For the past year, we have been tracing the gospel story of Jesus week by week as it happened 1997 years ago. It is midwinter in 27 AD, the 45th week of Jesus’ 70-week ministry. Our passage for today comes from Luke 10,

Luke 10:38-42   Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house.   And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching.   But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”   But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary.  Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

This is a familiar story, Martha is busy preparing and serving food while Mary sits with the others, talking to Jesus.  You’ve probably heard several sermons about this passage.   But do you know the context of this passage?  Do you know the setting?  It is important.

The Gospel of John tells us Jesus is in Jerusalem to celebrate the festival of Hanukkah. Hanukkah celebrates the deliverance of the Jews in 165 BC.  Just over 150 years before Jesus’ birth, the Jews were under the rule of the Seleucid Empire, which had tried to eliminate Jewish culture and insisted they worship the emperor and Zeus.  They burned their Bible scrolls; they refused to let them go to their synagogues or even say God’s name out loud.  They tortured and killed tens of thousands of Jews. But the Jews refused to bow down to idols and revolted.  Against unbelievable odds, the Jews prevailed and restored true worship.  Every year, they celebrate their deliverance from this evil kingdom, much like we celebrate July 4th.  So Jesus is in Jerusalem to celebrate the 8-day holiday of Hanukkah.  During the day, Jesus taught in the Temple courtyard using the themes of Hanukkah.  He explained how he is the Good Shepherd and the Light of the World.  In the evenings, since he has no home, he stays with friends in the nearby town of Bethany.

So this passage is very timely for us.  It is a scene we will all recreate in the next 24 hours.  Friends and family have gathered in the winter for a big holiday dinner. So welcome to Hanukkah dinner at the house of Lazarus.

Holiday dinners are special.  Like our holiday dinners, the meals on Jewish holidays are often elaborate.  A Jewish friend of mine joked that almost all Jewish celebrations, whether Passover, Purim, or Hanukkah, follow the same 3-part description.  “These people tried to wipe the Jews from the face of the earth.  God delivered us.  Let’s eat!”  You probably have certain food traditions for your Christmas Eve or Christmas meals.  At Hanukkah, the classic food today is potato latkes (fried potato cakes) and fried doughnuts (typically jelly filled.)   Lots of fried food, in keeping with the Hanukkah theme of the miracle of the oil.  The first night of Hanukkah is tomorrow night, by the way.  Light a candle, fry some potatoes and doughnuts, and take a moment to thank God for rescuing our Jewish ancestors and Jesus’ great-great-great-great grandparents from another holocaust.

Holiday dinners can be stressful.  You want everything just right.  After all, the holiday only comes once a year, and getting the whole family together seems harder and harder.   Just imagine how stressful it would be to host a holiday dinner and find out Jesus is on the guest list.  Now you have some idea what Martha felt in this story in Luke.  Martha wants everything to be perfect.  She wants to be the perfect hostess with the perfect meal in the perfect home.

I am reminded of the story of the family who had invited the new pastor over for dinner.  Of course, they wanted to make a good impression and wanted everything to be just right.  So they work hard to clean the house and prepare the perfect meal.  But everything goes wrong.  The plumbing backs up, and the house smells awful. The vacuum cleaner explodes, sending dust all over everything.  In their rush to clean that up, the rolls burn to a crisp.  Then the doorbell rings.  They finally sit down for dinner with the pastor, and the mother asks little Johnny to say the blessing.  He looks panicked like he has never prayed before.  She quickly says, “Just pray like you have heard Daddy and Mommy pray.”  So little Johnny closes his eyes, bows his head, and says, “Dear Lord, why in Heaven did we ever invite these people over for dinner?”

Martha’s sister Mary is sitting listening to Jesus teach and enjoying the fellowship of Jesus and the disciples while Martha does a lot of work.  However, Mary is not chided for her laziness; in fact, Jesus says Mary has chosen the good portion.  What is the good portion Mary chose?   What was Mary doing that Jesus said was more important than helping Martha?

Martha is anxious and troubled over many things, but one thing is necessary.  What were the many things that caused Martha distress? The passage tells us that Martha was distracted by “much serving.”  Now, don’t get the idea that the Bible speaks against hospitality.  On the contrary, hospitality in the Bible is a form of righteousness. If anything, we underestimate the importance of hospitality in scripture.  Martha is serving; she is doing a good thing,   But she is distracted.   The Greek word we translate as ‘distracted’ comes from two root words that literally mean ‘pulled’ ‘in every direction.’  Have you ever felt that way in the holidays? Martha is anxious and troubled, pulled in many directions, but one thing is necessary.

What is the one thing?   Mary is sitting down with her family and friends, listening to Jesus’ teaching.  Picture the story in your mind.  She is at the table, in her home, with friends and family, talking about scripture and the teaching of God.  She is fulfilling what Jesus said was the greatest commandment, Deuteronomy 6:4 and following — the Schema.

Shema Israel, Adonai elohenu, Adonai echad,    Ve’ahavta et Adonai eloeikah,
b’khol levavkah,     uve’khol naphshekah,     uve’khol m’odekah.

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.  You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.   You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

I’m afraid we remember the first sentence of that passage but not the rest.  Jesus only quoted the first verse to the rich young ruler because he knew that any Jewish child could quote the whole passage.  We know that this is the first scripture Jesus and any other Jewish child would memorize, the scripture Jesus and every other Jew would have quoted at least twice every day in prayer to His Father.

But we stop with the first verse and ignore the rest.  “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.”  We should memorize them and take them to heart.  “You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”  I am afraid we have become distracted by many things and neglected this one thing that is necessary.  I fear the conversation of God is not frequently heard in our homes, at our tables, or in the education of our children.

But Martha was pulled in many directions, handling all the details of the perfect meal and doing many things but not the “one thing.”  She didn’t notice that the important thing was not what was on the table but who was around the table. The “one thing” is following the greatest commandment and spending time with Jesus, discussing His word in your home with your family and friends, teaching it to your children.  

Have you noticed who is not mentioned in this story?  It is Mary and Martha’s brother Lazarus.   John 11:5 says, “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.”  We know something about this dinner that  Martha didn’t know.  In just over 2 months, Lazarus will be dead.  In just over 4 months, Jesus will be crucified.  If Martha had known this, would it have changed how she behaved that day?  You never know if this is your last holiday dinner with a friend or family member.  

The holidays are here.  We will all recreate this scene in our homes in the coming days.  Will we find time to do the one thing Jesus said was the best portion?  The first and greatest commandment — the one thing.  Love God with all that is within you and gather people in your home to teach the Word; discuss them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  Oh, Martha, you are doing many good things, but one thing is necessary.

Today we celebrate that over 2000 years ago, Jesus left the splendor of Heaven to be born into a poor family in a borrowed cave.  He came to show us how to live, and he came to show us how to die, giving up his very life for our salvation.   Our love for God should be so central to who we are that our conversations in our homes are centered on the word of God. As we gather in our homes in the next few days and the days to come, let’s ensure we don’t leave out the one thing.