In the story of Martha and Mary, we read that Martha was
encumbered with much serving. But
nowhere does it say that she was serving in
the kitchen. Indeed, she was from a
well-to-do family and probably had servants out in the kitchen. Our own prejudices and assumptions about
women put her there. In order to get a
better view about where Martha was, and what she was actually doing, let’s look
at that word “serving”.
In Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, we
see that the original New Testament, written in Greek, uses the Greek word diakonia for “serving”. Diakonia
means service as a teacher or minister, and its root word, diakonos, is where we get the word “deacon”. Diakonos
means deacon, minister, servant.
Martha was very likely serving as a deacon or church leader in those
early days of the Christian church, and it is easy to see, when starting a new
church, how easy it would be to be encumbered.
No doubt the reason this story was in the Bible is the early church wanted
to stress the importance of following the word of Christ rather than to get too
wrapped up in church business. Martha might
have been too concerned over what color to paint the Sunday School!
How is this applicable to us? Does it really matter if Martha was serving
in the kitchen or the church?
Probably
not, but her feeling encumbered does, for stress is an issue we find all too
often pervading our lives.
Are we racecar types?
Going really fast but just round and round in circles? Our culture fuels this, and there is little
incentive to slow down. How many people
zip through intersections on the yellow light, or impatiently scan other lines
at the grocery store to see if their line is “winning”?
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Matt 11:28 says, “Come to me all who are weary and burdened
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke
upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will
find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Jesus came so we could have abundant life. John 10:10 says: I have come that they might
have life and have it to the full (or a rich and satisfying life, or abundant
life, depending on your translation). The focus is on fullness. What it doesn’t
say is, “I have come so that you can have a stressed out life.”
There is a connection between the abundance promised in John
10:10, and rest for our stressed out lives.
They go together. We must join
with the Christ, be yoked together so that we can work side by side. We can look over and see him is beside us,
and learn. Check with Jesus as often as
you check Facebook, or your email, or Pinterest!
Hurry is the enemy of rest.
Jesus was never in a hurry. Are
we racing ahead of Jesus, who walks? Your
spiritual growth cannot be rushed. Love
cannot be hurried. What we long for, and
what we need, and what Jesus promises, is not available in the rat race.
Dallas Willard, who wrote Renovation of the Heart,
asks, if you were to describe Jesus in one word, what would it be? Savior?
Love? Compassionate? Teacher?
How about RELAXED? That probably
wouldn’t be the first word many of us would use, but think about it.
In the classic book, Your God is Too Small, J.B.
Phillips wrote, “…God is never in a hurry.
Long preparation, careful planning, and slow growth would seem to be
leading characteristics of a spiritual life…It is refreshing to study the poise
and quietness of Christ. His task and
responsibility might well have driven a man out of his mind. But He was never in a hurry, never impressed
by numbers, never a slave of the clock.
He was acting, He said, as he observed God to act—never in a hurry.”
Consider that Jesus waited 30 years to begin his
ministry. He moved slowly and stopped
for people. When the ruler of the
synagogue, Jairus, asked him to come heal his daughter, who was at the point of
death, Jesus stopped to heal the woman with the issue of blood. If you were the dad and your daughter was
dying, wouldn’t you be frustrated? Yet
Jesus modeled a love that stops and treats people like they are the only ones
that matter.
When Lazarus was dying, Jesus tarried two more days, and
Lazarus dies. But his resurrection was
an even greater event than his death.
Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be
done. HAD TO BE DONE? Martha has chosen to be distracted. Mary has chosen the better part. Chosen!
Let us be focused on the better part too. Let us choose to sit and listen.
We might rationalize the push to go faster by equating an
unhurried life to laziness or one without productivity. If Jesus were here today would he care about the
things we think are important? The
greatest commandment is not “Get more things done.”
John Ortberg wrote in The Life You’ve Always Wanted
that hurrying is a disordered heart. What
happens to the heart as it gets and receives love, how does it grow and
change?
No matter what Martha’s job was, she might have thought Mary
was wasting time. But don’t think that efficiency
equates solutions. Real love is willing
to “waste” time. So this week, slow
down. Experience the rhythms of
Jesus. He owns your burdens. Your life will become less about your pace,
and more about His. Hear that still,
small voice of His unhurried, abundant nature.
