Liberating Martha

Quietly tucked away at the end of the tenth chapter of Luke's Gospel is a brief but powerful story of two sisters: Martha and Mary.  In a era where U.S. women, in many ways, seem to have been liberated from the male dominate oppression of previous times, we tend to view this story with a fist pump and a "take that Martha!"  After all, who do you think places Martha in that kitchen and told her it was her job to feed all those folks - some man right? Mary then becomes the poster child for women's rights - for she chose to do something different.

But, let's consider who really put Martha in that kitchen. When I read this story I am right there in the kitchen with Martha – not because someone else told me to be there – but because it is where I choose to be. I choose to be there because I enjoy serving people. I choose to be there because hospitality is important (the Bible says this many times!). I choose to be there because it is important to me that folks are taken care of, entertained, well fed, and content. I get this passion from the women of my family who did not see it as a burden but as a calling.

The problem comes when we realize that others don’t have this calling – AND – that there is something else we would really rather be doing. That is when the resentment builds. We get cranky and start to slam the pots around,  “Why can’t I be like the others, out there having a good time while I’m slaving away in here trying to make everyone happy!”  And there we have the truth…we – Martha – can be like the others – we simply choose not to.  All the courts and laws and constitutional amendments can liberate women but ultimately – we have to allow ourselves to choose liberation over slavery.

But wait! Isn’t service good? Didn’t Jesus call us to serve God and our neighbor? And there is the kicker of this quiet little story. If we look close we see that Jesus doesn’t tell Martha she is wrong for working away in the kitchen – he simply points out there were two choices to be made, to be in the kitchen or to sit at the feet of Jesus, and Mary chose the better way.  Not the right way…the better way.

Because of Martha’s sense of duty and self-imposed slavery to the kitchen, she had become “distracted” and taken her eyes off of the reason she was doing what she was doing – serving her master. She forgot who she served and instead made herself a slave to the wrong idol.

I am a “Martha” and I struggle daily with my sense of “obligation” and “responsibility” in serving others. What I have discovered is that if I give in completely to my “Martha” self, I will soon become distracted by the busy-ness of this life and before I know it I am overworked, cranky and snipping at folks, demanding they help me out.  All this because I have taken my eyes off of the better way – which is to sometimes take a moment to sit quietly at the feet of my savior and just listen. When I take those moments I find I am renewed and ready to let my “Martha” come back out and get back to serving those around me.

Some days, I have to remind myself to liberate “Martha” from her self-imposed slavery to ‘do it all” and instead, let “Mary” come out to play. I will not lie and say this is easy. I catch myself feeling guilty when, at the end of the day, I have no papers to show I worked – or no check list to show I visited folks. I fight the urge to defend myself when I come home and my husband says, “What did you do today?” and all I can reply is “I spent the day in prayer.” Yet, Jesus said, Mary has chosen the better way.

Liberating Martha frees us from the guilt of taking moments during a busy week to just be still and sit with God. It allows us to soak up much needed renewal and refreshment for the work and responsibility of serving God that lies ahead of us. It is, believe it or not, what makes us better servants.