Mary & Martha: Choosing the Better Portion
Luke 10:38-42 [CEB]
38 While Jesus and his disciples were traveling, Jesus entered a village where a woman named Martha welcomed him as a guest. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his message. 40 By contrast, Martha was preoccupied with getting everything ready for their meal. So Martha came to him and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to prepare the table all by myself? Tell her to help me.”
41 The Lord answered, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things. 42 One thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the better part. It won’t be taken away from her.”
GATHERING FOR SUNDAY
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Happy Friday everyone! This has been such a beautiful week of summer. I hope you have enjoyed the cooler temps and overall wonderful weather, and hopefully getting to be outdoors, and enjoying it all.
This week at NewDay, we are learning from the story found only in Luke's Gospel about Mary and Martha, chapter 10:38-42. This story follows the Good Samaritan story, that we just worked through last week, and one that scholars muse over- as to placement of the story, and why does only Luke share this one?
One wonder points to faith and works, that are held together in Christianity, and if we are focused too heavily on works, we will miss the grace and faith parts, and overall, Jesus' desire to be with us, and for us to desire to just be with Him.
I don't know about you, but I live a busy life. I have been trying really hard to slow down, and just be. Be with Jesus, be with myself and be with others. I am often tempted to do, do, do. And, go, go, go.
I do know that some of my own motivations come from doing and going, being productive, and being valuable. This story pushes back on these behaviors and values, and causes me to pause. What about you?
This story is short, and it packs a lot in for us to pay attention to. How do we chose the 'better portion,' as Jesus remarks, or the 'most important thing,' like Mary chose? We will be exploring what this looks like, how to do this, and also some spiritual practices to encourage just being with Jesus.
We also have the wonderful privilege this week to hear from Rev. Dr. Karen Schutter and Dr. Steve Schutter, and the ministry partnerships they are involved with, in Honduras. Steve and Karen are the parents and mother and father in law to Caleb and Beth Schutter, and grandparents to Lily Schutter. I am grateful for the opportunity to learn from them and be encouraged.
See you this Sunday!
Pastor Kari