The Good Portion
The Good Portion
Text: Luke 10:38-42
Introduction
When was the last time you sat down and relaxed,
and didn’t feel guilty about it?
Melbourne (Church planting)
Eight years ago, I moved my family from Sydney to Melbourne to plant a church.
I only knew a handful of people.
So I did what was obvious to me.
I opened my home to strangers.
Dinner after dinner after dinner.
Sometimes multiple nights a week.
And my wife was there for all of it.
Here's the thing.
I never asked her about it.
I didn't bring her into the decision.
Not once.
I had a principle.
It was a good principle:
My life belongs to God. And there is a price to pay to live for God.
But without much thinking, I’ve burdened the person I loved most with my principle.
And when it got really hard for our relationship — do you know what I thought?
Why can't she be more supportive and onboard with the mission?
And I didn’t think about what this was costing her.
Mary and Martha
Now, let’s take a look at a famous story of two sisters in the Bible.
Luke 10:38–42
[38] Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. [39] And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. [40] 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.” [41] But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, [42] but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” (ESV)
Did you catch what just happened?
A woman named Martha opens her home to Jesus.
She cooks for him.
She serves him.
And her sister, Mary, does nothing.
She just sits on the floor.
She listens to Jesus.
Not helping her sister in the kitchen.
So Martha says what seems fair to most of us.
She says to Jesus:
“Lord, do you not care? Tell her then to help me.”
But to everyone’s surprise, Jesus takes Mary's side.
Jesus says: “Mary has chosen the good portion.”
Jesus sides with the woman who isn't helping.
How?!
For those of you productive-type (like me),
Jesus’ words stings a little.
You know why?
Because we are like Martha.
Look at verse 40 again.
Martha said to Jesus: “Tell her then to help me.”
Wasn’t that what I have said about my wife? “Why can’t she be more supportive?”
You know,
When we are restless seeing people sitting down,
What we are saying is exactly what Marta is saying here: “Why can’t she help me?”
Some of you are tired — because you've been doing so much.
Some of you are proud — precisely because you've been doing so much.
Two kinds of meal
There are two kinds of meal being served in this story.
#1
A meal Martha prepares.
#2
A portion Mary receives.
Think about what you need to do to serve a meal:
You look at the recipe and write down all you need.
You shop for the ingredients.
And spend all afternoon preparing it.
And then, you serve it on a table
so that it can be taken away.
That's what a meal is for.
A successful meal is one that's taken and consumed.
A meal is meant to be eaten.
That means it’s a good meal.
It’s doing its job.
But what happens
if the meal is what makes you somebody?
Then you've built your life
on something that is designed to be taken away.
Now listen to what Jesus calls what Mary has.
“Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:42)
Not a meal that can be taken away.
She has chosen “a portion” that will not be taken away.
The one and only thing in the entire house that nobody could take.
And here’s the truth:
Many of us are in the kitchen busy making something.
So here's the question I must ask you:
Why can't you sit down?
Not “Why don't you…”
But, Why can't you?
Luke gives us three answers.
All found under one roof.
1. The Kitchen
2. The Chair
3. The Table
Let's take a closer look, one at a time.
1. The Kitchen
The question: Why can't you sit down?
Let’s look at verse 40.
“But Martha was distracted with much serving.” (Luke 10:40a)
Distracted.
The original word in Greek means to be dragged away. Pulled off.
Think about that.
You can't be dragged away from something you don't want to be in.
Martha wants to be in that room.
She wants to sit down.
But she just can’t, she is being dragged away.
Every time she heard Jesus’ voice from the kitchen,
something pulled her back to the stove.
She cannot sit down.
And when the frustration is full, she snaps.
Listen to what she actually says.
"Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." (Luke 10:40b)
Three things.
1. "Lord, do you not care…"
She accuses God of not loving her.
2. "my sister has left me to serve alone."
She compares herself with her sister.
3. "Tell her then to help me."
She gives God an order.
Do you see what just happened?
She invited Jesus in as her guest.
An hour later, she is bossing Him.
She is telling the Son of God what to do.
That's the proof her service was never about serving Him.
Tired and proud
Before we are quick to judge Martha, let’s be honest, are we not like Martha?
Jesus says to her:
“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things” (Luke 10:41)
She is anxious. She is tired.
And in Verse 40 — she says to Jesus: "tell her to help me."
Not only is she tired, she is also proud.
When your worth is something you have to achieve,
you will always be anxious about the people above you,
and always look down your nose at the people below you.
It's just a meal
Have you ever wondered
Why is Martha so angry?
She has just accused the Son of God of not loving her.
She has just humiliated her sister in front of a guest.
Over a meal!
Now, that is not a normal amount of anger for a meal.
And when the feeling is too big for the thing,
the thing was never the thing.
Nobody gets that angry about food.
She is not defending a meal.
She's defending her worth.
Deep down, she is saying:
I am loved because I am needed. Because I am useful.
That's her life’s principle.
And some of you live by this principle also.
It's why a compliment like "I don't know what we'd do without you" makes us feel good about ourselves.
Take it from her
Now, let's take a look closely at verse 40:
But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said…
She left the kitchen.
She came to Jesus in another room.
Picture this.
Mary is on the floor. At Jesus’ feet.
Martha is on her feet. Standing over both of them.
One of them is listening.
The other is giving instructions.
And not once Martha sits down.
She fires her complaint, and she goes back to the kitchen.
Now hear what she asks for.
"Tell her then to help me."
Martha is standing in the presence of Christ,
and asking Him to remove her sister from the presence of Christ.
Get her off that floor.
Put her back to work.
She is asking Jesus to take Mary's portion away from her.
She “needs” her sister in the kitchen with her.
Martha doesn't need the help in the kitchen.
Why?
Because if Mary can sit there,
doing nothing, useful to nobody…
and still be loved…
then everything Martha has built her life on falls apart.
So here's your first answer:
You can't sit down because you're not just making a meal.
You're making yourself. Building your kingdom.
And that's why you can't stand watching anyone else sit down either.
2. The Chair
Now, some of you may think that the answer is to sit down.
To not do so much.
And some of you have already made the plan.
You'll get up earlier tomorrow.
You'll find a spot to sit.
You will open the Bible.
You'll do it properly this time.
Do you hear yourselves?
Now, you are planning to work very hard at sitting down.
Stop it.
That is not what Jesus says.
He never tells her to stop
Read verses 41 and 42 again. Slowly.
And look for the instructions.
[41] But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, [42] but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41–42)
Where is it?
Where does He say "stop cooking"?
Where does He say "come and sit with your sister"?
Where does He say "the meal doesn't matter"?
It isn't there.
He never tells her to put the pot down.
She asked Him about Mary.
"My sister has left me… tell her to help me."
Notice how Jesus answered:
“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things…”
He doesn’t mention Mary at all.
She asked Him about her sister.
He answered her about herself.
He didn't send Mary to the kitchen.
He didn't send Martha to the floor.
He changed nothing about who does what.
Martha tries to change the subject.
Jesus won’t let that happen.
Instead, He told her what was wrong inside her.
Three proofs
And if you think I'm reading too much into this, just look at what happens next.
#1
John chapter 12. The next dinner party. Same house.
So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. (John 12:2)
Martha’s back in the kitchen. Doing the very same thing.
And nobody says a word against her.
#2.
Look at where Luke has put this story.
The verse right before Martha opens her door for Jesus is the last line of the Good Samaritan. It says:
"You go, and do likewise." (Luke 10:37)
Go. And. Do.
That is not an accident.
Jesus has nothing against doing.
#3.
Listen to how Paul holds both of these together:
"…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." (Philippians 2:12-13)
Work out your own salvation — so, work.
For it is God who works in you — but not with your own strength.
There is hope for Marthas
Do you know what happened to Martha’s family later?
Her brother, Lazarus, dies.
Jesus arrives late.
And Martha — the same blunt, verbal Martha — walks out to meet Him on the road.
And she says this to Jesus:
“Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” (John 11:27)
Do you know who else says these words in the Bible?
Peter.
Almost word for word.
These are two great confessions of Christ in the New Testament.
Peter made one.
Martha made the other.
Jesus’ rebuke of her actually worked.
It changed her from the inside.
The woman in the kitchen became the theologian at the grave.
Yet, she is still cooking in the kitchen.
So why can't you sit down?
The cure was never stopping.
Say you do it.
Tomorrow morning you get up early.
You find the chair.
You open your Bible.
And your heart hasn't changed.
Then, you weren't really listening to Him.
You simply turn your quiet time into yet another job. A duty.
If you succeed, you will become proud.
A quiet time is the easiest place in the world to sit at Jesus' feet and never once look at Him.
So here's your second answer.
You can't sit down because you'd only turn it into one more thing to be good at.
Sin doesn't care what you do.
It will ride your sitting as happily as it rode your serving.
She wasn't performing
And look at what Mary did.
"…who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching." (Luke 10:39)
Luke never tells us how long she sat there.
He doesn't say if she did it every morning.
He says she is listening to Him.
She wasn't performing a devotion.
It wasn’t a duty. It was a delight.
Take one more look at what Jesus actually commends:
"Mary has chosen the good portion."
Not "Mary has chosen to sit."
The portion.
Mary is not praised for what she stopped doing.
She is praised for what she was beholding.
3. The Table
Two answers so far.
1. You can't sit down because you're not just making a meal. You're making yourself.
2. You can't sit down because you'd turn sitting into one more thing to be good at.
Now the final answer.
Jesus is the guest
We need to go back to the very first line of the story.
"…a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house." (Luke 10:38)
Martha is the host.
Jesus is the guest.
That's the setup.
She's in charge.
He's the visitor.
She provides.
He receives.
The one who serves
Turn to Luke chapter 22.
The last supper. Another meal.
And Jesus asks a question.
For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table?
But I am among you as the one who serves. (Luke 22:27)
Read that last line again.
I am among you as the one who serves.
He didn't come to be waited on.
He came to wait on you.
That is the Lord.
Now look at Martha again.
She is in the kitchen, working herself into a rage,
making a meal for the One who came to feed her.
She thinks she is hosting Jesus.
But Jesus came to host her.
How do we know?
Do you know where Jesus is, in Luke chapter 10?
He's on the road.
We need to look back at chapter 9:
"When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem." (Luke 9:51)
Jesus is walking to His death.
He stops at a village on the way to the cross.
A woman named Martha opens her door.
And the Son of God sits down in her front room.
And she is in the kitchen.
Furious about the lunch.
She is busy making Him a meal.
While He is walking to Jerusalem to make her a meal out of His own body.
At the last supper, Jesus said:
"This is my body, which is given for you." (Luke 22:19)
The Portion
Now, that word. Portion.
What does it mean?
It isn't a word about food.
It's a word about land.
About inheritance.
Listen to David:
"The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance." (Psalm 16:5-6)
The portion is a piece of ground with your name on it.
And David says his ground is God Himself.
So when Jesus says, "Mary has chosen the good portion"
It doesn't mean she picked the better activity.
It means she chose Jesus.
It cannot be taken
Martha said to Jesus: Take it from her.
And Jesus says:
No.
I will not take it from her.
And neither will anything else.
Not ever.
Mary was looking at the One who came to serve her.
She wasn't being lazy.
She was being fed.
Your third answer
So, why can't you sit down?
Because you have not let Him serve you.
You cannot serve Jesus with a heart that's trying to earn what He came to give.
And you're not the first.
Years later, in an upper room, Jesus knelt down in front of Peter with a towel.
And Peter said this:
"You shall never wash my feet." (John 13:8)
But Jesus says:
"If I do not wash you, you have no share with me." (John 13:8)
No share.
No portion.
You don't get a portion by working harder.
You get it by letting Him wash you.
Conclusion
Finally, how can we have Jesus as our portion?
On the cross, they cast lots to divide his garments.
They are dividing up His portion.
Everything He owned. Taken away.
But that is not what it cost Him.
Just listen to His cry:
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46)
“My God.”
The Father was His portion.
And He was cut off from Him.
Jesus lost His portion,
so that you could have Him as your portion.
He was stripped of everything,
so that nothing could ever be stripped from you.
Some of you are thinking:
You don’t know me.
You don’t know what I’ve done.
I am a mess.
How can He possibly ever be my portion?
Look at how Jesus speaks to Martha, who has just accused Him of not caring.
Hear how He says her name.
“Martha, Martha.”
He says her name twice.
That is how you speak to someone you love.
Some of you came in here tired and proud.
He is not disgusted with you.
He wants you.
Now back to my story I told you earlier about planting a church in Melbourne…
Today, I still host guests at my home. Most weeks.
But I'm not doing it for myself anymore.
Jesus says:
"Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her."
Not from Mary.
And not from you.
So sit down.
And let Him serve you.
Discussion questions:
- What struck you the most from the sermon?
- In what ways are you busy like Martha? Why?
- Why do you think it is very hard for you to be like Mary?
- How does the gospel enable you to choose the good portion?