Eugene Peterson, who has translated the New Testament into contemporary language under the title “The Message,” writes this:

Busyness is the enemy of spiritually. It is essentially laziness. It is doing the easy thing instead of the hard thing. It is filling our time with our own actions instead of God’s actions.[i] 

We are a busy people. We have fast and often frenetic schedules. We can talk on the phone, eat fast food and withdraw money from an ATM machine at the same time. One person writes, “We can eat in fine restaurants, play cards on the train, shop, work on the computer, cook, read the paper, bike, hike, drive, and Lord knows what else all while talking on the phone.”[ii] 

That list of things you can do while talking on the phone now includes worship! I was the leader for last Sunday night’s worship service. I sat in the front at the left side of the sanctuary. Across the aisle from me was a young man whom I did not know. Immediately following the prayer his telephone rang. He answered. The conversation went something like this:

“Hello. Who is this? Oh, okay. Hey, I can’t talk right now. I’m in church. Can you call me back in about a half hour? Thanks very much. Goodbye.” 

A few years ago the only person who carried a phone was the President of the United States. The only persons who carried pagers were physicians. Now we can all be reached anywhere, at any time, by almost anyone. We are in what someone has called “frenzied automation.” 

Into this mix comes the story of Mary and Martha in Luke, chapter 10. They are friends of Jesus. They have a brother named Lazarus. Jesus apparently visited them often. Maybe they provided a kind of “Bed and Breakfast” for Jesus. Through the many visits that Jesus made, they began to sense a difference in him. He wasn’t just another rabbi or an ordinary teacher. 

One day Jesus stopped by for one of his visits. The two sisters react quite differently. Mary sits in the parlor, listening to Jesus, engaging in conversation. Martha remains in the kitchen. She’s checking her e-mail and searching the Internet for a good lunch recipe. Martha becomes frustrated. She’d like some help in the kitchen. Listen to the way Eugene Peterson translates the story.

Martha was pulled away by all she had to do in the kitchen. Later she stepped in, interrupting them: “Master, don’t you care that my sister has abandoned the kitchen to me? Tell her to lend me a hand.

The Master said, “Martha, dear Martha, you are fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing. One thing only is essential and Mary has chosen it—it’s the main course, and it won’t be taken from her.” 

What is going on here? This is more than just about two sisters who have a very different profile on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator! 

What is Jesus saying to us here? Is he saying that meditation is more important than social graces? Is he belittling the importance of a tastefully prepared meal? Is he ranking these two sisters as to eternal values? Is Martha saying, “Jesus, you always liked Mary the best”? What’s going on here? 

It’s important to remember that Luke is not writing the story for Mary and Martha. Luke is writing to the church. He is preserving a word for the church. It is a word to the 1^st century church, and it is a word to the 21^st century church. 

What is being addressed here? Jesus says one thing only is essential. But that one thing is not absolutely clear. Do we really know what he is talking about? 

Ten or fifteen years ago a movie appeared under the title “City Slickers.” It’s a story of three men at middle age who are trying to find themselves and establish meaning for their lives. They go out west to a cattle ranch, where they are part of a team to drive a herd of cows 200 miles. The head of the cattle drive is an old cowboy named “Curley,” (played by Jack Palance). Mitch, one of the city slickers (played by Billy Crystal) finally befriends Curley. 

In one memorable scene, Curley holds up a finger and says, “You have to remember one thing.” Mitch says, “What is the one thing?” And Curley responds, “Mitch, you have to find it for yourself.” 

It’s entirely possible that neither Jesus nor Luke is giving us the specific answer to the question, “What one thing is needful?” Each of us has to decide in our lives what is most important. Mary and Martha had to decide. The rich young ruler who encountered Jesus one day had to decide. Zacchaeus had to decide after Jesus invited himself to his home for lunch. Nicodemus had to decide when he met Jesus late one night. What is the one thing in this story? Imagine with me a few answers. 

Perhaps the one thing is to not be preoccupied—especially to not be preoccupied with food. Mary wanted to talk; Martha wanted to get lunch. Jesus and Mary simply did not have lunch as a priority at that moment. 

Any of you who have ever been on a cruise ship know that your dinner table is always a reserved table. You have a reserved place to sit. It always astounds me how many people line up early prior to their dinner seating, as though they might not get a good seat. And of course I’ve been known to check the dinner menu at breakfast sometimes on those ships! 

Food is necessary to life, but it’s not the most important thing. Jesus may be saying, “Martha, don’t worry about the recipe for today. We’ll eat—but later.” 

Possibly, Jesus is talking about our incessant multi-tasking. He may be saying that thoughtful conversation is critically important to life. Focus on the person with whom you are talking.  

I’ve had to work on this all through my ministry. I can be talking to someone about a very important matter. If I see someone else with whom I need to speak, I’m almost always at least slightly distracted. Or I can be talking on the phone and I hear out of my left ear, “You’ve got mail!” 

I love the story about a television sketch in which a husband is watching television while his wife is trying to engage him in conversation. The conversation goes something like this: “Dear, the plumber was late getting here to fix the leak behind the hot water heater.”

“Uh-huh.”

“The pipe burst and flooded the basement.”

“Quiet, it’s third and goal.”

“Some of the wiring got wet and almost electrocuted Fluffy.”

“Darn it, touchdown!”

“The vet says he’ll be better in a week.”

“Can you get me a beer?”

“The plumber finally came and said he was happy our pipe broke, because he can now afford to go on vacation.”

“Aren’t you listening? I said I could use a beer.”

“And Stanley, I’m leaving you. The plumber and I are flying to Acapulco.” 

“Can’t you please stop all that yakking and get me a beer? The trouble around here is that nobody ever listens.” 

What is Luke telling us? I think he may be saying, work to make a particular person the most important person of the moment. 

Or maybe this is simply a story about distraction. The New Revised Standard Version translation says, “Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things.” Or “You are distracted by many tasks.” 

The Greek word for “distracted” here means “dragged around.” I think that’s a useful definition. Have you ever been dragged around by many tasks? Martha was being dragged around by her tasks as a hostess. 

Have I allowed my Palm Pilot or my appointment calendar to distract me? Is our theme today one that might be called “instant productivity through total connectivity?” 

I saw a quip once that said, “Does the information superhighway have any rest stops?” 

C.S. Lewis once wrote,

The moment you wake up each morning, all your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists in shoving it all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other, larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in. 

Or could this be a story about production and accomplishment? We are productivity and accomplishment driven. I saw an ad for a piece of Verizon technology that said, “You will have ‘instant productivity.’”[iii] The lure for that kind of thing is strong, is it not? Microsoft Corporation has a slogan: “Your potential is our passion.” There’s also a strong attachment in that statement. 

Somewhere I saw an advertisement for a lounge chair called the “McKinley” (as in Mt. McKinley). It’s a huge chair with a high price. Apparently when you lift up the pad under the arm, there’s a sleek black console. In that console are a telephone, an answering machine, a television remote, a chair massager, and a place to plug in your modem.  

The prevalent concern, even among believers, is this: I must do more, I must do better, and I must work harder. 

Have you ever been to a dinner where the host or hostess wanted perfection? It can ruin the whole evening. A time comes in every good party when dishes can be stacked in the sink, coffee can go cold and butter can puddle in little dishes. People sit around and talk to each other! 

I think it should be noted that we must be careful here. Jesus is not denigrating service in any way. A good service-oriented life is worthy before God as well. 

Leonard Pitts, a columnist for the Miami Herald once wrote,

I have to thank Jimmy Carter for saving my sanity. Granted, his was not a presidency one looks back on with fondness. But Carter’s ex-presidency has been a model of that unofficial institution. He has built homes for the poor, mediated wars, helped feed the hungry in Africa, and fought disease in Latin America.[iv] 

Yes, Jesus taught us to pray and to meditate. But Jesus also said things like feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick, visit the prisoner, and be a peacemaker. 

Am I accomplishing enough? Am I reaching my full potential? What’s the thing most needful for me? Can I get “undistracted” enough to find out? Can I hear Jesus telling me something of God’s priority for my life? Is that Luke’s sermon here to us? Is that the word within the word? 

Each week we say after the reading of the Scripture, “Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.” Is this what the Spirit is saying here? 

Or perchance, is it a matter of just saying, “Slow down for a little while?” We are unconsciously gravitating toward a faster and faster pace. Psalm 127:2 says, “It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil.” 

Do you know how to slow down? Do you know how to go for a walk or read the paper or play with your grandchildren? 

The staff discusses this among ourselves on a fairly regular basis. We discuss it on your behalf. People are just too busy for an hour of small group nurture each week. A lot of people are too busy for worship. 

Worship attendance here has become a bit stagnant over the last 3 or 4 years. Membership is growing, but not worship attendance. One of the reasons has to be the crowded nature of our lives. People who used to worship 95% of the time are now down to 80%. Those who worshiped 80% of the time are now down to 60%, and so it goes. There was a Gallup poll not too long ago in which the pollsters knocked on doors and asked if the person was a regular worship attendee at a church or synagogue. They found that a number of people have said, “Well, yes, I am. Although I was not there last week—I meant to be—so put me down as a ‘yes.’” 

Gallup concluded that many of us have the sense that we are worshiping regularly, but we are not. Maybe Jesus has a word for us in this story. 

Or are we perhaps unfocused? Is this our issue? One church consultant says he asks this question of churches:

What are your vital few—the vital few things that your board, your staff or your church must do and do well to be faithful and effective? How can the resources God has placed among you be channeled to the greatest effect? 

That’s a good question for any of us as individuals as well. That was the question of Curley to Mitch in the movie “City Slickers.” And the theme was repeated at least two more times before the movie was over. What vital few things are truly essential to my Christian walk? Is Jesus teaching here that being focused tends to produce great results? 

Or is Jesus simply saying, “Stay close to me”? Is he affirming Mary without being too harsh with Martha? 

I heard about a book last winter—one that I have not read—with an interesting title. It was called Having a Mary’s Heart in a Martha’s World: Finding Intimacy with God in the Busyness of Life. 

I know that I need to sit frequently at the feet of Jesus in order to stay focused. I am always refreshed when I look again at what he said and what he did. 

Hear what the Spirit is saying to you through this little story. Are you preoccupied? Are you forever multi-tasking? (Someone defined multi-tasking as “botching up several things at one time.”) Are you easily distracted? Are you overly concerned about production and accomplishment? Are you unable to slow down? Are you unfocused? Or is your need simply to stay close to Jesus as the shaper and molder of your life? 

Will you work to move from shallowness to depth? Will you let Jesus become the focal point and the force in your life?