Good Soil Mary, Busy Soil Martha

_{Cover photo courtesy of freebibleimages.org.}

God redirected my life at two key junctures through Luke 10:38–42. First was in summer 2016 during a sermon delivered in Langley, British Columbia. I was wrestling with whether I should go straight overseas on mission or continue in seminary. Second was during summer 2019 through a homily on the same text in Oxford, England. I was undecided if I should pursue mission work after my second round of grad school or doctoral studies first. Hearing this passage preached again had the effect of God saying to me, Sit. You must sit before you’re sent.

God spoke to me through what I heard both those times. I hope what I share will be an occasion where he speaks to you. Luke 10:38–42 in the NKJV (chosen for illustrative purposes) reads as follows:

³⁸ Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. ³⁹ And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” ⁴¹ And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. ⁴² But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Notice the three phrases I’ve highlighted: “heard his word” (10:39), “you are worried” (10:41), and “which will not be taken away from her” (10:42). Other (good) translations say Mary was listening to his teaching, what he said, or what he taught in 10:39, accurately conveying the sense of lógos ‘word’ in the immediate context. Still, the constellation of these phrases recall a more distant context that we can’t afford to miss.

What distant context is that? Back in chapter 8, Jesus taught his famous Parable of the Sower. (You may want to read that before continuing.) He taught and explained what happens when the seed or “word of God” is sown. Many things happen to that “seed,” relative to the state of the soil. There are four types of hearing which ultimately boil down to two types of hearts (8:12–15). For the first hearers—who share the same heart with the next two types of hearers—, the devil “takes away” (8:12) the word sown in their rocky, unprepared hearts. “Hard of hearing” takes on a whole new meaning. When persecution comes, the second hearers who were otherwise happy about the word themselves “fall away” (8:13). The third hearers “go on their way” through sheer preoccupation with other “cares” (8:14). More literally, these cares could be translated worries. Only the fourth hearers bear fruit, whose heart of the second type is “good and honest” (8:15).

Having covered Jesus’ preaching of the parable already, Luke draws a startling connection between Mary, Martha, and the two types of hearts. Mary hears Jesus’ word (10:39; 8:15), a portion which can’t be taken away (10:42; 8:12). Martha surely hears Jesus’ words, but her many worries prevent his word taking root (10:41; 8:14). She is too busy serving Jesus—and serving guests, all for Jesus’ sake no doubt—to sit. Jesus doesn’t outright condemn her worried table-waiting. He magnifies Mary’s listening. But is it possible that while and even by serving Jesus, our service can overwater fruitfulness or even choke the word? Yes. That is exactly what Jesus implies.

Martha mirrors my heart. Jesus’ subtle response to her unsettles me. It’s counterintuitive. I thought that bearing-fruit required non-stop work and service. Yet somehow, fruit-bearing is a matter of sitting patiently at Christ’s feet. It’s a matter not simply of hearing Christ’s word but of preserving it consciously, constantly (Luke 11:28). The seed that bears fruit is word which is heard again and again, echoing in one’s heart and mind. If it’s a box ticked before getting on with the real stuff, it’ll be uprooted before you can say fruit. Without hearts habitually harrowed and humbled by Jesus and his word, what we do for Jesus undoes us. This doesn’t flip the tables but it sure flips who sits where: you’re not serving Jesus unless you’re “sitting” with Jesus, while his word serves you.

(Continued at part II, “Transforming Martha: Transforming Our Service”)

~ Carpe Deum! ‘Grasp God!’

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