Teach them how to use a concordance, how to read a commentary, and what teachers should be listened to—and not listened to! As a sidebar: this includes general education, for some knowledge of grammar, history, logic, and so on, is necessary for finding the Lord’s will in the Bible.

High energy people must beware of judging people who are slower than they are.

No one knows what Mary and Martha looked like, of course, but I always picture Mary as soft and round and Martha as lean and wiry. Martha was certainly more of a go-getter than her sister. And go-getters tend to look down on people who aren’t. Yet here, Martha’s need to do something is criticized while Mary’s ability to sit still is praised.

Some people are just plain lazy—I know that. But don’t be quick to judge them. Maybe they’re just more thoughtful than you are.

Slower people must beware of judging the go-getters.

Martha is criticized, but she’s not condemned. Her judgment was less than perfect, but her can-do attitude was good. In fact, we need both Marys and Marthas in the church. Marthas to spur us on and Marys to rein us in. If Martha is the engine, then Mary is the track. No train will run without both. But both working together—and not against each other.

A quote from J.C. Ryle is fitting here:

Life is a matter of choices. Most of you, I know, are choosing good things—most of the time, at least. But are you satisfied with good things? Or are you trying to choose the best?

There are many good things on which to spend your time and money. But among the many good things, some are better than others.

Television is not necessarily a sinful thing, and for some people an hour or two now and then can be a real blessing. But do you think that four hours a night in front of it is the best way to spend your time?

Hobbies are also good things. They can be quite refreshing. But some of them are very expensive. Maybe a cheaper one would free up some money that could be spent better.

Legalism commands or forbids what the Bible doesn’t command for forbid. I want no part of that. To his own master, the servant stands or falls! But I would urge you to think hard about your priorities and choose better over good and best over better.

That’s the main lesson of our passage: "There is one thing needful—and Mary chose it".

Now it’s your turn. Go do it and the love of God be with you.