Are You Martha or Mary?

When faced with the anxiety of serving dinner to Jesus and His disciples, Martha became frustrated with her sister for not ‘doing her fair share’ of the serving. She said, “’Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.’ And Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part.’” (Luke 10.40-42)


When faced with the daily struggles of life our temptation just like Martha many times is to ‘bunker down’ and ‘put our nose to the grind stone’ and ‘dig in our heels’ until ‘the job gets done,’ and then to complain about everyone else who is not doing their fair share of the work. This can be very common during Greek Festival season or when the hall needs to be cleaned after a Sunday School luncheon. But today our Lord gives us a chance to make a better choice.



There are times in our lives where simply digging in our heels isn’t enough and we are just too blind to see a better option. Like Martha, we are blinded by our own pride. We ask ourselves, “Why isn’t anyone else doing their fair share?” when what we should be asking is, “Am I really doing what I should be doing?” Mary knew the difference when Jesus was in her home and she “sat at Jesus feet and heard His word.” (Luke 10.39) Martha should have been next to her at the feet of Jesus.



As Christians in 2010 we cannot allow the busyness of the world to distract us from what is really important. “Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10.42) Which part will you choose? I leave you with words from the Divine Liturgy, “Let us lay aside all the cares of life that we may receive the King of All invisibly escorted by angelic hosts.” (Cherubic Hymn)