Isn’t it so easy to be shaped by the “me first” culture of today? In our previous post we saw that Martha’s world seems to be primarily framed by the culture of her day – to provide hospitality; work hard behind the scenes; don’t intrude on the men’s domain. And she expects her sister Mary to prioritize these things too. But Mary refuses to be defined by these cultural norms.
Luke 10:38-42 (NKJV)
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. 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.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “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.”
Do you realise that Martha actually had a legitimate argument? According to her culture, Mary should have been helping in the kitchen too. That was a woman’s place. By sitting and listening to Jesus the Rabbi, Mary is defying what was seen as “right.” Women should be out the back serving food. They were not meant to be around when men were discussing business. On top of this, men were generally the only ones to be instructed by a Rabbi, not women.
The priority of being a disciple
In sitting and listening to Jesus, Mary has deliberately assumed the place of a “disciple” of Jesus. In doing so, she has stepped way beyond the boundaries of culture and social expectation. While Martha has allowed cultural norms and values to decide her priorities, Mary has made a deliberate choice to prioritize the values of discipleship. Rather than the “many things” which consumed Martha (verse 41), Mary had prioritized “one thing” (verse 42). So what is this “one thing” of discipleship that Mary has chosen, all about?
Unlike today, where we have the Holy Spirit constantly within us, back then, Jesus could only be in one place at one time. So when she could, Mary took the opportunity to simply sit and listen to what Jesus was saying. Luke’s gospel doesn’t even record what Jesus taught while in their house. But for Mary, at that moment, everything else took second place.
Facing the Cost/Making the Investment
The Gospel of Luke clearly shows that discipleship is very costly in terms of the things of this world; but at the same time it’s a massive investment in terms of the kingdom of God. Discipleship, or following Jesus, is all-encompassing.
Luke demonstrates that discipleship is also very down-to-earth – taking place in the ordinary, every-day life of those who decide to follow Jesus. It will impact our attitudes and relationships, and it will reframe how we act and respond to those around us. (Nearly 40% of Luke’s gospel (Luke 9:51-19:44) traces Jesus’ journey with his disciples from Galilee to Jerusalem, not in geographical or historical outline, but as a journey of discipleship. We began to look at this in last week’s post.)
Mary has chosen to invest in the journey of discipleship. And already she is facing something of the cost – anger and censure from her older sister. She may even have experienced distain from the men travelling with Jesus when she joined them to listen to Jesus. So this isn’t just a case of choosing to sit at Jesus’ feet compared to working in the kitchen. This story highlights the depth of the challenge that all of us who decide to follow Jesus are inevitably going to face. Investing in discipleship will be counter-cultural. But Jesus proclaims that Mary has chosen what is “good” (verse 42).
What is the “one thing” is Jesus calling you to prioritize today? Why don’t you join me in facing the cost and making the investment – and let’s continue the discipleship journey together.
