Choosing what matters most

Led by: Rev. Magdalena Marais

Scripture: Psalm 84, Luke 10: 38-42 and Ecclesiastes 3: 9-15 

Chasing the Wind

Have you ever reached the end of a busy day and wondered, “Where did the day go?”  You were busy from morning until evening. You answered emails, made phone calls, ran errands, prepared meals, helped someone in need, paid bills, cleaned the house, and perhaps even squeezed in a few minutes to sit down before it was time for bed.  You were busy all day, yet somehow it feels as though the day simply slipped through your fingers.  I suspect most of us know that feeling.  In many ways, we are living in a world that celebrates busyness. If someone asks us how we are doing, the answer is often, “Busy!” We almost wear it as a badge of honour. A full calendar makes us feel productive. A long to-do list makes us feel important.

But somewhere along the way, something happens.  We become so busy doing life that we forget to live it.  We become so busy serving that we forget to enjoy the presence of the One we are serving.  Thousands of years ago, the writer of Ecclesiastes recognised exactly the same struggle. He looked at life and saw people constantly striving for more—more success, more possessions, more achievements, more recognition. And after observing it all, he came to a surprising conclusion.

He said, “It is useless. It is like chasing the wind.”  What a powerful image.  Have you ever tried to catch the wind?  You can feel it, hear it and see its effects.  But no matter how hard you try, you cannot hold it in your hands.

That is how life can sometimes feel.  We rush from one responsibility to another.  We finish one task only to discover three more waiting for us.  We work hard, care deeply, love our family and serve our communities.  None of those things are wrong.

In fact, many of them are wonderful. But if we are not careful, life slowly becomes an endless race where we are always moving yet rarely resting.  Always doing, but seldom simply being.  That is why our Old Testament reading from Ecclesiastes 3 is so beautiful.  The passage before our reading even reminds us that there is a time for everything.  Life is not meant to be lived at only one speed.  God Himself has woven rhythms into creation.  Day and night.  Summer and winter.  Activity and stillness.

Perhaps the greatest challenge of modern life is not that we have too much to do.

Perhaps it is that we have forgotten how to be still.  And that is exactly where today’s Gospel begins.  Luke introduces us to a woman named Martha.  Now before we go any further, I think it is important that we are fair to Martha.  She is often criticised.

She has received a bad reputation over the centuries.  But Luke never says Martha was a bad disciple.  Quite the opposite.  She welcomed Jesus into her home, opened her door, prepared a meal and wanted everything to be just right for her guest.  Everything Martha did came from a place of love.  I think many of us can recognise ourselves in her.  She reminds us of the people who quietly keep a church alive.  The people who make the coffee, arrange the flowers, count the offering, prepare the music, visit those who are sick, set up the hall, clean the kitchen – the list goes on and on.  Most churches would struggle without people like Martha.  Jesus was never criticising her willingness to serve.  His concern was something much deeper.  Not her hands but her heart.

Choosing What Matters Most

Luke tells us that while Martha was busy with all the preparations, her sister Mary sat at Jesus’ feet, listening to what He was saying.  Now, if we are honest, we can understand Martha’s frustration.  Imagine inviting guests into your home. There is food to prepare, dishes to wash, a table to set, and someone has to make sure everything is ready. Meanwhile your sister is sitting in the living room, listening to the guest.  Most of us would probably react exactly as Martha did.  She finally reaches her limit and says, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”  Can you hear the emotion in her words?  She isn’t angry because Mary is listening to Jesus.  She is exhausted, feels alone, overwhelmed and perhaps she even feels unnoticed.

And maybe that is why so many of us identify with Martha.  There are seasons in life when we feel as though everyone else is sitting down while we are carrying the weight.  There are parents who quietly carry the responsibilities of a family.  There are caregivers looking after ageing parents.  There are volunteers who faithfully serve week after week. There are people who hold churches, workplaces and communities together without anyone really noticing.  Martha represents all of us who sometimes become weary under the weight of good responsibilities.

Notice that I said good responsibilities.

Jesus is not saying those things don’t matter.  The danger is that sometimes good things can crowd out the best thing.  There is a well-known illustration that helps us understand this.  Imagine a large glass jar.  First you place several big rocks into the jar.  Then you add small stones.  Next comes the sand.  Finally you pour in water.  Everything fits.  But if you reverse the order and begin with the sand and the water, the big rocks will never fit.  The lesson is simple.  If you don’t put the most important things first, you may never find room for them later.  Life works the same way.  The “sand” is all the little things that fill our days.  The endless emails, shopping, appointments, housework, errands.  None of them are wrong.  But if they fill every corner of our lives, there is little room left for the things that matter most.

The “big rocks” are different.  Our relationship with Christ, time in prayer, listening to God’s Word, our families, our friendships, moments of worship, moments of rest.

These are the things that give life its deepest meaning.

That is what Mary understood.  She wasn’t choosing laziness over responsibility.  She was choosing the presence of Jesus before everything else.  She knew that before she could serve Him well, she first needed to listen to Him.  And isn’t that the pattern we see throughout Scripture?  Before the disciples were sent out to preach, they spent time with Jesus.  Before Peter stood up on the Day of Pentecost, he had walked with Jesus.  Before Paul travelled across the Roman Empire, he encountered the risen Christ.  Again and again, God reminds us that ministry flows from relationship.

We do not earn His love by serving Him.  We serve Him because we have already received His love.  That is why Jesus gently says,“Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken away from her.”  Notice what He does not say.  He does not say that serving is unimportant.  He does not tell Martha to stop preparing the meal.

Instead, He lovingly reminds her that there is something even more important than preparing a place for Jesus.  It is allowing Jesus to prepare a place of peace within her own heart.

Don’t Try Harder. Come Closer.

The beautiful thing about this story is that Jesus does not leave Martha where she is.

He does not ignore her.  He does not embarrass her.  He does not compare her with Mary.  Instead, He speaks her name.  “Martha, Martha…”  There is something deeply tender about those words.  Whenever Jesus repeats a person’s name in Scripture, it is not because He is angry. It is because He cares.  He sees Martha’s tiredness, her frustration, the burden she is carrying.  And then He gently says, “You are worried and troubled about many things, but only one thing is needed.”  Jesus does not say there is only one thing we should ever do.  He says there is one thing we must never lose.  His presence.  Everything else flows from there.  Perhaps that is the greatest lesson Mary teaches us.  She understood that discipleship begins by sitting before it begins by serving, with listening before acting, with receiving before giving.  She simply enjoyed being with Jesus.

That is where every healthy Christian life begins.  Sometimes we think the answer to our spiritual struggles is to try harder.  Read the Bible more.  Pray longer.  Volunteer more.  Do better.  Work harder.  Of course, all of those things have their place.  But they are never the starting point.  The starting point is always Jesus Himself.  Our faith is not built on what we do for Christ.  It is built on what Christ has already done for us.  He loved us before we loved Him.  He called us before we followed Him.  He welcomed us before we ever served Him.  That changes everything.  Because now serving is no longer about earning His love, it becomes our response to His love.

The more time we spend with Jesus, the more we begin to resemble Him.  Not because we are forcing ourselves to change.  But because His presence changes us.  Almost without us noticing.  That is why I love this story.  Jesus never tells Martha to stop loving.  He simply invites her to begin in a different place.  Not with the work.  But with Him.

Perhaps that is an invitation many of us need to hear today.  Tomorrow morning the alarm will ring.  The emails will still arrive.  The dishes will still need washing.  The appointments will still fill the calendar.  The responsibilities will still be there.  Jesus never promised that life would suddenly become less busy.  But He did promise something far better.  He promised Himself.  Before He asks anything of us…  He invites us to Himself.  Before He sends us out to serve…  He calls us to sit at His feet.  Before He asks us to carry the responsibilities of another day…  He reminds us that He is carrying us.

So as we leave this place today, perhaps this is the one sentence to remember:

Don’t try harder. Come closer.

Come closer to Christ.

Come closer to His Word.

Come closer to His table.

Come closer to His grace.

Because when we come closer to Jesus, we discover that He is already closer to us than we ever imagined.

And from that place of love…

From that place of peace…

From that place of simply being with Him…

We find the strength to go back into the world and serve with joyful hearts.

Amen.