the Biblical story of mary & martha is well-known among those who read Scripture regularly & among those who do not. instead of paraphrasing, however, here is the Word, from luke 10 : 38-42 :
"As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”"
I feel that the women are often characterized as caricatures : martha as the idol of busyness & legalism, and mary as the portrait of humility and servanthood. if we believe Scripture to be True, which I do, then these women are actually real humans that lived, breathed, & wrestled with the disordered desires of their hearts within a world hungry for the Grace Jesus would bring. I want to explore what it feels like to have the complex heart of martha, how Jesus loves that heart & brings it to His Rest, and how our communities can better love & affirm that heart here on earth. why is martha the way that she is? why am I this way?
in the last few weeks, I have engaged in the behavior of martha, and my heart has looked like martha's too. how does that manifest? it manifests in a behavior of restlessness in the company of others. in doing the dishes while my friends are gathered around the table. in taking photos instead of loving the people in them. in planning events to the point of meticulousness. even in forcing questions upon my friends who just want to sit & be.
see, the worst part about martha is that no one wants to be around martha. it's exhausting! stasi eldredge, in her book captivating, which she cowrote with her husband (& which I reference fairly often as a book that has helped me feel more known), writes :
"a woman who is striving invites others to strive. the message -- sometimes implicit in her actions, sometimes explicit through her words -- is, 'get your act together. life is uncertain. there is no time for your heart here. shape up. get busy. that's what is important.' she does not say, all is well. all shall be well" (136).
how can you feel at rest when your company is running around, implying that you are not doing enough by simply sitting by Jesus, by your loved ones? I feel so sad that my restlessness in fact prevents my loved ones from actually resting in themselves. how dare martha, how dare I bring mary away from the simple presence of our Lord & Savior & all of His manifestations here on earth? mary is indeed a picture of quiet servitude in the midst of martha's self-righteous heart.
but what if the real heart of martha, beneath the toxic cloak of self-righteousness, was actually deep insecurity that her bare presence was simply not enough? what if she kept running around because she believed that if she sat still, simply herself was not all she must offer or do to be enjoyed?
I have found recently in social situations that I have a deep nausea that tells me I cannot sit still. I want to know from where this lie comes so desperately so I can nip it. so I can be restful & at rest. how do I know this is a lie? because Jesus, in His kindness, says it is.
you see, what this account shows us is not only that Jesus affirms mary & admonishes martha. Jesus also identifies what is required of us as His followers : to sit by Him & be filled by His fullness. micah 6 : 8 extrapolates this by speaking to how sitting by Jesus manifests in lived theology ~ by acting justly, loving mercy, & walking humbly with God.
a sense of requirement may seem constricting or intimidating. but this is what Jesus says : to approach the Throne of God above, I need not bring anything. I don't need my camera, I don't need to wash any dishes to be welcomed at the feet of Jesus ~ to worship & serve Him well. & for Him to be so kind as to enjoy me. Jesus loves mary, and He loves martha too, but by living into her restlessness, martha is actually depriving herself of the fullness of Jesus. she is also, as shown in verse 42, depending on things that will fade in order to drive her relationship with Jesus.
it is important now to tell you, sweet reader, that each time I am asked to photograph something, I do not assume that I am wanted there just to take pictures. I still want to take your picture! but I want to deeply know that I don't have to do things to be enjoyed. that I don't have to be polished maddmall, fun maddmall, mustard-yellow-loving maddmall all of the time. I want my gifts to be enjoyed, but I don't want them to be the only thing enjoyed about me. God calls each of us to use the unique spiritual gifts He has gifted us to further His Kingdom, and I believe some of my gifts include photography & bringing people together in event planning. it sounds like martha was naturally a hospitable character in her village! what a beautiful quality!
but in addition to believing that using this gift to serve Jesus would essentially merit more of His praise, martha actually withholds what is most precious : herself. bare of distractions. in john 12, we see mary again seated at the feet of Jesus, this time wiping His feet with precious perfume. Jesus requires ~ Jesus enjoys all of us. what is most precious to Him is our whole being, our whole attention. to kneel & offer ourselves to Him.
this is one of the greatest Comforts I have ever heard. & this is a Comfort gifted to us all by the intercession of Jesus Christ on the Cross. what Hope, what Joy. friends, what FREEDOM.
so in the spirit of application, my question is whether I have the space ~ whether I can make the space ~ to enter my home, to enter your home, bare. mary is, in fact, vulnerable to offer simply herself. maybe she was naturally inclined to this ~ maybe she was the kind of gal who didn't do her dishes, so maybe it wasn't a stretch to abandon her distractions at the door. but I can imagine martha because I am martha. the distractions I carry distract from me. because who am I if I am not the photographer? if I am not the planner?
I am just maddy. created by God in the image of God, fallen by sin, brought near to God by the blood of Jesus Christ, forgiven by God, renewed daily by the Grace of God through the work of the Holy Spirit. I am scared to abandon the identity I have crafted for myself ~ & the persona often crafted for me. we like to think we have people figured out, especially when a convenient picture of them is so readily available. I am scared to shatter that image by leaning into my plethora of emotions, by abandoning the ways I cowardly use my gifts to shield my heart from being seen.
I am not just @maddmall. I am maddy, and I know the heart of martha well. it is mine, too. Jesus bids me come. He bids you come to His feet in all of your nakedness, so He may clothe you in the vestments of His eternal Glory.
to love a martha is hard. she can make you restless, or even annoyed, with her restlessness. that sucks. it sucks for her too. loving her ~ loving him ~ requires speaking words that may seem assumed. it requires inviting, welcoming, loving when it seems assumed. will you join me in seeing each other as extensions of Christ's Beauty, nevertheless broken & yearning to be enjoyed in all that we are?
praise God that He ~ sometimes gently, sometimes forcefully ~ removes what we cling to that hinders us from sitting at His feet. the very feet that have walked our same temptations, the feet that lived perfectly, the feet that hung lifeless and sinless from a Cross, the feet that emerged with life from an empty tomb, the feet that today & forevermore rest at the right hand of God the Father, the Lamb slain.
thank you for reading. thank you for loving.
"As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”"
I feel that the women are often characterized as caricatures : martha as the idol of busyness & legalism, and mary as the portrait of humility and servanthood. if we believe Scripture to be True, which I do, then these women are actually real humans that lived, breathed, & wrestled with the disordered desires of their hearts within a world hungry for the Grace Jesus would bring. I want to explore what it feels like to have the complex heart of martha, how Jesus loves that heart & brings it to His Rest, and how our communities can better love & affirm that heart here on earth. why is martha the way that she is? why am I this way?
in the last few weeks, I have engaged in the behavior of martha, and my heart has looked like martha's too. how does that manifest? it manifests in a behavior of restlessness in the company of others. in doing the dishes while my friends are gathered around the table. in taking photos instead of loving the people in them. in planning events to the point of meticulousness. even in forcing questions upon my friends who just want to sit & be.
see, the worst part about martha is that no one wants to be around martha. it's exhausting! stasi eldredge, in her book captivating, which she cowrote with her husband (& which I reference fairly often as a book that has helped me feel more known), writes :
"a woman who is striving invites others to strive. the message -- sometimes implicit in her actions, sometimes explicit through her words -- is, 'get your act together. life is uncertain. there is no time for your heart here. shape up. get busy. that's what is important.' she does not say, all is well. all shall be well" (136).
how can you feel at rest when your company is running around, implying that you are not doing enough by simply sitting by Jesus, by your loved ones? I feel so sad that my restlessness in fact prevents my loved ones from actually resting in themselves. how dare martha, how dare I bring mary away from the simple presence of our Lord & Savior & all of His manifestations here on earth? mary is indeed a picture of quiet servitude in the midst of martha's self-righteous heart.
but what if the real heart of martha, beneath the toxic cloak of self-righteousness, was actually deep insecurity that her bare presence was simply not enough? what if she kept running around because she believed that if she sat still, simply herself was not all she must offer or do to be enjoyed?
I have found recently in social situations that I have a deep nausea that tells me I cannot sit still. I want to know from where this lie comes so desperately so I can nip it. so I can be restful & at rest. how do I know this is a lie? because Jesus, in His kindness, says it is.
you see, what this account shows us is not only that Jesus affirms mary & admonishes martha. Jesus also identifies what is required of us as His followers : to sit by Him & be filled by His fullness. micah 6 : 8 extrapolates this by speaking to how sitting by Jesus manifests in lived theology ~ by acting justly, loving mercy, & walking humbly with God.
a sense of requirement may seem constricting or intimidating. but this is what Jesus says : to approach the Throne of God above, I need not bring anything. I don't need my camera, I don't need to wash any dishes to be welcomed at the feet of Jesus ~ to worship & serve Him well. & for Him to be so kind as to enjoy me. Jesus loves mary, and He loves martha too, but by living into her restlessness, martha is actually depriving herself of the fullness of Jesus. she is also, as shown in verse 42, depending on things that will fade in order to drive her relationship with Jesus.
it is important now to tell you, sweet reader, that each time I am asked to photograph something, I do not assume that I am wanted there just to take pictures. I still want to take your picture! but I want to deeply know that I don't have to do things to be enjoyed. that I don't have to be polished maddmall, fun maddmall, mustard-yellow-loving maddmall all of the time. I want my gifts to be enjoyed, but I don't want them to be the only thing enjoyed about me. God calls each of us to use the unique spiritual gifts He has gifted us to further His Kingdom, and I believe some of my gifts include photography & bringing people together in event planning. it sounds like martha was naturally a hospitable character in her village! what a beautiful quality!
but in addition to believing that using this gift to serve Jesus would essentially merit more of His praise, martha actually withholds what is most precious : herself. bare of distractions. in john 12, we see mary again seated at the feet of Jesus, this time wiping His feet with precious perfume. Jesus requires ~ Jesus enjoys all of us. what is most precious to Him is our whole being, our whole attention. to kneel & offer ourselves to Him.
this is one of the greatest Comforts I have ever heard. & this is a Comfort gifted to us all by the intercession of Jesus Christ on the Cross. what Hope, what Joy. friends, what FREEDOM.
so in the spirit of application, my question is whether I have the space ~ whether I can make the space ~ to enter my home, to enter your home, bare. mary is, in fact, vulnerable to offer simply herself. maybe she was naturally inclined to this ~ maybe she was the kind of gal who didn't do her dishes, so maybe it wasn't a stretch to abandon her distractions at the door. but I can imagine martha because I am martha. the distractions I carry distract from me. because who am I if I am not the photographer? if I am not the planner?
I am just maddy. created by God in the image of God, fallen by sin, brought near to God by the blood of Jesus Christ, forgiven by God, renewed daily by the Grace of God through the work of the Holy Spirit. I am scared to abandon the identity I have crafted for myself ~ & the persona often crafted for me. we like to think we have people figured out, especially when a convenient picture of them is so readily available. I am scared to shatter that image by leaning into my plethora of emotions, by abandoning the ways I cowardly use my gifts to shield my heart from being seen.
I am not just @maddmall. I am maddy, and I know the heart of martha well. it is mine, too. Jesus bids me come. He bids you come to His feet in all of your nakedness, so He may clothe you in the vestments of His eternal Glory.
to love a martha is hard. she can make you restless, or even annoyed, with her restlessness. that sucks. it sucks for her too. loving her ~ loving him ~ requires speaking words that may seem assumed. it requires inviting, welcoming, loving when it seems assumed. will you join me in seeing each other as extensions of Christ's Beauty, nevertheless broken & yearning to be enjoyed in all that we are?
praise God that He ~ sometimes gently, sometimes forcefully ~ removes what we cling to that hinders us from sitting at His feet. the very feet that have walked our same temptations, the feet that lived perfectly, the feet that hung lifeless and sinless from a Cross, the feet that emerged with life from an empty tomb, the feet that today & forevermore rest at the right hand of God the Father, the Lamb slain.
thank you for reading. thank you for loving.