CHOOSING THE BEST PART

    By James L. Thornton

Luke 10:38. "Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a

certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into
her house.
39. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and
heard his word.
40. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him,
and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve
alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
41. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art
careful and troubled about many things:
42. But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part,
which shall not be taken away from her."

I realize that today’s woman has no easy task. I know that more
appliances and conveniences are placed within the home with the goal
of making the household chores easier. Things have certainly changed
from the time that I was a child.

There were no micro-wave ovens, icemaker refrigerators, and many of

the other modern appliances found in today’s home. However, in spite
of all these changes that supposedly add to the convenience of the
home, women today are probably busier than at any other point in
history.

Expectations for women have changed as well. Today, she is expected

to not only cook the bacon, she has to help bring it home as well. Even
though she may work 40 hours plus, she is still expected to be the
main housekeeper. She is often expected to keep the house, cook the
meals, wash the clothes, and take care of the children. Their day is
often from sunup to sundown and beyond.

Another change we have seen in recent years is the "super mom." This
is the woman that attempts to have it all, a good education, a great
career, and be a great mother as well. Many women are finding that
this is not that easy. Regardless of time schedules, and calendar
organizers, there is still only 24 hours to work with in a day. I know,
there are occasions that I wish for 36 hours in a day so I could get
everything done as well, but there is no such thing.

With all that is expected of them, many women try to cut corners in
order to make for time for a busy day. The problem with this is that
one aspect that often gets cut or overlooked is that of the spiritual.
Many women, (and men as well) fail to make time for God. If they focus
only on the material, and neglect the spiritual, they will not be fulfilled
and happy.

Someone once said, "It’s the woman that sets the mood for the home."
Today’s version of that is, "If momma’s not happy, nobody’s gonna be
happy." Today’s women, through motherhood, have the greatest
opportunity to mold the future. It was Napoleon who once said, "The
fate of a child is always the work of his mother." I realize that the
passage I read today is not about mothers.

As far as I know, the scripture never mentions either Martha or Mary

as being mothers. That’s one detail that we may never know. We can
only speculate and wonder. Tradition sees Martha as the older sister
who was widowed and who took her brother and sister under her care.
What we do know about them was that they lived in Bethany, just
outside Jerusalem.

However, Martha and Mary were women, who faced decisions that
were important, with results that had eternal consequences. Jesus
loved both of these women, they were dear to Him, along with their
brother, Lazarus (John 11:5) . This study is by no means intended to
bash Martha, as I have heard too many times from too many preachers.
I feel that she was at Pentecost and received the Holy Ghost also.

Here in Luke, is the only time they are mentioned in this Gospel. We
are told that Martha received Jesus into her house. Jesus was an up
and coming rabbi, who was gathering a following. No doubt, Martha
wanted everything to be just right, after all, some were even saying
that this was the Messiah. She was busy, working, while Mary, her
sister, was listening to the words that Jesus taught.
Jesus told Martha that Mary had chosen the best part. This passage of
scripture shows three differences between Martha and Mary. I want to
show them to you this morning, all the while remembering that Mary
had chosen the better part. This text applies to mothers, women, as
well as to men. See where you fit in this morning.

I. THERE WAS A DIFFERENCE IN FOCUS:

1. Both of them had differences focuses. Webster Dictionary defines

focus as the point where reflected rays come together, the center.
Here by focus, I mean the things they were most concerned about.
That which was the center of their lives.

2. Notice what they were paying attention to. The scripture tells us
that Martha was concerned about serving. That is what she was
focused upon.

3. No doubt she was excited. Jesus was coming to her house. She
wanted everything to be just right. Jesus was the honored guest so it
was customary to prepare a meal for the guest. I don’t know what was
being prepared, but I’m sure that Martha put everything she had into it.
She was busy serving the Master. Also we must remember she had the
added burden of feeding a large group of men who were following
Jesus, this meant more food than normal had to be prepared and
served.

4. I have met people who spend all the time being busy. They serve on
every committee the church has. They
teach Sunday School, they teach Wednesday night Bible study classes,
they head up the Ladies’ Ministries. If there’s a position open in the
church they do their best to fill it. However, they do all these things,
yet they never find the time to develop a closer relationship with
Jesus. Did you know that you can be too busy for the Lord?

5. Now I not saying it’s a bad thing to serve the Lord, I’m not saying it’s
a bad thing to be involved in church work. May God help us; we need
more people that are willing to be involved for I believe that God has a
work for every single one of you. There are classes that need to be
taught, and ministries that need to be developed.

A study was conducted several years ago and it found, regardless of

the size of the church, be it 20 or 2000, that roughly only 10 % of the
church’s attendance are active in performing the ministries of the
church. No wonder so many people suffer burnout and no wonder some
people are too busy working for the Lord to develop a closer
relationship with Him. They have to do their job plus someone else’s.
Would to God we had more people who were willing to serve.

6. Martha’s service was not a bad thing. The problem was in much
serving. Martha was focused on serving. The Greek word used here for
"serving" is the word diakonia. The Greek word for deacon comes from
this word. Serving is not a bad thing, but Martha had allowed it to
become the center of her attention. She was cumbered about
(distracted) with much serving.

I think that is the key word, "much." All her energy, all her attention,
and all her focus was on serving. Some would attempt to
psychoanalyze her and say that maybe she suffered from low self-
esteem and by her "service" she was attempting to overcompensate
for it. Some might say that she was just a "type A" personality.
Theologians might say that she was "works" based, thinking that
maybe by her works she could please the Lord. I don’t know. I do know
that she was focused upon the wrong thing.

7. Now think what a tragedy it is, to have the Lord of the universe in
your house, and you’re too busy to hear what He has to say. Did you
know that we have people that sit in churches every Sunday, in the
presence of the Lord, and their thoughts are 10,000 miles away,
they’re too busy to hear what the Lord has to say? Many run in and out
of the service and never "get" the message God wanted them to hear.

8. This in not just confined to church work either. There are mothers
who labor hard on the job, working to build a future for their children,
working to build a good home for their families, and they never give
thought to the spiritual needs of their children. Thank God for every
mother who takes the time to teach her children about the Word of
God, and thank God for every mother who pays enough attention to the
Word of God that they can teach it to their children.

John 6:27. "Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat
which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give
unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed."

9. Jesus said to not put all your energy into that which is only
temporary. I know of Dads and Moms who work and lay up for their
children and when they are gone, everything they put up, their children
waste it in just a short time. It is not appreciated but it is taken for
granted. I have yet to hear a child say that they didn’t appreciate the
faith that their parents passed on to them.

10. Now notice Mary, the scripture says that she was sitting at the
feet of Jesus and notice this, she heard His word. Moms, Dads, are you
hearing His Word today? Are you taking the time to listen to Jesus?
Are you focused upon Him? Mary was focused on Jesus and His word,
she chose the better part.

II. THERE WAS A DIFFERENCE IN THEIR FELLOWSHIP WITH CHRIST:

1. Now let’s pay attention to Mary. She was sitting at the feet of Jesus.
To be at someone’s feet is a place of closeness. The Greek means that
she literally sat down right in front of the feet of Jesus. She wanted to
get as close to Him as she possibly could. She didn’t want to miss a
word of what Jesus was saying. She knew that there was something
special about this man called Jesus.

2. Let me tell you something, you are as close to Jesus as you want to
be. I know that you don’t like that, I know that you will give me your
excuses, but Jesus desires for you to be close to Him. If you are not as
close to Him as you used to be, guess who moved? You see, it all
comes down to priorities, for Mary, fellowship with Christ was a
priority in her life. Listen, the scriptures say that you have been called
into fellowship with Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:9. "God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the

fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord."
3. Mary knew that to fully receive from Jesus, she must shut
everything else out and focus on being close to Him.

4. Now let’s go back to Martha. We are not told that she was in a
specific location. We are just told that she was cumbered about with
much serving. She was probably here in this place for a while and then
she would move to another place within the house.

What I want you to notice is the word "cumbered." This is a word that
we don’t use a lot in modern English. The New Revised Standard
translates it as "But Martha was distracted by her many tasks;" That’s
probably pretty close to what the text says in the Greek. The Greek
word used literally means to "draw away" or "distract."

5. Martha was letting her tasks draw her away from Christ. Remember,
she was the one who received Christ into her home, she was the one
who welcomed Him, yet now, other things have become more
important and she is drawn away from the One she needs to hear the
most.

6. How many times do we receive Christ into the home of our hearts,
welcome Him, and then allow other things to consume us and draw our
attention away from Him? If we are not careful, we will be like "the
ground that received the seed with joy," yet because we do not take
the time to ground ourselves in fellowship with Him, the rocks and
stones of our lives don’t allow the seed to grow (Matthew 13:20) . Then
we become overwhelmed with our troubles and cares and die out
spiritually. Ladies and Gentlemen this is a grave danger.

Hebrews 2:1. "Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to

the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them
slip."

Hebrews 2:1. "Therefore we must pay greater attention to what we

have heard, so that we do not drift away from it" (New Revised
Standard).
7. What do you have to do to drift away? Absolutely nothing. The
currents of life, the cares of life, and the temptations of life, will
naturally cause you to drift away.

8. I recently read the story of a man who had just brought a boat and
kept it in the harbor on the coast of Florida. A hurricane warning went
into effect, the storm was brewing just off the coast and was about to
hit land. He didn’t know what to do. He had made a sizable investment
in this boat and he didn’t want to loose it so he asked for advice.

A friend, who had experience with both boats and hurricane, gave him
this advice. "Don’t attempt to tie the boat to the dock or anything on
land. It will be torn to pieces. Here’s what you need to do. Your only
hope is to anchor deep. Take four anchors, and drop them deep, and
the boat will ride out the storm."

That’s good advice spiritually as well. If you don’t want to drift away, if
you want your life to mean something, if you want to leave your
children an example of what it means to be a Christian, anchor deep in
your fellowship with Christ. If we don’t center our lives upon Christ, we
too will drift away.

9. Remember again, that Mary had chosen the best part.

III. THERE WAS A DIFFENENCE IN THEIR FEELINGS:

1. Notice what Jesus said about Martha in verse 41. And Jesus
answered and said unto her, "Martha, Martha, thou art careful and
troubled about many things:" The RSV says "Martha, you are anxious
and troubled about many things;" The New Revised Standard
– "Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things;" The NIV
says, "worried and upset."

2. What I want you to see was Martha’s feelings. She was upset, she
was anxious and she was worried. When you don’t focus upon Christ,
when you don’t anchor deep in fellowship with Him, this is often the
end result.
3. I love the old hymn, "What a Friend We Have." The first verse reads,
"What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear.
What a privilege to carry, everything to God in prayer.
O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer."

4. Martha had the One Who could speak peace to the storm, the Prince
of peace, right in her home, but she’s far from being peaceful. Her
feelings are those of anxiety, fear and concern. She is troubled. I can’t
help but wonder, how many mothers today are filled with fear, worry,
and concern, all because they don’t focus on the Peacemaker?

It’s a scary world that we live in. We send our children to school
everyday and we don’t know if we will ever see them again. School
shootings, kidnapers, drugs, and alcohol, occult activities can all be
found in our schools today. If you don’t want to go crazy, you had
better have the Prince of Peace as the center of your life.

5. Let’s look at Mary. The scripture doesn’t say what she was feeling.
It just tells us that she was sitting at the feet of the Master. Those
who focus their minds, who lean on Christ, are kept in perfect peace.
Mary had indeed chosen the good part. She is focused upon Him and
His words, but I know she was feeling peace. You say, how can you
say that? How do you know that she was feeling peace? Because of
what the Bible says.

Isaiah 26:3. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is

stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee."

6. Notice what the Lord said to Martha. He said one thing is needful.
Did you catch that? One thing is necessary (Greek translation). I
realize that your days are filled with activities; I realize that your
schedules are busy. But Jesus said one thing is necessary.

Martha was busy, but what would it had mattered, in the big picture of
eternity, if maybe supper was a few minutes late? What would it have
mattered, if the biscuits were burned just a little? (I know they didn’t
eat biscuits, but I had to put that in there). What would it have
mattered, if she had everything just perfect, and yet missed out on
eternity?

7. You may keep an immaculate house, I hope you do, but do you find
time for God? You may be moving up the corporate ladder of success, I
hope you are, but it is worth missing out on eternity? You may be
raising your children according to the latest principles of child rearing
currently being advocated by the American Psychological Association,
but only one thing is needful, only one thing is necessary, and that’s
your relationship with God.

Jesus told Martha, "Mary has chosen the good part that won’t be taken
away from her." She was making plans for eternity. Amen.