Lessons for Mary

We have spent quite a bit of time discussing Martha’s frustrations of much serving ‘alone’. We have discussed Jesus’ rebuke of her attitude of being over-occupied and cumbered about with her serving. We have looked at Scriptures’ command to “Be still and know I am God”.

Let’s take a moment today to move away from Martha’s tilt on the serving/worship scale and consider Mary’s tilt on that scale. If Marthas tend to be over-occupied, I think (from experience) that Marys tend to be under-occupied. Therein lies a problem which also needs to be considered. Just where do we draw that line? How do we perfectly balance that delicate scale?

Yes, Marthas need to move some of their service to the worship side of the scale. But, Marys, too, need to move some of their worship to the service side of the scale.

James 2:14-20 teaches that faith without works is dead.  A claim of faith with no deeds to back it up is worthless.  Because of our love and faith we have for Christ, our hearts should be motivated to serve others. Sharing our faith with others is best demonstrated by serving others. We have all heard the saying, “you are the only Bible some people read.”  What we do for others is important and should not be overlooked. 

Stop and think for a minute-during the early church age before scripture was written and available, the lives of the early believers WAS the only Bible the lost world could read!

 Our lives must actively demonstrate God’s love to others.

Taking time to DO for others is commanded by and modeled by Jesus throughout the gospels.  

Known as the Great Commandment, Matthew 22:38-39 stresses the importance of loving (caring for) your neighbor as yourself.  This concept is demonstrated in the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10. And, in the parallel passage in Mark 12, Jesus speaks of the wise answer given by a questioning scribe. The scribe readily agreed that loving one’s neighbor was more important than the offering of sacrifices.

I am sure we can all share a story about someone who came to Christ as a result of a loving Christian outreached hand that came to the rescue during a time of heartache or trouble.

You see, Mary, you (we) must make room for service as well as worship. I remember a pastor during my youth days making the following comment, “Some people are so heavenly-minded, that they are of no earthly good.” What a sad commentary.  Marys, let’s not let that be true of us. As we look more at Mary in the next couple of weeks, we will see that that wasn’t true of Mary. We read later of the day she DID a most amazing act of service that demonstrated her great love for her Savior.

I recently read the following on a church marquee. “God’s will is not something we seek-it is something we do.”  This should be an eye-opening realization to us Marys. We need to stop spending so much of our time seeking God’s will. We must also get out and DO it.

By the way, since I consider myself a Mary, I can step on my own toes with a few gulping, afraid to say it comments. One of which is….could it be that one reason we like to stay in the front room ‘learning at Jesus feet’ is because getting out and serving would take us out of our comfort zone?

Or, could it be that Mary’s checklist (read Proverbs 1, read Matthew 6-8, read from my devotional book, pray for the missionaries, etc.) can easily be checked off for a day of successful devotion time. (If you haven’t read the previous installment, "Be Still and Know"…, this would be a good time to do so! That is usually what is lacking with this type of devotional attitude. )

Or, do we find ourselves reading even more if there is competition involved. I could easily find myself desiring to be the best student if I were involved in a group Bible Study.  All that type of stuff is easy for us Marys.—Our Comfort Zone! BUT, to go out of that zone and DO something? Oh, the excuses start pouring out of our mouths!

Next time, I will share some Mary excuses and some suggestions (from my Joanna Weaver book and other sources) that may help us get out of our comfort zone and move over to the serving side of the scale.

Let’s DO it!

Debbie

For the fun of it: Here is a picture of today's snowstorm in Springfield!