Continuing with our lesson on putting Jesus at the center of our lives, today we consider the story of two sisters who were followers of Jesus, Mary and Martha. We read that, ‘Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word’ (Luke 10: 38-39). This is where we first see the distinction between the two sisters, the Bible qualifies Mary as the one who sat at the feet of Jesus, listening attentively to Him and valuing His Word above everything else in her vicinity. The value that Mary placed on Jesus is again evident in a different setting, where she anointed His feet with oil worth a year’s wages (John 12:3-6) – that is how much she treasured the Lord! About Martha on the other hand, the Bible tells us that she was otherwise engaged, preoccupied with countless and burdensome acts of service that she was even led to frustration. She said, ‘“Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me” (Luke 10:40). We see that Martha had immediately jumped to offense, accusing the Lord of not caring for her and proceeded to demand that He scold her sister. She was right in Jesus’ presence, but she had allowed self-centeredness to rob her of the benefits that come with knowing the Lord. This happens today, where people are physically in the house of the Lord but their soul is troubled by many other secondary things that cost them their filling. This is where we see the critical need for balance in the church, that while it is important to serve the Lord and be responsible in His house -Jesus Himself said that the greatest of them all is the one who serves (Matthew 23:11) – this should never come at the expense of one’s own personal fellowship with the Lord. We see Him respond, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her” (v. 41-42). He makes it clear that while we may have other responsibilities, there is one greater than all – close fellowship with the Lord – and that the choice to pursue this fellowship is our responsibility, it can never be imposed on us. And once we have chosen Him, He can never be taken away from us! Glory to God!
As we have previously discussed, real humility is full alignment to the Word of God, not placing ourselves below or above what God has said of us. Apostle Peter writes, ‘Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you’ (1 Peter 5:6-7); showing us that first and foremost, it is our own responsibility to bring ourselves under God’s subjection and it is God’s part to lift us up. The Apostle continues in the same thought, saying that as a result of our humility, we then throw all we care for in the hands of the Lord, removing ourselves completely out of the picture because we understand that He cares for us and is capable of handling all our problems. Trusting the Lord is an expression of humility, church!
One lesson we take from Martha is that offense is an enemy of humility, because it demonstrates an inflated sense of self that is triggered and provoked whenever one perceives another to be violating this self-worth. This is not to say that people will not provoke and ill treat you, but it is to say that we have to predetermine our response to such matters to ensure that our hearts are not affected. Consider the example of Stephen, the Bible tells us that the Jews were hauling all kinds of insults at him for preaching the gospel and physically assaulting him for this cause (Acts 7:54-60). Instead of fixating on the people’s rejection of him and how absolutely right he was to be preaching the gospel, the Bible tells us that he ‘gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God’ (v. 56). Had he kept his eyes on his enemies, he would have completely missed the great heavenly convocation looking upon him and welcoming him home. Stephen’s focus was on Jesus and his mindset was on the eternal, he had already died to self and had nothing of himself to hold onto. Just before breathing his last, he said, ‘Lord, do not charge them with this sin’ (v. 60). But today, we are so easily offended and triggered, we carry so much of ourselves that Jesus finds so little expression through us.
We have the godly model of real love in 1 Corinthians 13, where we see that seemingly spiritual activities (speaking in tongues, prophesying, revelation, giving, etc.) hold no bearing in the absence of love. We are told that real love is kind and thoughtful, patient, is not jealous, and does not self promote proudly and with arrogance. Instead, love is hopeful, always believing the very best of the other person and looking past their mistakes with an attitude of peaceable long-suffering. These are practices that profit the giver as much as they do the one on the receiving end, this is God’s intelligent design – you have more to gain by living a life of love than choosing the deceptive highway of self preservation.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, be exalted over all my possessions, nothing on earth shall seem so dear to me as You being glorified through my life. Be exalted over my pride, my ego, my reputation, my desire for success, my relationships, my business, my degrees and accolades – You are above all! I give You Your proper place of honor in my life, a throne You share with nothing and no one! You are the focus and the pursuit of my life. Show me where I deviate from this, Oh Lord! Your mercy sustains me! In the name of Jesus I pray, amen!
