As a family of six, I bet you can imagine that we stay fairly busy. All this summer, we had kids off in other states, going to one camp or another, participating with the summer swim team that practiced twice a day for four days of the week for about 7 weeks, and we wrapped up the craziness with a very loud week of Vacation Bible School (almost 200 kids per night!). It was a busy summer.
I didn’t realize just how busy our lives had gotten until we had a week of nothing. No mid-week activities. No sports. No camps. No hauling kids in different directions. Just. Nothing. Some of the week I was fine. I needed the break – I embraced it (Did a little vegging out)! But then I felt as though I wasn’t doing what needed to be done… something had to need to be done.
This recently came up in some of our discussion with our small group at church. With all of the doing, what would doing nothing look like. Sitting down, without your phone, to just be… for five blessed minutes. Amy Seiffert, an author out of Ohio, even wrote about this in one of her books. No phone, no list pad, no book… nothing to distract or entertain. Just be.
Um, have you ever tried that? To just sit with… nothing? As I was thinking about it, I felt the competitive side in me start to rise up. I bet I could do it, no problem. What’s five minutes of nothing? But then I tried it. It was a pretty sobering moment when I discovered that sitting for a mere five minutes was a lot harder than I originally thought. Near the end, it felt unnerving.
As I’ve been thinking about just being still for five minutes and how hard that seems to be, I started trying to imagine how hard it was over 2,000 years ago. It really couldn’t be that hard, right? No cell phones, no computers, no video games, no phones… no screens! No booster clubs, no school pick-up lines, no well-check doctor appointments, and no after-school activities or sports.
But were they any better at just being in the moment? And is stopping for five minutes simply about taking a break, or does it reveal something more?
Let’s take a look at Luke 10:38-42, the story of two sisters, Martha and Mary. It’s only five verses (I’ll take that as confirmation), but they’re filled with so much. Let’s break it down:
- Verse 1 – Martha opens her home.
- Verse 2 – Mary sits at Jesus’ feet.
- Verse 3 – Martha is burdened with preparations and upset with getting no help.
- Verse 4 – Jesus points out what she’s upset about.
- Verse 5 – Mary chose wisely.
The first two verses jump out at me. Notice that no matter the translation, the gist is that Martha welcomed Jesus into her home and Mary sat at His feet. I know a thing or two about having people over for dinner. We do a family meal almost once a week. Sometimes we’ll have 10 people over and other times we’ll have 15. There’s quite a bit of work that goes into those meals and sometimes I get frustrated when I have to ask for help because it’s not simply given.
As I read through these five verses, I asked God to reveal something that I hadn’t seen before. God never disappoints. Martha opened her home. I’ve opened my home to people. But I don’t open my heart to everyone who comes into my home. Martha opened her home, but her heart was so consumed with serving Jesus that she wasn’t opening her heart to Him.
It was Mary’s home, too, but she sat at His feet. If asked, I’m sure she would agree that she wanted Jesus to have the finest meal, the most comfortable accommodations for His visit, and that she wanted Him to feel welcomed. But nothing in that moment was more important than just sitting at His feet. It was Mary’s home, too, but while Martha opened her home, Mary opened her heart.
There is no shame in serving others. There is no shame in serving God. But God is not after your hands – He’s after your heart (a classic saying from my husband). Activity, self-effort, and self-discipline does not equate to intimacy with God. It’s as though we believe our value is directly tied to our production. But God isn’t interested in our producing fruit but rather having a relationship with us where He produces fruit through us.
In the parable of the Sower who went out and scattered his seed (Mark 4:3-8), there were several different types of landing zones for the seed. There was the footpath, the rocky soil, the soil with thorns, and the fertile soil. Jesus explains these in Mark 4:14-20. Notice the thorns represent the cares of this world. All the distractions, all the worries, all of the things that make sitting at Jesus’ feet for five blessed minutes so unbearably difficult. In verse three of our five verses, Martha was struggling with the thorns.
Then we come to Jesus’ response. I know Jesus is perfect, so of course His response is perfect, but I’m finding so much comfort in how He addresses Martha. Mary had chosen what was best, but Jesus didn’t shame Martha for her poor choice. Instead, He simply told her what was best.
Martha was burdened with the heavy weight of performance. She was anxious and worried about things not being just right for Jesus and His disciples. Of course we want things to be just right for Him! But has God ever called us to be anxious and worried about anything? Has he told us to carry any heavy burden?
There are so many days that I experience a redirection from Jesus. And many times, it’s directly related to a focus on performance. He doesn’t want your hands; He wants your heart. He doesn’t want your performance; He wants your presence. I’ve mentioned this in a previous blog – we’re not fighting for victory, but we’re fighting from victory. Jesus died a horrific death on the cross so that we could be accepted. We’re not supposed to try to earn acceptance when He already died to give it to us.
While serving is something I truly believe we’re called to do, Jesus’ response to Martha reveals that opening our hearts to Him is so much more important that opening our home to Him.
As we sit at His feet, we’ll experience more and more intimate moments with Him. From intimacy with Him – the relationship He died for so that we could have – an effortless heart of service will flow. There will be no anxiety or frustration that flows from this service, but rather peace, joy, and an identity of acceptance.
From one Martha to any others out there, let’s not only open our homes, but let’s open our hearts. Let’s prioritize sitting at His feet – even if only for five minutes.