Only One Thing

“You are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary.”

Luke 10:41b-42a

Jesus is visiting two good friends – Mary “and Martha.  While He is there Mary sits at Jesus’ feet to listen to Him teach.  Martha is busy getting everything ready, probably for dinner.  The only thing Martha has to say to Jesus is “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”  Then Jesus calls Martha by name, not once but twice.  It’s as if He has to say her name twice just to get her attention.  “Martha…  MARTHA!” He just wants her to stop for a moment, to stop and think.  “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.  All these other things can wait.  There is only one thing that is really necessary.  Mary has chosen that one thing.

What a reminder that you can be so busy with life that you miss it. Jesus here teaches us about choices we face… choices that impact how well you live your life. The first choice is between doing and being.  Martha is the doer.  She’s gets things done. She’s busy, busy, busy. Mary is not doing.  She’s sitting at Jesus’ feet.  The point Jesus makes is that being is more important than doing.  This reminds me of two of my parent’s friends.  One home was always immaculate.  While visiting we would never see the woman of the house.  She was always in the kitchen getting something for someone.  Whenever we would leave she would apologize. “I sure wish I could have spent more time with you.”  The other house looked lived in.  She never made food for us.  She ordered pizza.  She sat with us the whole time.  She played and visited.  She was all about relationships.  Do you see the difference between doing and being?

How are you doing balancing that in your life?  Is your faith all about getting things done?  Are you over committed at work? In your kids activities? At church?  agreeing to take on one job after another at church?  Or is your life about being – being in prayer… being in the Scripture?  We are often so busy doing that its almost like Jesus has to call out our name twice just to get our attention.  “Wayne…WAYNE!  Slow down.”  Back in the 60s one of America’s our new fighter jets actually shot itself down.  Flying at supersonic speed it ran into cannon shells it had fired just seconds earlier.  Traveling too fast through life is self-destructive. We need to slow down.  We need to  let our souls catch up.  Though we live in a Martha world we need to learn to rest like Mary.

The second choice is between the many things and the one thing.  Jesus says, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things…”  She was distracted by all the things she had to get done.  We know how that happens. Little things take our focus off the really important thing.  There is no worse distraction than one that takes our eyes off of Jesus.  Now don’t get me wrong.  What Martha is doing here is a good thing.  She is serving.  However it’s not a good thing when it distracts us from the better thing – when it distracts from taking timet at the feet of Jesus to listen and learn.  There are many good things in every situation but the question we always need to ask is what’s the best thing… the thing where I really need to focus my attention.  I remember coming upon a Moose in Colorado.  Now a Moose is huge.  Yet it was so far away from us that when I took my first picture you got the whole country side. The moose kind of got lost in the picture.  I had to zoom in and focus to get a really good picture of that moose.  The danger in life is to be so distracted by so many things that we can no longer see the most important thing.  Jesus is calling us zoom in and focus on Him.  He is the one thing needful

That’s why the third choice He offers here is between serving Jesus and loving Jesus.  Martha was serving.  Mary was loving.  Now there is nothing wrong with serving.  But you can’t really serve and love others till you give yourself time to be served and loved by Jesus.  If you never stop to fill up the tank, you will run out of gas.   You and I need to stop everything else… sit at His feet and be filled by Him.

That’s what makes all the difference in the 4^th choice - between worrying and resting.  Are you worry wart?  I am.  In Philippians 4 Paul calls us to stop worrying and give worry to Jesus in prayer.  “Have no anxiety about anything.  Instead pray about everything…  That’s what Mary was doing – sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to him. One pastor tells this story from his vicarage. It was his first week in the office.  It was just him and the secretary.  Suddenly this crazy woman – walked in talking nonsense, a crazy look in her eye, arms flailing this way and that.  He didn’t know what to do.  He thought I am about to fail my first real test… Just then his pastor walked in. The vicar was so glad to see him.  That pastor walked into that chaos and said, “Whoa… Lets all take a deep breath.  Now lets pray.”  The vicar said a great calm immediately settled over that woman and over his own worried heart.  That’s what Jesus does for us.  We sit at His feet with all our worries.  He says to us, “Peace.  Be still.”   You see in the rush of life… there is only one thing absolutely needed – Jesus.