M&M: Not Just a delicious candy

I have a sister.

She is a younger sister.

Sometimes I consider her to be the laziest person in the world. Usually this comes about when I think she should be helping me.

I identify wholeheartedly with Martha.

Luke 10:38-42 is a hard passage to read for this very reason because I, like Martha, and I’m assuming like several others love lists. Whether they’re written or not I usually have about 10 lists on the go. The work list, the grocery list, the housework list, the friends list, the free time list, and honestly the list goes on! If someone or something throws this list out of whack I am so lost. I get unreasonably upset, or I try to ignore the disruption to my list and things end up in a mess.

This is how I picture Martha. I feel like she gets a bad rap sometimes as everyone says that you need to be a Mary, not a Martha but Martha isn’t all wrong. Let’s look closer. Martha enters our story as the hospitable friend. Out of the goodness of her heart she invites Jesus, and presumably all the disciples with him to her house. She cooks, cleans, offers them a place to clean up and she does it all by herself. In theory her sister Mary should have been helping her, but she was off hanging out with the guests and shirking her responsibilities as co-hostess. You’ve been in that situation. You’ve hosted the party, or helped someone with a task only to find that you’re the only person doing any work. It’s frustrating! But when she tried to go and get back-up she found herself being thrown under the bus. Hardly seems fair!

Being a Martha is being a doer. But being a doer often means forgetting to take care of oneself. Martha was so busy taking care of Jesus that she missed the opportunity that was right in front of her. She had the opportunity to be served by Jesus but she was so busy serving him that she didn’t even see it.

The funny thing about Martha is that she had an amazing faith.

John 11:25-27

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

Very similar to another person’s ground breaking (errr ground supporting?) proclamation, isn’t it?

In spite of the manner in which she is portrayed, her ultimate goal is not to follow the traditional ways beyond all else. In the passage above we see that she forgoes the only faith and culture that she has ever known and declare her belief in a prophet that the religious leaders all denied. Martha is a lot like all of us; she declares her faith but has trouble matching her actions.

The true story doesn’t revolve around the fact that Mary wanted to learn, nor the fact that Martha wanted to serve, but instead it encourages the understanding of the need for both elements.

If we were to all be Mary we would be a very well-learned bunch. We would take every opportunity to read the Word, to be attentive to Jesus’ teachings and to try and learn more each day; where would that lead us? We would know a lot but if we look to James, we know that faith without works is dead.

If we were all to be Martha we would be gracious(ish) servants. We would constantly be feeding the poor, donating all that we have and making sure that those around us were well taken care of; but at what cost? We would be tired and resentful. We would do what we did not because we wanted to, but because we felt that was what was expected of us.

Instead Jesus is pushing for a combination of the two women’s characteristics. First and foremost, we should be equipping ourselves. We need to be aware of Christ’s love, of what he has done for us. We should not be ignoring his teachings and going off, trying to serve everyone but ourselves. In the same breath, we need to realize that these teachings aren’t meant to dwell within us. We are called to be servants, to spread the love that we have received from Christ with all those around us.

We are not called to be Mary. Neither are we called to be Martha. We are called to constantly strive for a greater understanding of Christ and to respond to his great love by reaching out to everyone around us.