Scripture Reflections

The story of Martha and Mary (Sunday’s Gospel reading) needs to be read in context. While this could be said of every Bible passage, there are some that we are more inclined to mishear than others, and this is one of those!

Without context, we might think, “If no one did the work, and everyone sat at the feet of Jesus listening, the meal would never get served! Is the contemplation of Jesus really more important than serving someone in need? Does that mean theologians and preachers are closer to heaven than school teachers, nurses, and janitors?”

But this story doesn’t come by itself—it is “sandwiched” between two other stories. These three stories are best read together, rather than alone. Immediately before Martha and Mary is the Good Samaritan, where we hear the call to love with practical actions those in need. And right after Martha and Mary is Jesus’ teaching on how to pray, specifically his encouragement to pray that God would send the Holy Spirit to us. These three stories together present a rich picture of discipleship as the life of loving people with God’s love as we seek the empowerment of the Spirit through prayer.

In that context, listening to Jesus is not set in competition with acts of love, nor is it set in competition with prayer. Jesus’ response to Martha does make it clear that listening to him is the most important thing a disciple does, but it is not the only thing.

Perhaps the best way of characterizing it is that listening to Jesus is the first thing a disciple does, because it is the foundation and root of everything else. Out of listening to Jesus grows active love for our neighbors, and out of it grows a vigorous prayer life. None of these three are dispensable, but listening to Jesus needs to come first, because his words are the only sufficient foundation for a life of love and prayer. Martha’s issue was not that she served and worked, but instead that her work kept her heart from being attentive to Jesus. When we work without listening to Jesus, we end up working in a way that does nothing for the kingdom of God.

The call, then, for us, is to let our prayer and work flow from a listening and attentive heart. The more we listen, the more our prayer and work will become what God wants them to be.

Steven+