Balance

Martha and Mary.  Breathe in, breathe out.  Faith and Works.  Ministry of hands and feet, ministry of the heart.  Service and Contemplation.  Martha and Mary.  Balance.  These two sisters who entertained Jesus in their home in Bethany responded to His presence in two different ways.  Martha made herself busy to the point of losing sight of who it was that she was serving while Mary was so focused on who she was serving that she lost sight of everything else.  And while Jesus spoke of the response of Mary as "the better part,"  it has always been obvious that there was nothing wrong with what Martha was doing, only that the act of service became more important than the One being served.

 

There is a place in the church for Martha and Mary.  Both provide important service for the Christ and the Kingdom of God.  The problem is the way we lose our sense of spiritual balance.  Some stay busy and use that spirit of being busy to excuse themselves from those moments when the only thing happening is being at the feet of Christ.  And it is also true there are those who get so lost in cultivating their own sense of relationship with Christ that no one else and no one else's needs seem to exist.  Whenever such happens, the church, the cause of Christ, the spiritual life of the believer is diminished. 

Balance is an important word for us as disciples.  We cannot serve others and do it out of love unless we are constantly putting ourselves in a position of receiving love from Christ.  If we are to be poured out for others in service, we must be sure something of Christ is going in our lives, or we will soon cease to be of value to anyone.  And if we spend all our time on our knees and never get up to serve, we soon become so self centered, we are of no use to Christ.  We rightly stay busy for Christ only as we spend time in His presence.  And we rightly pray only when we allow it to enable our partnership with what Christ is doing.