Who is the faithful disciple to Christ? This is a huge and very important question for us to ask ourselves, as we are so often imperfect in our own efforts at discipleship. Maybe our faith is already deeply rooted in us, by the grace of God, and our practice of it is becoming more habitual. Maybe our desire is great to follow Jesus in all things, and yet we are aware of our failures too, maybe even more so because our faith is well formed. They say that no one knows their brokenness before God more than those who are well down the road to becoming saints.
There is one thing we can count on, though, if we are truly trying to love God and our neighbor as Jesus did. We can trust that God’s love for us is extravagant, and especially toward those who may be most unreliable in their efforts. We live in the world after all and, sometimes, we are tempted to foolishly give too much of our attention, our time, even our obedience to worldly things, ideas, idols of various kinds that can never love us back. In this passage from Luke’s Gospel, Martha, the sister of Mary and Lazarus, is rebuked by Jesus for allowing her work to make her lose sight of what is more important and right there in her presence.
Jesus comes into the town of Bethany, where he is welcomed by Martha. We know that Martha, Mary, and their brother, Lazarus, are already good friends of Jesus. While Jesus is in their house, Mary and Lazarus are deep in conversation with Jesus and listening to his every word, while Martha is busily doing all the cooking and setting the table. All the time she is doing this, she is increasingly frustrated with her sister for sitting at the feet of Jesus while she does all the work. Finally, in full frustration, she comes into the room and says: “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?” Then, she blurts out: “Tell her to help me.”
Jesus responds to Martha with a gentle yet challenging remark. He replies: “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken from her” (Lk. 10:41). In other words, the table can wait, Martha. Martha was so focused on the work, the details of hospitality, the duties of home, which are all important, but when she let those things take priority she lost sight of what is truly important, that one thing that is above all else, that relational love that is always present to us in Jesus who patiently waits for us to recognize his presence and to come to just sit with him awhile, to be fully present to him, with all of our heart, mind, and will.
How many times do we allow ourselves to get caught up in the little things, busy work, thinking that it is what gives us meaning or self-importance? We live in a time that demands busyness, ambition, and being number one. To sit still, to spend time in solitude and silence, or contemplating things of greater importance, is often considered laziness, even foolishness. But when we focus too much of our attention on the constant and busy pursuit of things, ideas, positions, etc., thinking that they will finally give us that elusive dream of uncomplicated peace and happiness we so naturally desire, are we not losing sight of what is more important than all of that, our relationship with the “one thing only” that can do that?. Might the boredom, the frustration and the emptiness we often feel be the direct result of having focused too much on things that have no life in them, that lack the capacity to love us in return?
While Martha was burdened by her self-concerns, Mary was experiencing the joy of being in the presence of Jesus, listening to his words, knowing in her heart and mind that his words were the words of eternal life. She was at peace, content in the presence of Love itself. We can imagine that when Martha heard Jesus’ words, she knew immediately that he was right. We can imagine her putting everything down and joining Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus. The details of hospitality and the meal would come at the proper time.
In reality, it is not because we have leisure and time to think of God and how to live in his ways, or when we find ourselves sufficiently free from life’s cares that we go to God, but quite simply because we need him. We cannot get by in any way without his constant and attentive love for us, whether or not we know it, believe it. We may lose sight, forget for a time, getting caught up as we so often do in the busyness of our lives, but he never loses sight of us, never removes himself from our presence. He always remains lovingly and patiently present to us. Let us, then, like Mary, learn to choose the better part and take regular time out from our daily hamster-wheel-busy lives to sit still for a while in the presence of the One Who Is Love Eternal. (1Jn. 4:7-8) It will make all the difference.
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