Martha at Christmas
"Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things;
but only one thing is necessary"
Luke 10:41-42NASB
In considering how we can focus on Jesus during the hustle and bustle of the holidays, I found myself again and again drawn to the story of Mary and Martha.
To start, I always thought the story of Mary and Martha was a lot longer than it actually is! Their story, which we’ve surely heard at least in passing, is a whopping 5 verses. We find these sisters in Luke 10. And considering they were women, it’s probably considered a pretty big chunk of space.
I’ve found 3 lessons for today to keep in mind during our Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations in these 5 verses, tucked at the end of chapter 10. And I want to focus on Martha's story, because as much as I want naturally to be Mary, I know better. You might feel the same.
First, I noticed that in verse 38 we hear that “He came to a certain village where a woman welcomed him into her home.” The MSG version says she “welcomed him and made him feel quite at home.”
I’m not a theologian, so there’s a good chance I’m missing things. I know they are good friends by the time their brother Lazarus dies. This, however, sounds like a first meeting to me. Luke is telling us about an unnamed village and a woman. I do think it’s likely that Martha had heard of Jesus, but it doesn’t sound like he had called ahead to ask for an invitation. He hadn’t booked the airbnb she had available. I don’t think it sounds like she had messaged him on instagram or Facebook to offer up a meal. Maybe she met him out in the market and said “we’re getting ready to eat, please come join us.” She was ready to open an invitation that hadn’t been planned ahead of time.
I think we all start the Christmas season with the intentions of an open invitation for Jesus to enter our hearts. But, we end up putting a bunch of other things in front of the door: the school program, the decorations, the baking, keeping up with someone else's social media.
When we realize that we’ve blocked Jesus out, it’s time to reopen the door and the invitation. Especially in the moments we didn’t see him coming- snapping at the kids, feeling resentment towards our husbands.
Second, I noticed in verse 40, we hear that “Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing.”
Are you kidding?! Martha let Jesus enter her house before everything was ready?! The table probably wasn’t set. I’m sure food was still in the oven. I bet she still needed to cut the veggies. Did she know what everyone wanted to drink?
Our family gatherings aren't even at my house, and I still show up without being prepared! Maybe you're the same: There’s a diaper the change (not anymore, but used to be), and presents to haul in, and the hats to pick up outside that fell right off the girls’ heads, and another kiddo to get to the bathroom before we have wet pants.
Again, we start the season with good intentions. I have a few activities we do at our house so that our family will stay focused on Jesus' birth. I'm always sure we'll do better at completing the family tasks at Christmas than at other times of the year.
Likewise, I think we expect, or at least I expect, that my heart will be more pure in the midst of the season. That my heart will be sensitive to the work of Jesus.
But who am I kidding? My heart isn’t ready! I still feel anger, frustration, jealousy, and impatience during Christmas. Practicing advent activities and putting up a tree does NOT make my heart ready! If we wait for our hearts to be ready, Jesus will never be allowed in! And we need him now- in the midst of the preparations!
Third, I noticed the big wrap up in verse 42- "there is only one thing, Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away!” The Message version says “Only one thing is essential, and Mary has chosen it- it’s the main course.”
I stopped when I read the Message version of verse 42. I imagine Martha doing the same as Jesus told her “you’re working on all this food to eat, but the main course is already prepared! Sit with me, join me!”
How much clearer can Jesus be? I'm pretty sure what He's saying is something like “stop what you’re doing. It’s ok if there’s something incomplete. I’m here and you’re missing it!” At our get togethers, maybe this means it’s ok if the table isn’t set quite the way you want it. Maybe it’s ok if there’s still dust on the mantle. Maybe it’s ok if you didn’t finish all 4 crafts you planned over the season, and it’s ok if you didn’t make all 10 types of cookies you had hoped.
For our hearts, maybe this means it's time to stop working so hard at the worldly Advent tasks, and just sit with Jesus.
I think it’s always easy to see what needs done, but making it there is a lot harder. Prayers as you also consider these 3 things we learn from Martha:
1. Invite Jesus, even in the moments you weren't expecting Him.
Let Jesus help us prepare our hearts instead of toiling to do it on our own.
Let our expectations of what we want done bend to Jesus' presence with us.
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