Martha and Mary

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
Luke 10:38-42

It is not an easy thing to maintain the balance of our spiritual life. No man can be spiritually healthy who does not meditate and commune with Jesus; no man, on the other hand, is as he should be unless he is active and diligent in holy service. David sweetly sang, "He makes me to lie down in green pastures;" there was the contemplative, "he leads me beside the still waters;" there was the active and progressive: the difficulty is to maintain the two, and to keep each in its relative proportion to the other. We must not be so active as to neglect communion with God, nor so contemplative as to become unpractical. In the chapter from which our text is taken, we have several lessons on this subject. The seventy disciples returned from their preaching tour flushed with the joy of success; and our Savior, to refine that joy, and prevent its degenerating into pride, bids them rather rejoice that their names were written in Heaven. He conducted their contemplations to the glorious doctrine of election, that grateful thoughts might sober them after successful work. He bids them consider themselves as debtors to the grace which reveals unto babes the mysteries of God, for he would not allow their new position as workers to make them forget that they were the chosen of God, and therefore debtors.

Our wise Master next returns to the subject of service, and instructs them by the memorable parable of the good Samaritan and the wounded man; and then as if they might vainly imagine philanthropy, as it is the service of Christ, to be the only service of Christ, and to be the only thing worth living for, he brings in the two sisters of Bethany; the Holy Spirit meaning thereby to teach us that while we ought to abound in service, and to do good abundantly to our fellow men; yet we must not fail in worship, in spiritual reverence, in meek discipleship, and quiet contemplation. While we are practical, like the seventy; practical, like the Samaritan; practical, like Martha; we are also, like the Savior, to rejoice in spirit, and say, "Father, I thank you," and we are also like Mary, to sit down in quietude and nourish our souls with divine truth.

This short narrative I suppose might be paraphrased something after this fashion. Martha and Mary were two most excellent sisters, both converted, both lovers of Jesus, both loved by Jesus, for we are expressly told that he loved Mary and Martha and Lazarus. They were both women of a choice spirit, our savior’s selection of their house as a frequent resort proved that they were an unusually gracious family. They are people representative of different forms of excellence, and I think it altogether wrong to treat Martha as some have done, as if she had no love for good things, and was nothing better than a mere worldling. It was not so. Martha was a most estimable and earnest woman, a true believer, and an ardent follower of Jesus, whose joy it was to entertain Jesus at the house of which she was the mistress.

When our Lord made his appearance on this occasion at Bethany, the first thought of Martha was, "Here is our most noble guest, we must prepare for him a sumptuous entertainment." Perhaps she marked our Savior’s weariness, or saw some traces of that exhaustion which made him look so much older than he was, and she therefore set to work with the utmost diligence to prepare a festival for him; she was anxious about many things, and as she went on with her preparations, fresh matters occurred to ruffle her mind, and she became worried; and, being somewhat vexed that her sister took matters so coolly, she begged the Master to upbraid her.

Now Mary had looked upon the occasion from another point of view. As soon as she saw Jesus come into the house she thought, "What a privilege have I now to listen eagerly to such a teacher, and to treasure up his precious words! He is the Son of God, I will worship, I will adore, and every word he utters shall be stored in my memory." She forgot the needs both of the Master and his followers, for her faith saw the inner glory which dwelt within him, and she was so overpowered with reverence, and so wrapped in devout wonder, that she became oblivious of all outward things. She had no faults to find with Martha for being so busy, she did not even think of Martha, she was altogether taken up with her Lord and with those gracious words which he was speaking. She had no will either, to censure or to praise or to think even of herself; everything was gone from her but her Lord and the word which he was uttering.

You see then, that Martha was serving Christ, and so was Mary; Martha meant to honor Christ, so did Mary; they both agreed in their design, they differed in their way of carrying it out, and while Martha’s service is not censured (only her being cumbered comes under the censure), yet Mary is expressly commended, as having chosen the better part; and therefore we do Martha no injustice if we show wherein she came short, and wherein Mary exceeded.

Our first observation will be this, the Martha spirit is very prevalent in the church of God just now; in the second place, the Martha spirit very much injures true service; in the third place, the Mary spirit is the source of the noblest form of consecration.

I. THE MARTHA SPIRIT IS VERY PREVALENT IN THE CHURCH at this period — prevalent in some quarters to a mischievous degree, and among us all to a perilous extent. What do we intend by saying that the Martha spirit is prevalent just now? We mean first, that there is a considerable tendency among Christian people, in serving Christ, to aim at making a fair show in the flesh. Martha wanted to give our Lord it right worthy entertainment which should be a credit to her house and to her family, and herein she is commendable far above those slovens who think anything good enough for Christ. So also, among professing Christians, there is at this present a desire to give to the cause of Christ buildings notable for their architecture and beauty. We must have no more barns, our meeting houses must exhibit our improving taste; if possible, our chapels must be correctly Gothic or sternly classical in all their details, both without and within. As to the service, we must cultivate the musical and the tasteful. We are exhorted not to be barely decent, but to aim at the sublime and beautiful. Our public worship, it is thought, should be impressive if not imposing; care should be taken that the music should be chaste, the singing conformed to the best rules of the are, and the preaching eloquent and attractive. So everything in connection with Christian labor should be made to appear generous and noble; by all means the subscription lists must be kept up; each denomination must excel the other in the amount of its annual funds; for surely everything done for Christ ought to be done in the best possible style.

Now in all this there is so much that is good, so much that is really intended to honor the Lord, that we see no room to censure: but yet show we unto you a more excellent way. These things you may do, but there are higher things which you must do, or suffer loss. Brethren, there is something better to be studied than the outward, for though this may be aimed at with a single eye to God’s glory, and we judge no man, yet we fear the tendency is to imagine that mere externals are precious in the Master’s sight. I trow he counts it a very small matter whether your house be a cathedral or a barn, to the Savior it is small concern whether you have organs or whether you have not, whether you sing after the choicest rules of psalmody or no; he looks at your hearts, and if these ascend to him he accepts the praise. As for those thousands of pounds annually contributed, he estimates them not by the weights of the merchant but after the balances of the sanctuary. Your love expressed in your gifts he values, but what are the mere silver and gold to him? Funds, and encouraging accounts, and well-arranged machineries are well if they exist as the outgrowth of fervent love, but if they are the end-all, and the be-all, you miss the mark. Jesus would be better pleased with a grain of love than a heap of ostentatious service. The Martha spirit shows itself in the censuring of those people who are careful about Christ’s word, who stand up for the doctrines of the gospel, who desire to maintain the ordinances as they were delivered unto them, and who are scrupulous and thoughtful, and careful concerning the truth as it is in Jesus. In newspapers, on platforms, and in common talk, you frequently hear earnest disciples of Jesus and consistent believers in his doctrines snubbed and denounced as unpractical. Theological questions are scouted as mere impertinences. Go in for ragged schools, certainly; reclaim the Arabs of the street, by all manner of means; pass a compulsory education bill, certainly; soup kitchens, free dinners, all excellent; we can all join in these; but never mention creeds and doctrines. Why, man, you cannot be aware of the enlightenment of our times!

What importance can now be attached to mere biblical dogmas and ordinances? Why contend as to whether baptism shall be performed upon a babe or upon a believer, whether it shall be by sprinkling or by immersion? What matters the law of Christ in such a case? These things would do for the schoolmen of the dark ages to fight about, but what can be the importance of such trifles in this highly enlightened nineteenth century? Yes, that is the exaggeration of Martha. Mary, treasuring up every word of Christ, Mary counting each syllable a pearl, is reckoned to be unpractical, if not altogether idle. That spirit, I fear, is growing in these times, and needs to be checked; for, after all, there is truth and there is error, and charitable talk cannot alter the fact. To know and to love the gospel is no mean thing. Obedience to Jesus, and anxiety to learn his will so as to please him in all things, are not secondary matters. Contemplation, worship, and growth in grace are not unimportant. I trust we shall not give way to the spirit which despises our Lord’s teaching, for if we do, in prizing the fruit and despising the root we shall lose the fruit and the root too. In forgetting the great well-spring of holy activity, namely, personal piety, we shall miss the streams also. From the sincerity of faith and the fervor of love practical Christianity must arise; and if the food that faith and love feed upon be withdrawn, if sitting at the feet of Jesus be regarded as of secondary consequence, then both strength and will to serve the Lord will decline.

I dread much the spirit which would tamper with truth for the sake of united action, or for any object under Heaven — the latitudinarian spirit, which sneers at creeds and dogmas. Truth is no trifle. Not so thought our fathers, when at the stake they gave themselves to death, or on the brown heather of Scotland fell beneath the swords of Claverhouse’s dragoons for truths which nowadays men count important, but which, being truths, were to them so vital that they would sooner die than suffer them to be dishonored. O for the same uncompromising love of truth! Would to God we could be both active and studious, and both learn with Mary and work with Martha! The Martha spirit crops up in our reckoning so many things necessary. Martha believed that to make Christ an entertainment, there must be many things prepared; as to leaving one of those things out — it could not be. Our Lord would have been satisfied enough with the simplest fare a piece of fish or of a honeycomb would well have contented him; but no, according to Martha’s judgment there must be this, and there must be that. So is it with many good people now. They have their ideas of excellence, and if these cannot be realized they despair of doing anything acceptable for Christ. I believe an educated ministry to be desirable, but none the less do. I deplore the spirit which considers it to be essential. In the presence of the fishermen of Galilee we dare not subscribe to the necessity which with some is beyond doubt. You must not, according to the talk of some, allow these earnest young people to set about preaching, and your converted colliers and fiddlers should be stopped at once. The Holy Spirit has in all ages worked by men of his own choosing, but some churches would not let him if they could help it. Their pulpits are closed against the most holy and useful preachers, if they have not those many things with which the church nowadays cumbers her ministers and herself.

Then, my brethren, to carry on a good work, it is thought needful to have a society and large funds. I also approve of the society and the funds, I only regret that they should be so viewed as prime necessaries that few will stir without them. The idea of sending out a missionary with a few pounds in hand as in the day’s of Carey, is set down in many quarters as absurd. How can you save souls without a committee? How can London be evangelized until you have raised at least a million of money? Can you hope to see men converted without an annual meeting in Exeter Hall? You must have a secretary — there is no moving an inch until he is elected; and know you not that without a committee you can do nothing? All these and a thousand things which time fails me to mention, are now deemed to be needful for the service of Jesus, until a true-hearted soul who could do much for his Lord, scarcely dares to move until he has put on Paul’s armor of human patronage. O for apostolic simplicity, going everywhere preaching the word, and consecrating the labor of every believer to soul winning. To bring us back to first principles, "one thing is needful," and if by sitting at Jesus’ feet we can find that one thing, it will stand us in better stead than all the thousand things which custom now demands. To catch the Spirit of Christ, to be filled with himself, this will equip us for godly labor as nothing else ever can. May all Christians yet come to put this one thing first and foremost, and count the power of deep piety to be the one essential qualification for holy work.

The censurable quality in the Martha spirit appears in the satisfaction which many feel with more activity. To have done so much preaching, or so much Sunday-school teaching, to have distributed so many tracts, to have made so many calls by our missionaries, all this seems to be looked at as end rather than means. If there be so much effort put forth, so much work done, is it not enough? Our reply is, it is not enough, it is nothing without the divine blessing. Brethren, where mere work is prized, and the inner life forgotten, prayer comes to be at a discount. The committee is attended, but the devotion meeting forsaken. The gathering together for supplication is counted little compared with the collecting of subscriptions. The opening prayer at public meetings is regarded as a very proper thing, but there are those who regard it as a mere formality, which might be very well laid aside, and, therefore, invariably come in after prayer is over. It will be an evil day for us when we trust in the willing and the running, and practically attempt to do without the Holy Spirit. This lofty estimate of mere activity, for its own sake, throws the acceptance of our work into the shade. The Martha spirit says, if the work is done, is not that all?

The Mary spirit asks whether Jesus is well pleased or no? All must be done in his name and by his Spirit, or nothing is done. Restless service, which sits not at his feet, is but the clattering of a mill which turns without, grinding corn; it is but an elaborate method of doing nothing. I do not want less activity — how earnestly do I press you to it almost every Sabbath day; but I do pray that we may feel that all our strength lies in God, and that we can only be strong as we are accepted of Christ, and only can be accepted in Christ as we wait upon him in prayer, trust him, and live upon him. You may compass sea and land to make your proselytes, but if you have not the Spirit of Christ you are none of his. You may rise up early and sit up late, and eat the bread of sorrows, but unless you trust in the Lord your God you shall not prosper. The joy of the Lord is your strength. Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. Without Christ you can do nothing. Has he not told you, "He who abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit"? Was it not written of old, "I am like a green fir tree: from me is your fruit found"?

Once more, Martha’s spirit is predominant in the church of God to a considerable extent now, in the evident respect which is paid to the manifest, and the small regard which is given to the secret. All regenerated people ought to be workers for God and with God, but let the working never swamp the believing, never let the servant be more prominent than the son; never, because you conduct a class, or are chief man at a village station, forget that you are a sinner saved by grace, and have need still to be looking to the Crucified, and finding all your life in him. You lose your strength as a worker if you forget your dependence as a believer. To labor for Christ is a pleasant thing, but beware of doing it mechanically; and this you can only prevent by diligently cultivating personal communion with Christ. My brother, it may be you will undertake so much service that your time will be occupied, and you will have no space for prayer and reading the word. The half-hour in the morning for prayer will be cut short, and the time allotted for communion with God in the evening will be gradually entrenched upon by this engagement and the other occupation, and when this is the case I tremble for you. You are killing the steed by spurring it and denying it food; you are undermining your house by drawing out the stones from the foundation to pile them at the top. You are doing your soul serious mischief if you put the whole of your strength into that part of your life which is visible to men, and forget that portion of your life which is secret between you and your God.

To gather up all in one, I fear there is a great deal among us of religious activity of a very inferior sort; it concerns itself with, the external of service, it worries itself with merely human efforts, and it attempts in its own strength to achieve divine results. The real working which God will accept is that which goes hand in hand with a patient waiting upon Christ, with heart searching, with supplication, with communion, with a childlike dependence upon Jesus, with a firm adhesion to his truth, with an intense love to his person, and an abiding in him at all seasons; may we have more of such things. Martha’s spirit, though excellent in itself so far as it goes, must not overshadow Mary’s quiet, deep-seated piety, or evil will come of it.

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