Sunday Thoughts: Sitting at the Feet of Jesus

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One of the Bible stories that convicts me nearly every time I read it is the story of Martha and Mary. The account of two sisters who treated Jesus’ visit with them differently often hits me between the eyes with a two-by-four:

Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Luke 10:38-42 (ESV)

Here’s why this story convicts me. I wrote this in a blog post several years ago:

I tend to be more like Martha. I’m the one trying to get things done, trying to serve others, trying to make sure all the details are taken care of before I worship. I tend to think, “Well, if Mary had helped her out, things would’ve been taken care of more quickly, and they both could spend time with Jesus.” (I think Martha must have been firstborn…) I know the moral of the story; I get the point Jesus makes, that time with Him is more important than the work we think has to be done. Yet I can’t help but identify with Martha. And if I’m really not careful, I can turn into the complainer that Martha is in this story.

A couple of Sundays ago, the sermon at church was about this story. Coincidentally — no, providentially — we also covered it in our small group that Sunday night.

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One of the first points that Kurt Petersheim, our pastor, made in his sermon is that Martha was doing good things, but Mary did the best thing by sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to Him.

“A lot of us do not know the difference between good and best,” Kurt said. “And we haven’t learned to seek the Lord and his wisdom and his discernment about choosing to do things that aren’t just good, not just filling our lives up with lots of good things. Martha, you’re very distracted and worried and upset about many things. All good things.”

Kurt suggested that all of us examine our lives to see if there are things that we’re doing that are good, but that still distract us from our time with Jesus. We need to abide in Him, as He said to His disciples in John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

“Don’t try to pretend that faith and love don’t always go together because they do. You cannot have faith in Jesus and not love the Jesus you have faith in,” Kurt added.

His next point was that faith is realizing that Jesus doesn’t need us, but we need Him.

“Martha is probably, if you just kind of look at this psychologically, probably like a type-A personality, probably a real go-getter, real industrious, right? A good leader,” Kurt said. “And listen, we need these people in the world. Some of y’all are those people. We need those people.”

That’s why I can identify with Martha, and plenty of other people can, too. I’m a doer. I like to serve. I’m a firstborn, and my hunch is that Martha was, too. People like us can find ourselves thinking that we’re doing Jesus and His kingdom a favor by serving and doing like we do.

“I’m poor and helpless on my own. I need Christ more than I need anything else in my life,” Kurt added. “Martha had her strengths, for sure, right? Like, Martha had strengths. But what we’re seeing in her right here is just, again, it’s that unhealthy need to be needed. God will show you mercy. And God will help you walk through that. But again, I think the number one thing we need as we struggle with those things is just to turn our eyes to Christ.”

The other place Martha and Mary showed up in scripture together was when their brother Lazarus died. Martha exhibited a deep faith in Jesus when He came to see them — and to raise Lazarus from the dead.

Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

John 11:17-27 (ESV)

After that, Martha went back into the house to encourage Mary to come out. What did Mary do? Again, she fell at His feet.

Our faith benefits from spending time at Jesus’ feet. Kurt concluded with an encouragement to the congregation. He said, “We’re going to start, we’re going to remain, and we’re going to continue at His feet. And we’re never gonna stop doing it. We’re going to live in that place.”

My encouragement to you (and to myself) this week is to stay at the feet of Jesus at home, at work, and everywhere else. Living our lives at His feet will strengthen our faith and keep us focused on Him.