“Only one thing is needed”

Read Luke 10:38-42

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This story occurs only in Luke and perhaps he intentionally included it here, linking Jesus's teaching about the two great commandments (10:25-37) and his teaching about prayer (11:1-13). The behaviour of the two sisters touches on a conflict that we all find in our discipleship – between the need to listen attentively to Jesus (39) and the busy-ness of all our doing and serving (40).

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We are called to “serve one another in love” and service is a spiritual gift – indeed serving others is the hallmark of greatness in God’s kingdom (Gal.5:13-14; Rom.12:7; Mk.9:35). But that can cause us to be “distracted” (40) from the “one thing that is needed” (42). Jesus’s rebuke to Martha is tender but clear – we can easily lavish time on things that are of limited value and in doing so fail to choose “what is better” (42).

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We might feel that Martha got a raw deal as she was the one doing all the work! And, yes, it’s possible to be so heavenly minded that we’re no earthly use. Yet Jesus’s affirmation of Mary shows us that love is not only about action (10:37) but also of heart-devotion (39). Making time for loving prayer and worship is a choice Jesus wants us to make (cf. Mk.1:35; Lk.6:12).