A Time to Serve and a Time to Sit

“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 10:41-42

As I have aged, relying on a “to-do” list has become routine. Whether at work or even on a day off, I love a list. I often know what I need to get done, but writing it down and checking off the boxes satisfies my soul. And the older I get, the more I enjoy this process. I have even started to organize my list by the hour. Now, this discipline has served me well. It has streamlined my efficiency and productivity around the house and the office. My schedule is full, and I can get lost in my responsibilities as a husband, father, provider, pastor, and leader. However, there is an ugly side to my “to-do” list. As the Lord said to Cain in Genesis 4:7, “sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” Now, my tasklist doesn’t have sinful things on it, but woe to the person who gets in my way when I am focused on completing the list. The hidden idol of productivity and accomplishment is often revealed when we can’t check our task off the list or if something or someone prohibits us from accomplishing what we believe is necessary. Now, getting things done is not a bad thing. The Scriptures are full of examples, commands, and benefits from completing a good day’s work. Laziness and slothful living do not bring glory and honor to the Lord.

In Proverbs 6:6-8, Solomon challenges those who sit around and do nothing, “Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest.” It’s incredible what we can learn from this small creation of God. She is productive and doesn’t need an alarm clock to rise each day and do what she is created to do. No one checks on her, she checks off the boxes and prepares for winter. Solomon draws attention to her activity and encourages the sluggard to invoke wisdom and learn from her ways. I, however, tend to put my head down, get things done, and look like a bull in a china shop instead of the ant; there is plenty of activity but often not a lot of kingdom impact. Jesus takes a different approach when speaking to Martha as she is “distracted with much serving” (Luke 10:38-42). Jesus wants Martha to slow down long enough to see that He is in the room, which her sister Mary has already acknowledged.

So, do you have to choose a lifestyle of either sitting or serving? The good news is you can do both. Martha’s problem was not that she was serving. Serving one another is a chief conviction and duty for the children of God. Paul encourages the churches in Galatia to serve one another. In Galatians 5:13, he writes, “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” You can tell when someone is serving people from a heart of love because it’s more than activity. Their whole being is engaged, not just their hands in service, but their heart, mind, and soul. I have the privilege of pastoring one of the most servant-minded churches; their service doesn’t flow from a vision or the desire to rally around a cause. They serve one another and our community from a deep heart of love. I love watching our people who serve in so many different ministries, and you can tell they love it! From the person who greets new families to the group leaders my kids have had over the years, you can see the love of service in so many as they put their whole being into action for the advancement of the Kingdom and the glory of the cross.

Yet, when we look at Martha, we notice three things. She was anxious, distracted, and troubled about many things. When we are distracted, anxious, or troubled, it shows not only in our attitude, but it can be seen as not valuing or respecting the people we are serving. Sometimes our heart is just not in it. Now, does that mean we quit serving? Heavens, no! If I only served, or if you only served when it felt good, right, noble and honorable, then we would have quit serving a long time ago. You see, there is nothing wrong with activity in ministry. That’s what ministry is. We are not called to form collective holy think-tanks and talk about ministry all day, but to love in action and deed. Often I live such a hurried life that I forget why I am even engaged in the activity in the first place. We are called to serve, but our service should impact, not just influence. To have the greatest impact, we can’t hurry through our list or our service but must stop and enjoy the work of our hands.

In his book, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, John Mark Comer has some great thoughts for our hurried lives. He writes, “Ultimately, nothing in this life, apart from God, can satisfy our desires. Tragically, we continue to chase after our desires ad infinitum. The result? A chronic state of restlessness or, worse, angst, anger, anxiety, disillusionment, depression—all of which lead to a life of hurry, a life of busyness, overload, shopping, materialism, careerism, a life of more…which in turn makes us even more restless. And the cycle spirals out of control.”

Doesn’t this look like Martha, a life spinning out of control? Yet Jesus sees her, loves her, and invites her to rest, even in the middle of her service. Jesus sees you as well. Maybe you are called to serve today. Maybe you are called to sit at His feet today. The important thing is if you are called to serve today, don’t do it from a troubled anxious heart. Sit for a while, take those burdens to Jesus. Slow down, sit with Jesus, and if necessary, stay there a little longer. Then, rise up and do what brings Him glory with your hands and your heart fully engaged in the task!