Martha's problem was not doctrine, devotion, or sin — it was priority, because serving Jesus had become more urgent to her than being with Jesus.
Speakers
Matt Felton — teaching
The setup: what your life would say about your priorities
The greatest dangers to your discipleship may be very good things.
Imagine an expert researcher with access to your calendar, devices, bank accounts, every word you spoke, your emotions, and your thoughts. What would they conclude your top priority is?
Would that conclusion match what you would write on paper?
This summer's Luke series has covered the call of disciples, the cast of disciples, the way of disciples, and the cost of discipleship.
Jesus was headed to Jerusalem to die but detoured to Bethany, a small town two miles outside Jerusalem, to visit Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.
Most discipleship happens in the mundane: the car ride, the phone scroll, the dishes.
Two ways to misread the story
This is not Jesus revealing which personality type he prefers. There is room in the kingdom for every type.
Do not skip helping in the kitchen tonight claiming you need to pray. You can pray before and after the dishes.
This is not a call to the contemplative life. Medieval monks and nuns cited Mary to defend monasticism.
It is a tale of two sisters, like the tale of two brothers in the prodigal son — except this one really happened.
What Martha got dangerously wrong
Martha likely ran the house; Luke calls it her house, and she speaks her mind. In John 11 she blurts out about Lazarus's four-day-old odor.
Luke shows her unraveling: welcoming in verse 38, distracted in verse 40, then accusing Jesus — "Lord, do you not care?" — and commanding him to reprove Mary.
Martha is not a bad person and not going to hell. In John 11:27 she confesses Jesus as the Christ, and John 11:5 says Jesus loved her.
Great things can distract you from ultimate things. Serving is commanded, but you can serve in the place of being with Jesus.
Disordered priorities create disordered lives. On the surface Martha was bossy; underneath, Jesus named her as anxious and afraid.
Jesus offers deeper solutions. Martha wanted a helper; her greatest need was him.
Spurgeon preached on this text: "Christ does not stand in need of thee half so much as thou dost stand in need of him."
What Mary got eternally right
Mary sat. "At the Lord's feet" is an ancient idiom for discipleship, like "threw in the towel" or "buried the hatchet."
The freed demoniac of Luke 8 sat at Jesus's feet, and Paul said in Acts 22 he was educated at the feet of Gamaliel.
It was extraordinarily rare for a rabbi to take a woman as a disciple. Christianity gave women that dignity.
Mary heard. Faith comes by hearing, so the sermon will always be the main event in this church.
Listen for the word of God even under a bad preacher. Find the kernel in the husk and hide it in your heart.
Mary chose — the good portion, both morally good and beautiful, and the eternal portion that will not be taken away.
Everything else is temporary; death strips it all. Jesus will meet you in the grave and carry you into eternity.
Key Takeaways
One thing must sit at the center: being with Jesus and receiving his words.
Anxiety and anger are the tell that your priorities have shifted away from Jesus.
What you can do for Christ matters far less than what Christ has done for you.
Whatever keeps you from choosing Jesus cannot save you and will not last.