A Story Women Should Love

It's a blessing to be able to come together and worship God, fellowship with one another. our greeting time is not an interruption to our worship. It is a part of our worship of the Lord. I only wish it could be longer.

well, today is Mother's Day, and being Mother's Day, we want to take a moment to recognize and honor the moms that are in our midst, this morning. we are commanded in scripture. In fact, it's the 5th commandment of the 10 commandments to honor our fathers and to honor our, mothers, right along with our fathers. And the only reason that we would be commanded in the 10 Commandments to honor our mothers is because the institution of motherhood is most worthy.

Of honor. When God sums up all of his law, all of his heart as it is expressed in his law, intends to sink commandments, among them is honor your mothers. That is the heart of God for all of, of us and is the first commandment, honor our fathers and our mothers that comes with a, a promise. And so, I hope you'll take the opportunity today to thank God for, your mom and to be able to express that to her if she is still, alive on this planet.

And, children in this church, I hope that you will, seize the opportunity today to love and cherish and to serve, your mom today. If you do not do so on any other day, and you should, seize the opportunity, today. In an interesting passage that we find in scripture, 1 Timothy chapter 5, verse 1 and 2, Paul tells Timothy to relate to older men as fathers and to relate to older women in the church as Mothers teaching us that there are many women in the church that play a motherly role in the lives of so many in our church body, making the church a richer community of faith because they are in it functioning in that role.

So we want to celebrate.

Not just, those that are mothers of children in the context of their home, but all those ladies that play a motherly role in the lives of, of many in our, church body. And so I want to just ask you to stand. We have a gift that we want to put in your hands. If you are a mother, grandmother, great grandmother, expectant mother, a mother in any of the ways I've described, could you please stand.

And please, please remain standing until you, get your gift. And then this is the book, Gospel Meditations for Women. last year, we gave men for Father's Day, the book Gospel Meditations for Men. And this is, very much comparable to that, 31, readings, for you ladies that will take you to the gospel and then reason from gospel reality.

in ways that you can apply to your life, to your marriage, to your parenting, and to your walk with, with the Lord Jesus Christ. This book will be a great blessing, to you. And I, I pray you'll be blessed by it. in addition to that gift, I want to also pray for you ladies, this morning.

Is that OK? OK. You can use the prayer? OK.

All right, let's do that then. Lord, how grateful we are for the moms that you have placed in our lives. I thank you for the moms that are represented just in this room. This morning for all the ways that they, labor and the work that they do, Lord, and caring for the children that you've given to them and molding the lives of the children in their home.

Some of these mothers are, Are young and others are older. Some have young children in the home. Others have older children that are out of the home. Some have grandchildren and others have great grandchildren.

Many of our moms in this church, Lord, have husbands by their sides who love you and know you and are seeking to lead their families as you instruct in your word. And then there are moms in our church. Lord, and in this room who have husbands who Who do not know you, do not walk according to your ways. Their moms and our church family, Lord, who, do not have husbands at all, and they must labor alone.

In many capacities, being both a mother and somehow finding a way to fill the gap that is left by the absence of a father. In the lives of their children. Lord, I just ask that all of these mothers, whatever station they find themselves, whatever age their children, Maybe at God, I just ask that you would bless them, that you would help them to understand how important they are. How fraught with eternal significance their labor is, even the most mundane of tasks, The most seemingly inconsequential moments throughout a given day, how loaded with significance those moments are.

May they seize every one of such moments, Lord. to accomplish something for eternity. I pray, Lord, that you would give to these moms exactly the grace that they need to be exactly the mom that their children need for them to be at whatever stage of life their children are at. Above all, we ask Lord that you would help these mothers to mirror your image to their children.

Help them by the lives that they lead, the example they set as they live before their children, by the things that they do, the words that they speak and the ways that they go about relating to their children, Lord, help them through all of these means to show their children what you, God, are like. Use these moms, Lord, to bring up a godly generation of men and women who will be champions of the faith in the days to come. Men and women who will know their God and who will do great exploits in the name of Jesus.

May the day come 23 decades from now when we look upon the generation that's growing up now and see the deeds that they are accomplishing in Christ's name.

The strongholds that are being demolished and torn down, the impact that they are wielding in our culture today, the lives that are being changed and the souls that are being saved, may we look upon them then and be so grateful that we had a role in shaping that generation. And may we feel the satisfaction of knowing that we, by your grace alone succeeded in passing. Our faith The true faith to our children who are now carrying the torch and passing it on to the next generation.

May we think multigenerationally and not just for the next 18 years until our children are out of the home.

May we be thinking 50 years, 100 years, 200 years from now, Lord, if you do not return, may we be thinking about the impact that you want our descendants to have upon the world 100 years from now. And may we labor each day with that vision in mind. Thank you, Lord, for your word and for the encouragement, the guidance that it gives, and I pray that as we open up your word, that it would be a blessing to all of us and in particular to the moms, this morning. Give me grace, Lord, I am a weak man and an ignorant man in and of myself, and I do not know how to preach as I should.

I pray that your spirit would do a miracle in me. And enabling me to say what your spirit once said for the blessing of the ladies that are here along with the men. And I pray that you would do miracles in every heart that is here, that we would experience your presence, and that we would hear what it is that your spirit is saying to each one of us today. We just submit ourselves to you, Lord, in total dependence upon you and great expectation of you.

In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Well, let me invite you to turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter 10. We've given you a book and I prayed for you, and I'm, I've got one more Mother's Day gift for you ladies, and that is a sermon just for you.

Luke chapter 10, And, We're going to be looking at verses 38 through 42. And if you want to give a title to the message this morning, it would be a Story Women Should Love. A story women should love. We're gonna be looking at just a brief few verse long story that we find in Luke 10:38-42.

It's a story of Mary and Martha and Jesus. Those are the only three characters that show up. In this brief story. And I have to start with a confession.

I, I've been serving as a pastor here for a little over 20 years. I've been preaching here for about 20.5 years, almost 21 years now, and I have never preached on this particular passage of Mary and Martha. And the reason is, in part is because I've been afraid to touch it, because I know that this story creates a struggle for women. In fact, Just be honest, gals, raise your hand if you would say that either at the present time, or at some point in the past, this story has created a struggle, for you.

Just raise your hand. OK, fewer than in the first service, so I don't know what that means. but this story does create some difficulty for, for gals who really strongly identify with the Martha character in the passage. one writer I was reading says this, the story of Mary and Martha is a classic story of the roles of women.

But it is also a source of annoyance to many women. I remember my mother disliked this story because she was a Martha character, and she didn't like it that Jesus was critical of Martha. She thought that Martha was doing what women do, and he ought to be positive toward her. I remember other women talking about the story saying that Jesus needed to learn something from Martha.

There will probably be women in the congregation wherever the story is told, who will identify with Martha. That's just fine because that's what the story is instructed to do. If you begin reading through the story, and you find yourself really resonating with the Martha character, that's, you've been set up perfectly. That's exactly what is intended by God as you read the story.

One of the common features that we find in Jesus' teaching and in his life as he turns things upside down. And it's not what we would expect. In fact, right before this incident, Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan. A man is beaten and left for dead by the side of the road.

And a Levite passes by, he says to his Jewish audience, and he doesn't help out. A priest walks by, he doesn't help out. And then to his Jewish audience, he says, a Samaritan walks by. And everyone immediately who's hearing Jesus would be predisposed against the Samaritan.

And so their attention is riveted. And with their attention being so riveted, Jesus then teaches them something that they might have missed, if he did not have that lesson embodied inside of a Samaritan character. And something similar happens here, where women naturally will resonate with Martha in this story. And so when Martha comes and voices her complaint to Jesus, every woman is listening to hear what it is that Jesus says to Martha.

But this is a story that I think rightly understood. You ought to love and be very encouraged by, and that's the case I'm going to make this morning. And one of the reasons is because you find someone in a similar situation that you may often find yourself in the story, we find a woman in her home, who wants the Lord in her home. Every godly woman would say that she wants that.

And she actually succeeds in getting Jesus into her home. While he's in her home, she's truly seeking to serve Jesus in her home. And yet, as she is seeking to serve the Lord in her home, she becomes distracted from the Lord that she is seeking to serve. And she becomes worried and bothered about many things and begins to feel abandoned and alone in her concerns.

She finds herself wishing that she had some help. And she's feeling uncared for by another member of the family, and even by the Lord himself. And she finds herself becoming critical of another member of the family, and critical of the Lord himself. And she's poised and ready to bring her concerns and her complaint to Jesus.

Does that resonate at all with any of you ladies? I think it does, and even with the men, this would resonate. We find exactly this in our story. Let me read the story to you and then I'll tell you how we'll break it down this morning.

Beginning in verse 38. Luke says now as they were traveling along, that's Jesus and his disciples, he, Jesus entered a village and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord's feet, listening to his word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations, and she came up to him and said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone?

Then tell her to help me. But the Lord answered and said to her, Martha, Martha, You are worried and bothered about so many things. But only one thing is necessary. For Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

There's probably different ways of looking at this passage. What we're going to do this morning is look at 7 ways in this narrative that Jesus exalts women in the story of Mary and Martha. I don't want you to be so caught up and what's going on between Mary and Martha, that you miss sight or lose sight of what Jesus is communicating to all women in this that really is a tremendous blessing. As one writer says, whatever else our Lord Jesus did, he immeasurably exalted womanhood.

In this passage and elsewhere in the Gospels, and the way that he spoke to women, went about relating to them, and this story is no exception. He immeasurably exalted and elevated women. Alvin Schmidt, in his book, How Christianity Changed the World, takes time to describe in one of his chapters what the status of women was back in this day, in Greek society and in Roman society and in Judaism. And how women often had no rights at all.

Their testimony was not admissible in a court of law. The husband had rights against his wife, but the wife often had no rights against any abuses that her husband might render against her. In Judaism also, women had A very few rites and they were allowed to attend the synagogue, but there was a partition between them and the men, and they were to be off in another room. And even when the men were chanting their songs and singing, the women were not allowed often to even sing along with them.

And so they were in another room, they could hear what was going on, but they could not play any role in reading scripture, or even in the music on many occasions. Women had very few rights in Judaism in Greek society, and in Roman society. And what we find with Jesus Christ is he initiated a new age. In which the status of women was wonderfully elevated in a way that was observable to even people who didn't believe in Christianity in the first century or two.

Alvin Schmidt in the book that I made reference to says this, the birth of Jesus was the turning point in the history of women. It was his example that his followers reflected in their relationships with women, raising their dignity, freedom and rights to a level previously unknown in any culture. We don't have time to develop that and demonstrate that to be true, but it is a true statement. What we're going to observe in this passage is just 7 things that Jesus did that ought to be a blessing to, to the ladies in this room, 7 ways that he elevated exalted women in this story.

In Luke chapter 10. The first way he did so is by accepting the invitation of a woman into her home. He accepted the invitation of a woman into her home. It says as they were traveling along, Jesus entered a certain village, and we know from John that it would have been the village of Bethany that was about 2 miles outside of Jerusalem.

And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home, so she would have found out that Jesus was coming through town. And she would have taken the initiative rather than just assuming, I'm sure he'll find somewhere to stay, or if he really wants to stay here, I'm sure he'll seek us out. Instead of doing that, she went out of her way and found wherever he was and invited him into her home. And she succeeded in her invitation to where Jesus actually came into her home, and she welcomed him into her home.

We don't know what her marital status was. It doesn't seem like she was married. She was living here with her sister Mary and with their brother, Lazarus. Those are the only residents of this home that we are aware of as we piece the data together from John chapter 11.

So here is a woman who invites Jesus into her home, and he did something that no rabbi, Jewish rabbi ever would have done. And that is he accepted this invitation from this woman to come into her home and to be a beneficiary of her hospitality. Here is an act of kindness and an act of love that originates in the heart of a woman towards Jesus. And Jesus gives himself over to that.

And this way that Martha has devised to show him love, Jesus says, I will be happy to receive that expression of love in the form of hospitality from you. Jesus is blessed by this, and he warmly receives it, and he is welcomed into her home. There's a second way that Jesus exalts women in this passage in a way that ought to be a blessing to all women, and that is that he allows a woman to sit at his feet as his disciple. He allows a woman to sit at his feet as his disciple.

In Luke 10:39, it says, and she, Martha had a sister called Mary, who was also seated at the Lord's feet, listening to his word. Now, the word also doesn't show up in a lot of the English translations. And what this could mean is that Mary was also seated at his feet, just like the other disciples were. We don't know whether the other disciples were present.

If they were, then what Luke is telling us is that Mary assumed her place at the feet of Jesus right alongside of these men. She also positioned herself there just like the other men would have done. Others suggest that this also indicates that Mary. Actually was a part of Martha's invitation, and doing whatever was needed to accommodate Jesus.

But in addition to receiving Jesus into the home and doing some of the necessary preparations, Mary also eventually assumed a position at Jesus' feet, and received instruction from him. I think that's very possible. And whether or not that's what it means, there is other indication that Mary did more than just sat at Jesus' feet. we misread the story when we think that Mary only sat at Jesus' feet and she didn't help at all.

I think if Mary were here, she would say, you're being a little unfair to me. Because even if you listen to Martha's complaint, in verse 40, listen to what Martha says, literally, my sister has left me. To do all the serving alone. My sister has forsaken me.

She has abandoned me, which seems to imply, as one writer says, it implies that in an earlier moment, Mary too had done her part in the preparation for the meal. And so Mary would have been working and labor. Sing along with Martha in serving Jesus and making preparations for whatever meal, but then there would have been a point where Mary deemed that what was necessary to be done was done. And she pulled away from the serving and assumed a position at Jesus' feet as his disciple.

Understand that for someone to Assume a position at someone's feet like Mary is doing is basically to say, I am your disciple. And I want you to invest in me, and to pour into me, and to teach and instruct me so that I might know how to live as your disciple, who follows you. And that's what Mary is doing here. In fact, write down Acts 22:3, where Paul is talking about how he was trained under Gamaliel and literally the text says, I was trained at the feet of Gamaliel.

I assume my position at his feet. In other words, I'm a protege of. Gel. I was a disciple of Gamaliel sitting at his feet.

That's what Mary is doing. She's behaving like a disciple of Jesus. And here's the amazing thing, Jesus receives her as a disciple. He doesn't rebuke her and say, what are you doing?

Acting like you're my disciple. That may not seem like a big deal to us today, but as one writer has said, it is unusual for a woman in 1st century Judaism to be accepted by a teacher as a disciple. If a woman ever went to a Jewish rabbi and said, I want to be your disciple, and try to assume a position at his feet to be instructed, the rabbi would have rebuked her for that. Mary is doing something that is not culturally accepted, but it is accepted by Jesus who's initiating a new culture that is contrary to the culture of this day.

One writer says Martha assumed the traditional female role of preparing a meal for Jesus, her guest, while her sister Mary did what only men do, namely learn from Jesus' teachings. Mary was the cultural deviant. But so was Jesus, because he violated the rabbinic law of his day and allowing a woman to sit at his feet and to be his disciple. In fact, in the Jerusalem Talmud, which was written and collected centuries later, but it often reflects the mentality of the teaching of the rabbis during the 1st century.

in the Talmud, it says this, let the words of the law be burned rather than taught to women. That was the mentality of many of the rabbis. You don't teach women, you teach men. And if any woman wants to sit at your feet, and to have you instruct them in the ways of the law, you're better off taking that law and throwing it into the fire and letting it be consumed than to entrust that law over to a woman.

That's the way many rabbis thought. Jesus thought in a very different way. Mary, assumed her position at Jesus' feet as his disciple, probably because she was already accustomed to doing that, and because she knew that Jesus would allow that. And indeed, Jesus utters no rebuke to her.

If the other disciples were indeed present, and she also assumed That position at his feet alongside of those men. That's a stunning, bold and daring move. And the fact that in this passage, Jesus doesn't rebuke Mary at all, is something that every woman in this room ought to say hallelujah to. Jesus is exalting womankind in incidents such as this where he allows a woman to sit at his feet as his disciple, and he pours into her, just as he would her brothers in Christ that Jesus also taught.

There's a third way that Christ exalts women in this passage, and that is he gives a woman freedom to bring her complaint to him. He gives a woman, Martha, the freedom to bring her complaint to Jesus. And so here's the scene, Jesus is brought into the home. Both Mary and Martha love Jesus.

We know from John 11 that Jesus loved Martha, and he loved Mary. So they're all happy to be there. Mary and Martha likely are serving together and making preparations. But on this particular occasion, it seems that Martha was going above and beyond.

And wanted something more elaborate than Mary herself was interested in. Mary labored alongside of her up to the point that Mary thought was necessary. And then Mary pulled aside and sat at Jesus' feet, and began listening to Jesus as was speaking and teaching her while Martha left alone continues with her agenda of serving and making preparation for whatever elaborate meal it is that she is seeking to prepare. Well, look what happens.

It says, but Martha kept on being distracted with all her preparations. Again, if we're, if we're careful readers of the text, we're going to avoid two mistakes. We're going to avoid the mistake of assuming that Mary did no serving, and she only sat and listened. we also would make a mistake to assume that Martha did no listening, and all she did was serve.

The text seems to indicate that Martha made an attempt to listen and to be taught, but she kept being distracted away from that. To the point where she ended up fully giving herself over to just, I can't even listen to what he's saying. I've got to give myself to these preparations for this meal. And as she's making preparation, she begins to observe that Mary is not with her anymore.

And she is now laboring alone. Martha becomes bothered by that. And then she's thinking, I am sure that at some point, Jesus is going to hear me laboring here in the kitchen, and he's going to tell Mary to, to leave him and to go and help me. Martha was expecting Jesus at some point to intervene.

And so I would imagine that Martha began to labor in a way that could be heard. And opening and closing the oven doors and the cabinets and whatever to where it was obvious to everyone that Martha is laboring and she's laboring alone. Maybe there were sighs that were emanating from her and fully expecting Jesus to say, Mary, why don't why don't you go help your sister, which is really what you ought to be doing rather than sitting at my feet. Well, Martha, I don't know if she was meeting eyes with Jesus, like waiting for him to say something and to intervene, but he never does.

He never says anything to Mary. And so finally, Martha just reaches a point where she's upset. We can't sugarcoat this and she's not just upset at Mary, she's upset at Jesus. Because it says she came up to him and said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone?

Tell her to help me. One writer says that Martha has become sulky towards her sister and towards the Lord Himself because he did not tell Mary to go and to help with the serving. Martha is not just rebuking, as it were, Mary, she's rebuking Jesus for the fact that he has not cared enough about her to tell her sister to get up and to come and labor alongside of her. Now, there's a lot that could be said about this, ladies, but I would love to say this.

One of the things that I love about what Martha does here is she brings her complaint to Jesus. She could have done a lot of wrong things with what's going on in her heart. She could have left the house and taken her complaint to someone else. She could have come to Mary with her complaint.

She could have interrupted whatever was going on as Jesus was teaching and talked directly to Mary. She doesn't do that. She could have just kept it to herself and just fussed and fumed inwardly, but instead with her heart a boil, she brings her complaint to Jesus, which is what all of us should do. By the way, it's not the only time Martha ever complained to Jesus, right?

In John 11, Jesus, their brother Lazarus had died. As he was dying, they sent word to Jesus hoping he would get there before Lazarus died. But Jesus finally walks into town 4 days after Lazarus had passed away. And when Mary and Martha heard that Jesus had arrived in the town, Mary stays in her house, sitting in her house waiting for Jesus.

And Martha runs out to meet him, and the first words out of her mouth is, Jesus, if you had gotten here sooner, my brother would not have died. uttering that complaint to Jesus. But again, Jesus loved Martha. And the beautiful thing is that she obviously, however, Jesus had related to her before, The beautiful thing is, she felt comfortable speaking this way to him.

My heart may be a mess. And I've got strong feelings coursing through my heart. And I know that I can bring that to Jesus. What a relationship Jesus has cultivated with her to where she felt free to come to him with such complaints, knowing that Jesus will make sense of it.

I can't even make sense of my own heart. And I know that there's good and there's noble virtues that are guiding me and love for him that's guiding me in this situation. And, and I'm sure there's selfishness also and And, and stuff that's going on in my heart. But even though I cannot make sense of it, I know that he can, and he's the one that I'm coming to with this.

One writer says, oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person. Having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all out just as they are, chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them. Keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away. That's the friend that Jesus is to Martha.

This is the way our God is to all of us. You read through the psalter and you read in many places in the Psalms, inspired Psalms, where the psalmist complains to God, How long are you going to sleep up in the heavens, Lord? Have you cast us off forever? Why have you forsaken us?

There's a number of complaints that are voiced by the psalmist. When are you going to wake up, Lord? When will you rouse from your sleep? Those are lines that are in some of the inspired psalms that if I were God, I, I would have edited those out before I would have allowed them to be in scripture for everyone to read.

I wouldn't want people to know that people that follow me and believe in me actually feel this way about me sometimes. But the fact that such complaints are in the Psalms, God is saying to all of us, listen, I'm a big God. And I could take whatever complaints you bring to me. You come and say to me, whatever it is on your heart to say to me.

The only thing I ask is when you're done complaining that you stick around and hear what I have to say. And we find that in the Psalms where the psalmist voices complaint, and then sticks around, and we get to watch them in almost every occasion with one exception undergo a transformation in their thinking, as God is guiding them to an understanding of what it is that they're complaining about. So Martha comes to Jesus. When so often we, we don't come to Jesus with our complaints.

We don't, we don't come to God with our complaints. We'll go to other people with our complaints. Martha sets a great example for all of us and running to Jesus with her heart a boil with complaints. There's a 4th thing that Jesus does to exalt women in this passage, and that is he looks into the heart of a woman and tells her what he sees.

He looks into the heart of a woman and tells her what he sees. Jesus responds to Martha. she says, Jesus, don't you care? she's investigating his heart.

Don't you care? It seems like you don't care that I've been left alone in my serving. And here's what I need from you, Jesus, tell Mary to come and help me. That will solve the problem.

Jesus responds by staring right into Martha's heart, and then gives voice to what he sees. And the beauty of this is that Jesus is indicating to us that the heart of a woman is worthy of his notice. The heart of a woman is worthy of his scrutiny. is worthy Of his thought.

And his thoughtful commentary. What he's saying to Martha by his response is, Martha, your heart is important to me. I am not just interested in whatever service I can get from you. I am not just interested in a meal that I can get from you.

I actually care about your heart. And I'm looking at your heart right now, and let me tell you what I see. Just like when we go to the doctor because something is wrong somewhere with us. We want that doctor to look beneath the surface, as it were, and to tell us what he sees.

And we're grateful for whatever he tells us, even if it may ruin our day. It is not a good doctor who may not care about what is wrong, or he may see what's wrong, but be afraid to give voice to it. That's not a good doctor. Jesus is the consummate physician, and he stares straight into the heart of this woman and says, your heart matters to me and let me tell you what I see.

Say, but the Lord answered and said to her, Martha, Martha, And, and saying this twice, her name twice, Jesus isn't saying Martha, Martha. That's not his tone. It, it's an earnest tone. This expresses affection.

It's not enough to say her name one time. He uses her name. He speaks it twice to denote closeness, relationship, affection, and that Martha, what I'm about to say, I really want you to listen carefully. You're going to be inclined not to listen carefully to what I'm about to say.

I really want you to listen carefully. Martha, Martha, here's what I see when I look into your heart. You are worried and bothered about many things. Notice he's not really criticizing her service.

He's commenting on her heart. The fact that she's worried and bothered about many things. The word worried is the word anxious in Philippians 4, we're told to be anxious for nothing. That's the same word that's used here.

Bothered means to be agitated. You're anxious and you're agitated about so many things, Martha. As one writer says, Jesus does not disapprove of Martha's activities as such, for they were also the outcome of love for him, and were meant to serve him. It's her wrong attitude as revealed in her condemnation of Mary and her dissatisfaction with Jesus that had to be set right and rebuked.

That's what Jesus is going after. Understand that Jesus didn't see Martha serving him and rebuke her. Hey, Martha, I, I noticed what you're doing and what you're doing is wrong. You shouldn't be serving, you should be at my feet.

He doesn't initiate any commentary on that. He was letting that happen. And Mary does not criticize Martha either. Mary's not at Jesus' feet saying, Jesus, look at Martha, can you believe what she's doing?

And look at me, I'm here at your feet, listening to you, more godly than she is. Mary did not criticize Martha. Jesus didn't criticize Martha. It's Martha, who was in such a place that she came to Jesus and voiced a criticism both of Mary and of Jesus.

This is Jesus responding to her criticism. And wherever her heart is at the moment, that would cause her to give voice to this criticism. And he says, you're anxious and you're agitated about many things. And what was she agitated about?

We know she was agitated about whatever necessary preparations were made. In a simple meal for Jesus, there were things that needed to be done. She was concerned about that. But the feeling you get from the passage and other writers comment on this, that Mary, or Martha was going for something more elaborate, out of love for Jesus, she wanted something more ambitious and elaborate than what was really necessary.

And it's those additional details of elaborateness that she was becoming worried and agitated about. We also know From what she says to Jesus, that in addition to focusing on the meal, she's also now focusing on Mary and the choice that Mary has made. And not only is she focused on and agitated about Mary and the choice she's made, she's anxious about and agitated about Jesus and what he's doing and not doing, saying and not saying. And she's even agitated about Jesus' possible motives.

She's trying to look into Jesus' heart, saying, don't you care? Your actions indicate that you don't care about the fact that I am alone and laboring with all of my serving alone. So here she is laboring over something that was necessary but also agitated, worried, and bothered about things in addition to that, serving as Mary's judge, even judging Jesus, and even judging his motives. Well, Jesus sees that and says, Martha, Martha, you, what I see as I look into your heart is, and here's what concerns me.

It's not the fact that you've been serving. What concerns me is in your heart, you are anxious and you are agitated about too many things beyond what's necessary and beyond what is your place to be anxious about. There's a 5th thing that Jesus does that ultimately elevates all women, including Martha, and that is he seeks to lighten the woman's burden to only what was necessary. There are different ways of understanding what Jesus says next.

And so I want to preface what I'm going to say by acknowledging that read the commentaries and understand the different ways of Understanding what Jesus says in verse 42. I think that some of the other ways of understanding what Jesus says are definitely possible and almost certainly true on some level. I think at the very least, he's saying this, OK? and he says, Martha, Martha, you're worried and bothered about so many things.

And then he says, but only a few things are necessary, really only one. At the very least, I think Jesus would want Martha to take more away from his words than this, but at the very least, what Jesus is saying is, you're preparing an elaborate feast with many dishes for me. Only a few things by way of a meal are necessary, really only one. In other words, one dish is enough.

I would be happy with a simpler meal. As one writer paraphrases Jesus' words, he says to Martha, you're fretting and you're worried about fixing a big meal. There is need of only one thing, one dish. We don't need to have a lot of dishes here.

Only one dish is needed. I don't need an elaborate meal. One dish is enough. It's easy to read what Jesus says next and read that back into the statement, but it seems to me that when Martha would hear Jesus saying these words without having heard what he's going to say next, her mind would immediately go to the meal.

She was preparing a meal for Jesus, almost certainly, and he's saying only a few things are necessary, really, only one, Martha. And if that is the right way of understanding Jesus' words, then what's happening is Jesus is acknowledging her desire to serve. He's embracing that. He's not rebuking her for her effort to provide a meal for him.

He's acknowledging that, but just saying, Martha, if you really want to know my heart, a simpler meal is OK with me. I don't need something elaborate, especially if it's going to take you away from me and create conflict. if you want to understand Jesus, ladies, understand or just imagine later today, you go home and your children are going to put together this sumptuous feast for you. For some of you, this is very hypothetical, but, you're, and they go all out and they've, they've got all of these main courses and side dishes, and they're breaking out the china and, and, lighting the candles, and they've got this stuff cooking in the oven and And they're like laboring away for hours getting this ready for you, their mom.

And so much so that you begin to hear tension in the kitchen and the dining room, and they start fussing with each other. And, and, so you hear that, you're concerned about that. Meanwhile, you're sitting in the living room all by yourself and there's no one to talk to because they're all preparing this meal, and a child comes walking through, one of your children comes walking through the room and, and, and you start speaking to the child and the child says, actually, Mom, I can't talk to you right now.

I'm busy serving you.

And getting something ready for you, how would you feel? And then imagine one of the children did pull aside at your invitation and you began fellowshipping and communing with them and enjoying their company, and then one of their siblings stepped in and complained to you about the fact that you're allowing that child to get out of the work that's being done. So it's easy sometimes to read the story and immediately resonate with Martha and imagine how she was feeling. Imagine how Jesus is looking at this circumstance, and it might provide an additional perspective that would be helpful.

And so here's Jesus and this, this preparation seems to be elaborate and Jesus is acknowledging Martha's desire to serve him, and he's just saying, listen, Martha, I I, I don't need anything elaborate. good and well as a mother, you would say to your children, listen, I don't, I don't need this big feast. You guys are gift enough for me and, and something simple. I would rather have something simple than something that's going to take you so much time and take you away from me and cause you to be at odds with one another.

And so Jesus is, is seeking to lighten Martha's load, to relieve her, as it were, of her burden, and to say just a few things would be enough. One thing, one dish, that'd be great. So that I can have you with me and we can enjoy each other's company. A 6th thing that Jesus does to exalt women in this passage is he tells women that the best way to serve Him is to commune with Him and let Him feed them.

he says to Martha, Mary has chosen the good portion. The good Maris is the Greek word. She's chosen the good portion, and that word Maris, that Greek word, like in the Greek Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, there are times where that word is used to speak of a portion of food. we see that in Genesis, as Joseph is feeding his brothers and is giving Benjamin a greater portion.

we see that in Deuteronomy and in First Samuel where portions of food are being distributed, dishes, as it were, are being distributed with food in them. And so Jesus, here's Martha trying to prepare a feast for Jesus. And Jesus is saying in defense of Mary, Mary has actually chosen the best dish of all. What he's indicating by that, folks, is that as the consummate gentleman that he is, And the consummate savior that he is, Jesus is saying, Martha, let me help you.

I am not so much here to be served. I'll let you serve me one dish, few things necessary. That that's fine. I received that and I'm blessed by that.

But I am here to serve you. And I have come to your house with the best dish. Possible, and that is me and my teaching, my words that I want to give to you. I'm not just interested in what I can exact from you.

I'm, I'm interested in what I give to you. I, I want to commune with you. I would like a relationship with you. I want to enjoy you.

At my feet, where I can feed you. Jesus is turning it all around the way he did the woman at the well in John 4. She comes to the well and he's tired and he says, ma'am, could you give me something to drink? And she's like, you're a Jew, I'm a Samaritan.

What are you doing asking me for something to drink? Jews don't have anything to do with Samaritans, much less a man talking. to a woman, and Jesus turns it around and said to her, if you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you, give me a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. I'm asking you for something to drink, but actually, I'm the best drink around.

And I'm interested in giving myself to you. And that's what Jesus is saying to Martha and to all women of God. I'm, I'm not just, I'm not just interested in getting from you. I want to give to you.

I, I want a relationship with you. I want to commune with you. I want to feed you. I want to be your portion.

I appreciate your service. But let your service be mindful of the fact that I want to serve you. What a consummate gentleman and savior Jesus is. And saying that the choice that Mary has made, she has chosen the best dish of all.

Our relationship with God is not just about what we give to Him. It's about receiving what he wants to give to us. And God wants to give to women of God every bit as much as he wants to give. To men of God.

There's a 7th and final thing that Jesus does by way of exalting. Exulting women in this story, and that is he promises women that the blessings of sitting at his feet will never be taken away. From them. The blessings of being his disciple and sitting at his feet will never be taken away from them.

He says Mary has chosen the best dish of all, which will never be taken away from her. And I believe women in the first century church, when they heard this story being read and they heard Jesus say this shall not be taken away from her. They shouted hallelujah. Because he's giving women a place at the table.

And he's saying any woman that wants to sit at my feet and be my disciple, I won't let anyone take that away from her. I'll never take it away from her. I'll never send her away. I'll never rebuke her for wanting to be my disciple and my follower.

I won't let any other woman take it away from her. And I definitely won't let any other man take such a privileged place away from any woman of God who wants to sit at my feet and be my disciple. This is more than just Mary versus Martha. This is a story about two sisters that provides an opportunity for Luke to give expression to the heart of Jesus for all women.

that any woman who wants to sit at my feet and be my disciple. That privilege will never be taken away from any woman. Any woman. If you're a, a lady here in this church, And you want to be Christ's disciple and believe in him and follow him.

He He, he would say I I would be pleasured to save you and to be your Lord and to be your master and to be your teacher and your discipler. Come and sit at my feet. You belong here as much as any man does. Let me teach you, and I will be blessed by whatever service you render.

But as you serve me, just don't get so bogged down in your service for me that you get distracted away from me. And let me serve you. Let this be a two way relationship. I'm the food that you need, and I want to serve you and I want to bless you.

Ladies, enjoy your place at the feet of Jesus right alongside of men. In your service for Jesus, focus on what's necessary. Always ask, is this necessary or is this beyond what is necessary? And am I getting myself involved in something that's going to be so all consuming that it actually distracts me away from Jesus?

Also, don't just serve the Lord Jesus, serve him in the way that he wants to be served. Martha could have asked Jesus, what would you like for me to do? And it probably could have made things simpler for her because he would have asked for something simple. But realize, ladies, that the greatest service to the Lord you can ever render.

is to sit at his feet and allow him to serve you and to feed your soul. We all wish we knew how this story ended. How did Martha respond? What happened next?

We don't know, but the story ends right where Luke wants it to end, with both Mary and Martha in front of Jesus. And Jesus speaking. And to their life. And feeding them through his instruction.

Which every woman is entitled to, every man is entitled to, who's willing to humble themselves and to make Jesus their Lord and their Savior. Me ask you to bow your heads. I studied this passage this week fully intending to frame the message in a different way regarding priorities in our lives and The more I looked at it, the more just the heart of Jesus just came through so boldly, so vividly, in a way that Was such an encouragement. If nothing else, I, I, I pray that this message and this story causes you ladies to love Jesus more.

And I pray that it would serve as a template for us as men and how we go about relating to the women in our lives with the grace and the love, the gentleness, the receptiveness. Of Jesus towards women. There are a lot of women, In the church today and out of the church who have been horribly treated by By men In their lives. And such women are broken and they're, they're hurting as a result, and there are 1000 messages screaming inside their heads.

Messages that are destructive as a result of all that they've heard, spoken to them, and screamed at them. And yet Jesus invades that. With love and grace. And exalts the broken woman.

With this love that we see modeled in this passage, and Jesus looks at us men and he says, do as I do. And love women as I love them. May we all be instructed by this passage, God. Thank you for your word.

And for how you speak to us. On so many levels. We thank you also for the opportunity to give of our offerings to you this morning. Receive the funds that we give and do much with these funds for the glory of this savior, Jesus Christ.

And we ask this in the name of Jesus, and all God's people said,