Our Good Portion

"Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a women named Martha welcomed him into her house.  And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:38-42).

When we hear this passage discussed, the emphasis is often on Martha and Mary's behavior.  Martha is busy and distracted. Mary is attentive and kneeling.  "Be like Mary, not like Martha," we say. "Don't be a busy-body."

Martha seems devoted to serving Jesus and everyone else who came to her home. But Jesus looks past Martha's distracted service, and brings to light the true nature of her heart. He says, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but only one thing is necessary."

She was anxious and troubled. Martha was serving from a prideful anxiety rather than a true rest in Jesus. Although her service appears unselfish, it has a selfish root. What looks like a willingness to serve is actually a desire to impress, a desire for approval.  As we see here, her heart motivation leads to resentment and comparison, and she asks for validation from the Lord.

According to Martha, Mary was neglecting her responsibilities. But Mary was simply enthralled by Jesus. Most of the people sitting and listening to Jesus likely were men, including his 12 disciples. But rather than taking "her place" in the kitchen, Mary squeezes between the disciples and kneels at the feet of Jesus. This was no doubt a bold move, and Jesus praises her choice because she had "chosen the good portion."

What did Jesus mean by that?

In Psalm 16, David writes, "The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance" (v. 5-6).

Other translations say, "The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup". Do you see the connection here? David's "chosen portion" both now and in the life to come, his present and eternal inheritance, was the God of His salvation. And the same was true for Mary. While Martha was anxious and troubled by many things, Mary found rest in one necessary thing, the One who would secure for her an imperishable inheritance (1 Peter 1:4).

Jesus is Himself our good portion and beautiful inheritance. Yet we often refuse to acknowledge that He is truly enough for us, and instead, we turn to lesser self-serving gods. The reason we are slow to turn to Jesus is not simply that we lack discipline. It's because we are grasping for everything else in the world that we believe will make us okay.

 So let's ask the Lord now to deliver us...

• From the need to have all the right answers.
• From the need to say the right things and do the right things and look the right way so that we'll be accepted and desired by the right people.
• From the need to control every crumb that enters our mouths so that we can prove that we are in control of our lives.
• From the need to parent perfectly, striving after the approval of our children and the respect of everyone around us.
• From the need to care for everyone perfectly because we think their salvation and growth is in our hands.
• From the use and abuse of substances that numb our pain and allow us to live a life void of true feelings.
• From the belief that our chief identity as women rests in whether we're mothers or single, fertile or infertile, breastfeeding or formula feeding, staying at home or working.
• From the belief that our past cannot be forgiven.
• From the fear that we are too much this or too little that for people to really know us and love us.
• From the fear that our suffering and shame could never be healed.
• Etc., etc., etc.

Because our approval does not rest in our performance, we can confess our struggles without fear of condemnation (Romans 8). We can approach the throne confidently together because we have a sympathetic and faithful high priest who gives mercy and grace in our time of need (Hebrews 4).

In Life Together, Dietrich Bonheoffer writes this about confession: "In confession, the breakthrough to community takes place. Sin demands to have a man by himself. It withdraws him from community. The more isolated a person is, the more destructive will be the power of sin over him, and the more deeply he becomes in it, the more disastrous is his isolation. Sin wants to remain unknown. It shuns the light. In the darkness of the unexpressed it poisons the whole being of a person. But, the expressed, acknowledged sin has lost all its power. He is no longer alone with his evil for he has cast off his sin in confession and handed it over to God. Now he stands in the fellowship of sinners who live by the grace of God in the cross of Jesus Christ".

Where do you find your significance? What is it that you stand upon to say, "I'm doing okay"? Remember: You have been ransomed and redeemed. Your inheritance in Christ is eternally secure. He is the Good Portion that your soul longs for.  He is your one necessary thing. 

Lord, hear our prayer.  Receive all the glory, honor and praise as we lay our anxious and troubled hearts before you.