Luke 10:38-42
Grace to you and peace...
Intro: “Mary has chosen the good portion which will never be taken from her…”. What do you suppose this “good portion” is? The scriptures use this word “portion” a lot. In most cases, when they use it, they use it as a reference to an inheritance. What “portion” of the inheritance will you receive? What will your portion, or inheritance, be?
Deuteronomy 10:9 says, “Therefore Levi does not have a portion or inheritance with his brother; the LORD is his inheritance, just as the LORD your God spoke to Him”.
Lamentations 3:24says, “The Lord is my portion”, says my soul, “Therefore I have hope in Him”.
Psalm 73:26 “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever”.
That’s what Jesus is talking about when He says to Martha, “Mary has chosen the good portion which will never be taken from her”.
THE LORD WHO REVEALS HIMSELF THROUGH HIS WORD AND WHO GIVES HIMSELF COMPLETELY THROUGH HIS BODY AND BLOOD IS THE INHERITANCE, OR PORTION, OF HIS PEOPLE…A PORTION THAT WILL NEVER BE TAKEN AWAY FROM YOU.
I. This text about Martha and Mary teaches us about how we receive the Lord as our portion.
Arthur Just says this another way: He says that Mary has the “right liturgical theology”. In other words, by understanding who Jesus is, Mary participates in the right kind of worship and by her participation in the right kind of worship, Mary receives the Lord as her “portion”. Her theology not only affects her “liturgy” or, how she worships – it affects what she receives.
Mary seems to recognize what the introduction to our hymnal says:That Christ comes among us as One who serves. And it’s interesting to note that, prior to coming to Martha’s house, Jesus has already fed the 5000. Did Mary know this? We may never know, but it would seem as if Mary sets herself at Jesus’ feet, as if she’s expecting to be fed. She listens to, and is open to the Lord’s teaching on account of her theology.
Like a lot of things in theology, a “right understanding of Christ”, turns our natural understanding on its head. According to our natural, human understanding, it would seem as if Martha is the one that is really “sincere”. According to the way we normally understand things, Martha is the one that’s really “going the extra mile” for the Lord and who should be rewarded accordingly. In fact, she’s so burdened by the demands of playing the hostess that it says that she became “distracted with much serving”. She’s really “giving it her all”!
But Martha’s actions…or how she is worshiping Him…are also being determined by her theology. Christ has come to serve her too. Maybe when the time had come, He might have performed another miracle and filled her table with good things (just like He did for the 5000 in the wilderness), but Martha seems to think that her “portion” or her “lot” (when Christ is present) is for her to do all the serving(or at least a portion of it). She thinks that Christ is in need of what she can do and she seems to think that what she does is what’s going to make Jesus pleased. And because she doesn’t recognize that the true “good portion” comes through His giving, she’s actually (though probably quite unintentionally) rejecting the truly “good portion” and replacing it with a “portion” of her own making. This is important: Christ tells us that “the Son of man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many”. You do not receive this “good portion” through much serving. Martha is not the one being commended here. Rather, you receive the “good portion” when you are in His presence, first - by listening.
II. The Lord has chosen to reveal Himself (His thoughts, intentions, & plans) through Words.
This should be familiar to us. When a couple starts to be serious with each other, it’s important that they talk about some important things. “Do you want kids?”. “How are we gonna handle the money?”. “How are we gonna work out this ‘church thing’ since my parents don’t go to the same kind of church as you and your parents?”. “What, to each of us, is the most important thing?”. How do you communicate about these important issues? How do you come to an understanding about all these kinds of things? You use words! Words are fundamental to communication and they are a primary means of revealing ourselves.
God does the same thing. When God wants to tell you what He thinks is right and what He hates or condemns…He uses Words. When God wants to tell you where you stand with Him and how it is that you can be sure that you are in good standing with Him…He uses Words. The Creator of the Universe uses Words to tell you His laws. The all-knowing, all-seeing Hope of Israel, uses Words to tell you His promises and plans.
Now, what happens if you’re distracted? It’s like somebody is trying to “pour their heart out to you” and you don’t get much out of what’s being said because, like Martha, you’re distracted. And what comes of that? You’re going to end up with a messed-up theology (or a messed-up understanding of Christ and how you can be saved) because you didn’t hear a lot of the important things that He was saying.
There is absolutely no substitution for God’s Word. It is the one thing necessary. When it comes to “what is that one gift that we’ve all been given that aids us as we seek to live out our lives in love – comforting and consoling our fellow brethren; when it comes to “how are you going to grow in your faith”? When it comes to “how will you possibly stand before God, the Holy and Righteous judge of all of heaven and earth on the last day, the Word of God is the one thing necessary. By words, God declares you either righteous or condemned. Through God’s Word, you who by nature would think, “Well, I hope that if I do this for God, God will in turn do this other thing for me”…are told “No, No, No…God Himself has done what you need to have done in order to be saved”. Through His Word you are reminded that “all your works and services are like filthy rags” and that it is only “His work…(Christ’s Work)…that avails before God. By God’s Word are you are taught that your faith in Christ’s work, which is mysteriously created in and renewed and sustained in you through His Word, is the sole thing that God counts as righteousness. Woe to anyone who becomes like Martha was becoming and who starts to demand that others now, stop their listening and get with her and her “more important things”. God’s Word is the one thing necessary. It is how Christ reveals Himself and gives Himself to you. God’s Word is the means by which Christ bestows your inheritance to you. God’s Word is how you receive that good portion that will never be taken from you. If you’re not willing to hear (and to even gladly hear) God’s Word, that says volumes about your relationship with God. God’s Word, in both its aural and visible form, is how the inheritance of Christ (or the good portion) is delivered to you.
III. This is why we Lutherans (as well as most orthodox confessions) say we have a “sacramental faith”.
What’s a “sacramental faith”? I like to tell the catechumens that the word “sacrament” comes from the Greek word for “mystery”. How God does what He does is what Paul calls “a great mystery”. So, you might say that a “sacramental faith” – that we Lutheran’s have…is a faith grounded or dependent upon “the mysteries”…and particularly how God works to bring about your salvation through the means of His Word and sacraments. For example, how is it that, as Romans says, “The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe?”. It’s a mystery. In the same way, how is it that as Paul goes on to say in Romans 10:17, that “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God”? How does God’s Word create this “hearing” (resulting in saving faith) that the Apostle is talking about? It’s a mystery.
That’s why Lutherans don’t have (or use) 3, 5 or 12 step programs to salvation. If salvation were a simple 5-step program that anyone can decide for himself to do, we wouldn’t need a Savior. We’d just need to decide to do these 5 steps! That’s no mystery. That doesn’t depend on the power of God. That’s why such faiths do not have the sacraments. When they talk about what we would consider “the sacraments”, they’ve taken out the mystery. They’ve taken out the power and action of God. They’ve essentially removed the “good portion” (what God does that we might trust in Him) and replaced it with their own. They’ve essentially rejected Jesus’ word and condoned Martha!
The good portion comes from Christ by means of the power of His Word. You receive this good portion when you simply “listen to Him”. “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God”...and “Blessed are the Mary’s who hear the Word of God and keep it”.
Conclusion: So this text confronts us and it asks us within the context of the contrast between Martha and Mary, “Are you living like you’ve “chosen the good portion”? Does your way of life and the priorities by which you govern your life demonstrate your faith (and even your longing) for that “good portion which will never be taken away from you”? Is it reflected by the things you talk about in, as Deuteronomy 6 says, “Your lying down, your rising up, your going out and your coming in”? OR could it be that you have let yourself become “distracted”? If that’s the case, you may need to listen to Jesus lovingly say to you what He said to Martha: “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but One thing is necessary”. What else is going to give you hope on your last day besides this “one thing”? What else enables you to stand in the face of life’s rejections and defeats – besides this “one thing”?
This “one thing” is freely given to you for Jesus’ sake and in Jesus’ Name. The Lord Himself, the maker and defender of all that is, has made Himself your “good portion”. He is your inheritance. He is what you have to most look forward to. He is your hope; your first love; your end of all sin, shame and adversity. And you, by the grace of God in Christ Jesus, are His. Listen to Him. Treasure Him. He is your good portion and His Word and His promises of forgiveness life and salvation, in contrast to everything else in the world, will never be taken from you. In the Name +