Companionship with God: Luke 10:38-41: Mary Makes a Good Choice

What would it be like to entertain Jesus in your own home? What would you do that would really please him? In this story each of two sisters honors Jesus in her own way, and they teach us a lesson about what is most important in life.

LUKE 10:38-41: MARY MAKES A GOOD CHOICE

INTRODUCTION

The Czech people have a proverb: “Where there is room in the heart, there is room in the house.”

I think you can remember times when you practiced the grace of hospitality. And you can remember times when you enjoyed the hospitality of friends.

In the house where I grew up, we seldom had Sunday dinner without guests—folks we brought home from church with us. They would share the roast and potatoes that had been cooking in the oven while we were at church. Mother always put in extra potatoes for whoever we chose to bring home.

Our house wasn't big. We had three bedrooms and one bathroom for the eight of us, but we often had guests overnight, friends who were visiting our town and had no place to stay.

Jesus, we read, had no home of his own. He said, “Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

But Jesus did have homes. His friends welcomed him to their homes. We read of once when he was in Peter’s house. Another time he was in Matthew’s house.

But one of Jesus’ favorite homes was that of Martha and her sister Mary and her brother Lazarus. He seems to have visited that family often.

Read LUKE 10:38-41: I think this visit to Martha’s house was a highlight in Jesus’s week, a respite from all the crowds and arguing and strife.

I. First, we’ll talk about Martha.

The story tells us that it was Martha’s house. She must have been the older sister and she was the person responsible for the entertainment of guests.

Martha is an example to us. She served God by serving others.
This story follows the parable of the Good Samaritan.

The Good Samaritan was a man who put his faith to work.
Martha was a woman who put her faith to work.

We suppose that Jesus wasn’t the only guest that day.

Maybe Martha had to prepare dinner for 13 hungry men.
Even if she had prepared only a simple meal, it was work.

Some preachers when they tell this story, criticize Martha.

But we have no reason to suppose that what Martha was doing wasn’t just what she should have been doing.

I am sure Jesus was pleased with her work.

Jesus was used to accepting favors. We read in Luke 8 the names of several women who went along with the disciples and provided the meals, doing the shopping and preparing the food.

Martha was not unreasonable to expect her sister Mary to pitch in and help her.

II. Now let’s turn to Mary.

A. Martha got a upset because she was doing all the work. She was so upset that she scolded Jesus. She thought Jesus was being inconsiderate because he didn’t suggest that Mary should help her sister.

Martha said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”
Martha must have been a very good friend of Jesus to have spoken to him in this way.
Martha didn’t understand how much pleasure it was giving Jesus to have a friend who was so hungry to learn the ways of God.

B. One time when Jesus visited with another woman who was eager to learn more of God. Do you remember the story of Jesus and the woman at the well in Samaria?

His disciples had gone to town to buy food and when they got back with the food, he wasn’t hungry. He said, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.”
For Jesus to teach Mary was even more satisfying even than the fine meal that Martha was preparing.

III. So Jesus gently reproved Martha—very gently. He said, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; one thing is needful Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her.”

A. When Jesus reproved Martha he wasn’t criticizing her good work in preparing the meal but her over-concern and her self-pity.

B. There is always a danger for those who do more than their share of the work to feel sorry for themselves.

In our church in Kansas there was a woman named Cleo who was a true servant of the church. One Saturday morning she was cleaning the church with her bucket and mop. Someone came up to her and said, “Are you the cleaning lady?”
When she told me this story, she said, “I felt like just emptying that bucket on her head.”
I don’t think Cleo felt sorry for herself, but she could have.

Willing workers need to learn self-forgetfulness lest our diligence cause us to stumble others by our uncharitable spirit.

IV. Application

A. What Martha was doing that day was good. What Mary was doing that day was even better.

She was enjoying Jesus and he was enjoying her. She was learning the ways of God.

Mary had made a good choice. She needed that experience of special closeness with Jesus and his teaching that day more than her sister realized.

Jesus gently showed Martha her insensitivity in criticizing her sister to her guest.

B. I know that many of you have been “Marthas” in your homes and in your churches all your lives.

You’ve taught children, you’ve served the poor, you’ve visited the sick, and taken meals to people in trouble, you’ve sung in the choir, you’ve cleaned the church, you’ve prepared meals, and you’ve cleaned up.

Now you’re in Hiawatha Care Center, and there aren’t many opportunities to serve God by serving others. Now you can think about Mary. You can still be a Mary. You can still sit at Jesus’ feet and learn of him. You can come to services. You can pray and read your Bible.

You spent a lot of your time pleasing Jesus by being a Martha. Now you can please Jesus by being a Mary.

When we repeat the 23rd Psalm together, those familiar words bring us closer to God.

Remember the “good part” that Mary chose.
Even though we can’t see Jesus, he is here. He never leaves us.
We can always believe he is with us and it pleases him when we think about his closeness.

Think of yourself as sitting at Jesus’ feet, learning from him and making him happy with your attention to spiritual things.

CONCLUSION

The story is told of an elderly Scottish lady who was alone most of the day.

Someone asked her how she spent her time.

She said, “I get out my hymn book and have a little hymn of praise to the Lord.
Then I get my Bible and let God speak to me.
When I am tired of reading and can’t sing any more, I just sit still and let Jesus love me.”