Dear Martha,
You were always known as the sister of Lazarus and Mary,
I am sure you wanted more, probably another identity,
But Martha, I am in awe of your hospitality,
The way you served people with so much sincerity.
I know you felt hurt when Jesus praised Mary,
I wish you didn’t fret so much; I wish you didn’t worry,
Cooking, cleaning and washing—all a pain,
Sorry, your sister didn’t help; she considered it all vain.
You served food, not hoping to get a compliment,
I am sure they liked it but Mary’s name was prominent,
But still, you always gave expecting nothing in return,
And for that generous heart of yours, many yearn.
When your brother died, you wiped your tears; you stood strong,
You walked up to Jesus and asked what took Him so long,
Yes, you had rational questions, but you let it be
And yes, there was faith in you but many didn’t see,
And when Lazarus walked out of that tomb,
You made a celebratory meal for a whole room.
Thank you, Martha, for teaching me to give,
To put in the effort and not let false expectations live,
You were a rational woman but you missed out a lot,
What Jesus had to offer, the lesson He taught,
I desire to be generous as you were,
But also be at His feet and not from afar, just stare.
Love,
The Unrecognised Woman
In almost all sermons from this passage, the character of Martha is vilified. Her story is not complicated. She was just so real and practical—probably one of the most unpretentious women in the Bible. The book of Luke does not delve into a lot of detail—Was Mary generally so laid-back and lazy? Was Martha the one who managed the house? A perfectionist of sorts? And yet, people are so quick to point their finger at Martha. Cut her some slack, she was worried and troubled for the King of kings and the Lord of lords had visited her humble abode. Jesus and His disciples must have been hungry—the best part, they came to her house unannounced. She had to work with what she had—probably bake bread, make soup, take out the guest plates and serving bowls, wash them and wipe them dry. A lot to be done, the pressure of serving the Messiah with the best—sure can get taxing.
Hospitality is integral to the earliest biblical stories. And Martha definitely had the heart to serve. Despite the fact that Jesus and His disciples came in without prior notice, she opened her heart and her door to serve them. However, what went wrong is that she focussed too much on the preparations rather than Who it is being prepared for. This is when everything went North. Although she started off on a good note, she got frustrated mid-way because her focus got shifted. The same happened to Peter when he walked on water—the moment his focus shifted from Jesus, he drowned, probably terrified.
Martha lost it in the run to get all the preparations perfect. She might have probably expected a pat on the back for working so hard and preparing delicious food, instead of her sister, who did nothing but sit at the feet of Jesus, got all the kudos. In Martha’s eyes, she was doing the right thing; it might have even felt like the right thing to do. While her practical mind applauded all that she did, her spirit was exhausted. Her physical burnout combined with the pressure to impress the Messiah must have resulted in, what most people term as ‘her bad attitude’. But we forget one thing—Martha was quite direct with her complaint, she did not talk behind her sister’s back. Yes, Martha should have kept her eyes on Jesus and not stressed about anything else. He is the bread of life, after all. Why worry about food when the Provider Himself is seated at home, you may say? But, does it mean that we put in zero effort to serve the Lord and others associated with Him? Maybe a balance of both? But, how far is too far when it comes to hospitality?
Yes, Jehovah Jireh, He is our Provider but that does not shield us from working hard. We have to toil hard for our bread. Yes, He gives manna from heaven but we still need to make bread with it. We put in effort when we love a person—effort to bring happiness, to please the person, to make time and to serve. If there is no love, little do we put effort. We serve God because we love Him and He loves us back. But it is dangerous when the service is kept on a pedestal instead of the God we serve. That is when hospitality is taken too far. The yardstick—check if it sucks up more than what you give God. Like Sandy mentioned in her previous article, be cautious that it does not take the place of God.
Every ‘good’ goes bad when it turns into God.
And that is where Martha fell. Hence, she went down in history as Mary’s and Lazarus’s sister more than her own name. But, Martha, we feel you and many of us have seen ourselves in you.
Time to get out of the kitchen and go to Jesus.