Title: One thing is necessary

So, the Lord comes for dinner, to the house of two sisters. One sister, Martha, is the good hostess, working hard to provide for the Lord’s hunger and rest. The other sister, Mary, takes a seat at the feet of the Lord. And, the Lord commends . . . the feet-sitter, Mary, and not the food-getter, Martha.

So, what’s the point of the Mary and Martha story? The Lord was teaching these sisters what, indeed, comes first—what always comes first—and to keep their priorities in the right order. He called it the "one thing necessary," when He said, "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."

What is the one thing necessary? What is necessary—essential—you can’t do without it?

Ah, but what food is it that you can’t live without, which nourishes and satisfies for more than a few hours? What light doesn’t go away or burn out? Who is a truly good leader, who will never be motivated to further his selfish desires? What door will never be locked to the one who follows the good leader? What living-place will last? What vine won’t die? Who has the cure for death so that you can have a place to live, a door to enter, a way to walk, a light to follow, a food to keep you strong until you reach this destination?

It wasn’t that Martha was doing wrong by being concerned with feeding the Lord and being a good hostess, it was that she had her priorities backward. She had, in her livingroom, the Host of life. Earthly food could wait. A few chores will still be there, in an hour. But, to sit at the feet of the Host—the Host who came to serve the world—to offer His body upon the platter of mankind’s sin—this simply must come first.

This reminds us of the parable of the soils. In the soil, where the seed had fallen among thorns, the seed germinated and grew, but was quickly choked out by the thorns. The Lord says that the thorns of life’s soil are the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches. These are the things—cares and riches; anxieties and stuff—which choke to death the Word of God in many whom the Lord brought to faith.

The Lord said, "Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things." Martha must also have had a fair amount of life’s riches and stuff, as she had a house, food to prepare, and, as Jesus said, "many things" over which to be anxious.

Do you modern Americans have anxieties and troubles? Do you modern Americans have riches and stuff?

I should rephrase: Has there been, in the history of the world, a people as rich with stuff, with as much disposable income, as the modern American? With all of the stuff that our money can buy, does it erase from our lives its anxieties and troubles, or does it increase them?

Let’s see, what do I have to do, today? If we are going to take the trailer up north, I have to get it gassed up. Oh, I forgot to have the oil changed. And, nuts, the last time we used it the air conditioner stopped working, so I have to have that checked. We need to get groceries. The dog hasn’t been well, so I need to call the vet. The eye doctor called that my contact lenses came in—when am I going to roll into Bad Axe to get them? I guess, when I pick up my computer. I hope they were able to fix the hard-drive and—rats, I forgot to ask them to add update the video card. When I watch all those funny forwards that my friends email me, the video is choppy. And, when was I supposed to get to the gym to work off this flab? I wonder if standing over the heat of my gas grill—mental note: pick up two tanks of gas for the grill—now, where was I? Oh, yeah, I need to get more paper to make lists.

You know that it is true: the more money and stuff that we have, the more our anxieties and troubles multiply. And, here comes the connection to the Lord’s lesson. Since you can’t add hours to the day, you have to find a place to put everything.

Put this conversation back into the framework of the one thing necessary—the love and salvation of Jesus Christ—and into whom Jesus teaches us that He is.

Do you need food to live? Sure, you do. But, your daily bread only satisfies for a few hours at a time. Daily bread is nothing compared to the Living Bread which is Jesus Christ. Faith in His flesh and blood are the only food that nourishes through life and into eternity.

Do you need light to live? Sure, you do. You need lightbulbs for your house, and you need the light of books so that you can learn and earn a living. You can’t live in the dark. But, only the Word of God is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path to get you from this world of death and into the Paradise of eternal life.

Do you need good leaders to live? Sure, you do. You certainly don’t want to live under some of the leaders that other countries have. Plenty of you fidget and fuss about the leaders that we have, at any given time. But, to what degree do you play Martha, with anxieties and troubles over these worldly things? Do you spend the time learning from your eternal leader, the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, whose leadership never fails?

Do you need to know the truth? Sure, you do. But, who has the truth? Besides, every truth that you know in this life is going to be left behind when you die. The truth, from the mouth of your Savior, leads you on the way to life that does not end. To which truth should you devote yourself?

Do you need a door to get in, when you reach your destination—be it your house, your trailer, a hotel, or even a bathroom? Sure, you do. And, you know very well, all of those doors will be closed to you the moment you die. The Door, which is Jesus Christ, is the only way to enter the Paradise in which He is preparing your eternal mansion.

Do you need a resurrection? Sure, you do. You’re a dead person walking. This is the one anxiety and trouble that all of us share. Since only Jesus Christ is the Resurrection and the Life, He is the only way to defeat death.

Do you need to be a living being? Sure, you do. Humans are like plants: you need to be fed; you need to be connected to a life-source. Plants have the soil; you have Jesus Christ.

What’s your soil? Do you need to clear the thorns, Martha? Do you need to clear out the anxieties and troubles of your life and do a whole lot more sitting at the feet of Jesus?

If you are one who finds yourself in church, today, but it is a rare occasion for you to be in church, have you been smacked square in the face to get your priorities straight, to cease with all your petty excuses for usually being somewhere else, that this is the one place where it is truly necessary to be?

If you are one who is a regular in worship, are you scanning your life for thorns? Just because you worship a lot does not mean that your faith is a splendid vine, growing green and full. You are a modern American. You life is filled with stuff, and anxieties, and troubles. Do you have your priorities straight, as you live each day?

Sitting in those pews, as those who believe in Jesus Christ, you all are like Martha’s sister, Mary. You sit at the feet of Jesus, who is the one thing that is necessary.

He shed His blood on the cross to do the one thing that was necessary—atone for your sins.

He rose from the dead to do with that forgiveness the one thing that was necessary—defeat death on your behalf.

He has called you by the Gospel to do with His resurrection the one thing that is necessary—give it to you.

He washed you in the baptism of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit so that you hold the new-birth certificate to the one thing necessary—you are the children of God.

He feeds you on earthly bread and wine, where He places His eternal body and blood, so that you are nourished in the one thing necessary—your love for Jesus Christ, which flows into your fervent love for one another.

All anxieties and troubles are gone, at the feet of Jesus. Amen.