Martha's Example in Stay at Home Days

Martha’s Example in Stay at Home Days

Martha welcomed Jesus and invited him to her home. (Luke 10:38-42) 

It was her home. Scripture tells us that Martha had siblings, but there is no mention of a spouse or children. There is no genealogy given. There is a hint in another account that Martha may have worked as a cook, but that is not used as a primary identifier. Luke makes it clear. Martha opened her home to this itinerant teacher who, unlike the foxes and the birds, had “no place to lay his head.”

When Jesus entered her home, he began to teach. He wasn’t there just to mingle, to be entertained, to rest, or to eat. He was there to teach, and Mary took advantage of the teaching. She sat down, at his feet and listened. She didn’t hide out at the back of the room, she didn’t just sort of half listen as she cooked the lentils, no, she got as close as possible, smack dab in the middle of the very front row and made herself a student of the teacher.

Martha was not happy. She knew Mary was supposed to be a proper woman, helping to prepare the meal, not mingling with the men, and absolutely not taking the best place.  So, she acted just like any other big sister, she called Mary out, and she did it in front of the guest of honor. She was trying to shame Mary away from Christ.

It did not work. Mary stayed right where she wanted to be. She had made her choice, and Christ validated it. Please note, he did not chide Martha for her choice of service, but he did call Mary’s choice the better one.

Martha and Mary called for Christ’s assistance in time of trouble and welcomed his company in time of grief. (John 11:1 – 43) 

You know the story. Lazarus falls seriously ill. The sisters send word to Jesus, asking for him to come. Jesus receives their plea and seems to ignore it until it is too late to intervene and prevent their brother’s death. When he does show up, Martha chides him for his delay. Jesus offers what sounds like a cliché comfort and ties it to a conversation about Martha’s faith. Martha, through her tears, acknowledges that she believes in life after death, but she is still crying, still sad. Jesus gets more explicit and declares himself to be The Christ and asks if she believes this. Her response is a creed, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.” Then she gets her sister and brings her to Jesus so that he may also comfort her. Together they see their brother raised again. Together they hear the instructions to “take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

There is another feast at which Martha chose to serve Jesus with her labors. You will find that account in John 12:1-8. 

Martha’s gift is accepted without negative comment, but Mary’s gift of praise, anointing Jesus’ feet with nard, is criticized. Again, Christ came her to defense. 

What can we learn, which examples can we follow?

1. Be like Martha, open your home to Christ and expect him to show up. This is not another version of the ‘I can worship anywhere’ excuse for not attending corporate worship. Rather, it is establishing the practice of keeping Christ in the most intimate parts of your life, the place where you live, into the thoughts you hold privately, and making him a part of the company you keep.
2. Welcome Christ when he comes, and spend time with him. When you have invited him, do not seat him comfortably in the best room and then leave him alone while you go off to take care of other tasks. To be blunt, if you invite Christ home by accepting a devotional booklet, hymn book, or Bible, do not just place that word of God on the coffee table or book shelf and leave it there. Open it, read, learn, and inwardly digest it. Live it. If, today, during this time of social distancing, you invite Christ in by clicking onto live streaming or other electronic means, do not just shift to another screen and check your email or play a game, stay at Jesus’ feet and listen, learn, visit with him, be with him. 
3. If you have chosen to honor him with service, do so gladly, without resentment, and extend that service beyond just the time spent welcoming or visiting with him. 
4. Fear or grief are reasons to want Christ in your home and in your life. The sisters invite Christ and chide him for what they see as a less than adequate response to their request. Today we pray fervently for a miracle resolution of the pandemic. It seems like God is taking his own sweet time about answering our prayer. Still, when he did come, they shared their very raw grief and pain. They took him to the grave. They wept with him and he wept with them. It wasn’t a magic “Jesus is here and loves you and now everything is suddenly wonderful” sort of thing. They had to open the grave. They had to smell the stench of necrotic tissue. They were not allowed to withdraw from the pain. Martha had work to do. She had to bring her sister to Jesus. Our work also involves sharing Jesus with others who share our grief and or fear. 
5. If, today, during this time of social distancing, you have invited Christ in, if you are moved to honor Christ with service, praise, or a gift of a tithe, do so with joy and love. Do not worry if your voice is weak or your gift is small. (Remember the story of The Widow’s Mite – Mark 12:38-44.) Christ accepts your gift. No loving parent refuses the hugs of a young child or the child’s handmade card. Because the parent loves the child, the gift is valued. Because God loves you, your gift, your repentance, your love is accepted.                                   

Thanks to Journeys of Faith Contributing Writer-

Natalie Hartwig for this reflection.

The Good Shepherd

Sheep on the Hillside- Machaerus, Jordan

Carried on God’s Shoulders

On Good Shepherd Sunday we hear the pictures of Christ, the Good Shepherd, seeking the lost lambs and carrying them back to the flock on his shoulders. We recall the words of Christ, identifying himself as the Good Shepherd (John 10:14) and link it automatically to Psalm 23. We see ourselves, lost and foolish lambs that we are, rescued again and again by the Good Shepherd, and carried, secure in his arms or draped around his neck. We know we do not have to walk alone or find our own way in time of trial. Christ finds us and carries us through life.

To this picture of comfort I would add another picture of God carrying His children on His shoulders. Look to Deuteronomy 33:12. This blessing of the tribe of Benjamin, youngest and most beloved of the sons of Jacob, says Benjamin will rest between the shoulders of God.

While many scholars attribute this to a description of the mountainous terrain assigned to the tribe of Benjamin, I rather like to think of a child, carried happy and secure, on the shoulders of his father. 

We have artistic renderings of Christ, the Good Shepherd, but have no renderings of the first person of the Trinity, the Creator carrying his children. Such a lack is good and proper. The people of the Old Testament were specifically forbidden to create idols or representations of God for the purpose of worship. 

Poets have painted verbal pictures of God forming man of the dust of the earth. The Scriptures tell us that God shut the door of the Ark to secure the safety of those inside. And then there is this, the picture of God carrying the youngest of the tribes on His shoulders. 

Here is how my heart paints that picture. It is part of the journey out of Egypt into the promised-land. God called his beloved child out of Egypt (Hosea 11:1) and saved Israel from the wrath of Egypt by drowning the army of the Pharaoh in the sea. Then God carried the joyful child on his shoulders in celebration. God carries us not only in times of trial, but also in times of great joy. This is how I see loved ones who died in faith. This is how I know it will be when I enter into glory. I will be sitting on God’s shoulders, singing, laughing, bouncing, happy, and celebrating the victory God has worked.

Thanks to Natalie Hartwig-

Contributing Writer for 

Journeys of Faith for this devotion.