Advent: A Season of Preparation from Martha & Mary

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What is Advent?

Advent is a season of waiting with joyful expectation. Advent means “coming” or “arrival.” Yes, it’s a holiday season of cookies, ornaments, gifts, and family (and my favorite time of year!). But it’s also a season of knowing that Jesus is coming, and being excited for that time. We know we get to celebrate His birth in a few weeks on December 25. The cookies and gifts are one way we prepare to celebrate that gift from God.

Some of us also live in joyful expectation for the day He returns. The older I get, and the more dismayed I am by the world around me, the more I fervently pray and await the time when Jesus Christ will return, riding on a cloud, shining like the sun, to make all things new. (Anyone else humming, “Days of Elijah?”) When we celebrate Advent and Christmas every year we focus on Jesus’s first coming. But our everyday lives are an Advent of his second coming – when He will return for His faithful servants.

Waiting

Until then, we wait. And we embrace the opportunity to openly share the good news about Jesus every Advent. We embrace this Christmas season of waiting and preparing. I know that times of waiting are difficult. The anticipation threatens to overwhelm us! But the time of waiting gives us a time of preparation. We prepare our homes for “the big day” while we prepare our hearts for the coming of our Lord and Savior, the son of God, Jesus Christ.

As we eagerly await, we know those cookies won’t bake themselves. The gifts won’t buy and wrap themselves. The table won’t set itself for guests. Our to-do list won’t complete itself. The Christmas decorations won’t jump on the tree and mantle by themselves. So we do our part to spread Christmas cheer.

Before I go any further, I want to be sure you’re familiar with the Christmas story as told by Luke’s Gospel. It’s the clearest and most detailed description of the birth of Jesus. If you haven’t read it yet (or lately) you can find the story of the birth of Jesus here. Be sure you keep reading through the wise men coming – they are part of the story, too! Go ahead, I’ll wait.

Now that you’ve read about our Lord’s birth, shift with me for just a moment –

Who are Martha & Mary?

Perhaps you’ve read the story of Martha and her sister Mary. Let’s read these Scripture passages from Luke 10:

38As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

41“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42but few things are needed—or indeed only one. f Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Mary

There are lots of great books discussing the virtues of Mary. She sits quietly at Jesus’s feet, enraptured by His wisdom and peace. She soaks up His every word and is a true disciple. I love that. Seriously. I love sitting quietly with my Bible, praying, worshipping, and learning from the Scriptures. Spending time with Jesus is the time BEST spent. There is no better use of our time.

Martha gets a bad rep.

But I also feel like Martha gets a bad reputation.

Many people who explore these two sisters imply that we need to “busy-shame” Martha. How dare she be so distracted by making her home hospitable? Why does she ignore the Lord Jesus to be sure her home was functioning well for all the guests? How dare she focus on hospitality instead of stillness? Why was she focused on much serving instead of much learning? I’m sure I would love the home of Martha – tidy and well organized. I am sure it smelled amazing, too!

I understand that Jesus wanted her to know that loving Him and learning from Him needed to be her first priority. And that the same is true for us. I’m certainly not arguing with that. Jesus as Priority 1 should be our key takeaway from this passage.

What do Martha & Mary have to do with Christmas?

I simply think that Martha has something to offer us this season of Advent besides being an object lesson in slowing down and smelling the Biblical roses.

Let’s look at a few things we can take from Martha:

1. She knew how to get the job done! She was likely a very efficient home manager. I could use help with that! Given the historical context, and what we know from Scripture, this house was likely bursting at the seams with people. Martha probably had a whole team of people helping to clean house and prepare/serve food. That level of hospitality takes great organizational skills.
2. She was not afraid to tell Jesus what she needed. Much like David in the Psalms, she spoke openly. She knew what she needed and she told Jesus. Was she a bit demanding? Well, yes. But have you read the Psalms? David pours out his honest heart to God (angrily, in some cases) and ends with worship every time. Later we see Martha again and she clearly trusts Jesus. Her faith is not in question, as far as I can see.
3. She knew her love language was service. She was clearly wanting to present a well functioning home for Jesus and all the followers. She loved Jesus and wanted to know if He loved her too. In fact, I would say she wanted to be sure that Jesus knew she was doing this for him. She asked if he cared about her. She was allowing herself to be vulnerable. She knew her act of service was about more than food. She was saying, in effect, “I’m doing all this out of love for you, because you are here. Do you care that I’ve done this all by myself?”

Which are you?

I’m sure you’ve figured out that I’m more Martha than Mary. But my morning Bible Study times are teaching me how to be more like Mary. Maybe you can relate? What if they simply have different ways of expressing their love? Jesus’s words weren’t condemning Martha – they were refocusing her energy at a vital time.

Again, balance is the solution.

I think the key is to know the balance. And Advent – when we are busily baking, decorating, buying, wrapping, hosting, and planning – is a great time to practice this balance. A good portion of our time must be spent doing Martha-like activities, while we also need to spend time with Jesus.

There’s a time for those Martha-like activities. There’s a time to take action, want help, pray for God to help us (or send help), and serve our families and the church in innumerable ways.

However, there’s also a time to sit at the feet of Jesus Christ and listen. There’s a time to stop letting the preparations dictate our time and just be quiet with Jesus. A time to listen for His voice – whether in study, prayer, or worship. There’s a time to tell others that Christmas and Advent are about more than now – they are about the coming of Christ in the future, the second coming.

Pray, listen, obey.

This Christmas season, especially Christmas Day, I encourage us all to begin our days with an intentional time of prayer, then listen all day. Jesus may just tell you to set the cookie sheet aside for a few minutes to go sit at His feet. Be a loving family member and share the love of Jesus with him/her.

I promise that if you obey, He will help you get to the other Martha activities in due time.

We can be both Martha and Mary. We just need to discern which is the better part for the moment.

Let’s pray

Dear Lord, Thank you for this holy season of waiting for your coming. Thank you that every year we get to prepare and celebrate your birth and the gift of salvation you offer to us. We thank you for your holy spirit that guides us in love this season. Thank you for the great gifts you give us every day – gifts of salvation, forgiveness, and love. We thank you for the baby Jesus, who came into this world as a human and suffered as we suffer…the Holy Name made flesh, the living Word.

Help us to focus on the word of the Lord and the coming of the Messiah. I pray that our outward Christmas preparations would mimic our inward preparations of our heart. I pray that the story of Christ and His time on earth would be with us all year long. Help us to search God’s word for images of the kingdom of heaven as we wait for you to come back for us, Lord.

In Jesus’s name I pray, Amen

With love as we wait,

🌸 Andrea

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