Word of Salvation – Vol. 45 No. 35 – September 2000

 

Jesus At The House Of Martha And Mary

 

Sermon by Rev. C. Kavanagh on Luke 10:38-42

Scripture Reading: John 11:11-44

 

Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Introduction:

We have in our text this morning a very down to earth and a very true to life scene from everyday family life.  Does it not ring true for us?  Can’t we all identify with what is going on?  The two sisters are so different in personality type – yet Martha loves the Lord and believes as much as Mary does, as we can see from the encounter with them again in John 11.  The Lord has not made us all uniform, we do have very different personalities, yet we can recognise a deeper Christian character in each.

We need to get the right perspective on this account of Jesus at the house of Martha and Mary.  From one angle it is a domestic dispute.  There is friction between the two sisters, of essentially different personality types.  Jesus is seen as an arbitrator and conflict resolver.  He is a maker of peace.  Now this is very true.  He desires peace between all his people and he is able to bring peace to households and families.

This text does include the role of Jesus as peacemaker – but it is not only to do with that.  It is not the primary thing I want us to focus on.  We focus on the one essential thing that Jesus speaks to Martha about.

We certainly cannot either see this text as a commendation of the contemplative and a condemnation of the active.  That is how it was often taken in monastic circles in the hey-day of the monasteries in medieval times.  The actual facts of the monastic life did not bear this out, and the monastic orders were by no means more sanctified than any other part of the population simply because of their seclusion from the activities of the world.

Let us look more closely at the text under three headings:
            1.  Jesus taught
            2.  Martha thought
            3.  Mary sought

1.  Jesus Taught

Here was a house that Jesus was welcome in.  The two sisters and their brother Lazarus, who is not mentioned in Luke, appear to be unmarried.  Yet this does not stop them forming a godly household where Jesus is welcome.  There is great value and usefulness in godly households.  They are places of great honour – here honoured by the presence of Christ himself.

They are places where the Scriptures are read and talked about.  They are places where the faith is known and practised.  The Christian household is a place where God is honoured, and where visitors know they will find a different conduct to that of the world.

If they are Christian visitors, they can be assured of true fellowship, that every day means grace that the Lord has given to us.  If they are non- Christian, they will be able to learn something of the faith.

Christian households come in all shapes and sizes.  Some are families with a lot of young children; and others are an older couple where the children have grown up and left home.  A Christian household can be a single person, or a couple without children; it can be a student flat – anywhere where Jesus would be welcome to stay, and His disciples today can find a place to enjoy fellowship.

Jesus taught in the house of Martha.  This was a very great privilege for them.  It was especially so because He was on His way to Jerusalem for the last time.  He knew He would be handed over to the leaders of the people and the authorities, and then be crucified for sins – but rise from the dead.  It was a privilege to hear Jesus teach at any time, but especially so now.

Not only was it a privilege to attend on the teaching of Jesus, it was also a duty of those who had invited Him by opening their home to Him.  They should not waste those precious moments with Him by other sorts of activity.

Now, not in exactly the same way, but in a similar way, we have both the privilege and the duty of hearing the Word of God.  We have that Word in our Bibles, rather than having Jesus here bodily with us.  It is a great privilege to have the Word of God, and to be able to own a Bible, and to be able to read it in our own language.

We have the privilege and the duty of meeting together as God’s people to worship Him, and to hear the Word of God spoken about and explained.  At all times we have the responsibility to attend to the teaching of Jesus, as brought in the Scriptures, however that opportunity might present itself to us.  So coming to church on Sunday is a privilege for us, and to be able to come twice is a double privilege.

We need the teaching of Christ to enlighten us.  Without it we would be in the dark about everything that really matters, like the nature of God himself, and about our natures, too.  We wouldn’t know the promises of the Gospel, and so wouldn’t be able to respond to them.

Jesus taught – in the house of Martha.

2.  Martha Thought

Martha busied herself with the work of the house that she felt was necessary for her important guest.  She meanwhile ignored her guest.  She, too, should have been listening to Jesus.  I do not doubt that something needed to be done or to be prepared, but that was not the priority.  The priority was to listen to Jesus’ teaching.

She must have thought to herself as she busied herself with her tasks.  And her thoughts grew bigger and bigger in her own mind.  She became more and more agitated by the situation.

Her thoughts resulted in her words, as our thoughts have a habit of doing, and she says to Jesus in verse 40: “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself.  Tell her to help me.”

Do you not care?

She thought the Lord did not care, and she accused Him of neglecting her.  Yet a moment’s reflection would surely have told her that that could not be so.  He has an infinite thought for each one of us.  He Himself said, “Come unto me, all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”  The Apostle Peter says, “Cast all your burdens on him, for he cares for you.”  The very fact that Jesus had stopped on His way to Jerusalem to her house should have told Martha that He cared for her.

Martha’s choosing to busy herself with non-essentials instead of the essential of attending upon the Lord Himself led her to think wrongly of the Lord.  It led her to think hard thoughts of Him, that He did not care.

My sister has left me to do the work by myself.

She thought her sister was deliberately not pulling her weight.  She thought ill of Mary.  Her business with non-essentials had led her to focus her attention on the non-essentials themselves.  They had become the most important for her.  It is like that when our minds become focussed on what is immediately in front of us.  It takes on an importance that is all out of proportion, and we and our interests take centre stage.

Her neglect of the Lord had led her to think ill of those who did not neglect Him.

Tell her to help me.

She thought she could tell Jesus what to do.

She thought she knew best.

All her attention was focussed upon herself.  She forgets that Jesus is Lord.  Her own projects, her own work have taken centre stage, and Mary must come to help her; and Jesus must tell her to.

Maybe someone takes on a job or a project in the church, and they are so enthusiastic about it.  But it can become everything for them, and a source of sore conflict that everyone else is not getting in behind them, and helping them, and taking some of the burden of this hard work off them.  In the end a special project can become a burden, and even a source of temptation to complain.  But are you sure the Lord really wanted you to take it on, and for it to become so all engrossing to you?

When we become engrossed in our own work – even work for the Lord – and forget the Lord Himself, then our thoughts can get away from us.  They may lead us so far astray that we even end up telling God what to do and what is best.  We might end up wanting God to organise the world around us, or our work, or our life.

So, we have seen that Jesus taught, Martha thought, and now…

3.  Mary Sought

Mary was one who sought out Jesus and His teaching.  When it says she was sitting at the Lord’s feet, it indicates that she was a disciple of Christ.  She had not been able to follow Him around, as the rest had done, but nevertheless she followed Him in her heart.  And whenever she had the chance, as when Jesus visited their house, she would make the most of the time by listening to His teaching.

Martha, too, loved and believed in the Lord.  This is obvious from her reply in John 11:27, where she made the profession of her faith, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”  What a faith she had!  We are not talking about a believer and an unbeliever when we talk about Mary and Martha.

Jesus commends Mary in His gentle rebuke of Martha.  One thing is needed, He says.  That one thing is Christ Himself.  If we have Him, we have everything.

If we have Christ, then it surely is enough for us.  It is not as important for us to have the things of the world as to have Christ.  It is not as important for us to have a good job, or good looks, or a good house or car, a wife, a husband.  The Lord may give us many things, but nothing more important than His Son, our Saviour.

Having Christ we have life itself.  He came to give us life and life in all its abundance and He died that we might have life, and He rose from the dead to become the source of life for all who believe in Him.

Mary chose that which is better.  She engaged in soul business.  This was a special time, of special circumstances.  She was engrossed in Christ and His teaching, not her work.  It was right that the things of everyday life should be set aside.  She chose Jesus above all.  That was the better thing that would not be taken away from her.

Conclusion

It seems Jesus took this domestic incident between the two sisters to teach them and us deeper truths.  Some of the truths that come from His teaching are:

1.  Busyness will sometimes get in the way of devotion to Christ.  Too much busyness will leave you without time or energy for Christ himself.  Many of us are busy, busy, busy.  But are you really sure that you are not just too busy?

You may be working yourself into the ground for what?  It may be causing you to neglect your duties to your family.  It may be making you ill.  You may be beginning to feel the effects of all this work, and praying to God for help.  You may even be thinking that God has forgotten you in your busy, high volume life.  But are you sure he really wants this busyness from you?

2.  We must set priorities.  Jesus talks to Martha of “that which is better.”  There are good things – but some things may be better than them.  Jesus is speaking the language of priority here.  Make priorities.  Always put Christ as number one.  Make your list of important things, leave the things you can live without at the bottom of the list – but always put Christ on the top of the list.

Congregation, promise you will put Christ number one.  There are good things marriage, work, home and family, leisure, excitement – even church work.  But there is the best thing.  Make Christ number one.

3.  When we have Christ, we have the one thing needful in this life.  Everything else that God gives us is good – but only one thing is needful.  You need to belong to Jesus, body and soul.  It is a necessity that you have Him.  It is a necessity that you believe the Gospel, for there is no other way to Christ than through the Gospel.

Are you his?  Have you chosen the best?

Repent and believe the Gospel and you will have what cannot be taken away from you… Christ himself!

Amen.