A sermon preached at Covenant Presbyterian Church of Fort Smith, Arkansas on August 31, 2025.
Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:38–42).[1]
In reading the Gospels it is easy to think of them as linear histories, since they begin with either the birth of Jesus or the commencement of his ministry and conclude with his death and resurrection. But the Gospels are not histories, per se, but unique in their own right, employing a variety of genres, and arranged as much by theme as timeline. They do not contain all that we would like to know, but as the Gospels were inspired by the Holy Spirit, we know that what we have received in them is precisely what we need to know.
In the case of Luke’s Gospel, while he follows a general timeline, he organizes his Gospel thematically for emphasis. For example, when Jesus’ seventy-two disciples returned from their short-term mission, rejoicing in the spiritual victory the Lord accomplished through them, Jesus acknowledged the victory but cautioned, “do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). We are to celebrate not what works we do but what God has done for us, for eternity. Following his caution, Luke quotes Jesus’ brief and unique prayer, in which he prays, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will” (Luke 10:21). Contextually, we know that Jesus is thanking his Father for the special revelation and saving grace given to those whose “names are written in heaven,” and we also learn that saving grace is not bestowed upon all but hidden from “the wise and understanding,” which Luke provides an example in the subsequent account of a lawyer of Israel and his testing and justifying questions.
The lawyer’s testing question was simple: “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 10:25). Knowing the lawyer sought only to test him, Jesus returns the question to the lawyer who not only provides the right answer from Scripture but also a succinct summary of the law and the prophets: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27).He is right, of course, and if answering the question correctly were all that is required to inherit eternal life, he would be in heaven. But then Jesus turns his right answer into application, saying, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live” (10:28).
And this is the problem, for the lawyer, and you and me too, because “None is righteous, no, not one . . . no one does good, not even one . . . all have sinned and . . . the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 3:10-12, 23; 6:23). But as an example of the “wise and understanding,” the lawyer does not see this; it is hidden from his eyes.
Rather than repenting when confronted with the perfection of God’s law, the lawyer seeks to justify himself, asking “who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29). To which Jesus provides a story, which we know as the Parable of the Good Samaritan, serving as a mirror for the lawyer to see his own depravity.
Did the lawyer ultimately repent? Did he later become a follower of Christ? Was he among the thousands who came to faith after Jesus’ resurrection? We don’t know. Luke never tells us. Instead, he moves from the “wise and understanding” lawyer to the “little children” of Jesus’ prayer, two sisters named Mary and Martha.
Two Little Children
Who are these two sisters? They are followers of Jesus who reside in Bethany, roughly two miles from Jerusalem. They are the sisters of Lazarus, who will later become sick unto to death and be raised from the dead by Jesus, as one of his last messianic works before his crucifixion. Prior to his betrayal by Judas Iscariot, Jesus will return to their home in Bethany, where he will dine with Lazarus while Martha serves the meal and Mary washes Jesus’ feet with her hair and anoints them with fragrant oil. But on this visit, Jesus is teaching, and we find the two sisters not only in two different places but of heart and mind too. Martha is working in the kitchen; Mary is sitting at his feet.
Much has been said before about their differing personalities, which I’m sure is true. Some of us are more inclined to sit quietly and listen, while others are more apt to be up and about. But I don’t think this account is given to compare their natural inclinations, or ours. Rather, we are to see these two as “little children” of Jesus’ prayer but also the propensity in every one of us to define our relationship with Jesus based on what we do for him rather than our worship of him.
Let me explain what I mean this way: The Christian life is a life of not only living in God’s grace but by it. Living for and serving Christ is no less by his grace than our worship of him. We are his workmanship, saved by his grace through faith, not of our own doing but “the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8-9). And yet, how many of us when we have sinned, accompany our confession and repentance with a pledge of renewed industry, as if he who is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us[2] needs a pledge-card commitment of our best endeavors. But the apostle John counters this, writing, “little children . . . your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake” (1 John 2:12). We are not God’s little children because of what we have done, can do, and will do for Christ, but because before the foundation of the world, God the Father chose us in Christ, to be holy and blameless before him. Because, in love he predestined us to be adopted as his own,[3] to be saved by his grace, not according to our works but through the faith he gives. That your name or mine is written in heaven reveals nothing about you or me but God’s love for us and “the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:5-8), who lived, died, and resurrected that we might be called the children of God, and so we are.[4]
It is this grace that must inform the entirety of the Christian life: How we think, what we say, what we do, how we live. Mary sat at Jesus’ feet not because she was more inclined to do so but because she was so enraptured with her Lord’s presence. Her redeemed heart wanted nothing more than to be saturated by the Word of Christ and respond in worship. In contrast, Martha translated her devotion to Christ into what must be done for him, neither listening nor worshiping but working, distracted, angry, and complaining. The lawyer from the preceding passage would have applauded her industry, but our Lord confronted her sin.
Distracted by Works
We may wonder, if Martha had sat with her sister, who would have fixed dinner? Doesn’t Paul tell us to “seek to show hospitality” (Rom. 12:13)? What then was wrong with Martha’s service? Her heart. It is not only the scandalous but the subtle sin for which we must be on guard. J.C. Ryle warns, “It is not open sin, or flagrant breaches of God’s commandments alone, which lead men to eternal ruin. It is far more frequently and excessive attention to things in themselves lawful . . . Our families, our business, our daily callings, our household affairs, our intercourse with society, all, all may become snares to our hearts, and may draw us away from God.”[5] Beware of what leads your heart and mind away from Christ. The good that you seek to do, apart from Christ, could be your downfall.
In Martha’s case, her hospitality was not a sin, but her grumbling was. In what sounds like a message to Martha, the apostle Peter counsels, “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace” (1 Pet. 4:9-10). To serve as a steward is to serve on someone else’s behalf, which for the Christian is for Christ and according to the grace God has given. Luke tells us that Martha was “distracted with much serving” (Luke 10:40), rather than seeing her service as stewardship, she resorted to grumbling, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me” (Luke 10:40). You can hear the pent up angst in her words.
Because she is serving in the kitchen alone, because her sister is not helping, because the Lord Jesus has not taken the initiative to direct her sister to help, Martha presumes he does not care and so makes her demand. Just as sin breeds sin, Martha’s angst leads her to a dangerous place, putting herself in the place of God and demanding that he obey her. Scripture tells us that God commands and ordains things to happen, and nothing occurs without His permission or command,[6] but nowhere are we given the liberty to command him. What started with distraction in Martha’s heart led to self-pity, and from self-pity to resentment. Obsessing on her duty to serve, she began to feel sorry for herself, as if she were the only one serving the Lord. But what her distracted heart hid from her perception was she had become the center of her service, not the Lord. And so, she began to resent her sister, absent from the kitchen, blaming her, and so carrying her accusation and command to the Lord.
And sometimes, perhaps often, we do too. Things don’t go the way we want, and rather than examine our heart, we resent others, and hurl our accusations at the Lord. How often do we assume that others should be serving the Lord the way we do, resenting them because they don’t join us and judging them for their lack of commitment? How often do we pity ourselves and our situation not aware that our distracted heart is leading us away from the Lord? How often do our prayers turn into accusations, blaming God if he does not meet our expectations? How often do we need to hear Jesus’ gentle rebuke, “you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary” (Luke 10:41-42).
One Thing Necessary
The sage says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend” (Prov. 27:6), and such are Jesus’ words to Martha, not accepting her accusation or command nor dismissing her angst. He will not let her continue in her sin or wallow in its guilt but directs her away from the many things that worry her and to the one thing necessary: worship. Both worry and worship are a choice. Martha chooses to fret in the kitchen; Mary chooses to sit at Jesus’ feet. Jesus says, “Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:42). The “good portion” was not to be found in all that Martha had done but with Mary at Jesus’ feet. Worshiping Christ is the one thing necessary, the good portion, our ultimate priority.
The psalmist declares, “Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness” (Ps. 29:2). This is not only our ultimate priority today and everyday but for all eternity. And, as our worship is in, through, and for Christ, he must be at the center of our worship and we at his feet.
Of course, Mary wasn’t simply sitting at Jesus’ feet; she was listening to his Word. Likewise, we are to let the Word of Christ dwell within us richly, and through it, Paul says, “teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in [our] hearts to God” (Col. 3:16). Our worship then is to be in and through the Word of Christ and by his Spirit. To this point, John Stott writes, “Word and worship belong indissolubly to each other. All worship is an intelligent and loving response to the revelation of God, because it is the adoration of his Name.”[7] Genuine worship is our response to divine truth.
Mary’s Christ-centered worship was of eternal significance, while Martha’s distractions were a form of idolatry. What Jesus graciously revealed to Martha is that worship is the one thing necessary, taking precedence over everything else. In Christ, the good portion is ours forever. Let us be faithful to feast upon it today!
[1] Unless referenced otherwise, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton: Crossway Bibles, 2001).
[2] 1 John 1:9
[3] Eph. 1:4-5
[4] 1 John 3:1
[5] J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Luke, Vol. 1 (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2012), 293.
[6] For example, Isa. 45:15; Jer. 9:23-24; Lam. 3:37; 1 John 3:24
[7] John Stott, Between Two Worlds. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1982), 82.
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