Martha and Mary were two of Jesus very best friends.  They were sisters and their brother was Lazarus – the man Jesus raised from the dead.  The story of Martha and Mary has so many deep and incredible ideas – especially for us who live in our modern hurried and worried world.

Today, let’s look at burnout through the eyes of Martha – an over-achiever who lived in a village where the roads were a mixture of dirt and all kinds of manure. That’s right. . . Cow manure, chicken poop, sheep pellet and goat turds all mixed with dirt.  The dirt must have flown like a swirl of dust on a windy day.  

Without any vacuums or dust mops, cleaning the house would have been a ginormous task, and one can only imagine trying to keep up.   Now consider that it was one of the biggest days of Martha’s life.  Not only was she going to have a dozen VIP’s for dinner, but the guest of honor was none other than Jesus himself!   Think of the preparations to clean the house and make the food!

The problems began when Martha’s sister, Mary, had the audacity to ignore all the work that needed to be done when she just sat down at the feet of Jesus and drank in his words!!

Can you only imagine being Martha?   I’ll bet her blood pressure was off the carts.  I mean, can you imagine Mary not helping, not cleaning, not getting drinks for the guests, not turning the roast in the oven, not setting the table – but sitting there!!  Martha was so disturbed that she interrupted Jesus and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” (Luke 10:40) You read it right!  Martha was so bent out of shape about the work to be done, that she interrupted Jesus himself, right in the middle of his conversation!  Talk about stressed!

Picture being in that room and watching when Martha dared to interrupt Jesus.  I’ll bet you could hear a mouse breathe.  Now, what an opportunity to watch and see how Jesus would handle it!  What would you think if you watched Jesus smile gently at Martha and say, “Martha, Martha, 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)

One of the interesting parts of this story is that we don’t know what happened next.  We don’t know if Martha went back to her work or if she sat down next to her sister, at the feet of Jesus, to drink in his words.  I wonder what Martha did?  I wonder what you and I would have chosen to do?

Even today, I wonder what do you and I usually choose to do on so many of our “busy, busy” days?  After all, we can hardly sit down without hearing the shout in our minds, “There is so much to be done!”   But if we close the door and sit in quiet for just a moment, I’ll bet you’ll recognize the whisper. . . Yes, it’s Jesus, and you’ll hear him – even today, “Come and be with me.  Just as you are, come sit at my feet and rest with me.”