Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42)

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Mother’s day: Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on May 11, 2025

I read the following:

One day, I taught my young class the story of Jesus visiting Mary and Martha. I carefully explained how Martha had hurried to clean the house and cook a special meal. Then I paused and asked, “What would you do if Jesus was going to visit your house today?” One little girl quickly responded, “I’d put the Bible on the table!”[1]

How do we focus on Jesus? How do we show that Jesus is important?

Let’s talk about focus. Let’s talk about being with Jesus now. Have you ever heard someone say, “Be here now”? I think I was a McDonald’s manager when in the management training, they would say, “Be here now.” What does that mean? To me, it means that I must stay focused. When managing my shift, I needed to focus on the crew, the customers, the immediate needs, and the day’s needs. I had forms I had to fill out to make the shift smoother. I had a form I would fill out regarding who was on the registers and who was on the grill and who was on back drive-thru and who was on front drive-thru; as a McDonald’s manager, I had to stay focused on the day. I couldn’t send everyone on break at once. I had to think about what was happening before sending anyone on break. I had to “Be here now.” I needed my mind to be present where my body was. I was once saying that to someone. I said, “Be here now.” She said, “I am here.” It can be confusing, but it is easy to not be present where your body is. I find it quite easy to be daydreaming or thinking about other things.

My theme today is:

We learn good things from Mary and Martha; however, we must be present with Jesus.

Read the text: Luke 10:38-42:

Luke 10:38–42 (ESV)

38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40 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.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” 

You know the story, we just read it:

How many of you would call yourselves a Martha? Please don’t be ashamed; I am probably a Martha.

How many of you would call yourselves a Mary? 

We have applications for both of us.

  1. Let’s start by learning from Martha.
    1. We can learn from both Mary and Martha. Sometimes, Martha gets a bad reputation, and, after all, she is rebuked by Jesus. But I think there are some good qualities to learn from Martha. If you have these good qualities, don’t gloat about them; notice the things you can improve on.
    2. Today’s focus is on Mother’s Day, and my applications will be in accordance with that subject.
    3. I am not a mother, so I can’t be specific.
    4. Notice that Martha was welcoming. It says that she “opened” her home to him.
    5. She welcomed Him into her home.
    6. But we soon discover that though she welcomed Him into her home, she missed Him.
    7. We find out that she is very busy.
    8. What is it like to, on the one hand, be very welcoming but, on the other hand, be so busy that we don’t notice people? On the one hand, we say, “Come over.” But when they are over, we serve them, but we really don’t fellowship with them.
    9. What does it mean to be welcoming?
    10. The Greek word means to take under one’s care, as if placing the hands or arms under a person or thing, to receive hospitably and kindly.
    11. We see this word about four times in the New Testament.
    12. Do we notice our children, family, friends, church members? Or, are we so focused on other things that we miss them?
    13. In the next few verses, we see that though she was opening her home to Jesus, once He came in, she really did not pay attention to Him.
    14. Could we get so busy, even at church, that we miss Jesus?
    15. We may be here, but are we here?
    16. We may be with family, but are we with family?
    17. In verse 41, in the Message, Jesus says that she is “fussing” about things.
    18. That is what I do. I fuss, and my children show my weaknesses. I will never forget putting together a crib for Abigail. This was obviously over eleven years ago. I got frustrated, and Mercedes heard it. She copied my frustration.
    19. Don’t miss it, it does seem that Martha wants to be with Jesus. She is just busy. I get this because I am always thinking about details too. Let go, worship.
    20. The first application here is about being present with Jesus. Don’t miss Jesus.
    21. However, I do believe there are other applications- don’t miss your children, your grandchildren, your family.
  2. Learning from Mary for the church.
    1. It appears that Mary is one of those students who we would think of as a “Teacher’s pet.” Mary is the student who, when you are sitting in class, and class is about over, thinks, “Great, no homework!” But then Mary says, “Teacher, you forgot to give us homework.” You are sitting thinking, “Noooooooo!”
    2. Mary was close to Jesus, look:
    3. We find out more about Mary in John 11:2: It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.[2]
    4. Jesus rebukes Martha, but not Mary.
    5. We learn from Mary to focus on Jesus. We learn to be here now.

Close:

One writes:

While I was serving in Paraguay, a Maka Indian named Rafael came to sit on my porch. I was eating and went out to see what he wanted. He responded, “Ham, henek met.” Again I asked what I could do for him, but the answer was the same. I understood what he was saying but not its significance: “I don’t want anything; I have just come near.”

I later shared the incident with a local veteran missionary. He explained that it was Rafael’s way of honoring me. He really didn’t want anything; he just wanted to sit on my porch. He found satisfaction and pleasure just being near me.

“What brings you here, my child?” the Lord asks.

“Ham, henek met.”

Doesn’t that reveal the heart of true worship?[3]

Do you know Christ?

Luke 9:23

God created us to be with him. (Genesis 1-2)

Our sin separated us from God. (Genesis 3)

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Gen 4-Mal 4)

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)

Everyone who trusts in him alone has eternal life. (John – Jude)

Life that’s eternal means we will be with Jesus forever. (Revelation 22:5)

[1] Louise Day, Mount Holly, VA. Today’s Christian Woman, “Heart to Heart.”

[2] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Jn 11:2.

[3] Stuart Sacks, Villanova, Pennsylvania

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