Many, Few, One

The story of Luke 10 when Jesus was at the house of Mary and Martha (and Lazarus, though he is not mentioned in this story) has given rise to many teachings. This is a story about where life and eternity collide. Life is about making beds, washing dishes, mowing grass, taking showers, mopping floors, changing oil, balancing the check book, planning trips, going to the doctor, grocery shopping, dropping off clothes at the dry cleaners, cleaning the garage, going out for ice cream, attending a movie, watching your favorite sports team, sitting at a long light, getting stuck on the Interstate, filing papers, pulling weeds, and a thousand more things. But, at any one point in time we have choices to make regarding what we will do in that moment. Yet at other points in time we do what we have to do (or at least what we think we have to do) with a feeling of little choice in the matter. Ordering our lives so that all the MANY things of life does not crowd out the FEW things that are more important is a constant struggle. And even more importantly we struggle to make sure that the FEW things do not cause us to miss the ONE most important thing.

This is the message of Jesus in this story. Jesus tells Martha, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about many things." Jesus uses two words to show Martha's state of mind. The first translated "worried" in the NASB means a divided mind, an anxious interest, or thoughts occupied. It is the thorns of life that choke out the word (Mt.13:22). It is the daily pressure of concern that Paul felt for all the churches (2 Cor.11:28). It is what Paul tells us not to be, i.e. anxious for nothing (Phil.4:6). The MANY are often NOTHING compared to the FEW and the ONE. This type of mindset cannot make you one inch taller (Mt.6:27). It is what causes the married person to have more concerns than the unmarried, concerns for how to please someone else (I Cor.7:32-34). The other word Jesus uses is "bothered" (NASB). This word means an uproar, din, an outward expression of inward agitation, outcry, a tumult, commotion. Martha is visibly and audibly bothered by her sister choosing to sit at Jesus' feet while she was cooking, cleaning, and serving. This word is used of mob violence (Matt.26:5; Acts 17:5) or a scene of utter distress over the death of a child (Mark 5:38,39). Martha was not just mildly agitated. She was noisy about it. She was huffing and puffing. She wanted Mary and Jesus to know she was upset.

Jesus brings the matter back to the choices we have in life. There are MANY choices and all have their level of concern, interest, urgency, and time requirements. We need to be honest there are a lot of things that we choose to spend our time on that are relatively unimportant and not very NECESSARY (to use Jesus' word). Some people will reach a point where they will eliminate many of the MANY, and reduce life down to a FEW things that are NECESSARY or NEEDFUL. This is a good move. Reducing the clutter and chaos and moving parts from life makes things simpler. As John Denver told us, "The simple kind of life never did me no harm..." I have tried to live by a philosophy of seeing it big and keeping it simple. But, Jesus wants to take us to a much more basic level, one that will not eliminate life and its demands but will prioritize life so that we include the ONE thing that is most NECESSARY. It is the ONE things we cannot live without. It is the ONE thing we must have or we will die. Mary chose it and Jesus was not going to take it away from her even at the expense of Martha having a fit. Look closely at the text. "And she had a sister called Mary, who moreover was listening to the Lord's word seated at His feet."  That's it. That is the ONE thing. Stop, sit, listen to Jesus' words. He means it. He wants us to really do it. He wants us to let MANY, and FEW things go while we do it. We won't regret it, and He will not take it away from us, and He knows all the other things we need anyway. So, do it. Sit at Jesus' feet and listen to His word.