ONE THING
In Luke 10, we find the account of Mary and Martha who are the sisters of Lazarus and John records in his gospel that Jesus loved this family. I have heard this passage preached with a number of applications but likely the most common would be trying to determine “are a Mary or a Martha?” Another common application is ‘do you worship or serve?’ While it can be applied that way, I do not think that is the point of this passage and that application can actually lead us down the wrong path. Ultimately, we are not divided into Mary and Martha personality stereotypes rather Mary tapped into her need while Martha was distracted from her own need while she worried about image management. Let me explain after we look at this passage:
38. Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40. But 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.” 41. And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38–42
ONE THING is needed and Mary has chosen that good part which will not be taken away from her.
Eugene Peterson has a nice take on this in the Message:
The Master said, “Martha, dear Martha, you’re fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing. One thing only is essential, and Mary has chosen it—it’s the main course, and won’t be taken from her.” The Message, Luke 10:41–42
Unfortunately there is often some distance between what you and I think are essential and needed and what Jesus knows to be essential and needed. When what we think to be essential and what Jesus thinks is essential become one and the same thing … congratulations you have a renewed mind!
So what was wrong with what Martha was doing?
Now I grant you that there are many things that we could be worried and troubled about and no one would argue that they are not important … but this is the issue with worry;
1. Worry never improves anything;
2. Worry frays your soul; (a rope, fabric or shoe lace wears thin and unravels or becomes worn at the edge due to constant rubbing)
3. When Jesus is speaking the only thing that should occupy our attention is Him. (undistracted)
Every Sunday morning Jesus gathers His flock together to speak, to bring His sheep to green pastures and still waters and some sheep in this flock need to know that there is nothing as essential or needful than for you to be here …with your family …sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to His word.
Some of us who are in the New Covenant are yet to learn things that God established in the Old Covenant but still applies to us today and I think even more so.
3. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.” Deuteronomy 8:3
My point is this, every Sunday God is speaking from this pulpit but there are a growing number of people who are distracted from Jesus by other things and other options. If one of the major lessons from the wilderness is that man shall not live by bread alone but by everything that is proceeding from the mouth of God …does God have to take you through a wilderness journey of your own to teach you that or will you just receive it from recorded biblical history, written for our learning upon whom the ends of the earth have come?
That brings me to the next points from this text as we go over to the Mary side of the equation:
4. Mary chose that good part
5. Mary was in touch with her need
6. It would not be taken from her
The Greek word translated ‘chosen’ in this passage means to ‘chose one preference over another’. Mary preferred to be sitting at Jesus feet and receiving every word that was proceeding from the mouth of God rather than other things she could have been doing. No one was compelling her.
Mary was undistracted and in touch with a genuine need …her need … to not live by bread alone but to be sustained and carried by every word that was proceeding from the mouth of God. Are you in touch with your own spiritual need and attending to it in an undistracted way? What is distracting you? Mary was undistracted and giving herself to Jesus and her need for Him. Martha was distracted attending to other things while she became more frustrated.
UNDISTRACTED disciple:
– Receives more from Jesus
– Focuses on ‘one thing”
– Is spiritually centered, grounded and living out of the overflow
DISTRACTED disciple:
– Receives less from Jesus
– misses the one thing that is essential.
– Is spiritually unfocused, frayed in soul and frustrated
The Greek word translated ‘distracted’ has an number of applications: to draw away, to shake something out of its place, to divert, to occupy; to be distracted, to be engaged, to be troubled (A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint : Revised Edition.)
to draw off or away, to be distracted or engaged in business, (A lexicon: Abridged from Liddell and Scott’s Greek-English lexicon, pg. 631)
In terms of vision for 2024, I believe that if we could get ‘ONE THING’ right and many things will take care of themselves.