38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. 40 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.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
The very fact that we refer to the account before this as "The Good Samaritan" indicates a bias most had that most Samaritans were bad. Jesus shattered that stereotype. Here he shatters another one. Good women stay in the kitchen and leave the religious discussions to the men. Here Mary chose to sit as close as she could to Jesus, listening, choosing better. Martha, doing the conventional thing, is described as "distracted" with much serving. Jesus was not downplaying responsibility, and was in fact emphasizing how to be a merciful servant just like the Samaritan. But we can become so distracted by doing, that we miss out on what true service is. While we serve, we still need to be able to hear the voice of Jesus. Martha had done a good thing by inviting Jesus to be their guest; Mary had done a better thing by listening to Him. May we serve Him well today, by serving our neighbor while we listen to our Lord.
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