Written by Pastor John Eich
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Alma, MI
Luke 10:38-42
38 As they went on their way, Jesus came into a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who was sitting at the Lord’s feet and was listening to his word. 40 But Martha was distracted with all her serving. She came over and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her to help me.” 41 The Lord answered and told her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but one thing is needed. In fact, Mary has chosen that better part, which will not be taken away from her.”
To the holy and faithful in Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. (Colossians 1:2).
One day a man named Dan took a walk through the park. Dan was a very friendly extrovert. So it was no problem for him to stop to talk with a local man named Bob. During the conversation, Dan asked Bob, “What do you do for a living?” Bob replied matter of factly, “I’m a Christian.” Dan was puzzled by the answer. He tried again, “I don’t think you understand me. What is your job? What do you do to earn a living?” Bob said, “Oh. My job is to be a Christian. I earn a living as a butcher. I just cut meat to pay the bills.”
What is your business? What do you do for a living? It’s very easy to get so caught up in your job, your career, your education, your family – that the business of being a Christian is left to a few hours spent in church on Sunday mornings. We are very busy people. Who of us here hasn’t used the busyness of life as an excuse to not do the business of Jesus?
Our text about Mary and Martha is a familiar one, and its lesson is very clear. “Make time for the word of God, because God’s word is the one thing truly needed in life.” Why share this lesson in a worship service? Presumably those in attendance already know this lesson. So aren’t we just preaching to the choir?
And yet, “Martha, Martha” of today’s text also knew this lesson. Martha, like her sister Mary and brother Lazarus, was a devout believer in Jesus. Martha loved Jesus and recognized Him as her Lord and Savior. When Lazarus unexpectedly died, Martha expressed trust in Jesus as her Savior and a confident hope in the resurrection of the dead.
Martha was not a bad person. Martha was a distracted person; distracted from the word of God by dinner preparations. Her intentions were right. Her priorities were wrong. She focused on what she was doing for Jesus instead of what Jesus was doing for her.
This story is ultimately about Jesus.
This is why Jesus lovingly told her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed,” Luke 10:41-42. And this morning, the same Jesus says the same words to us: “Only one thing is needed.”
But do we really need such a reminder from Jesus? Without question. Like Martha, we are Christians. Like Martha, we love Jesus and recognize Him as our Savior. Like Martha, we welcome Jesus into our house. And on Sundays we visit His house. Like Martha, we want to serve Jesus. But also like Martha, we face daily distractions, worries, and pressures that threaten to steal our attention and misplace our priorities regarding the word of God.
“But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made…” We instantly criticize her, don’t we? “Martha, how could you be distracted from the word of God with Jesus Christ sitting in your living room?” But isn’t Jesus Christ with us today in this room? Aren’t we often distracted in church, and in much the same way Martha was distracted—by all the preparations that had to be made?” Dinner preparations. Work preparations. Even church preparations.
Ironically, while sitting in these very pews, we can hear the Savior say, “but only one thing needed,” and yet find ourselves thinking: “Yep, one thing. Jesus is right. I only need one thing in my life. That reminds me, I have one thing I need to pick up from Meijer on the way home from church. I have one thing I need to complete at work. I have one thing I need to say to my coworker at lunch. And by the way, is the thermostat working? Is that a fly on the wall? Must be. It’s moving.” Distractions, imperceptibly leading us away from “the one thing needed.”
Or what of all the distractions and interruptions of our electronic age—phone calls, text messages, emails, Facebook, Twitter, Skype, Snapchat, Youtube, Zoom; all the gadgets that ping, beep, and buzz day and night. Our modern, insane way of life is filled with these electronic distractions. How can we concentrate on anything?
And perhaps the greatest distraction of all is worry. “Martha, Martha,” said Jesus, “you are worried and upset about many things.” The Greek word translated as “worried” in this verse literally means ‘to have a divided mind;’ to be double-minded or to be of two minds about something: indecisive, uncertain, unable to determine what to do or where to turn, pulled in multiple directions.
We must hear the Law, because Martha’s distraction is ours. Her anxiety is ours. Her preoccupation with doing, fixing, arranging, and accomplishing—it mirrors our lives in this fallen world. We fill our days with busyness and burdens. We obsess over what needs to be done. And even our service—yes, even our church work, hospitality, and vocations—can become distractions if we place them above the Word of Jesus.
We live in a Martha world. We are people addicted to motion. The Law confronts us: when we neglect the Word of Christ for the work of our hands, we risk losing the one thing needful. When we treat the Gospel as secondary to our duties, even noble ones, we’ve flipped the script of the Gospel and the order of faith and life.
Martha is not condemned for serving. But she is gently rebuked for allowing her service to obscure the Savior.
Like Martha in our story, our sin distracts us pulling us to think of ourselves and what we need to do instead of what Jesus does for us. I need to come up with a solution. I need to be more faithful. I need to read the Bible more.
That is actually what we do when we ignore God's commands and desires for our lives and live however we want. We ignore God's will and do whatever we want, we are in effect telling God He doesn't know what is actually best for us. We also tell God what to do when we decide how to worship Him or serve Him. When we spend more time performing for God than receiving from Him, we have reversed His plan.
You see, Jesus came to reveal God's love, to love you God's way. He came to pay the price to bind up our wounds. He came to restore us. Jesus came to bear the sins of the whole world. To share that love with us, to get us to realize how God wraps our minds and lives in that love, that is the one thing needful.
Jesus came to serve us with the love of God. He continues to serve us here. Our Lord speaks and we listen. His Word bestows what it says – peace, faith, forgiveness and life. Faith that is born from what is heard acknowledges the gifts received with eager thankfulness and praise.
That’s why Mary chose the right thing because she allowed Jesus to be exactly who He came to be – the servant of all. She received from Jesus His Word and His love. The Gospels are not written to teach us what people should do for Jesus. There are very few stories of anyone doing anything to benefit Jesus. Instead, the main story of the Bible is what God is doing for us. The overarching story of God is how He serves those whom He loves.
This is your story about what God has done for you. You are the one who is loved by God in Jesus Christ. You are being served by God. You are one who gets what God gives - life, salvation. This is our act of worship. This is how we believe. This is how we trust. Faith and trust mean not trying to rely on ourselves spiritually. Instead, we love and trust Jesus by repenting of our sins and letting Him give us His gifts of love, forgiveness, and grace.
In the place of your sin, He gave you His perfect love. That is His role in your life. He is not in your life to be served so that you have to live up to certain expectations. Jesus came to give you rest from all that by serving by dying for you and rising again.
The rhythm of our worship is from Him to us, Him serving us and then from us back to Him. He gives His gifts, and together we receive and exalt them. We build one another up as we speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Our Lord gives us His body to eat and His blood to drink. Finally His blessing moves us out into our calling, where His gifts have their fruition.
There is a time to sit, and there is a time to serve—a time to rest, and a time to work, just as Ecclesiastes says (3:1). But the order matters. Faith first, then works. Grace first, then service. Receiving first, then giving.
This is not a call to abandon our responsibilities; it’s a call to reorder them around Christ. It’s a call to remember that when your to-do list is overwhelming, when your life seems stretched thin, Jesus does not need your work. He invites you to His Word and welcomes you to rest. For the Lord of the Sabbath has said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).
There are many things to occupy you. But there is only one thing that is needful, necessary, and indispensable. That one thing is sitting at Jesus’ feet. It is listening to him speak to you. It is setting aside everything else in your life and making Jesus your priority. It is not working or vacationing or carting your kids to their activities. It is resting in Jesus. It is not giving to Jesus but being given to. It is not serving Jesus but being served by him. It is gathering where two or three have come together in his name.
He still speaks today—in His Word in your Bible, in the preaching of the Gospel at the pulpit, and in the Sacraments. He speaks forgiveness, peace, rest, and life. Sit at His feet. Listen. Be still, and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10); for this is the one thing needful.
And then, when your heart is filled, rise and serve with joy. Be a Martha who has first been a Mary. Serve in freedom. Work in the peace of knowing that Christ has already served you with all you need for eternal life.
Amen.