Forget the Big Thing
Mary was a slacker.
There. I said it.
Mary was a slacker and an underachiever and lacked ambition.
Oh, I know — don’t I know — that in side-by-side comparisons, it would be Martha who was found wanting. Martha, who planned and prepared and executed with perfection — He would peer straight through Martha’s heart and say, Your sister has chosen the better thing.
But Martha was the one who truly understood the importance of the Lord’s visit that day. She knew the social mores. She was deeply aware of the need to honor this guest with a proper meal, in a properly prepared home. This was a really big thing.
And she was the one that got that. The only one.
Mary, she was the flighty one. The one you’d find lying on her belly in the grass, picking daisies when there was the wash to do. Always talking about light and color and the moment.
Mary was all about the wonder.
And she never got a thing done.
Martha must have worried about Mary. What man would want her? Martha had to finish everything Mary ever started. The meals, the housework, all of it. Would she bring her along to the marriage bed?
Mary’d no sooner start grinding flour before she was off, leaving the work undone, while she ran to the field just to feel the moist soil between her fingers, carrying on about this one kernel of wheat and how the plant came up from the ground all on its own, and Oh, isn’t it just amazing?
Martha, left standing at the door, would finish her own work, then clean up Mary’s mess, shaking her head all the while. Amazing, alright.
::
The Teacher came to their home that night, and Martha was a wreck. She’d finally sent Mary outside, unable to get her to focus for just ten seconds at time. Every time she started to sweep, she’d twirl around with the broom, then get all caught up in the flow of her robes as the air sent them billowing wild. Now, with all the work to do herself, she wasn’t done.
She wasn’t ready.
He was there in her house – Jesus was right there! – and she wasn’t ready.
She was going to miss her chance to do the really big thing.
And where was Mary?
Just sitting there.
Well, at least she didn’t bring out another bottle of costly perfume they’d worked so hard for and dump it all over Him again. Martha understood the disciples’ outrage that night, counting money in the currency of what we can accomplish.
Even now, her stomach tightened, catching a whiff of the scent of utter waste.
But Mary just sat there, eyes locked on Him, wasting only precious time.
::
When every swoosh of the dust cloth or chop of the knife only enraged her more, she knew she must do something about this sister of hers, this slacker. Jesus had to know how hard she was working, how much of herself she’d spent to do the really big thing for Him.
If He only knew, He’d never permit her to just lounge around like that.
She had to wonder sometimes, Mary was such a contemplative one. And so relational. If she wasn’t out twirling around, lost in the mystery of something useless, she was surrounded by her friends. Just this morning Martha was halfway home from the market before she realized Mary was gone.
She found her back at the door of a shop, deep in conversation with someone she’d never met!
Didn’t she know the Kingdom was all about action? It was a place for movers and shakers and people who knew how to get things done. When would she ever get serious and find her place there?
What she knew was this: God had something really big for Mary to do. Huge.
She would move mountains and change the world.
Martha just knew it.
But somehow, she had to get up and get moving. And she might just as well start now.
So, hands still dripping from the dishwater, Martha stomped out to the courtyard to demand the Teacher make something of this daydreamer.
She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”
But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:40-42, NLT)
::
I’m no Martha in the kitchen, but even so, I get so easily taken by the REALLY BIG THING and often miss the REALLY GREAT THING. The one thing that’s truly needful. What about you? How do you deal with the tension between what’s really BIG and what’s really GREAT?
Reference: Luke 10:38-42, John 11:1-5, John 11:27-32
Photo: Purple belle flower by Dani Simmonds
I remember hearing Haddon Robinson describe Mary as that member of the congregation who’s always staring out the window writing terrible devotional poetry … And I have to admit, I’m glad I can’t write poetry! http://pocketpurposeblog.wordpress.com/big_bible_questions/
2010/08/27 at 7:51 PM
That’s funny, Carlene. And yet, she’s the one that seems to get the closest to His heart. Thanks for stopping by!
2010/08/27 at 10:30 PM
Simply put…I freak out!
Case and point…I had a moment of insanity a few weeks ago and thought what a great idea it would be to invite my co-workers over for a picnic. WHAT WAS I THINKING? Tomorrow afternoon is the day and now I am thinking I should have left the day open for laying with my belly in the grass and picking daisies….
But alas…a little voice tells me opening my home up and letting others in is what I am called to do….
Love the new layout- (yeah for the black background again!) and the pictures your using??? Beautiful! It must be your inner gardener coming out!
Beautiful post from a beautiful soul….thank you!
2010/08/27 at 8:24 PM
Julie, that’s so cool. I’m about as good at hospitality as I am with gardening…and cooking…and… Keep doing that!
And yeah, the new layout. I like the black better. But after I kept breaking the page every time I changed the font color to green instead of blue, I finally decided we’d just go blue. Not quite used to that yet.
2010/08/27 at 10:32 PM
Thank you for taking me inside this special story…your perspective is really thought provoking…and as for your ending question…in the past I REALLY stressed about things…and paid no attention to the still small voice…by His grace alone, I am learning to listen more, breath deeper, and seek the really GREAT…after having a moment of panic!
2010/08/27 at 9:08 PM
Karen, I imagine Mary did a lot of deep breathing.
2010/08/27 at 10:33 PM
This post is rich. More chocolate again, Lyla.
First off, I’ve got to say that your Mary here reminds me of a Disney princess, flitting about with her broom and lounging in the flowers. Someone call Pixar!
Seriously, though, I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m a whole lotta Martha. But you know what? I also know that I’ve got Mary tendencies, too — minus the broom-dancing.
Jesus has always had this thing for showing up announced in places like a manger, a temple, alive in a Garden on a Sunday morning, along a dusty road to Emmaus … and the list goes on.
As for me? I want to be ready when he comes. I want to have my Martha-ish-ness stuff in order, but I also want to have my Mary heart beating wildly for him.
Because He’s coming again. …
2010/08/27 at 9:52 PM
Pixar, eh? Funny thing is that this is so not the post I meant to write. Not at all. But it’s what came out and so like Mary flitting around, I went with it.
I can see you dancing with the broom. And I can see you pouring out the perfume and the tears and absolutely spending yourself.
Your Mary heart beats wild enough I can hear it up here.
2010/08/27 at 10:36 PM
I’m glad this is the post you wrote. I love it, too, that you don’t have it all outlined in advance, that you let God lead it.
You’re looking pretty Mary-ish today, Ms. Lyla. In fact, you’re consistently VERY Mary.
This thing you do here a few times a week, my friend? It is a “really great thing.”
2010/08/27 at 10:59 PM
Guess where I just was? Tucking in behind you at Nebraska Graceful.
2010/08/27 at 11:02 PM
Do we go everywhere together? Samuel, Ephesians, Nebraska. All the cool places.
2010/08/28 at 12:50 PM
Sometimes Bible stories a snapshot of an event, its times and its characters. A moment in the life of two wonderful sisters. Perhaps Jesus made sure it was included in the Gospels to instruct and inspire us, but may not have intended for us to create a full blown picture of these two ladies. Isn’t it possible that in this one snapshot, we see the very best of one and the notso very best of the other? Isn’t it possible and I would say likely, that the one thing they had in common caused them to express that common virtue in widely different ways? Maybe Martha wasn’t always this OCD about things, but in this instance her deep seated love for the Lord raised her self expectations to an overwhelming level. She seemed to want to serve him and show her devotion in the way she knew best, with the talents and gifts with which she felt most comfortable and competent. Perhaps her exasperation with Mary was more her disappointment with herself and her efforts to make everything perfect for Him. Is it not also possible that Mary wasn’t always the perfect little spiritual princess, but once again the same love and devotion that drove Martha to perfectionism in the kitchen, drove her to desire to hang on every word He spoke?
Let me suggest that the words of Jesus may not also not have been intended to give Mary’s action ever and always better status over Martha’s. This was a moment in time, a very special moment, when for the moment, Mary’s instinct was right and Martha’s obsession with detail was misplaced. Carry either Mary’s or Martha’s tendencies all the way and we see a world and a Church where nothing and no one is prepared for the spiritual moment, or the spiritual moment comes and goes, and no one arises to the work it calls us to do.
I wonder if a Church full of all Marys or all Marthas would necessarily be a blessing. Most of the Marys I know wish they could be more like Martha, and most of the Marthas would dearly love to be more like Mary. Every
Church has a Martha or two who always seem to get the necessary stuff ready and done. Sometimes when I take communion on Sunday I thank the Lord for the Martha who came early and prepared it for us. Every Church has a Mary or two who, gently lead others through their spiritual insight and gracious manner.
One thing shared by Mary and Martha, was their love for the Lord and devotion to him, even if their expression was very different. When Lazarus died, they both with the same deep faith in Jesus said exactly the same thing, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died!” Maybe Martha and Mary weren’t so different after all. I would love to have a church full of Mary’s trying to be more Martha, and Marthas trying to be more Mary. What would the Church do without them both? Probably be more like Lazarus, being dead, and buried, waiting for Mary and Martha and Jesus to come and tell him what to do!
2010/08/28 at 8:41 PM
David, good observations. It’s easy to make these things black and white, and make these two women an either/or scenario. And I don’t know that’s what my intent was, but it sure may have come off that way.
I have Martha’s heart not for hospitality but for competence and productivity. And I wonder sometimes what would happen if we all lay down in the field one day. But I’m learning that I need to edge a little in the direction of her sister Mary. I need to be willing to let the wonder take me sometimes.
I think it’s interesting that Jesus didn’t tell Martha to cut Mary some slack, let her have some time to relax. He said “one thing is needed” and Mary was doing it. Being with Him is a non-negotiable. Whatever activity and productivity comes out of that is just that — it flows out.
2010/08/28 at 8:54 PM
Anyone who knows me knows I still freak out in the moment…its getting better but the importance of the big thing is intense and all consuming. I am an organizer, I am the one in the kitchen making sure everything is taken care of…that is one of my gifts…at any event unless I am required for some crazy reason to be in the midst of the moment I choose not to be. For me to sit at the feet of Jesus I go off alone to be with Him rarely in the midst of the big event.
I have also wanted to say many times Mary was a slacker…come on give Martha some credit. How would the “event” have gone if there was no food prepared? Ok a dusty house was a minor thing, but I know how OCD I get when company is coming.
I get the Lord’s point and He has really worked on that point with me…but I still tend to freak. LOL
2010/08/28 at 9:28 PM
so very well written. keep wriing. you picked one of my favorite Bible stories
2010/08/29 at 2:07 AM
My problem is I want to be both women. I understand why God gave me twins–to help me let go of some of the Martha in me so I can nurture my Mary side. Socks, shoes, and unstained clothes for a trip to the library or store? A clean house? Nice, but they’re “big” instead of “great”. Great is singing with my children on the porch, watching them discover God’s creation, hearing them speak God’s name as a daily part of normal conversation. Yes, Great it better than Big.
2010/08/29 at 5:46 PM
I do spend much of my life on the big stuff. I want a big book, a big name, a big reputation. When really, it’s the faithful little things that mark a man or woman of God
2010/08/30 at 9:13 AM