The second Sunday of Lent – March 16, 2025

 

Introduction

  • Have you ever wondered what it means to be a good friend with God? The Christian life is preeminently a life of personal friendship with our Creator.
  • So, how can you and I deepen and enrich our friendship with God? There’s a young woman who appears in Gospels of Luke and John that shows us how.
  • We meet Mary just three times during the course of Jesus’ life (Luke 10:38-42; John 11:1-35; John 12:1-8). Notice: each time, Mary is at Jesus’ feet.

The text with comments: Luke 10:38-42

38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.

  • There were two things Mary did. What were they?
    • “Sat at the Lords feet” – fully present: immobile, intentional, posture of disciple.
    • “Listening to what he said” – Cf. Matt 4:4. The words “communication,” “community,” “communion” all derive from same root: “to share, make common.”
  • How can you be a better friend to God? Sit and listen. Being a friend takes time and intentionality.

40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

  • “But…” – In contrast to Mary.
  • “Martha was distracted” – NIV, “pulled apart.” Gk. perispao, ”to be dragged around.”
  • “all the preparations that had to be made.”, diakonia, “ministry.” Martha was distracted from her friendship with the Lord by her ministry to the Lord.
  • “Don’t you care…? Tell her to help me!” – She accuses the Lord of indifference. Then, she commands Him what to do what she wants him to do. Her obsession to honor her guest with her service and good food leads her to dishonor him with her presumption and rudeness. Martha has missed the main point: to simply be present to Jesus.

41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

  • He does three things here:
  1. First, he gets her attention: “Martha, Martha…” – “Martha, I’m here, it’s okay. Everyone is enjoying themselves. The appetizers are delicious. Chill.”
  2. Next, he states the truth about her irrational behavior: “You are worried and upset about many things” – The first step in restoring sanity in our lives is to admit the truth about ourselves.
  3. Then he corrects her: “Only one thing is important. Mary has chosen… taken away from her” – We’ll come back to this in a minute.
  • You see what Jesus is doing? He exposes Martha gently and in love. Then he corrects her. “Martha, this is what you’re doing; this is what you should seek to do.” Because He is our friend, our Lord is committed to calling us out, exposing us for who we are, so that we can become that better person we want to be and he wants us to be.
  • Rev 3:19: He “reproves” (“exposes”) and “disciplines” (“trains”) us.
  • Now, back to the One thing. What is it? To sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to him.
  • That means we find ways to nurture this face-to-face friendship with God through active presence (abiding: branch organically joined to branch), constant conversation (prayer), attentive listening (reading his Word, small groups, Sunday services, being with his people), reverent worship (praise, thank, obey). Cf. Ps 27:4.

Takeaway

“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” Keep your friendship with God the main thing. There is no greater delight than God. No one, no thing is more beautiful, more loving more utterly delightful than God, known through direct personal experience.