Sixth Sunday after Pentecost – July 20, 2025
“38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching.
 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. 
Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
- Luke 10:38-42 -
In the story of Mary and Martha, Martha gets a bad rap. Whereas Mary sat at Jesus’ feet learning from him, it is often assumed that Martha preferred mundane busyness to theology. (Sitting at Jesus’ feet shows that Mary had become one of his rabbinical students, a major leap forward for women in that day.) However, this is false. If we look at John 11, we see that Martha was quite a theologian herself. In the wake of her Brother Lazarus’ death, Martha confessed Jesus as the Christ: “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world (John 11:27).” Here we see that Martha’s confession was every bit as insightful as Peter’s confession in Luke 9:20. In light of her confession, therefore, we can’t say that Martha preferred busyness to theology.
What then was wrong with Martha’s act of service? Nothing in the act itself. To serve others with hospitality and food preparation is a good and necessary thing. Someone had to take care of the guests to keep Jesus’ teaching program running. So, there was nothing wrong with what Martha was doing per se. Both Martha and Mary did good and necessary things.
If there was nothing wrong with Martha’s act of service, perhaps the fault lay in her intentions and motives. The text tells us that she was “distracted with much serving”. And Jesus told her that she was “anxious and troubled about many things”. Perhaps Martha’s service was excessive, way beyond what was needed. Perhaps Martha attached an oversized importance to it in wanting to pull Mary away from Jesus to help her. This would indicate a lack wisdom on Martha’s part in loving the lesser good more than the greater good. Finally, perhaps Martha was not motivated by love alone but also by a desire to look good in front of Jesus. 
If any of these reasons are true, we can see how tenderly and graciously Jesus spoke the gospel to Martha in response. “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.” In speaking these words to Martha, Jesus kindly let her know that the good portion was himself. As the Bread of Life, he was available to Martha, to Mary, and also to us.
Sixth Sunday after Pentecost – July 20, 2025
“38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching.
 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. 
Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
- Luke 10:38-42 -
In the story of Mary and Martha, Martha gets a bad rap. Whereas Mary sat at Jesus’ feet learning from him, it is often assumed that Martha preferred mundane busyness to theology. (Sitting at Jesus’ feet shows that Mary had become one of his rabbinical students, a major leap forward for women in that day.) However, this is false. If we look at John 11, we see that Martha was quite a theologian herself. In the wake of her Brother Lazarus’ death, Martha confessed Jesus as the Christ: “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world (John 11:27).” Here we see that Martha’s confession was every bit as insightful as Peter’s confession in Luke 9:20. In light of her confession, therefore, we can’t say that Martha preferred busyness to theology.
What then was wrong with Martha’s act of service? Nothing in the act itself. To serve others with hospitality and food preparation is a good and necessary thing. Someone had to take care of the guests to keep Jesus’ teaching program running. So, there was nothing wrong with what Martha was doing per se. Both Martha and Mary did good and necessary things.
If there was nothing wrong with Martha’s act of service, perhaps the fault lay in her intentions and motives. The text tells us that she was “distracted with much serving”. And Jesus told her that she was “anxious and troubled about many things”. Perhaps Martha’s service was excessive, way beyond what was needed. Perhaps Martha attached an oversized importance to it in wanting to pull Mary away from Jesus to help her. This would indicate a lack wisdom on Martha’s part in loving the lesser good more than the greater good. Finally, perhaps Martha was not motivated by love alone but also by a desire to look good in front of Jesus. 
If any of these reasons are true, we can see how tenderly and graciously Jesus spoke the gospel to Martha in response. “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.” In speaking these words to Martha, Jesus kindly let her know that the good portion was himself. As the Bread of Life, he was available to Martha, to Mary, and also to us.