Finding the Right Priorities
10-20-24
This week, in our look at outstanding women of the Bible, we are going to actually look at two women. Those two women are Martha and Mary. We're going to look at both of them because they are always connected in Scripture. They lived with their brother Lazarus in the small village of Bethany. Bethany was close to Jerusalem, about two miles southeast of the Temple's eastern gate, just over the Mt. of Olives. Bethany was apparently a regular stop for Jesus in His travels. This family's home seems to have been a welcome place of refuge and rest for Him during His visits to Judea.
We are not given any details in the Bible as to how this family became so close to Jesus. There are no recorded indications of any family ties between Jesus and these women. It seems likely that Martha and Mary were simply two of the many people who heard Jesus teach early in His ministry. They extended hospitality to Him and built a relationship with Jesus that way. However it began, they became cherished, personal friends of Jesus during His earthly ministry.
From what little insight we are given, we do know one thing about this family: they were very hospitable. Martha in particular is portrayed as a meticulous hostess. Even her name is the feminine form of the Aramaic word for "lord." That was perfect for her because she was clearly the one who presided over the house. Her name is always listed first when the three siblings are mentioned, so that implies that she was the oldest of the three. Lazarus is always named last so he appears to be the youngest.
We know very little else about these three. All we know from Scripture is that they lived together. There is no mention that any of them had ever been married. We are also not given any indication as to how old they were. From what little we do see of them in Scripture, it would seem that all three were still pretty young and inexperienced.
Martha and Mary make a fascinating pair. They were very different in many ways, including their personalities and how they related to and worshiped Jesus. But they also had at least one thing in common: They both loved Jesus.
We see Jesus interacting with this family three times in Scripture. We are first introduced to them in Luke 10:38-42. Jesus and His followers had been traveling and made a stop in Bethany. As was apparently His custom when in that village, He went to Martha, Mary and Lazarus's house. In this very first exposure to this family, we see the distinct differences between these two sisters.
Martha was a server. Jesus was apparently at the family house at her invitation. She was the one who welcomed Him in, signifying that she was the actual master of ceremonies; she was clearly the one in charge of the household. She fussed over her hostessing duties. She wanted everything to be just right. In other words, we could say that she was a conscientious and considerate hostess.
Mary was a worshiper. She was sitting at Jesus' feet listening and learning and giving her full attention to her Lord and Savior. Soon that situation became a problem. Martha began to grow irritable with Mary. You can just imagine how things transpired to bring her to that point. Maybe at first she just hinted in subtle ways that she needed help. She might have made a little extra noise with pots and pans. Maybe she cleared her throat loudly or exhaled a few times loudly enough to be heard in the next room. She was likely doing anything and everything she could to remind Mary that she needed a little help. In the end, she just blurted her grievance against Mary right in front of Jesus. She even went so far as to complain to Him and ask Him to intervene and set Mary straight.
Jesus' reply must have startled and shocked Martha. It probably didn't even dawn on her that she might be the one in the wrong. In response to her, Jesus gave her the gentlest of admonitions. We're not told here but it's safe to think that His message went right to her heart and had exactly the effect Jesus wanted it to have.
The next glimpse that we see of these two women is found in John chapter 11. This is the account of when their brother Lazarus died and was brought back to life by Christ. The death and rising of Lazarus affected both Martha and Mary profoundly. John 11:1, 3-7, 17, 20-28, 32, 38-44.
Needless to say, the loss of their dearly loved brother was heartbreaking for these sisters. They were deeply affected by what happened to Lazarus. Jesus was also touched by the death of His friend and mourned with the sisters over their loss.
But Jesus had plans regarding Lazarus' death that nobody else knew about. He intentionally waited a few days after hearing that Lazarus had died in order to perform one of His greatest miracles during His earthly ministry. It wasn't just Martha and Mary who were impacted when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Many people were touched and impacted, not all in a positive way. That one dramatic and very public miracle was what finally sealed the Jewish leader's determination to put Jesus to death.
Martha and Mary seemed to understand that Jesus had put Himself in jeopardy in order to give them back the life of their brother. The full depth of Mary's gratitude is revealed in the last account where these women appear together. John 12:1-3. Mary was so grateful for what Jesus had done that she anointed Jesus' feet with very costly ointment and then wiped His feet with her hair.
It seems clear that she had some level of understanding that she was anointing Jesus for burial. Both of these sisters seemed to grasp how imminent the threat to Jesus was at that time. That just seemed to intensify their sense of debt and gratitude toward Him. That debt and gratitude is reflected in Mary's extravagant act of worship. That act and Jesus' willingness to accept it is what finally sealed Judas' decision to betray Christ.
We also see in this incident that Martha had apparently learned her lesson and grown in her faith. At that time, Martha was again in the role of a servant for her guests. After Mary anointed the Lord's feet, Judas tried to get a general outcry from the group against what Mary had done. But Martha wisely seems to have held her peace at that time. She no longer seemed resentful of Mary's devotion to Christ. We do need to keep in mind that Martha loved Jesus just as much as Mary did, she just showed her love in a different way.
So the lives of these two women Inadvertently intersected twice with the sinister plot to kill Jesus. The raising of their brother first ignited the plot among the Jewish leaders that finally ended with Jesus' death. Mary's expression of gratitude to Jesus is what finally pushed Judas over the edge.
There are a couple of lessons that we can learn from Martha and Mary that will help us to find and keep the right priorities in life. One priority that we need to have in life is to honor others over ourselves.
When Martha was serving alone and got mad at Mary, she appeared to be expressing true servanthood. The person with a true servant's heart is a humble person. Martha's actions at that time would seem to indicate that she was humble. But her treatment of Mary actually revealed her pride and lack of humility. What she said to her sister in front of other people was meant to humiliate Mary. Martha either didn't think about the hurtful effect her words had on Mary, or she didn't care.
Martha's behavior shows how subtly and sinfully human pride can corrupt the best of our actions. What Martha was doing was indeed commendable. She was acting as a servant to all, just like Jesus wants us all to live. But the moment she stopped listening to Christ and made something other than Him the focus of her heart, she became very self-centered. The pride that came out in her life then made her susceptible to other sins like anger, resentment, jealousy, a critical spirit and unkindness.
Even though she wasn't the one literally serving at that time, it was actually Mary whose heart was in the right place. Her motives and desires were more commendable than Martha's. Mary became so consumed by Christ that she was completely oblivious to everything else. She sat and listened intently. She understood the importance of that occasion, that the Son of God was a guest in her home. Listening to Him and worshiping Him were at that moment the very best use of Mary's energies and the one right place for her to focus her attention.
If Martha had truly preferred Mary over herself, she might have seen in her sister a depth of understanding and love for Christ that surpassed even her own. She could have learned much from her younger sibling. But she was selfish and had work to do. Before she knew it, her resentment against Mary had built up and she could no longer restrain herself. Her public criticism of Mary was an ugly expression of pride.
Humility is a necessary character quality that we all must manifest in our lives. We can only be humble as the Spirit of God works in us and through us to help us become more and more like Jesus Christ. The very essence of humility is that we die to self and seek to live for others.
Scripture has a lot to say to us about the need for us to put others first. 1 Peter 5:5. We are to humbly subject ourselves to one another. Phil. 2:3-4 gives us a very similar exhortation. We are not to be living our lives with selfishness and only looking out for number one. Both Peter and Paul are telling us in these verses that we need to live and love with humility. The bottom line is that if we're humble, we will regard others as more important than ourselves.
What does that mean? It means that we don't complain about other people; we don't gossip or run others down; to humbly exalt others means we don't judge them or discriminate against them; to be humble means we aren't rude to others. It does mean that we are peaceful and unified; we need to be caring and compassionate in order to help when there is a need; we put others first when we do things for them when it is inconvenient or when we don't want to; putting others first results in us sharing the gospel and doing our part in helping them grow spiritually. If we are going to have the right priorities in life, we need to honor others over ourselves.
A second lesson that we can learn from Martha and Mary that will help us keep our priorities in life straight, is the importance of worship over service. Martha wasn't necessarily doing anything wrong. Her service was good. Her work and feelings were normal. Even what she expected Mary to do to help out was OK.
But Mary was doing something even better than the service Martha was performing. Luke 10:42. The one thing that we need to be focused on as Christians is true worship and devotion in our lives and to pay full attention to Christ. That is our highest priority.
Nothing is more important than us worshiping God. Nothing is more important than listening to Him and honoring Him with our hearts and our lips. God is seeking true worshipers. John 4:23. God wants His followers to be men and women who love Him. He wants His followers to be people who want to sit and listen and learn and love and worship. We need to guard against having such a focus on doing things for Him that we neglect worship of Him.
That doesn't exactly make a lot of sense to most people. Most folks have more of a "what can I do for Jesus" mindset all of the time. That is a good way to think. We do need to always keep in mind what God wants us to be doing for Him and His kingdom. Good deeds and acts of kindness are crucial expressions of real faith. James 2:14-17.
But service isn't more important than worship. Instead of asking "What can I do for Jesus," we also need to be asking, "How can I worship Jesus today?" Most of us would hold to the adage that says, "Don't just sit there do something." But sometimes we also need to say, "Don't just do something, sit there." What I mean is that if we don't sit and worship God for who He is, we're missing out on one of the most important aspects of our faith.
Our good works are not a means of earning God's favor, we can't do that. The focus of our faith has to always be on what God has done for us, and never on what we do for Him. Worship is our response to Him and the most important spiritual discipline that we can engage in. So if you want the right priorities in life, put worship over service.
Martha and Mary remind us that God uses all kinds of different people for His purposes. He has gifted us differently for a reason. We are not to despise one another or look at others with contempt, just because they are different or because we don't understand them.
Martha was a noble and godly woman with a servant's heart and a rare capacity for work. Mary was nobler still with an unusual predisposition for worship and wisdom. Both were remarkable in their own ways. If we weigh their gifts together, they give us a wonderful example to follow. May we diligently cultivate the best instincts of both of these outstanding women.
As our singer and musician come now, we invite you to do whatever you need to do in order to keep your priorities in life exactly where God wants them to be. To do that, make sure that it starts with putting others before yourself, and making sure that you worship God the way that He deserves to be worshiped. If there are any professions or decisions that need to be made this morning, we invite you to come up here and share those with me now as we stand and sing.
Prayer.