Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:
Jesus said: “But one thing is necessary” (Luke 10:42a).
When Jesus sent out His 72 disciples, He told them that they would find food and drink in homes along the way.
Today, in our Gospel reading, Jesus and His disciples have the same experience. They went on their way, entered a village, and a woman named Martha opens her home to Jesus and His disciples. So, Jesus obliges and stays for supper.
As Jesus and His disciples enter the home, Martha begins to hustle and bustle to the kitchen, arranging pots, pans, and firing up the stove. She is showing hospitality and her neighborly duty in preparing the dining table, the food, the drink in serving Jesus.
But Mary, her sister, did not join Martha in the kitchen. Instead, she is sitting at the feet of Jesus doing nothing but listening. Her posture indicates that she is a humble listener, sitting at the feet of her Teacher as she listens to His every word. As Jesus speaks, she is all ears to what is being said.
To Martha, Mary’s choice in not helping her out in the kitchen appears to be self-centered. It appears to her that she is not being hospitable. Martha is irritated. So, frustrated and tugged back and forth, she says to Jesus, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me” (Luke 10:40).
But surprisingly to Martha, Jesus answers her saying, “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 10:42).
So, here we have two different types of hospitality. First is Martha’s generous hospitality as she receives Jesus into her home and burdens herself with serving. Second is Mary’s hospitality as she prioritizes sitting at the feet of Jesus and He serves her with His Word.
Martha is burdened with many things. Mary is absorbed in being served. Now, both are being hospitable, but only one of these is needful.
Our Gospel text today immediately follows the Parable of the Good Samaritan. I think the Holy Spirit had Luke record this event here as a contrast to that parable.
Yes, we are to have radical love toward our neighbor. We are to serve our neighbor in need without any conditions. But the First Commandment (“You shall have no other gods” as we fear, love, and trust in God above all things”) and the First Table of the Law comes before the Second Table of the Law in loving your neighbor as yourself.
So, yes, we need to love our neighbor as yourself, but we must not forget about God.
Martha was right in serving Jesus and His disciples, but she misunderstood why Jesus came into her house in the first place. He came not to be served, but to serve.
You see, Jesus entered this house, first and foremost, to carry out His ministry, to proclaim, to teach, to make known the heavenly Father, to reveal God’s mercy and forgiveness. Jesus is there to bring Mary and Martha these treasures.
Martha believed that meal preparations were the most importance, since they had to eat. She wasn’t going to let them hunger. So, Martha did care. She did attend Jesus. She did welcome Him. But she did end up ignoring Him. She ignored Him, because she was distracted with much serving.
After Martha urged Jesus to get Mary to join her in the kitchen, Jesus said, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things” (Luke 10:41). Here, Jesus is showing His tender affection toward Martha. Now, how often do you let the worries of this world distract you from Jesus? How often do you find yourself getting distracted with the newest crisis on the cable news? How often do you get yourself bogged down by the world?
So often, we can get ourselves caught up in distractions and worldly worries. So often, the distractions of this world lead us to despise preaching and His Word, instead of gladly holding God’s Word sacred by gladly hearing it and learning it.
Yes, we ought to be neighborly, but we are not to put Jesus behind our neighborly duties.
So, here’s the point of this event: Jesus says that we should not be distracted and concerned about doing good that you neglect what is most important, which is sitting at the feet of Jesus and hearing the Word of God.
You see, the most fundamental part of hospitality is to receive and hear the preaching of the kingdom of God.
The one thing needful is the gift that Jesus has come to bring. And what is it? Catechesis, the Law and Gospel teaching of the Word of God. So, we show hospitality when we faithfully receive the Word of God.
As Martha was preparing a meal using pots and pans, Jesus is emphasizing the significance of catechesis as Mary is learning and inwardly digesting the Word of God. You see, there is a reason why Jesus said to Martha, “Mary has chosen the good portion” (Luke 10:42a). He said this because when we hear the Word of God it is like eating a meal. And unlike tangible food that comes and goes, and we eventually become hungry again, the Word of God abides forever and truly satisfies. Christ’s teaching is “the good portion” (Luke 10:42b) that will not be taken away.
One thing is necessary and Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.
The issue here is whether one is first to serve the Lord or first to be served by Him. This is the question. This is the question of the proper approach to worship. Mary has the right liturgical theology. She sits at the feet of Jesus to receive divine service from Him. Instead of trying to serve Jesus first, she allows Jesus to serve her with His gifts.
Jesus is here with us today. He is present with us in His Means of Grace, His Word and Sacraments. He is here to serve us His forgiveness, life, and salvation to you.
After Jesus left Mary and Martha’s home, He would complete His way to Jerusalem to suffer, die, and rise again. By His own death on the cross, He defeats death; by shedding His own blood, He cleanses us from all sin and blots out every transgression; and by His bodily resurrection, God the Father declares that He has accepted His Son’s sacrifice for sin.
So, how could anything ever be more important than hearing the Gospel and receiving the Sacraments? How could we ever want to neglect such eternal blessings by being pulled away or distracted by anything else when Jesus Christ Himself is present in that Word to bless us, to strengthen us, and to sustain us to life everlasting?
One thing’s needful; Lord, this treasure
Teach me highly to regard.
All else, though it first give pleasure,
Is a yoke that presses hard!
Beneath it the heart is still fretting and striving,
No true, lasting happiness ever deriving.
This one thing is needful; all others are vain—
I count all but loss that I Christ may obtain!
(One Thing’s Needful: LSB 536, stanza 1)
Let us gladly hear the Word of God spoken to you: the Good News of God’s forgiveness that is for you and for your comfort! These are the treasures that last forever and will not be taken from you when you remain in His Word!
So, may we never become so distracted that we neglect what matters most: His Word and Sacraments, but humbly sit and rest at Christ’s feet and listen, receiving His riches and treasures of heaven, which will never be taken away from you. Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.
+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +
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