“You
are worried and upset about many things. But
only one thing is needed.”
– Luke 10:41-42
One
afternoon a man looked out the sliding glass door of his patio and saw his dog trotting
across the patio with something in his mouth. When the man went outside to
investigate, he saw that Fido had a dead rabbit in his mouth. After the man
said “Drop it!” about ten times, the dog finally let go. And when the man got a
closer look, his heart sank. He recognized the beloved pet bunny that belonged
to the little girl next door.
Well, the
man felt he had to do something. He couldn’t bear for the little girl to find
out that his dog had chomped her bunny to death. So, the man brought the rabbit
inside, took it to the sink and carefully rinsed off all the dirt and dog
slobber. Then he pulled out the hair dryer—or should that be “hare dryer”?—and
got him all dried off. Finally, he climbed the fence into his neighbor’s
backyard, put the dead rabbit back into its hutch and fluffed up the bunny’s fur
one more time before closing the cage.
Later that
evening the man heard the little girl screaming in her backyard. He went next
door and asked if everything was all right. The girl’s father told him, “Not
really! You remember Cassie’s pet bunny? Well, he died a couple of days ago,
and we buried him. But some SICKO came into our backyard while we were gone,
dug it up and stuck it back inside the rabbit hutch!”
Have you
ever done something kind for someone and afterward realized that it wasn’t at
all what that person needed? I have, and I bet you have as well—just like
Martha in Luke chapter 10.
In the
final five verses of this chapter, Jesus and his disciples came to the home of
Mary and Martha. Jesus had been doing full-time ministry for around three years,
so he was probably tired—physically, emotionally, perhaps even spiritually.
Jesus needed some R&R before moving ahead into Jerusalem . As best we can tell, the group popped
in unannounced. So, imagine what you might do if 13 men suddenly showed up at your
front door and asked if they could spend the day in your home. The Bible tells
us, “Mary sat at the Lord’s feet
listening to what he said. But Martha was busy with all the things that
had to be done” (Luke 10:39-40). Would you respond more like
Martha, who probably burst into a frenzy of cleaning and meal preparation? Or
would you respond more like Mary—ignoring the state of the house, but anxious
to hear everything that Jesus had to say?
If your
reaction would be more like Martha’s, you probably have a task-oriented
personality. You are a worker bee with an eye for detail. You don’t just do
things; you are determined to do things right. If your reaction would be more
like Mary’s, you probably have a people-oriented personality. You work, but
when guests come over, you think it’s more important to sit down and spend time
with them, rather than serving them. If you’re people-oriented, there’s a good
chance that when your guests get hungry, they’ll have to go into the kitchen
and fend for themselves. Either that or you’ll make a quick call to Domino’s
and have dinner delivered.
Martha
loved Jesus. And because she loved him, she ran around frantically trying to
clean the house and make him a four-course meal. Her intentions were good. But
her priorities were messed up. Jesus didn’t NEED a four-course meal. As Jesus said
to Martha in vs. 41-42, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many
things, but only one thing is needed.”
Jesus
wasn’t scolding Martha. He wasn’t criticizing Martha. He was lovingly pointing
out to her that she was running herself ragged meeting a need that he didn’t
even have. Jesus was basically saying, “Sweet Martha, I don’t need a spotless house.
Martha, I don’t need a four-course meal. What I most need is just to recharge
my batteries and spend some quality time with you and your sister.” If you want
to meet someone’s need, first find out what his or her need IS. Although it’s
hard to do, we need to push aside our own ideas of how to show kindness to
people and take the time to find out what their real needs are. And that
determines what shape our kindness will take.
Also,
consider these words from Warren
Wiersbe, “What we do WITH Christ is far more important than what we do FOR
Christ. Few things are as damaging to the Christian life as trying to work for
Christ without taking time to commune with Christ.” Often, what is good is the
enemy of what is best. Cleaning the house for Jesus was a good thing. Preparing
a nice four-course meal for Jesus was a good thing. But Jesus made it very
clear to Martha in that spending quality time with him was the best thing.
So, you and
I need to ask ourselves an important question: Am I spending so much time doing
good things for Jesus that I am neglecting the most important thing: to spend quality
time with Jesus?
Dane Davis is the Lead Pastor of First Christian Church of Victorville and the author of "Holy Huldah! Lessons You Should Never Forget From Bible Characters You've Never Heard Of." Visit www.YourVictorvilleChurch.com, and join us for our Worship Celebration Sundays at 10 a.m.
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