Genesis 18:1-10a | Psalm 15 | Colossians 1:15-28 | Luke 10:38-42
Luke 10:38-42
38 Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. 40 But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ 41 But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; 42 there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’
Introduction
Peter Singer is an Australian moral philosopher and professor of bioethics at Princeton University. He’s primarily known for advancing some relatively appalling ethical positions. He adheres to a form of utilitarianism, a philosophy that values utility—that is, usefulness—more than anything else. And while his philosophical conclusions are more complex and nuanced than most of us will ever understand, he does seem to conclude that if, or once, a person is no longer useful, or is unable to contribute to the good of society, there should be no moral objection to euthanising them: infants who are not yet aware or useful, the disabled, those with dementia who did no previously stated a will to live, the elderly?[1] One wonders how Singer would read our story from Luke’s Gospel. According to the logical end of this utilitarian philosophy, Martha should be congratulated for bettering society. And Mary, because she has chosen to not be useful… should be put down.
But of course, that’s not the conclusion that Jesus reached. Rather, he challenges the assumption that usefulness is the highest goal. And it is a good challenge for us today. I imagine most of us here would not agree with Singer’s horrifying conclusions on practical grounds. But in a society that values utility and usefulness as much as ours, I can see myself starting down that philosophical path. It feels good to be useful. And it feels inefficient and unsatisfying to not be useful. From Martha Stewart to Bill Clinton, many have advanced the notion that human dignity is intertwined with usefulness.[2] General service is a good thing and serving the Lord is a good thing. But in the words of Jesus, it isn’t the most important thing. As we begin to look at this story, my argument to you is this: When we prioritise service as the most important, we actually prioritise distraction over discipleship. Let me explain:
1. Diagnosing Distraction
First, the problem in the story—Martha’s problem—is easy to mis-diagnose. The tension builds around the stress she apparently feels in providing hospitality, in serving. In fact, the term for her tasks is related to our deacon word. But her serving is not the problem. It’s important to be clear on this because one might mistake this passage as justifying laziness in the Christian life—a kind of consumerism—that one needs but come and attend and take in, but never give back. Five things work against this misreading. The first is that both Luke and Jesus identify the problem as distraction, not the tasks per se. The word is there twice. The issue here is that Martha is overly focused. On what? Second, there is a peculiar repetition there in Martha’s two short lines. It’s striking when you actually hear it. “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” Martha is distracted with herself. It’s not that she fears the hospitality will be substandard or that Jesus will in some way suffer without nibbles and sherry. As those who are overly focused on their service often are, she is concerned for herself more than the people she’s serving. Third, the literary context helps us see the danger of this. This story follows on from the parable of the Good Samaritan. Luke carefully organized his Gospel into sections around themes and this one is important to see. The implication here is that Martha is like the lawyer from that Parable passage—a lawyer seeking to justify himself through his works.[3] In other words, Martha is not just focused in this moment on her service, but she actually defines herself and sees her self-worth in terms of it. In her mind: This is what will get the Lord’s approval. This is how she wants to be primarily seen by others. Fourth, Jesus, in his compassionate reply, implies that service is important—just not the most important.[4] That is, when he makes the comparison at the end—he says that Mary chose the better.[5] What Martha chose is, by implication, good. Mary chose the better. The sequence is important. The right prioritisation is important. Because, fifth, one of the major themes in Luke’s Gospel is hearing and doing. One must start by hearing the words of Jesus. And then one must follow through in doing them. Back in chapter 6, Jesus puts it like this:
I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them. That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, immediately it fell, and great was the ruin of that house.’[6]
Martha is not wrong to serve. She’s simply wrong to use it to replace listening.
2. Diagnosing Discipleship
This brings us to the second point. The tension of the passage is broken when Jesus reveals what the higher priority should be: listening. The picture here is important. Mary, at Jesus’s feet, is a posture of discipleship. Her listening is that of an eager student. This is, itself, revolutionary in that she’s a woman being portrayed as a disciple at a time when it was unprecedented for a woman to be the pupil of a rabbi. Later rabbinic traditions, for example, suggest that it would be better for the Torah to be burned than to be handed over to a woman.[7] But of course, Mary is there, at Jesus’s feet, listening—doing that first part of that hearing and doing theme we already explored. And we should not miss the significance of this. Jesus, in his reply to Martha, says that Mary chose the one thing—a phrase that signifies something of great importance, the top thing (among others). When Jesus talks to the rich ruler, he tells him (after he’s claimed to have kept the whole law from his youth) that he lacks one thing.[8] In this case, it is the doing that follows hearing. But in this story, the point could not be clearer: Mary’s choice of listening to the words of Jesus, her choice of sitting at his feet in humble devotion—this is the right priority. And that thing, her listening to the words of Jesus, would not be taken away from her. Martha needed to learn that lesson that day. Hearing comes before doing. Learning comes before serving. Discipleship comes before deaconing.
3. Determining Discipleship
And this is where we turn back to ourselves. Do we really believe this? Because believe me, I’d like to stand up here and tell you we need more people to serve in this church. We need a Bazaar coordinator. We need senior leaders to manage committees. We need more helpers in Kids’ Church and servers and any number of other areas of ministry. And that’s not even considering Luke’s emphases—which we shall see in the coming months—of serving the poor, the weak, and the outcast, of hospitality and good works. Committing yourself to service may be the right thing. Getting involved here may, in fact, be the right step for many of you who have been coming along in your faith. Maybe it is the right time to step up.
But that’s not today’s lesson from Martha. You see, whether you are already serving or thinking of serving, you need to make sure you’ve got the right priority in doing so. Are you growing in your faith? Are you devoted to the Lord, Jesus Christ? Are you truly and earnestly listening to what he has to say, through his Word in the guidance of the Holy Spirit? These are the first questions you should be asking. And perhaps you are not yet a Christian. Then listen carefully. This is where you start: faith in and devotion to the gospel message of Jesus Christ. Martha, it seems learned this lesson. Later, in John’ Gospel, when confronted with the death of her brother, Lazarus, and in a moment of profound stress, she makes this statement to Jesus: “Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”[9] She’s one of two people—the other being Peter—who make such a profound declaration about Jesus in the Gospels. She learned the lesson about priorities.
Conclusion
So, as I conclude, I say once again: Usefulness is a good thing. It is the right thing for a mature Christian—as Paul suggested in our Colossians reading. But it is not the only thing. And it is not the first thing. I preached from this very pulpit nearly three years ago about what it would mean for us to recover the true meaning of that typically Austrian greeting—servus—‘at your service.’ And I stand by it. But it cannot be at the expense of genuine faith and discipleship. For that would be but works-righteousness. So, today, let us commit ourselves once more to the faith. First our Saviour. Then servus.
Let me pray. Heavenly Father, may you make your Word fully known to us-- the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages—that Christ may be in us, the hope of glory. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.
[1] Peter Singer, Practical Ethics (Second Edition; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 175-217.
[2] Martha Stewart said: “The ultimate goal is to be an interesting, useful, wholesome person. If you're successful on top of that, then you're way ahead of everybody.” Carolyn Warner, The Words of Extraordinary Women (New York: Newmarket Press, 2010), 161. In reference to work, Bill Clinton said: “Work is about more than making a living, as vital as that is. It's fundamental to human dignity, to our sense of self-worth as useful, independent, free people.” Ben Sasse, Heal: Why We Hate Each Other—And How to Heal (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2018), 61.
[3] See especially Luke 10:25-26, 29.
[4] Jesus’s compassion is seen in the repetition of her name—the use of the double vocative. Cf., Luke 6:46. See I. Howard Marshall, The Gospel of Luke: A Commentary on the Greek Text (Exeter: Paternoster Press, 1978), 452.
[5] For use of the positive adjective as a comparative, see Acts 8:21; 16:12; 2 Cor. 6:15; Col. 1:12. See also I. Howard Marshall, The Gospel of Luke: A Commentary on the Greek Text (Exeter: Paternoster Press, 1978), 454.
[6] Luke 6:48-49. On the theme of hearing and doing, also see Luke 10:21-24, Luke 13:18-35, and Luke 18:35-19:27.
[7] See the Jerusalem Talmud, tractate Sotah, 10a.
[8] Luke 18:18-23.
[9] John 11:27.