Scripture
40But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”41And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
Luke 10:40-42
Observation
I've read this passage many times and had never noticed before that vs. 38 says "Martha welcomed Him into her house." As the oldest brother growing up I can relate with the responsbility that comes with this position. Martha would have felt the weight of domestic responsibilty much more so than Mary. She would want to make sure the house was clean and the food was hot and ready for the meal following the arrival of Jesus. In fact, it seemed everything was going to according to plan as vs. 39 tells us Martha was sitting right alongside Mary at the feet of Jesus. It's easy to spend time with Jesus when all is well, but what happens when it all hits the fan? I laugh as I imagine Peter tapping Martha, not Mary, on the shoulder to let her know he accidentily clogged the toilet and it's running over. Then, after cleaning up that mess she woudl notice the sauce is spilling over on to the stove and the roast smells like its burning. Jesus is talking way longer than she had planned for! Then, she would look out the window to see way more disciples showing up to the house then had RSVP'd which meant setting more places at the table. You see, it wasn't that Mary was somehow more spiritual and Martha more practical. It's just that Martha had forgotten whose house this really was. She had allowed herself to be distracted from the true feast being served up in the living room by The Master of The House. Martha ended up interrupting Jesus because she'd allowed duty to superscede devotion.
Application
Balancing devotion with duty has always been a challenge for me. I tend to toggle between Mary and Martha every Sunday when God's people are gathering at The Father's House. Whose house is it? Yeah, I know it's The Father's House, not Jon's house, but when everything starts falling apart that falls on me. When the projector won't connect to the computer and people can't read the words for worship, that's on me. When the A.C. won't work because the roof is being replaced and the sanctuary is starting to feel like an oven, that's on me. When the lights in the lobby aren't turning on, the sound on the live stream isn't working, and the roof is leaking water on to our tech equipment that's all on me. Or is it? All of these things happened over these past two weeks and I along with my amazing team have been running around trying to solve the problem. It was two Sundays ago when Brent and the team got up to lead worship with no lyrics and it just so happened that he had picked out some very familiar worship songs beforehand so everyone was able to worship. It's almost like God knew what was going to happen before it happened! Go figure. I was just trying to worship Jesus but could feel the stress level rising as my mind was trying to solve the problem. Then, the whisper of The Holy Spirit interrupted my thoughts and said "The only thing you need on that screen is already up there." I opened my eyes and looked up and saw the words on the far left corner "Check your signal inputs." Basically, this was computer speak for "only One thing is needed". I literally laughed out loud as I got the message loud and clear. This is His house and He's not running around Heaven panicked at our tech trouble. He's going to bring the Word's of Life and I just need to sit at His feet and recieve His signal. Turns out, God has it covered. Brent replaced an input plug in between services and had the projector up and running as people arrived for second service.
Prayer
Lord, as we approach the 20 Year Anniversary celebration of The Father's House I thank You for this timely reminder. When I first took the church over four years ago now, we weren't even able to meet in the building due to Covid restrictions. From the very beginning You were making it clear as we worshipped You under tents in the parking lot that devotion TO You must supercede duty FOR You. Forgive me for forgetting this lesson and for getting so easily distracted from sitting at Your feet. Thank You for the amazing team of servant leaders that You've surrounded me with that actually do a much better job at solving problems than I ever could! I love what You have done over these past four years and I can't wait to see what You're about to do. This is Your House and we are here for You! "Unless the LORD builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the LORD protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good." (Psalm 127:1)
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