Who Has Chosen the Better Part? - May 21
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 102; PM Psalm 107:1-32; Ezek. 34:17-31; Heb. 8:1-13; Luke 10:38-42
Today’s Reflection
Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’ —Luke 10:38-42
It’s a scene that may seem familiar to many of you: Someone arrives, perhaps unexpectedly perhaps not, at your home for dinner. I can recall times when we have had friends or family over for dinner, scurrying around, distracted by my many tasks, like Luke tells us that Martha was, so that my home would be clean and comfortable, and the meal would be warm and delicious for our special guests.
It’s interesting to notice the placement of the story of Jesus’ visit with Martha and Mary in the context of Luke chapter 10. Earlier in Luke 10, we hear Jesus telling the story of the Good Samaritan to explain what it means to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself. And as we continue on to Luke chapter 11, we’ll hear about how Jesus taught his friends to pray—what we know now as the Lord’s Prayer. Therefore, today’s account of Martha and Mary functions as a hinge between a story about loving God through action, as the Good Samaritan did, and a story about loving God through through prayer. This placement of the story of Martha and Mary seems appropriate because theirs is the story about the tension between the need, on the one hand, to be up and doing, as Martha was, by serving with our deeds, and the need, on the other hand, to be listening to what God is trying to teach us, as Mary was by sitting as Jesus’ feet. In this story, Jesus makes it clear that “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”
While in the story of Martha and Mary we hear Jesus prioritizing the importance of stopping our frenetic busy-ness so that we can better listen to him and focus on what he is saying to us, if we think back to the previous story of the Good Samaritan, we hear Jesus in that parable prioritizing action. Oftentimes in Christian discourse we hear about this debate between action and contemplation, which should we be prioritizing in our daily lives as Christ followers? The message we are getting if we look at all three of these passages in Luke together—the Good Samaritan, Martha and Mary, and the Lord’s Prayer—is that we should be both people of action and people of contemplation.
In this brief encounter with Martha and Mary, we see glimpses of the two sides of a balanced life of servant leadership. As 17th century mystic St. Teresa of Avila put it, “Both Martha and Mary must entertain our Lord and keep Him as their Guest, nor must they be so inhospitable as to offer Him no food. How can Mary do this while she sits at His feet, if her sister does not help her.” Likewise, as St. Aelred of Rievaulx, abbot of a Cistercian monastery in Yorkshire observed in a sermon to his brother monks: “By no means should you neglect Mary for the sake of Martha, nor again Martha for the sake of Mary. For, if you neglect Martha, who will feed Jesus? If you neglect Mary, what benefit will it be to you that Jesus entered your house since you will have tasted nothing of his sweetness? Realize, brothers, that never in this life should these two women be separated.”
While over the years many readers of this passage have argued for the superiority of Martha’s action or the superiority of Mary’s contemplation, in fact, what is needful is to find a unity or a balance between action and contemplation. If we are to follow Christ, then we must continually look back to his example of a life that balances action and contemplation.
We never hear what happened after Jesus told Martha that Mary had chosen the better part. It seems likely that, upon hearing Jesus’ response, Martha had a moment of clarity and took a break to listen and learn at Jesus’ feet. Maybe Martha sat down, alongside her sister Mary to listen. Or perhaps Mary stood up and said to Martha, “Sister, you take my place at Jesus’ feet, I will get up to attend to the needs of our guests.”
May we carry the story of Martha and Mary with us as we each day we commit ourselves anew to follow Christ’s example of a life that balances contemplation with action, as well to a life in which we commit to being in partnership with our fellow Christ followers as give each other the mutual support to live lives of both contemplation and action.
—Becky+
Questions for Self-Reflection
When you hear the story of Mary and Martha, do you find yourself identifying more with Mary or more with Martha? How do you (or could you) blend elements of both action and contemplation within your personal spiritual practices? How does (or could) Saint Stephen’s blend both action and contemplation into our corporate spiritual practices?
Daily Challenge
Richard Rohr says, “Prayer without action … can promote our tendency to self-preoccupation, and without contemplation, even well-intended actions can cause more harm than good.” Take some time today to learn more about the mission and activities of the Center for Contemplation and Action, founded by Rohr. Consider signing up for their emails, listening to their podcasts, or exploring their online course offerings.