"Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.  And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word.  But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.  And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:  But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her." Luke 10:38-42

This is a story about priorities and about what constitutes effective ministry.  A very good book that is relatively new on the market is called ‘Having A Mary Heart In A Martha World’, using this true story related by Jesus to His disciples to illustrate, the need for balance in the life of a saint, and that when balance is not possible, then a choice must be made between the available options.

The options that seem to be available to us according to this story, are that of ‘faith’, and ‘faithfulness’. This is may seem like a subtle difference, but the difference is more than meets the eye. Martha is shown to be faithful to the tasks at hand, while Mary was more inclined toward the faith aspect as she sat at Jesus’ feet as He taught. She seems to have realized that “...faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God”. Martha on the other hand exemplifies what has become the dominate characteristic of today’s Church, buried under a mountain of busyness, while neglecting what Jesus calls “...that good part…”. I believe that the devil does not mind our busyness at all. In fact our engagements plays in to his purpose and agenda of distracting the saints from the walk of faith by keeping us busy with things that are good in and of themselves, but the eternal consequences of those things is of questionable value. We can hide behind our contributions to the visible church, while missing God at every turn.

Jesus uses a word in this story that is of interest. Of Martha he said that she was ‘cumbered’. The wordcumbered means to weigh down, to burden, or to hinder. It makes me wonder if the true work that God has called us to do might not be hidden behind our ministry facades.

In Matthew 7:22-23 Jesus says, "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." He does not seem to deny their works, and the works that they professed were valid works that any of  our modern ministries would feel blessed to have manifested in our midst, but Jesus considered them to be deficient on some level that He does not explain to us.

Can we truly do all things through Christ? Is it really possible for us to sit at Jesus feet like Mary and still get stuff done like Martha? Where are the miracles?. Where are the healings? Where is the deliverance that the souls of this world are crying out for while we enjoy our Holy Ghost party? (How does that song go? “Ain’t no party like a Holy Ghost party, cause a Holy Ghost party don’t stop? ) Last time I checked, while we are partying within the walls of  our comfortable houses of worship, the conditions of the world are deteriorating at ever increasing velocity. So what good really, is all of our church posturing?

These are certainly important questions that must be answered, as we seek to balance the work that we do for the kingdom, with the worship we offer the King.

Because of Calvary!

Bishop Jonathan B. Franklin