The Lutheran Hour
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"Maligned Martha"
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Text: Text: Luke 10:41
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Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! To our lives which are filled with worries and upsets, a living Lord Jesus comes. The empty tomb, the angel’s words, show that Jesus lives, and because He lives, all who have faith in Him also possess that one Person who is needful.
It was a good many years ago when someone told me a story that changed my life. My family was young, and I was very busy with things at church. When my son, who was about 5 years old at the time, came up and asked me a question, I would often reply, “I’m busy right now. Go ask your mother.” I was one of those Lutheran ministers who preach that people are saved by grace alone, but sometimes live like their congregation can only be run by a pastor’s works alone. That was all changed when one of my members told me about another father – a father who promised his children a day at the circus. Just as they were leaving home, the phone rang. The man’s boss asked him to come in to work. The man politely declined. When he explained the call to his wife, she suggested that the children would understand if he had to go into work. Dad summed up his position with the reply, “My work will be there tomorrow; our children will soon be gone.” When I heard that story, I was impressed. I thought, “From now on I’m going to get my priorities straight.”
It was not more than two days later that my resolution was put to the test. I had just brought down and washed the screen of an upstairs window in our home. While the screen dried, I, balancing brush and bucket, climbed back up to wash the window. Just when I reached the rung which would allow me to do my work, I heard a voice from below. Kurt was calling up, “Daddy, I have a question.” Before, I would have simply called back down, “Son, ask your mother.” But I was a changed man. I got a warm glow as I said to myself, “The windows will be there an hour from now, my son and his question won’t be.” I secured the bucket and brush, and descended the ladder. I walked over to my son; sat down on the grass; pulled him onto my lap, and gave him my undivided attention. “Yes, son, what is your question? How can I help you?” He asked, “Daddy, do you know where Mommy is?” There are days when you just can’t win.
I would imagine that Martha, one of the principles of our story, felt she couldn’t win the day Jesus came to her house. If you’ve never met Martha, allow me to make the introduction. Martha, with her brother Lazarus and her sister Mary, lived about 2,000 years ago, in the small Judean town of Bethany. When Jesus was around Jerusalem, He would often stop and pay the trio a visit. They would ask Him to stay the night, and if He had to keep moving on, at least insist that He and His disciples have a meal with them. It was a wonderful arrangement. He, who had no home of His own, found in Bethany, a place where He could count on being the recipient of a high degree of mid-east hospitality.
We who live in an age of burglar alarms, dead bolts, and razor-wire fences, would find the ancient world’s laws of hospitality to be perplexing and peculiar. At a time when Hiltons, Howard Johnsons, and Holiday Inns were non-existent, sojourners, strangers and even slaves (Deut. 23:15-16) could count on finding a welcome mat in front of every household’s door. The Greeks and Romans regarded the showing of hospitality as a sacred duty; the Egyptians considered it a deed which would be blessed by the gods; the wandering Bedouins saw the entertaining of a guest as something which must be performed by any respectable tent owner.
Martha, no doubt motivated by a sense of hospitality as well as her deep respect and love for Jesus, had invited Him into their house. Knowing she had a role to perform, knowing that people would judge her and her family by how well she performed that role, Martha dug in. She began flying around the house putting everything in order for the Lord. That’s what you would do if Jesus came to your house. You would get out grandma’s special recipe card for potato salad. You would plan an appetizer, then select a salad, possibly the green Jell- O with shredded carrots. You would plan a main meat course, perhaps a fatted calf, and then the dessert. Does Jesus drink coffee or tea? “What should I wear? Should I invite the neighbors, or would Jesus like some ‘down time?'”
A lot needs to be done when Jesus comes to call. Martha knew that and wanted to make sure everything was just right. Naturally, she expected her sister Mary to lend a hand with the preparations. She expected wrongly. Sure, Martha understood when Mary sat down and started to listen to Jesus. That was a polite and proper thing to do. No sense in being rude to your Guest. But when Mary didn’t move, when Mary gave every indication of staying put, Martha started to get upset. Martha, if she is like most of us, would have shown her displeasure in some very subtle and secret ways. You husbands and wives probably know what I’m talking about. Between Pam and myself, there is “the look.” Well, actually, at the Klaushaus, the look goes only one way – from Pam to me. I get the look when I’ve talked too much, preached too long, overstayed my welcome, and have been picking the cashews out of the host’s bowl of mixed nuts. Although I can’t prove it from Scripture, I imagine Martha sent Mary the look. Maybe more than once. Amazingly, Mary didn’t pay attention. She kept sitting; she kept listening. Sitting and listening–can you believe it? Mary kept sitting there, off in “la-la land.” Mary didn’t lift a single solitary finger to help.
It was impossible! Inexcusable! Martha simply had no choice. If the look didn’t work, she had to take her protest to the next level. If they had cabinet doors, Martha would have started slamming them. If they had metal pots and pans, Martha would have banged more noisily than necessary. Did Martha sigh? Did she clear her throat, stomp her feet? The Bible doesn’t say. Nor does it indicate if Martha started to talk to herself. You can almost hear the words, “This job would go a lot easier if everybody pitched in…. Sure wish I could sit and listen to Jesus, too… but there’s work to be done. That’s a fact, although some people seem too good to get their hands dirty. Some people just sit and act like the Empress of Rome. Blah blah blah blah blah.”
Finally, when her subtle suggestions had failed and Martha could stand it no longer, she decided to take her appeal to a higher court. I can almost see her wipe a wisp of hair from her flushed face, brush the flour off her apron, stomp in, stand squarely in front of Jesus and demand He tell Mary to get crackin’. How could Jesus turn her down? Hadn’t Jesus recently chewed out his host, Simon the Pharisee (Luke 7:39ff), for neglecting the simple rules of hospitality? Martha knew that Jesus would set straight this inequity. He would see her point, take her side, and put her sister Mary in her place. With all the confidence at her command, Martha spoke, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
Well, as I said before, there are days when you just can’t win. This was one of those days for Martha. You see, Jesus didn’t say, “Why, My goodness, you’re absolutely right. Mary has been shirking. Mary, get in the kitchen and do the right thing by your poor, overworked, overstressed sister.” No, Jesus began, “Martha, Martha.” Any of you who have ever been a little child, and I imagine that covers most of my listening audience, have heard that tone, if not those words, before. I remember my mother saying those words, “Kenny, Kenny.” They were loving words, said with an understanding tone. But they were also words that said I was wrong. “Kenny, Kenny, when are you ever going to learn not to …”; and then she would fill in the blank. No matter how nicely and lovingly those words were said, they indicated whatever followed was not going to be good.
Jesus began, “Martha, Martha.” And then He continued: “Don’t sweat the small stuff. Mary has figured out what is number one, and I’m going to encourage her to keep first things, first.” Well, that’s not exactly what Jesus said. Jesus said, “Martha, Martha, 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.” It was a bad day for Martha. Over the years it hasn’t gotten better. Because of this little incident, through the centuries Martha has been maligned by pastors from their pulpits, and parishioners in their parishes. Martha was the sister who had inverted priorities. Martha was the sister who didn’t sit and listen to Jesus. Martha was the sister who got it all wrong.
Well, between you and me, I don’t think it’s fair to malign Martha that way. Look, Martha was the one who asked Jesus to come into her house. That ought to count for something. I also note that Jesus didn’t say Martha was wrong in playing the good hostess. She was doing a job that needed to be done. Jesus, with His gentle refusal, made it perfectly plain, that while all of us have important things that need to be done, there is only one thing that is absolutely needful – faith in Him. For 74 years, “The Lutheran Hour” has been saying the same thing – there is only One Person who is needful – Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior of the world. For 74 years we have been saying, “If you have Jesus, you have everything; without Him, you’ve got nothing.”
In spite of the fact that Martha has been maligned over the centuries, I can say with some degree of confidence, that she knew that there was only One Person who was needful. I say that because after her brother Lazarus had died and was buried, Jesus came to the Bethany home one more time. When the sisters heard Jesus had come, Mary stayed inside crying, while Martha went to greet her Lord. It was Martha, who even when confronted by death, kept her faith in the Christ. To Jesus, she says, “If you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died … And even now, I know that God will give You whatever You ask.” It was Martha who bore witness to the power of God’s grace and the resurrection to eternal life which comes to all who believe in Jesus as Savior. It was Martha who gave a pre-crucifixion confession of confidence, second only to that made by Peter. She said, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who has come into this world.” Martha believed that Jesus was “the resurrection and the life.” Martha believed that anyone who trusts in Jesus as their Savior and Lord will never die.” Martha had the One Person needful. By the Holy Spirit’s power, there was placed inside her a desire to welcome the Savior, to give her best to the Savior, to witness to the Savior, to believe in the Savior, to believe that He had the ability, the power to conquer sins, devil, and even death.
Now if this was Martha’s eulogy, the message would be over. The truth is, this isn’t a eulogy and Martha is not the star of this sermon – Jesus is. It is not important any longer what Martha believed; it is extremely important what you believe. That’s why I ask, “Do you have that one thing which is all-important? Do you have that One Person Who is needful – Jesus your Savior? Do you know His love?”
In the late 1800s, two steamboats left Memphis at just about the same time. It didn’t take too long before a challenge was flung and a race began. The competition was cutthroat as the two ships spewed smoke and sparks into the sky as they steamed into the South. After a while, one boat began to lag behind. They had laid in enough coal for the trip, but hardly enough to carry on and complete a race. It was then that a smart sailor discovered the ship’s cargo burned as powerfully as did the coal. With eagerness, the crew carried crate after crate of cargo and chucked it into the fire. They wound up winning the race, but they finished the race without their cargo.
That my friends, is not the way you want to finish your life. You do not want to list your last day on earth counting a great many temporal victories, but failing to have the One Person who is needful. Do you have Jesus as your Savior? When you are confronted by the death of a friend or family member, can you say, “Because of Jesus I know this is not the end. Because of Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the living God, I know that we shall see each other again.” Are you able to say, “Because of Jesus, I am saved?” You may know judges, jurists and statesmen, millionaires, billionaires, leaders of labor and industry’s influential; still, without Jesus you do not have the One Person who is needful.
Today the Holy Spirit calls. He wants you to see Him who is all-important. Today the Holy Spirit wishes to give you that one thing which is needful: faith in God’s Son, your Savior. Today the Holy Spirit wants you to believe in Jesus, who cared so much for you that neither spit or the sting of a whip could stop His love. He wants you to believe in Jesus who cared so much for you that He did not seek revenge when a crown of thorns dug deep into his skull. He wants you to believe in Jesus who cared for you so much that He allowed His bloody, beaten, broken body to be lifted up upon the cross so that your sins might be forgiven, so you might live forever. He wants you to believe in that One Person who is needful: the Savior who was faithful unto death so that all who believe on Him might have life eternal. Saint Paul said it far better than I ever could. He said, “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3).
You will, I pray, forgive me if I go back and retell a story which was shared about 30 years ago by pastors and priests. The story began with a man whose greatest desire was to know what the stock market would do over the next 30 days. Armed with that information, he figured he could invest enough money to be set for the rest of his life. With that kind of security he would have the freedom to do as he wanted, even to develop an interest in religion and God, if such was his desire. According to the story, on Nov. 1 the man found a copy of the New York Times on his doorstep – a copy of the Times dated Dec.1. The man ripped into the investment page. With pen and paper, computer and calculator, he finished an exhausting morning. By one o’clock, he had made his choices. He knew what stock he was going to buy and what he would sell. Desiring to keep the paper safe, he gently folded it. As he did, his eyes settled for a second upon the obituary pages. He couldn’t stop himself. He looked. He read. He froze. Do I need to tell you his name was listed there? He had less than 35 days to live. He had it all, except the one Person who is needful. How about you? Right now, there are operators at Lutheran Hour Ministries ready to take your call. Let us introduce you to, tell you more about Jesus, the One Person who is needful. Amen.
Lutheran Hour Mailbox (Questions & Answers) for August 1, 2004
Topic: Obnoxious Religions (Part 3)ANNOUNCER: We’re back once again with Pastor Ken Klaus. I’m Mark Eischer. We’re picking up on a discussion we started last week in which we were comparing different religions. Towards the end of that session Pastor Klaus, you said something to the effect of, “If you’re searching, you ought to try to find the religion that is true.” And I said, “But religion is a matter of faith.”
KLAUS: Mark, the Bible contains a great many examples of faith–as far as I know, only one definition of faith. That definition is found in Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see.” For a Christian, faith means the Holy Spirit calls us by the Gospel – the Good News of Jesus, who was crucified for the sins of all people and raised again from the dead. It means, using the means of grace, the Lord puts faith into our hearts and we believe. That belief in the salvation which was won for us by Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection, is what gives us eternal life. That’s faith. But all too often, most people, when they say “religion is a matter of faith,” they mean “what you believe is guesswork – a shot in the dark, an opinion with one point of view, just as valid, just as reliable as any other.”
ANNOUNCER: Would you explain why you say the Christian faith is special and unique compared to others?
KLAUS: I’d be glad to do that. In fact, the whole purpose of these last three weeks leads up to this. The writer of Hebrews, when he defines faith, uses two special words – the words “sure” and “certain.” When most people think of faith, they don’t think of something sure and certain.
ANNOUNCER: I think many people think of faith as more like “wishing upon a star.”
KLAUS: Exactly. Christianity is more than wishing. The words sure and certain are quite appropriate in their use there. Christianity is sure and certain because of what happened on the first Resurrection Sunday almost two thousand years ago. Something occurred on Resurrection Sunday, something which made Jesus more real, more alive, more believable that day, than He was when He rode into Jerusalem and was hailed by the crowds. Jesus, whom everybody knew, and I repeat that word – “knew,” was dead, had been seen. Jesus, who had been dead, was now seen – walking, talking, eating, visiting, praying. I know no other religion in the world where the leader made such a claim or has done such a deed. Jesus’ resurrection is unique. It is that important. It is everything. You see, if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, every church might just as well shut its doors. If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, we’re preaching a bunch of baloney. This whole faith thing, from start to finish, is just a joke; but, if Jesus did rise from the dead, actually, physically, really, then we have to change the way we look at Him. If Jesus really, actually, physically rose, then we are compelled to believe that He was more than just a man. If Jesus was more than just a man, what was He? He claimed to be the Messiah, the Son of God, the Savior of the world. He claimed to be the only way that we could be saved. His resurrection lends validity to that claim.
ANNOUNCER: And when you add in the fact that the major events of Jesus’ life had all been foretold in Scripture …
KLAUS: I haven’t even touched on prophesy. Hundreds of years before Jesus was born, God’s prophets had been giving clues that would help us recognize the Christ when He came. They told us where Jesus would be born; that His mother would be a virgin; that He would live a perfect life; that He would be betrayed by a friend; that He would be sold for the price of a slave; that He would be whipped; that He would be crucified; that He would be numbered with thieves when He died; that He would be buried in a rich man’s grave; that He would rise from the dead; that He would ascend to the Father. The list is a lot longer than that. For one man to fulfill those promises is beyond credibility and happenstance, unless Jesus was the God-designated Savior. No other religion makes such a claim, which is why “The Lutheran Hour” has for almost 75 years now, shared this message of truth, sure and certain salvation which comes to us through Jesus Christ.