Everyday Worship

Our Work, Heart and Jesus

Trisha Wilkerson

• Publisher: Christian Focus Publication
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN: 9781781912638

Part One:

Choosing
the Good Portion

Chapter 1:

Is Mary Greater
than Martha?

Martha. Martha. Martha.

Some of us are very familiar with the story of the two famous sisters in Luke 10. Whether this story is familiar or fresh for you, I’m convinced there is revolutionary heart change available in the depth of this story. One reason God chose to include this particular event is for us to learn more about the common heart battle with work and worship.

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.” (Luke 10:38-42)

Mary made a good choice; she chose worship.

Let me offer a warning: Resist the temptation to see yourself as either Martha or Mary. While it is natural to connect with these characters, this story is not about how some personality types lead to worship while others don’t. If we’re encouraged to be more like Mary than Martha in this story, it’s not because we all need to have Mary’s personality type—more relational—but because she set a good example of worship. Martha could have worshiped too, despite being more attentive to tasks.

Mary’s personality trait here is often exalted as the holy one, the “relational gal” who sits at Jesus’ feet learning, listening, and loving. But Jesus wasn’t attaching worth to a personality, and neither should we. Our focus and His is worship. We will get to Mary in the next chapter, but for now, let’s explore Martha’s struggle.

Martha Is Type A

All of my Christian life, I heard about the differences between Martha and Mary. Often it was suggested that Martha is the stressed-out sister overly concerned with her tasks. She can’t relax because “there is much to be done.” Martha works hard but seems to lack the peaceful worship that goes with working heartily unto the Lord. When God Himself is a guest in her home, she can’t handle the pressure. She performs tasks while sneering in her sister’s direction, complaining that she is bearing the burden alone.

Martha Is Distracted

Martha is distracted, but distracted from what? Why is Martha, or anyone, distracted? We think what we’re doing is most important: the tasks and preparations. We are focused on the wrong thing. Jesus told Martha she was anxious and troubled about many things. What was she troubled about? Well, I can answer for myself. When I am like Martha—when I am not worshiping in work but just working—I am busy, frustrated, fast, and resentful. My heart’s aim is to accomplish, but I work with subtle disdain. Troubled by my work, I resent it if my husband is in the room and not helping in some way. My heart is anxious about the tasks yet-to-be-done. I’m angry that I have to do it all. Maybe I’m trying to enjoy the preparations, but inside my heart, I’m looking for any opportunity to complain that I am going it alone. Distraction is frenzied (either loud or quiet), misplaced worship. I can only assume this was the familiar heart battle for busy Martha.

Martha Is a Tattle-Tale

My kids tattle-tale all the time. They get frustrated and sin in their anger with their siblings because of some apparent offense. The tattler just wants his way. Can’t you just picture Martha quietly and busily working, yet raging in her heart? Her anger got the best of her. She wanted Mary to help her! Mary just sat there (!) and listened to Jesus. Martha may have truly started out with a pure heart. She may have had a desire to be hospitable to the Lord, make Him food, and serve Him. So when did her desire to serve turn to sin?

I do the same thing. I tattle-tale in my heart. I complain to God about the people in my house that take me from what I think are more important things: the tasks. Martha complained to the Lord in the flesh. But I do it too—in my heart. I have the same divided heart; tattle-taling while thinking that I am serving.

Which God Are We Serving?

Again, imagine yourself…imagine me. I am working in the kitchen. I start preparing, and my heart is delighted that I have all the ingredients to make a delicious dinner for my family. I am chopping and peaceful. My husband walks in and greets me and the children. My kids start getting loud in the other room. I stop cooking and attend to their arguments. Then the baby cries. She needs to be comforted. The preparations for this amazing dinner have to stop.

Enter my depravity.

The chaos in the room has threatened my agenda, my peace. Why can’t I just get my task done? Why do these kids need me too? Oh, but I love my children…Why does it take so long to make a dinner? I wish I could just focus. Another riot breaks out among the other children and my husband deals with it. Whew! Ok, back to busy preparations. I turn on some music to lighten the attitude in the air, denying the war in my heart. The kids start dancing in the kitchen. I take a break to dance too. They see this opportunity to ask me for a snack. a snack? What? I am making dinner, just be patient! If I could just finish it, they would be happy! I would be happy! I go back to cooking with my heart racing, and my thoughts turn from what started as joyful service to feeling like a martyr.

The war that was raging in me suggests that the god I am serving is The God of Accomplishment and Tasks. I am worshiping the God of Self: me.

Martha was worshiping herself, not Jesus.

She welcomed Jesus. Perhaps she cheerfully opened the door and showed Him in. At some point, Martha transferred her worship from Jesus to herself. God was actually in her living room. She could’ve sat beside her sister and worshiped Jesus, yet she chose to pursue her own agenda, not God’s. She thought serving busily was the right thing to do. She resented her sister as she prepared food for her guests.

The easy and false remedy for this heart struggle would be simple behavior modification: Abandon tasks. Enjoy relationship. Just throw preparations and work out the door and let the good times roll! Play, play, play. Tasks, bad; relationship, good. Martha could’ve just served crackers and instead joined her sister. Martha, who was concerned with preparations, made a bad choice, and Mary, the relational gal, made the right choice.

Sadly, well-meaning Christians read this story as if it were a fable. Some of these observations are valid. However, Jesus didn’t say that doing preparations was wrong. He said Martha was troubled while she did preparations. She could’ve been doing work humbly and joyfully. Instead, she worked begrudgingly.

Martha, Redeemed

The story could’ve been:

Martha was busy with many preparations as she listened to the Lord. In her heart she worshiped Him for enabling her to enjoy her work as an act of service to Him. Martha offered the fruit of her work in her heart and the Lord ate and was satisfied. Even as Mary sat at the Lord’s feet, Martha was not jealous of her sister’s behavior, but grateful to have this opportunity to serve the Lord Christ. She worshiped with her hands, with her heart.

We don’t know if Martha had another chance to serve Jesus in her home. But, we can assume that she did continue in hospitality. She probably was tempted with sinful thoughts, anxiety, and envy in her heart again. Hopefully, after Jesus corrected her so lovingly, she repented and experienced some redemption with work.

But God saw fit to include another story: Martha’s heart battle with work. It is my battle too. But as God changes our hearts, we can worship Jesus in our work.

Reflection Questions

1. When you are busy serving, are you aware of your desires?
2. When do those desires lead you from joyful service to anger or complaining?
3. Would you serve those in your home differently if Jesus were also a guest?

Chapter 2:

Jesus is
the Good Portion

When we think about Mary as the calm, God-focused worshiper and Martha as the nervous workaholic, we miss the big idea—Jesus. Both women could have worshiped Jesus in their hearts with behavior unique to them. Rather than exalting Mary over Martha, we can explore what was going on in the hearts of both women.

Mary Chose the Good Portion

Mary sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to His teaching. When Martha complained, Jesus said, “Mary has chosen the good portion and it will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:42). Jesus defended Mary and her heart’s choice. The good portion was not just that Mary behaved more relationally, sitting and listening, and Martha wasn’t rebuked just because she was busy in the kitchen.

Two “meals” were being served: one by Martha and one by Jesus. Mary chose the meal served by Jesus, the better portion, the teaching of God’s Word. Her attention was focused on Jesus. Martha’s attention was focused on her own preparations. Outwardly, it might have seemed that Martha’s attention was on Jesus—she was preparing a meal in His honor after all, wasn’t she?

The problem for Martha was not just the preparations, but the focus of her heart. While Martha outwardly seemed to be busy serving Jesus, inwardly her attention was divided. Surely she could have chosen the good portion too, working diligently, with Jesus as her true focus, delighted that Mary’s focus was on Jesus too.

When we worship Jesus in our hearts, in whatever we are doing, we choose “the good portion.”

Mary Is Flexible

Martha and Mary lived and worked in the same home in Bethany. They were hospitable and loved Jesus. When Jesus entered their home on the spur of the moment, Mary chose to listen to His teaching, sitting at His feet. She was blessed in this act of worship. It wasn’t that sitting at His feet was the best way to worship Jesus; it was in her heart to surrender to worship and cease doing whatever it was she had been doing prior to His arrival. She willingly engaged and seemed to peacefully respond to His presence.

Mary Responds with Passion

In John 11, we read about Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary, dying after an illness. Martha left to find Jesus to tell Him the news, and He started walking toward Bethany (Jerusalem, where He was coming from, was just two miles away). When Martha came back to tell Mary that Jesus was asking for her, she jumped up and ran out to meet Him on the road. The Jewish crowd that was with Martha and Mary while they were mourning was so intrigued by Mary’s eagerness for Jesus that they went too. When they all got to Jesus, Mary fell at His feet. Her grief moved Him to tears. Jesus, the God of resurrection, could have strolled in to Bethany and calmly raised dead Lazarus to life to prove His power. Instead, He came near to the sisters, showing His humility and care for His friends by comforting and crying with them. Mourner first, Conqueror of Death second. He raised Lazarus as an act of love and a testimony of His own future resurrection (John 11:25). This inspires me as I walk with hurting people. Flying a victory banner over someone’s pain doesn’t communicate tender love—better to weep with them and remind them of God’s affection through patient and humble connection to their experience. Jesus warmly responded to Mary’s passion. His love was evident in His tears. He responded perfectly to passion and pain.

Mary Is Generous

In John 12, Mary anoints Jesus with very expensive perfume. Her devoted sister faithfully serves a meal with Jesus as the honored guest in the home of Simon the Leper. Joining them was Lazarus, whom Jesus had just brought back to life, and the disciples. Mary poured this perfume on Jesus’ head and feet, then wiped His feet with her hair. Instead of selling this perfume and giving the money to the poor, she chose to worship by anointing her God before His death. Jesus defended her actions, making sure that those who complained about what she had done knew that she was making the good choice, by choosing the good portion.

Mary Is Humble

Wiping Jesus’ feet with her hair was truly an act of worship with humility and devotion. I can’t imagine doing this. I hope that I would have ignored all of those people around and humbly worshiped my God. I am sad to say my struggle is caring too much what those near would think of me. Mary didn’t seem to care. She worshiped Jesus with a passionate decisiveness that I am longing to see lived out in my heart and life!

Psalm 25 comes to mind when I pray for a heart to worship with passion and humility.

Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long. Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O LORD! Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies. (Ps. 25:4-10)

Choosing the Good Portion

To choose Jesus is to choose the good portion.

Often distracted with much serving, like Martha, I stop worshiping. I can turn inward and am often thinking and doing “work,” when I could be choosing Jesus, the Good Portion. In my laser-focus for tasks, my heart loses sight of worship. My body is active and my heart disengaged.

For the last few years, I have been asking God, “What does it look like to choose the good portion in my work? Can my work be worshipful?”

Every day, God gives me opportunities to learn this through motherhood. Distractions, needs from those around me, and simple demands for my attention present me with a choice.

I can do my agenda or pray for discernment each moment for the “good portion” decision and submit cheerfully to that.

Today after returning home from an errand, I had one hour to clean up, make lunch, get the older three children back to their school work, and put my three year old down for a nap by the time a 1:00 appointment at my house would begin. The clock and the list of things to do met me at the door, and I set out to achieve my goals for the hour. I saw one of my sons go downstairs, visibly distraught from a conflict he had when we were out on errands. My heart sank. Seriously? I thought, now? No. I have to clean the kitchen and prepare lunch! I felt frustrated and interrupted. My plan was now competing with my son. Then, redemptive thoughts began to fill my mind. Attending to my son replaced my agenda to accomplish my tasks. His little heart is more important than getting my stuff done. We ended up talking for forty-five minutes. Loving my boy and prioritizing him by being willing to drop my agenda was “choosing the good portion” today.

How is this choosing Jesus as the good portion? Well, consider what was at stake for me in that moment. If I take time out to serve my son, I may not have the house quite as prepared for my one o’clock guest as I would like. I wanted her to see me as well prepared. But would I trade that impression for a disheartened son? How did Jesus want to minister to both my son and my one o’clock guest, and what sacrifice might He have been calling me to make to follow His ministry agenda for the afternoon?

My heart is so easily swept away by my desires and plans. While ambition and hard work can be strengths, they can also be a temptation to prioritize the wrong things.

There are also times where choosing the good portion involves tasks. Martha could relate to this story: One Monday morning, I woke up exhausted. My husband had just returned home from a week of travel. I had spent that week wearily caring for our four children. I was ready to sleep in and let my husband have a turn caring for the children. However, it was our son’s birthday. We have a tradition of birthday morning breakfast in bed. Will I get up early and work?

Someone at this point will offer the good advice: How about your husband makes the breakfast?

My son was expecting my special pancakes and bacon. The point wasn’t how to solve the problem—sure, my husband would’ve willingly served. It was about my heart: would I lean in to Jesus and choose the good portion? In this case, that would mean doing tasks in love.

Choosing Jesus is an ongoing moment-by-moment dependence on the Holy Spirit.

Reflection Questions

1. Do you see yourself as flexible when your plan is interrupted?
2. What tends to get in the way of your agenda?
3. Who do you blame when you don’t get your work done?
4. Can you tell the difference when you’ve chosen the good portion?

Chapter 3:

Who
Do We Work For?

The Bible alone declares that human beings by their very nature are worshipers and that everything that we say and do is shaped by worship.

Paul David Tripp¹

All of this effort...for who? Who do we work for?

When We Work for Ourselves and/or Others

Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. (Matt. 6:1)

Feeling distraught recently, I dramatically fell on the couch at the end of the day and said to my husband, “You didn’t even see all the work I did today.” My husband said to me, “Well, sweetheart, God sees you.”

Um, yeah, thanks husband. His faith-filled and gentle reminder was a gift, encouraging me that I do not work alone. God is with me. God sees. My little tantrum exposed my heart. I often work with one boss in mind—me. My little (or big) daily plans are seen by and executed by me. Independent and driven, I set out to do my day. No wonder I feel empty and dissatisfied at the end of it. No wonder I look for someone to praise my work; I am searching for meaning, rewar...

Table of contents

• Testimonials
• Title
• Indicia
• Contents
• Dedication
• Introduction: The War of Work and Worship
• PART ONE: Choosing the Good Portion
• PART TWO: A Woman Who Fears the Lord
• PART THREE: Worship: Our Response to Jesus
• PART FOUR: Heart Change
• PART FIVE: A Woman’s Home
• PART SIX: Worship Is All About Jesus
• Other books from Christian Focus
• Christian Focus