In church today, we meet the M & M
sisters, Mary and Martha. They are two peas in the same pod and yet so
different. Martha and Mary live in the same town - Bethany in Judea. They live
in the same house. They have the same brother - Lazarus. How can two sisters,
so alike, be so different?
We are told by Luke, that Jesus comes
to Bethany and to the two sisters' home for a visit. This is one of many happy
times they spend together. Rest, conversation, and friendship, no doubt, occupy
their time. Mary sits at Jesus' feet as a disciple would sit at the feet of a
rabbi master: listening, observing and learning. Martha is busy with her many
tasks in the household and rather crossly asks, "Lord, do you not care
that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help
me.” Seems like a reasonable request.
Every church needs a Martha. Change
that. Every church needs a hundred Marthas. Sleeves rolled up and ready.
Because of Marthas, the church budgets get balanced, church buildings get
repaired and cleaned, babies get bounced on loving knees in the nursery. You
don't appreciate Marthas until a Martha is missing - and all the Marys of the
church start scrambling to find the keys to lock doors, turn off the lights and
turn off the fans. Yes, Marthas are the Energizer Bunnies of the church. They
keep going and going and going.
However, Jesus says, "Martha,
Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only
one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from
her.” Mary, sitting at the feet of Jesus, looks into the eyes of the Master.
Mary listens to his words, his teachings. Mary feels loved, special, affirmed,
and graced by Jesus. "Mary has chosen the thing needful ..." whereas
Martha hurries and scurries about.
The basis idea is to create an island
of being in the sea of constant doing in which our lives are usually immersed,
a time in which we allow all the “doing” to stop. Three flies get into Martha's soup:
worry, distraction, and resentment.
Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine
Friends whose lives have become so frantic that we miss living in the moment. Help
us to stop all the doing and shift over to a “being” mode where we learn how to
make time for ourselves and nurture calmness.
