Martha and Mary
Now it came to pass as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sifter hath left me to serve alone? bid l)eitherefore that she help me. And Jesus answered said unto hor, Marthn, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about mtiny things: but one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. — Lukk x. 38-42.*
Biography is a species of history peculiarly interesting and useful. And in this the Bible excels. The sacred writers describe to the very life. They fear no displeasure; they conceal no imperfection; they spare no censure.
And while they discover their impartiality, they equally prove their wisdom and prudence. This appears from the examples they delineate. What are philosophers, politicians, heroes, to the generality of man-
* Tills Lecture has been previously published, in the Author’s “Short -Discourses for the U^e of Families;” but as it originally formed a part of the present series, it is deemed proper to include it in this volume.
kind? They may excite wonder, but they cannot produce imitation. They may indulge curiosity, but they cannot furnish motives, encouragements, cautions. But here we are led into private life; we contemplate ordinary scenes; we see goodness in our own relations and circumstances. We behold blemishes which we are to shun, excellencies which we are to pursue, advantages which we are to acquire.
Thus the Scripture becomes not a glaring comet, but “a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path.”
Pass we to the narrative before us.
But previous to our advancing some general reflections from the whole passage, it will be necessary to take notice of the characters here mentioned; and to see wherein the one was to be censured, and the other to be commended.
Perhaps it is needless to premise that both these females were good women. It is expressly said, that “Jesus loved Martha,” as well as Mary, And we are informed that when our Saviour was coming to Bethany, after the death of Lazarus, “Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met ‘him, but Mary sat still in the house.” These two sisters did not differ in their religious character, as Jacob and Esau; Saul and David; Peter and Judas; but only, one of them was less influenced by her principles in this instance than the other; for our Lord does not condemn her general conduct, but her present action; and even this he does not censure absolutely, but comparatively. Some things may be said in commendation of Martha, and others in*extenuation.
She discovered a noble freedom from the fear of man — “she received him into her house;” when it was well known that he was pursued by the heads of the Jewish nation. His entrance could not be hid; he had many with him. She also discovered kindness and hospitality in her concern to provide for our Lord and his disciples, and in deeming nothing too good for them. I like also her attention to the affairs of her own household. Though she was a woman of some consequence, she does not deem it beneath her to attend even to the economy of the table; yea, even to serve with her own hands when an emergency required. An affectation of state and of delicacy in the mistress of a family, has occasioned disorders, wastes, and embarrassments, which have ended in the ruin of many houses. The mother of Lemuel, in characterizing a wife, even for a prince, in those days — tells him, among other things — that “she riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens,” — that “she looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.”
Some things also may be said in excuse for Martha. She was the mistress of the house, and it was her province to provide. This appears to have been a sudden occurrence; many came in unawares; and perhaps she was unfurnished — and this would naturally create hurry, confusion, uneasiness.
But, after all that can be said in justification of Martha, our Saviour reproves her. She was therefore blameworthy; for his judgment is always according to truth. He could read the state of the mind; he could weigh motives; he could distinguish circumstances.
And from what lie has mentioned, we may conclude that there was in her a considerable share of domestic vanity. I advert to that vanity which makes religion exclaim over thoughtless profusion, “Why is this waste? Are there no charities to sustain — are there no hungry wretches to feed — no naked ones to clothe?” I advert to that vanity which descends lower than pride in dress or furniture, which commonly attends wealth newly-acquired, and adheres to vulgar minds, incapable of discerning that simplicity is essential to elegance: a vanity whose empire is as large as the table; a vanity which collects all its praise from sordid appetite; a vanity which, while it entertains the body of a visitor, generally starves the mind.
The Shunamite, on a similar occasion, discovered much more good sense than Martha. She wished to entertain Elisha; but she considered character; she would not even suppose that a prophet of the Lord required splendor or luxury; she therefore said -unto her husband, “Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God which passeth by us continually. Let. us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick and it shall be when he Cometh to us, that he shall turn in hither.” But Martha, instead of a plain repast, “was cumbered about much serving;” and was all anxiety to furnish an entertainment which, “while it was rendered unnecessary by the plainness and piety of the visitants, allowed her no degree of leisure, and engrossed all her time and attention. Thus she deprived heiself of an opportunity to hear our Saviour’s discourse. This she should have prized. He was no ordinary teacher; his stay was not likely to be of long continuance; she knew not when the blessing would come again in her way.
This was not all. She rudely breaks in upon the devotion of the company, interrupts our Lord’s discourse, condemns her sister as idle, and tries to involve our Saviour in the quarrel: “Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me.” Here we see ill humor, fretfulness. She is “troubled about many things;” and, in her haste and heat, she loses the command of her temper and the government of her tongue.
But behold Mary. All reverence, all attention, all composure, feeding on the doctrine of eternal life — she “sat at his feet.” She wisely and zealously improved the opportunity given her for the good of her soul. “This is my summer, my harvest; let me redeem the time.”
It must have distressed Mary to hear her sister so passionately complain of her; and manj- a one in her circumstances would have replied, “Why could she not have called me aside, and have spoken to me alone? Why expose me before the whole house? If I have not been so attentive to other things, surely the occasion will plead some excuse.” But not a word of this nature. The calm silence of this good woman seems to say, “I leave my defence to him.. He is near that justifieth me.” Nor was she mistaken. He more than vindicates; — he applauds her preference; and tells Martha that he will not comply with her dem’and, to send Mary to her assistance, but will suffer her to remain listening at his feet, and still enjoying the privilege she had chosen. It is the meaning of his declaration when he said; “Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
But what is here said of a particular instance of pious disposition will apply to religion at large. To render this passage of Scripture, therefore, more generally usefal, let me call upon you,
I. To CONSIDER THE DILIGENCE OF THE SaVIOUR
IN THE IMPROVEMENT OF TIME. He goes about doing good. His lips drop as the honeycomb. He always pays for his entertainment. In the parlor as well as the temple, he furnishes admonition and counsel. No sooner does he enter this house than we find him teaching.
Let us follow his example. Ministers should not be backward to speak unless before large and public assemblies. The Apostles, like their Saviour, not only taught publicly, but “from house to house.” Christians should labor to be useful wherever they are: every place, every company, should be the better for them. They should render friendly, and even ordinary visits edifying. Religion is not to be confined to the Church or the Sabbath. It is not to be a dress, which you may assume or lay aside at pleasure: it is a nature; a life. It is to keep us “in the fear of the Lord all the day long:” to enter business with us; to attend us in all our conimon actions; and to teach us that “whether we eat or drink, or
whatsoever we do, we should do it to the glory of God.” Hence we are commanded to “comfort one another; to exhort one another; to provoke one another to love, and to good words, and so much the more as we see the day approaching.” But, alas! who does not stand reproved and condemned? “Are we not carnal, and walk as men?” Do we “redeem the time, because the days are evil”? Does “no communication proceed out of our mouth, but such as is good, to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace to the hearers”? Shall “vain words never have an end”? — “A word fitly spoken, how good is it I it is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.”
II. Observe how improper it is for a follower OF THE Lord Jesus to be sensual and selfish. Mary, who hears his word, pleases him better than Martha, who prepares his meal: yea, Martha even grieves him by her assiduity to entertain him. He would rather feed than be fed. He “pleased not himself” He shunned every kind of self-indulgence. He “came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” And, calling ourselves by his name, are we fanciful? are we finical? are we fond of giving trouble? are we slaves to our appetites? are we desirous of dainty meat? “He that saith he abideth in him, ought himself also so to walk even as he walked. They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts.”
Especially should ministers be like-minded with their Lord and Master. They often at least occasion excess, and draw upon themselves reflection. The preparations made to receive them would imply a fondness for extravagance, variety, delicacy. Let them attest their innocency. Let them show their people that they seek not theirs, but them. Let them, by their words and actions, discountenance parade and excess. Are circumstances of this kind beneath our attention? Is it not one of the lessons which the passage before us is designed to teach? When our Saviour sent forth his Apostles, did not his admonitions turn jDrincipally upon this subject? For things, in themselves of less importance than others, become weighty by their connections, their influence, their indications. A feather, or a straw, may serve to discover the direction of the wind, as well as a tree. What a fatal secret does that preacher betray, who shows that he minds earthly things!
III. We see what diversities there are in the FOLLOWERS OF OUR LoRD. Even the good ground brought forth in various proportions — thirty — sixty — an hundred fold. What a difference was there between the faith of the Centurion and of Thomas! Abraham and Lot were both righteous; but how imperfect does the nephew appear, compared with the uncle!
Many things diversify the degree and the exercises of religion. Thus the stations in which Providence places good men differ; one shall be favorable to devotion, another shall afford less leisure and create more distraction. Constitutional temperament also has its influence. Thus some Christians are more inclined to contemplation and the shades; others are formed for the active virtues. The difficulties which chill the timid serve only to rouse and animate the bold and courageous. Religion, like water, partakes a little of the nature of the soil over which it runs. The very same truth was revealed both to Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel — The succession of the four monarchies. Nebuchadnezzar was a king and a conqueror; and admired things m proportion to their worldly grandeur. Accordingly he viewed these empires as an image whose brightness was excellent, the head of which was fine gold, and the .subordinate parts of inferior metal. Daniel was a man of peace and of wisdom; and to him they appeared “as four great beasts, coming up out of the sea, diverse from each other: the first a lion with wings; the second a bear with three ribs in his mouth; the third a leopard with four wings of a fowl, and four heads; and the fourth dreadful and terrible, wih great iron teeth.” Take an illustration from it. Imagine four persons — one phlegmatic, another choleric, a third sanguine, and the fourth melancholic. Drop religious truth into each of these — and do you suppose that it will not receive a tinge from each peculiar temperament? In all these cases something of the original character will remain. And I always view it as a considerable evidence of sincerity, when religion, if I may use the expression, acts naturally: it shows that people are off their guard; that they have not a particular jjart given them to act. For, were this the case, they would resemble one another much more nearly; and a dull, constrained uniformity would prevail. Thus it is with pretenders. If a man of humor profess religion without possessing it, he will keep a check upon himself; and, bj means of this, appear grave and formal; but if he be really a partaker of religion, we should expect that his natural character will commonly show itself even in his duties; it will indeed be regulated, but not destroyed.
lY. We may meet with hin deranges in religion
FROM those who SHOULD BE OUR ASSISTANTS. Such are friends and relations, A wife should cherish good impresssions, fan the flame of devotion, and be a helper to her husband in spiritual as well as in temporal concerns — but she may prove a seducer: she may lead him into vanity and the dissipations of the world. Michal ridicules the holy joy of David. A brother may discourage a brother, A sister may reproach and repel a sister. Our foes may be those of our own household.
Yea, even by religious friends and relations we may sometimes be injured. Instead of making straight paths for our feet, they may throw stumbling blocks in our way. They may press “hard sayings,” before the mind is prepared to receive them. They may discourage us by their expressions of assurance and ecstasy. They may be wanting in sympathy. They may censure and condemn our actions, from ignorance of our circumstances and motives.
Y. How ANXIOUS SOEVER WE MAY BE ABOUT MANY THINGS, ONE THING ALONE REALLY DESERVES OUR ATTENTION: — “one thing is needful.” It is, hearing the Saviour’s words; it is an attention to the soul; it is Religion. What, is nothing else necessary? —
Yes; many things. But, compared with this, they are less than nothing and vanity. Other things are accidentally needful — this is essentially so. Other things are occasionally needfid — this is invariably so. Other things are partially needful — this is universally so — needful for prosperity and adversity; needful for the body and the soul; needful for time and eternity. Some things are needful for some individuals, but not for others; but this is needful for all: needful for kings and subjects; needful for rich and poor; needful for old and young.
If indeed we judge of it by the people of the world, we shall not think so when we look around us. The many seem to be prizing and pursuing everything in preference to this. Instead of viewing it as essential to man, they seem only to regard it as a cu-cumstance of his being and his welfare, which may safely be dispensed with. But let us take the testimony of God. What saith the Scripture? “Wisdom is the principal thing: therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.” “Yes,” says the Saviour, “one thing is needful,” Hence we find David and Paul reducing every concern into one, “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.” This one thing I do; forgetting those things “which arc behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before.”
Finally. It is worthy of our remark, that real
GODLINESS IS NOT ONLY A NECESSARY, BUT A DURABLE
ACQUISITION. “Mary hath chosen that good part, v.’hich shall not be taken away from her.” Permanency adds bliss to bliss. Some things are not worth preservation; but an invaluable treasure, a thing absolutely needful, will awaken all our concern, and we shall be anxious not only to possess it, but also to retain it.
And what a difference is there in this view, between religion and other advantages! Nothing that we here possess can be called our own. What Ave acquire with so much difficulty it is impossible to secure. If we choose honors, riches, pleasures, friendships, they vill be sure to fail us, and to fail us often when we most need their aid. But the blessings we derive from godliness are our own forever. They are not liable to those numberless accidents which so easily deprive us of earthly possessions. JSTo violence, no fraud, can rob us of them. “Our joy no man taketh from us.” Our treasure “moth and rust cannot corrupt, nor thieves break through and steal.” Even he desolations of death, which strip us of everything else, cannot touch the believer’s portion: he can carry all his goods along with him into another world, where they will be forever increasing. It is an “inheritance incorruptible, and un defiled, and that fadeth not away.” Surely religion is wisdom — -and “wisdom is justified of all her children.”
This I’eview, therefore, should more than satisfy those who, like Mary, have chosen this good part. Your choice will bear re-consideration. The more you examine it, the more worthy of all your regard will it appear. Be not ashamed to own it. Let religion be your boast, as well as your comfort. What is there to excite a blush? What, in importance and continuance, are the pursuits and acquisitions of the most admired of your fellow-creatures, compared with yours?
It should also influence those who have not made it. And, Oh that I could induce you to decide, and to decide this evening! I say, this evening, because you are not sure of another season. I say, this evening, because every delay adds to the difficulty of your choice. I say, this evening, because there is nothing so urgent; nothing that can equally claim or reward your attention.
Should you be induced to “neglect this great salvation,” what will be your reflections in a dying hour, and before the bar of God? What will you think in endless misery of those follies and vanities for which you sacrificed eternal life? “What is a man profited if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”
He who approved an applauded Mary’s choice is here this evening to witness yours. He sees you, he hears you; he is waiting to be gracious, and exalted to have mercy upon you. You must sit at his feet as a disciple, or be made his footstool as an enemy. What is the choice you intend to make? “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing”: therefore choose life, that both thou ana thy seed may live.”