Let's just rewind and imagine this scenario. Two sisters, one house, one celebrity who just happens to be the son of God, just dropping by for a visit. Mary and Martha were probably sitting at home, enjoying their quite afternoon, when Jesus and his entourage take over their house. Both sisters were surprised, but they react in different ways. Mary chooses to sit in the living room and listen to all of Jesus's stories - after all, it isn't every day that the son of God stops by, or that a man would include her in his storytelling at all! Martha, on the other hand, heads straight towards the kitchen to prepare dinner. These people are going to be hungry soon, and somebody had better feed them!
After an hour or so, Martha is feeling pretty bitter. Here she is, slaving away in the hot kitchen while her baby sister sits in the cool front room with Jesus. Doesn't she know her place, her duties, where she belongs? How dare she neglect responsibilities in favor of listening to the men!? Finally, Martha storms into the living room. "Jesus!" she interrupts, "How can you let my sister do this? Don't you know that I'm killing myself in the kitchen to make your dinner? Why should she get to sit here and not do any work?!" And I can just see Jesus's expression as he turns to her. His eyes are full of grace and love, but he is pained that she is missing the point so greatly. "Martha," he sighs, "you still don't understand, do you? You have chosen to leave us and work, but Mary has chosen to listen to me, and she chose the better thing. I can't take that away from her!"
Maybe it finally clicks for Martha, or maybe it doesn't, but the story still speaks to us. Every day in life we are faced with a thousand choices like this. What do we choose? Where do our values lie? What is the most important thing, work, or community? So many of us choose the path of Martha, we choose to stress and work. When people come to our house (figurative or literal) we worry about the details instead of choosing to enjoy their company. We need to learn to put people first. I've learned lately that other things will fall into place. You can order out, you can make dinner with other people, you can just snack. People aren't going to remember your meal, that's not why they came over. Jesus didn't drop in on Mary and Martha because he knew about her cooking. People come to fellowship, they come for soul time, and community. They come because of how you make them feel, not because of what you give to them.
Mary saw how precious her time with Jesus was. She chose to laugh with him and listen to him and interact while she had the time. She had her priorities straight, and put people first.
Sister Jeanelle addressed a different angle to this story, that I also find just as valid. In our chaotic culture, we seldom find rest, and seldom make time for God, but consistently throughout the Bible, God is reminding us that he needs to be our first priority. The world is overwhelmingly filled with things that need us. It is so easy to get sucked into an exhausting cycle of trying to fill needs and solve problems, and in short, trying to save the world. We begin to see these problems as our own missions, things that we need to solve, and it leads to burn out. We pour ourselves into serving others, but at the same time, we are neglecting community. It's not our mission or our purpose, it's God's, and it's meant to be done in community. We can't do this alone - we were never made to! We work and worry and again and again, we fail to make God our priority. Martha stressed about serving others, but failed to see the value in spending time with God. Mary on the other hand "chose the better" and spent time at Jesus's feet. Service is important, and integral to our faith, but spending time with God is more important. It needs to be done first, before we can serve. We need to be filled by God before we can seek to fill others.
It's important to take time to rest, and come before God. Our world worships busyness, and I've fallen into that trap consistently. It's so easy to believe the lie that being busy makes me more valuable, more appealing, more satisfactory. It somehow makes me a better person , or increases my worth. I say that this is a lie for good reason. It leads only to burn out and exhaustion. Busyness has been my downfall. Adding one more thing suddenly topples the delicately balanced pile, and I'm left in a tangle of unfulfilled obligations and let downs. Placing my value in my ability to juggle many activities leaves me questioning my value when I drop a ball; when people stop saying, "My what a busy girl you are!" and start saying, "Are you sure you aren't taking on too much?"
It is important to value rest, regardless of what the world teaches us. What our world needs is more people, rested and filled with God's spirit, ready to tackle brokenness in partnership with other broken people. We can't do it alone my friends, and we certainly can't do it without God. Make time to rest this week, and fill yourself at God's feet.
