The Good Part

I sit at my dining room table -- in the United States.  The girls have gone to bed for the night, and the house is quiet.  Really quiet.  Michael doesn’t join us until Friday (and boy, are we all looking forward to that!).

I attempted to work on my Russian lesson, but I can’t.  My mind is restless.  So much stuff is whirling around inside there.  I think of upcoming appointments, calls I still need to make, my shortcomings as wife and mother, my lack of consistent contentment and gratitude, lunches packed for tomorrow, lessons to be taught, gift ideas...  It’s as if I have pinballs shooting around the crevices of my brain.  One thought whizzes across, and another pops up behind it.    

But, it’s not just the inner noise.  There are so many things I could be doing – even right now.  The list is endless.  Prepare for tomorrow.  Fold the load of laundry sitting in the dryer.  Study.  Check my e-mail.  Surf the Internet (Ick!).  Enjoy a leisure activity. 

So, I sit down to read – a book, on the sofa. 

And, I am reminded of what I was thinking about days before...

A passage I had read earlier in the week… as though I had never laid eyes on it until then; it was Luke 10:38-42.

“Now as they were traveling along, He [Jesus] entered a village and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home.
She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word.
But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone?  Then tell her to help me.”
But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things;
but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

I was dumbfounded.  As I read and re-read, I wondered how I could have missed this? 

First, Martha invited Jesus into her home.  That struck me as a bit shocking.  She, a woman, asked Jesus to come over.  How awesome is that?!  Request that the God-Man stop over for a bite to eat.  I doubt I would have been so bold. 

In the next verse, her sister enters the scene.  While I don’t have a sister, I do have three daughters.  Expectations and contention are inevitable.  We’re sinners, after all.  Mary, Martha’s sister, takes a place at the feet of Jesus.  Martha gets to the business of doing.  Rather than sit or slow down, she was “serving”.  I mean, someone has to.  A meal doesn’t make itself, and dishes don’t fly to the table (despite what Mary Poppins may have us believe).  Thus, Martha became “distracted with all her preparations”. 

I would also guess she’s feeling a healthy amount of frustration toward her (I bet) younger sibling.  Can you imagine curtains swishing as she passed?  Pots clattering and clanging?  Words muttered under a hot breath?  Who knows what methods she employed before making a beeline to Jesus? 

Eventually, though, Martha comes to Him.  As Mary reclines below, Martha says, “do You not care that my sister (yeah, you!) has left me to do all the work?”  Really, I’m not sure this is even a question; it seems more like a last resort.  Martha doesn’t even pause for Jesus to answer.  She assumes it.  She is so certain Jesus will come to her aide, and compel Mary to work, she says, "Then tell her (yeah, you!) to help me."  But, Jesus surprises her.  If ever so gently.  His rebuke is not for Mary.  Instead, Jesus chides Martha – in a most patient and tender way.  He answers her, “you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary...” Implication: it is NOT what you are doing. 

That spears my own beating and busy heart.  So many things consume my thoughts, efforts and time.  But, only one thing is necessary.  There is a distinction in all we do.  Often, I fail to see it.  Almost everything seems necessary to me.  Yet, it isn’t.  Jesus said so.  And, it’s what He says that matters.    

Preparations are helpful.  Having a lovely meal for dinner guests is wonderful.  Welcoming others into a tidy home is comfortable.  Serving another person is kind.  Those, though, are not the ONE thing.  Notice, Mary does not rise and take her post at the washbasin to clean dirty dishes (That can be done later, and maybe the disciples will help!).  Mary has chosen the good part.  She has chosen to be occupied with the necessary.  What is that?  Verse 39 tells us; she “was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word.” 

The necessary.  As my handy-dandy dictionary states, the necessary is that which is “essential, indispensable or requisite.”  So, that means, that what Mary was doing was indispensable.  And, here, Martha (and I) thought the menu and clean plates were essential.  Silly us. 

You know, Mary is probably NOT worried or bothered – about anything – even her sister’s growing resentment toward her.  Mary is fixed.  Her heart and gaze stay on Christ.  There is no moving this woman.  Jesus is her priority.  The rest will come later.  Everything else can wait. 

That’s the kind of focus I want in my life.  But, what does that look like?  I have three kids, and well, a lot of stuff (see beginning of post).  Must I wake before the children do – so I can sit at His feet, so to speak?  Do I put everything and everyone off until I’ve had my quiet time?  Do I let my dishes pile up in the sink and dust bunnies overtake my home? 

I don’t think so.  Jesus never tells Martha that she is doing wrong.  He does not ask her to stop her activities and bustling.  In fact, He does not address Martha at all – until she comes to Him, that is.  Martha appeals to Jesus.  Why?  Martha has a to-do list that runs her day.  But, she needs the help of her sister to complete it.  Have Jesus over. Check.  Serve Him the best meal He has ever eaten in the village.  Almost check, if only Mary would get off her rump!  And, when she goes to Jesus expecting Him to come to her aide, what she receives instead is a shock.  He admonishes her. 

I bet Martha’s jaw dropped.  A gasp may have escaped her lips.  What?!  But, she was “serving”…  And, Martha had assumed she was doing exactly what Jesus would want her to.  Martha has it all backwards.  Life isn't about preparations or much service - even if it is for Christ.  Our life, if we are believers, is Christ.     

Sure, we have things to do: places to go and people to see.  However, in the midst of that, in the midst of all the options and noise of life, only one thing is necessary. 

I don’t want to be distracted with much service. 
I don’t want to be rushing around, trying to get things done, and miss what is essential.
I don't want to be worried and bothered about so many things. 

I want to invite Jesus in, and collapse at His feet.
May my gaze never stray from His face.    
May I listen to His words as they are recorded in Scripture. 
May I commune with Him in prayer. 
May I make Him my priority.
Let me, by God’s grace, choose “the good part”.