Communion 11.05.25

 I thought to do a Communion from a passage that is often referred to on Mothers Day. This little snippet comes just after the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Luke 10:38-42

Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

The fact of the matter is that when visitors come over, there is work to be done to get the house ready. A dirty house or an underdone meal are an unpleasant distraction for guests. They take away from the real reason the guests are there which is all about relationship. So I sympathise with Martha doing all the work while her sister did nothing but sit there and listen to Jesus.

But there’s more to this passage than having guests in the house. 

The focus of the passage is on Mary’s relationship with Jesus and listening to what he said, specifically mentioning « His word ». This is what Jesus called « the good part ».

Listening to Jesus and his Word is the good part. How many times do we sit down to read the Bible and listen to what Jesus says only to be distracted like Martha? A notification on our phone, a thought of the work that needs doing, a problem that needs solving and so on. I find the distractions seem to come especially in those times. The distractions also happen in Church when God is speaking to our hearts - I’ve encountered many times when some random thing happens that takes our minds away from what God is saying. And they also happen when you’re witnessing to someone about Jesus. 

It’s going to help to be aware that the enemy will try to distract us and to pray and equip ourselves with the armour of God for defence. 

Notice how Jesus said Mary had chosen the good part. Listening to Jesus is a choice Mary made. Mary wasn’t being lazy. She put aside the things she would normally do to listen to Jesus because she realised it was more important than doing the housework.

We can minimise the distractions by going to a quiet place to listen. Jesus said shut the door behind you. Mhairi has a very good practice for her quiet time where she leaves her phone in another room.

The focus for Communion is to remember Jesus and what he did for us on the Cross, how he gave his body, his life for us, that is the most important thing and we ought not get distracted. This is all part of a close relationship, to keep important memories close to our hearts and not be distracted by so many things. So it is also good for us as a congregation to be aware and not be the source of any distractions!