Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things, there is need of only thing. Mary has chosen the better part - which will not be taken away from her. Perhaps the company is so special that they should be served fast food instead of a carefully prepared meal - a meal that takes away all your time with your guest. I know that in many homes, when company comes, that after the meal, the dishes and all the cleaning up is set aside, you move to the living room - out of sight of all the work that needs doing, so that you can enjoy a few hours together with your company. That really is the point of the story of Mary and Martha.
Wisdom knows the difference.
No one is a Christian who simply does the word - You must also hear the word and dwell in the word and talk to the word, the word made flesh in Jesus. As Graham Hutchings, a Methodist minister once said - there is a need occasionally to get the visionaries in the kitchen and the kitchenaries in the vision. But most of all there is a need to know when to relax and listen and be strengthened and to know when to be active, to speak, and to give strength to others. May God bless you and help you both in your listening to the word and in your doing of it. AMEN copyright - Rev. Richard J. Fairchild 1998 please acknowledge the author and the Spirit if citing this sermon.