In Luke 10:38-42, Martha invites Jesus to her home and then becomes swamped with the preparation that had to be made. Martha's sister, Mary, sits at Jesus' feet and listens to what he had to say. When Martha grumbles to Jesus that Mary is helping her with the work, Jesus replies, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only on thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
This passage is often interpreted as a reminder to focus upon the important things and not get bogged down in the details; it can be applied to the functioning of a business, a family, or a church. We must be aware of what is critical and not let what is important get in its way.
When you're a pastor, these sort of questions can pop up every day. This past Friday I still had a lot of work to do on my sermon for Sunday, because of prior meetings earlier in the week I was a lot less done than usual for a Friday. The meetings earlier in the week were important in their own right, they were about expanding the work of Mustard Seed Missions; worth doing, necessary, but time consuming.
Thus as Friday began, I was hoping for a relatively quite day to get my work done. If there is one thing that most pastors don't like, it's being unprepared for the Sunday sermon as the end of the week approaches. God had other plans in store for me that day. Late on Thursday I heard of a local grandmother who had been kicked out of her apartment by a new owner and found herself, and her two grand kids living with her, living with virtually no furniture. After a couple of phone calls, one bed and a table was located; the woman herself had obtained a fridge and range, it seemed that a couple of hours of delivery were in order.
I was able to find a helper for moving the stuff, Cheryl's husband John, and we set to work on it. Several hours, and a sore back later, the furniture was moved and a person in need was helped (a start on it anyway, this project, like so many MSM projects is ongoing).
At that moment, I was eager to get back to my office, sit and my desk and finish that sermon. Mere moments after I sat down, however, the phone rang, it was a man who hadn't eaten or slept in days; someone in need of emergency help. After looking for the man for an hour (he had given me the wrong street number in his sleep deprived state), I was able to take him to a local group, Heart to Heart, who were able to meet with him and get him some food.
By this time it was nearly 3 PM and I had a Christmas party to go to; yikes. When did I finish the sermon? Saturday morning, my day off. Was there any help for it? Not really, that message is one of my most important responsibilities each week, but if I can't set it aside to help those in real need, who am I being Mary or Martha? By the way, the sermon went fine on Sunday morning; God knows what he's doing.
