“There Is Need of Only One Thing” by Rev. Paul Berghout (@FatherPB)
Piety
Looking up, Abraham saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them,
he ran from the entrance of the tent to greet them; and bowing to the ground,
he said: “Sir, if I may ask you this favor, please do not go on past your
servant. Let some water be brought, that you may bathe your feet, and then rest
yourselves under the tree. Now that you have come this close to your servant,
let me bring you a little food, that you may refresh yourselves; and afterward,
you may go on your way.” The men replied, “Very well, do as you have said.”
(Genesis 18:2-5)
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am
filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body,
which is the church, of which I am a minister in accordance with God’s
stewardship given to me to bring to completion for you the word of God, the
mystery hidden from ages and from generations past. (Colossians 1:24-26a)
Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do
you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her
to help me.” The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious
and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen
the better part and it will not be taken from her.” (Luke 10:40-42)
Study
The main problem arises from Martha’s “distraction with much ministry”
(diaconal serving or ministry is the actual Greek word in the Biblical text). The
issues stem from difficulties in the partnership with her sister Mary.
It is the “muchness” [many things] of her task that distracts Martha,
which is used to indicate the harmful role of anxiety in discipleship.
Specifically, Martha’s complaint is that Mary has left her to minister
alone (10:40).
From Martha’s perspective, Mary is not pulling her weight.
Martha’s prayer to the Lord is the request of a disciple for the Lord’s
intervention to secure her sister’s active participation in their partnership
of ministry.
What Jesus teaches Martha and us is:
Anxiety reveals false commitments and distractions, which prevent
single-hearted responses to the Word made in an attitude full of faith. In Luke
8:14, Jesus reminds disciples that the Holy Spirit supplies words of witness
and proclamation in anxiety-inducing situations (Luke 12:11-12). He encourages
anxious and distracted disciples to center themselves on God by recognizing and
trusting God’s gracious valuing them and providing for them (Luke 12:24,28,30).
Martha has neglected the source of that ministry.
Mary appears as a person who has the “one thing” that Martha needs at
this time to regain her single-heartedness, which is to listen to Jesus’
teaching (cf. 10:23-24). In Acts 22:3, St. Paul describes himself as having
received his education in the Law “at the feet of Gamaliel.” Mary has the
posture of a listening disciple; it reveals her zealous readiness to learn.
Back then, Jewish religious teachers did not accept women as disciples, but
Jesus does. Mary was listening to the Word of God. Those who hear it and act on
it become his new family (Luke 8:21).
Jesus says twice, “Martha, Martha.” To use a trendy, contemporary
expression, Martha is not “fully in touch with herself.”
Mary, on the other hand, sufficiently integrates all the activities of
life. Mary listens to Jesus to develop the single-mindedness necessary to
achieve this integration.
Action
Without the essential nutrients of rest, wisdom, and delight embedded
in the problem-solving process itself, the solution we patch together is likely
to be an obstacle to genuine relief.
Born of desperation, such solutions often contain enough fundamental
inaccuracy to guarantee an equally perplexing problem will emerge as soon as
you put these solutions into place. In the soil of the quick fix is the seed of
a new challenge, because our quiet wisdom is unavailable.” [source: Wayne
Mull].
Years ago, Lewis Grant coined the phrase “sunset fatigue” to describe
the exhausted state in which many arrive home at the end of a day. Do you often
feel like you’re “done” before the day is?
Exhaustion sabotages much of what we do, not only at home after
“sunset,” but in business settings, community service or in the work of social
justice. Can you relate?
Scholars Muller and Heuertz both insist that we need to regularly stop,
rest, delight and contemplate – essentially that self-care must precede any usefulness.
Does your life reflect this truth?
Can I sit quietly?
The search for distractions can be a reaction to anxiety or an
emotional disconnection from ourselves. It’s the sense that we always need to
be doing something. MARTHA had this! E.g.--
Work: feeling centered only while working or accomplishing
Compulsive behaviors on the internet
TV for hours on end every day
Drugs, alcohol, tobacco to calm oneself, even excessive exercise,
shopping, endless cleaning
Rage- only feeling okay after venting anxiety and anger inappropriately
EVEN spirituality—when we don’t do our daily duty because of being too
absorbed in spiritual and religious ideas as a way of hiding from uncomfortable
emotions. The solution is to know that grace builds on nature. E.g., First
pray, then go to work, go to your meetings, call your mom.
Some ways to keep from feeling the restlessness of anxiety?
How do we overcome our natural temperament? We do that by tasting the
contemplation of prayer. As an anchor, prayer helps us to retain the firm and
stable ship of our soul, amid the waves and tempest that toss her.
The contemplative experience is sometimes consoling, warm, euphoric,
and more often not self-validating but rather just an openness, and maybe even
a dryness, but there will always be focus, renewal, and strength even if there
are no strong feelings which are still good too.
CONCLUSION—A missionary named Stuart Sacks tells of working in Paraguay
with the Maka Indians. One day a Maka Indian man named Rafael came to visit.
When Sacks asked Rafael what he wanted; Rafael replied in his language, “I
don’t want anything; I have just come near.” Rafael just wanted to sit on
Sack’s porch and be near his new friend. He just wanted to enjoy his presence.
The love of God is the source and end of all human endeavor. Amen.
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