Only One Thing Is Needed

Martha understood this. Martha was all about her service unto Christ. She was very busy making all the preparations that needed to be made with Christ visiting. Is her service needed? Absolutely. Someone had to prepare everything. Is our service needed today to further the Kingdom of God? Absolutely. Someone has to work to spread the Gospel. But look at how the Bible describes the extent to which Martha was preparing. It says that she was distracted, by all of the preparations. Jesus Christ was visiting her home and she became distracted nonetheless by the work that had to be done! One of the biggest lessons we can take from Martha in this story is we should never allow our work for the Lord to distract us from the very presence of God. Were her preparations important? Yes but not at the expense of her relationship with Jesus.

But God has more lessons for us from Martha in this story. Not only does Martha become distracted but she actually becomes self-righteous and indignant. The Word tells us this was her home and she at some point got frustrated that her sister was not helping her prepare. She does not address Mary but instead she actually rebukes the Lord! Her first comment to Jesus is that He does not care! Her second comment is actually an order to Christ to tell her sister to help her! The use of the exclamation point and the language used gives us some insight into the tone Martha must have taken. She felt put upon and that led her to feel indignant and self-righteous. In her eyes, she was correct because she was the only one doing the work, while her sister just sat at Jesus feet.

We can also get like this in our service unto God. We lose sight of for whom we are doing the service. We serve in ministry, maybe multiple ministries. We serve dutifully and diligently. We can pour our hearts and energies into our service. Maybe because of how long we serve or maybe because of poor relationships or leadership, we can be easily hurt. Maybe we can feel that too many other people are laying at the feet of Jesus not helping us. This can then ultimately lead us to feel bitter about our service and possibly even doing in begrudgingly. But God warns us about this:

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2Corinthians 9: 6-7

Now, the principle of sowing and reaping is often used to discuss tithing but it applies to all giving unto God; including our service. In fact, a few verses down in this passage from Paul's letter to the Church at Corinth he says:

Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. 2Corinthians 9: 6-7

Paul is also talking here about their service and confession of the Gospel. We need to approach our service unto God with the same humility that we approach Him with. If we forget this we can make the mistake Martha makes here and actually begin to blame God or think that He does not care. God loved us and saved us while we were still dead in our sins. We do not engage in our service unto Him for any self-serving motives. Our only motivation should be to further His kingdom. It is difficult because we war against our own flesh. Our flesh wants to feel appreciated. Our flesh wants to be acknowledged maybe by our Pastor or our Ministry Leader. But Jesus cautioned us about this:

"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. Matthew 6: 1

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