Have you ever felt completely overwhelmed by your to-do list? Like there’s always more to accomplish and never enough time? I’ve been there too, and recently, the biblical story of Martha and Mary has completely transformed my perspective on busyness, purpose, and what truly matters in life.
The Martha Syndrome: When Busyness Becomes an Identity
In Luke 10:38-42, we meet two sisters with very different approaches to life. Martha opens her home to Jesus and immediately gets caught up in all the preparations and hosting duties. Mary, on the other hand, simply sits at Jesus’ feet, listening to his teaching.
I can relate to Martha so much. I’m that person who’s always doing something: Checking items off my list, planning the next project, and feeling responsible for making sure everything gets done. Maybe you’re the same way?
What struck me recently was Martha’s boldness (or should I say bossiness?) in this story. She actually approaches Jesus and says, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
Can you imagine? Martha was so convinced she was right that she tried to tell Jesus what to do! She wanted him to validate her busyness and correct her sister’s priorities.
The Divine Perspective: “Martha, Martha…”
Jesus’ response is gentle but direct: “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
This isn’t a simple rebuke. Jesus sees something deeper going on with Martha. He recognizes that her issue isn’t really about needing help with chores – it’s about anxiety, identity, and misplaced priorities.
Jesus doesn’t say Martha’s service is wrong. What he points out is that she’s “worried and upset about many things.” She’s carrying unnecessary anxiety and allowing task-completion to define her worth.
Finding Identity in Surrender, Not Service
I’ve realized that like Martha, I’ve often sought significance in what I do rather than who I am. When our identity becomes wrapped up in our accomplishments, service, or role, we miss the “one thing” that truly matters – our relationship with Jesus.
The story isn’t telling us not to serve. It’s teaching us about proper order: be a Mary before you become a Martha. Sit at his feet first, then rise to serve from that place of connection and identity.
This hit home for me when I reflected on my own ministry journey. Years ago, before launching my church, I was assigned to serve in children’s ministry. I initially felt it was beneath my abilities and expertise. I’d been preaching internationally, seeing miracles, and had big plans for my future. Working with kids felt like a demotion.
But God was exposing the Martha spirit in me through my need to find significance in my assignment rather than in surrender.
The John Story: Ministry to the One
During my time in children’s ministry, I met a man named John who would show up at 5 AM to help set up. As I got to know him, I discovered he was an alcoholic estranged from his wife. He was serving out of a false gospel, trying to earn God’s approval through his works.
The Holy Spirit revealed something profound: John and I both needed the gospel. He was serving to earn salvation; I was serving with pride. Both of us were missing the point.
God wasn’t as concerned about my preaching platform as He was about my heart. So instead of focusing on “big ministry,” I began investing in John’s life. I shared my own marriage struggles and alcohol recovery journey, helping him toward sobriety and reconciliation.
Each small victory in John’s life – one month sober, a date with his wife, a genuine laugh shared – became more meaningful than any sermon I could have preached.
The One Thing That Matters: Wasting Your Life in Worship
Jesus told Martha that Mary had chosen “what is better.” What was Mary doing? Simply sitting at Jesus’ feet, listening, learning, and worshiping.
In our productivity-obsessed culture, this seems like wasted time. But what if the greatest tragedy isn’t failing to accomplish our goals, but rather spending our lives worried about things Jesus never asked us to care about?
What if we’ve filled our schedules with pursuits that ultimately don’t matter in eternity? What if, like Martha, we’re distracted by many things when only one thing is truly needed?
From Mary to Martha: The Right Sequence
The story of Martha and Mary isn’t about choosing between being a worker or a worshiper. It’s about the sequence. Mary’s posture of worship comes first, then Martha’s service follows.
When we first establish our identity at Jesus’ feet, we’re free to serve without seeking significance through our service. We serve from overflow, not to fill a void.
The Full Circle: Mary’s Extravagant Worship
In John 12, we see the story come full circle. Jesus returns to Bethany where Martha, Mary, and their brother Lazarus (whom Jesus had raised from the dead) host another dinner. The text says something beautiful: “Martha served.” No complaints this time, no anxiety, just service flowing from a right heart.
And Mary? She takes an expensive perfume worth a year’s wages and pours it on Jesus’ feet, wiping them with her hair. The house filled with fragrance, and some theologians suggest Jesus may have still smelled like this perfume days later as he hung on the cross.
This extravagant worship disturbed Judas, who complained about waste. But Jesus defended Mary again, saying, “Leave her alone… You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”
True Worship Reveals Motives
I’ve noticed something powerful: true worship reveals everyone’s motives. When Martha saw Mary worshiping, it disturbed her task-oriented spirit. When Judas saw Mary’s extravagance, it exposed his greed.
When we’re in an atmosphere of genuine worship, it will cause everyone’s ulterior motives to be exposed. If you find yourself constantly judging others’ expressions of devotion, God may be revealing something in your heart that needs healing.
Breaking Competition With Celebration
What if instead of competing with others in ministry, service, or spiritual growth, we celebrated each other? What if when we see someone in deep worship, instead of judgment, we say, “I want to go deeper because of them”?
A worship-first community becomes a place where Martha sees Mary, and then joins her at Jesus’ feet. It becomes a place where we spur each other on to love and good deeds, not out of competition but from celebration.
Your Invitation: From Distraction to Devotion
As I reflect on this timeless story, I’m challenged to examine my own life. Where am I allowing tasks to define my worth? Where am I creating drama or problems because my heart is anxious about many things?
Jesus’ invitation to Martha is his invitation to us: shift from distraction to devotion. Move from anxiety to adoration. Find your identity not in what you accomplish but in whose you are.
This doesn’t mean abandoning responsibility. Martha still served in John 12, but her service flowed from a different place. It no longer came from compulsion, anxiety, or identity-seeking, but from a heart that had learned the one thing needed.
Today, I invite you to join me in choosing “what is better.” Let’s be Marys before we become Marthas. Let’s waste our lives in worship, knowing that what the world sees as waste, Jesus sees as worth it.
After all, only one thing is truly needed. Everything else will follow when we get that one thing right.
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