Sitting at the Lord's Feet

"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.”" Luke 10:38-42

To sit at the feet of someone is to be in a position of devotion or worship or to pay homage to or be reverential to them. When Jesus arrived at the home of Martha, we read where her sister, Mary, "sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said." You would think that everybody would be like Mary and worship the Lord; hanging on every word He spoke. Yet, there is Martha working away "distracted by all the preparations that had to be made" and being upset that Mary wasn't helping her. She was so upset that she was looking for Jesus to support her in her frustration to the point that she snapped at Him for not caring that she was working so hard. What did He say to her in response? "You are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed -- or indeed only one." In other words, the important thing is to do what Mary was doing and focus on Jesus; worshiping Him, devoting time to Him, paying homage to Him and listening to what He has to say. This brief interaction between Martha, Mary and Jesus is a perfect picture of the contrast between law and grace, the Old Covenant and the New Covenant and between works and rest. Martha is an example of the Old Covenant; focused on works, judging others who are deemed to not be working as hard as she is, being bitter and angry and all the while missing out on what God has to say. Mary, in contrast, is an example of the New Covenant; resting from works, being available to the Lord and what He is saying to you and, unfortunately, being criticized by your brethren for doing so. There are those that have been left busy and barren by the Christian life. As one Christian author put it, "But, straying from Christ Himself as our life, we have no other option than to substitute furious activity and service.  It has gotten to the point where to be a member of many churches today, you don't need to pass a doctrinal exam; you need to pass a physical!" Martha was so busy focusing on tasks she felt needed to be done that she was completely missing out on cultivating her relationship with the Lord. In fact, it was Jesus who would many times say things to His followers that instructed them to focus on Him and not whatever worldly tasks needed completing.  "For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me (Matthew 26:11)." "Let the dead bury their own dead. You, however, go and proclaim the kingdom of God (Luke 9:60) .” "As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow Me, Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” And at once they left their nets and followed Him.…(Mark 1:16-18)." These are all examples where Jesus reminded us to focus on Him and not the current tasks we are performing.

When it comes to the modern Christian experience, how often are religious activities deemed to be the main focus of the Christian life? The "right things" to be engaged in are things like your church commitment; being at church Sunday morning, Sunday night, Monday night for visitation, Wednesday night service, plus other times for innumerable committee meetings.  Even things that you may want to do become burdens because they are cast as tasks to do rather than things you want to do; extensive Bible Study, memorizing hundreds of Scriptures, witnessing to everybody you meet, praying for everyone and everything, etc. Jesus is exalted and you are exhausted. Then you have to submit yourself to the Martha's of the world; fruit inspectors and members of "accountability" groups who make sure you are keeping up with all your responsibilities, tasks and promises. And if they deem your effort to be inadequate, judgment will soon follow. You literally want to tell them to, "Get off my back and sit down!" In Romans 12:1, it says, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship." Our "true and proper worship" is to offer our bodies as a "living sacrifice." In other words, we are to make ourselves available to the Lord to live His life in and through us as He sees fit to do it. This sounds a lot like Mary "sitting at the Lord's feet" listening to what He says. When you are resting from your works and getting to know Jesus, who you are through faith in Him and allowing Him to direct you, guess what happens? All those things the Martha's of the world criticize you for not doing will get done anyway. Instead of a Christian life of works where you are focused on doing things for God, you will begin to want to do those things because of God! As you bear the fruit of the Spirit the Lord produces in and through you the by-product will be to study the Bible more, memorizing Scriptures, witnessing to others, praying more and wanting to fellowship with like-minded believers (i.e. church activities). And you will begin to understand what Jesus meant when He told Martha, "Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." It is better to focus on Jesus instead of works because what you learn directly from God about Him, your identity in Christ and your relationship with God will not be taken away from you. The love of God, His forgiveness, His indwelling life and your inheritance in Christ is yours for eternity and can never be taken away. And this all begins when you rest from your works and sit down at the feet of the Lord. "There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.  (Hebrews 4:9-11)." Do not follow the example of Martha. Be like Mary and rest.