I am a Martha...
The child and I were on the way to a friend's beach condo the other day and were listening to a sermon en route. It was the Bible story about Mary and Martha, Luke 10:38-42. It had all the typical items we are all familiar with in this story...but then came the lesson.
The real impact of the lesson came about the speaker's revelation/thought that Mary was a Martha, before she was a Mary. Now this has more to do with the characters of the women. They were both believers. And, in this day and age would perhaps both be viewed as devout Christian women. The thing about these two women were they were polar opposites on how they dealt with Christ when he entered their house and how they responded to His words to them.
Martha flitted about. She made sure all was clean and the men were tended to...she worried about the details of the household and wanted everyone to be comfortable and fed. She became agitated that Mary sat at the feet of Christ and did not assist her in the household maintenance and chores. She even implored Jesus to get Mary to her feet to get her to help.
I do not really think or perhaps I am not sure if Mary really so much refused to assist and help. I think she was more wrapped up in the knowledge that this was her Lord and Savior, in the form of man, as the scriptures had long foretold would come...and she fell at his feet. How amazing to have the Lord before you and to know it is true, when others were oblivious of what was before them and what was to come in a few short days.
In the sermon, the speaker was much involved on describing the actions of these two women. And how the actions relate to their faith individually. When he described Martha, I found her description to be personally mine. And while he was describing her, I said aloud several times: That is me. Of course, the peanut gallery consisting of one child agreed with me from the background of the back seat. I tend to stay busy with a never ending stream of chores I see to be done in this household. The floor and kitchen seem to beckon me the most. I must sweep. I must have everything clean and put away in the kitchen before any type of meal prep can begin to transpire. The floor of the house is swept minimally twice a day and the kitchen floor is often spot mopped daily by hand. The annoys my child and husband to no end, both who like to profess openly they believe I have OCD related to issues of cleaning. I tend to disagree outwardly, but inwardly think they may be correct at times.
I do like to stay busy and think of what needs to be done next when I am not busy. I admit I flit around this house and with my activities...one to the next, multitasking as I go.
Martha was so busy with her tasks, she forgot or was too busy to be paying attention to God. The thing was that Mary was probably a lot like Martha before she became involved in the Lord. I reflect then and now that I need to evolve more to become more like a Mary and less at times like a Martha.
The real impact of the lesson came about the speaker's revelation/thought that Mary was a Martha, before she was a Mary. Now this has more to do with the characters of the women. They were both believers. And, in this day and age would perhaps both be viewed as devout Christian women. The thing about these two women were they were polar opposites on how they dealt with Christ when he entered their house and how they responded to His words to them.
Martha flitted about. She made sure all was clean and the men were tended to...she worried about the details of the household and wanted everyone to be comfortable and fed. She became agitated that Mary sat at the feet of Christ and did not assist her in the household maintenance and chores. She even implored Jesus to get Mary to her feet to get her to help.
I do not really think or perhaps I am not sure if Mary really so much refused to assist and help. I think she was more wrapped up in the knowledge that this was her Lord and Savior, in the form of man, as the scriptures had long foretold would come...and she fell at his feet. How amazing to have the Lord before you and to know it is true, when others were oblivious of what was before them and what was to come in a few short days.
In the sermon, the speaker was much involved on describing the actions of these two women. And how the actions relate to their faith individually. When he described Martha, I found her description to be personally mine. And while he was describing her, I said aloud several times: That is me. Of course, the peanut gallery consisting of one child agreed with me from the background of the back seat. I tend to stay busy with a never ending stream of chores I see to be done in this household. The floor and kitchen seem to beckon me the most. I must sweep. I must have everything clean and put away in the kitchen before any type of meal prep can begin to transpire. The floor of the house is swept minimally twice a day and the kitchen floor is often spot mopped daily by hand. The annoys my child and husband to no end, both who like to profess openly they believe I have OCD related to issues of cleaning. I tend to disagree outwardly, but inwardly think they may be correct at times.
I do like to stay busy and think of what needs to be done next when I am not busy. I admit I flit around this house and with my activities...one to the next, multitasking as I go.
Martha was so busy with her tasks, she forgot or was too busy to be paying attention to God. The thing was that Mary was probably a lot like Martha before she became involved in the Lord. I reflect then and now that I need to evolve more to become more like a Mary and less at times like a Martha.
Comments
Post a Comment