Shepherd of the Springs
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod

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.’ (Vs. 44)

This evening we again gather to prepare for the coming of the Christ. Last week we considered preparation for His coming to bring this present age to a close and to bring to a climactic conclusion, the Father’s plan of salvation. We were challenged to prepare for a time that we cannot know in advance - a time that Jesus explained would least be expected, like a thief that comes in the night. The challenge for us was not to become absorbed about the cares and concerns of daily living, even the cares and concerns that can occupy us and make for busy schedules getting ready for all the activities that come this time of year because of the Christmas holiday on December 25^th. The ironic point is that we can be ready for celebrating Christmas, but be unprepared to receive the coming of Christ in all his glory. Preparation for the Christ of glory requires living in the cross of Christ, a constant dying to sin and living by his grace. When we are secure in the cross of Christ, we are secure and prepared for his coming to us for glory.

This evening, we turn out attention to another preparation for Christ that is part of the Advent season. It is a preparation for the coming of Christ as he comes to us again and again in His Gospel and Sacraments. As we were cautioned last week not to let the demands of getting ready for the Christmas holiday get in the way of our preparation for the Christ of glory, your attention is directed this evening to another kind of diversion that can rob us of receiving the precious gifts of the crucified Christ who comes to us in His Gospel and Sacraments. This obstacle is common even among Christians, and it is exemplified by Martha in our text. It is an obstacle that arises from a misunderstanding of the true value of things that the Christmas season is intended to teach, but often we get things completely backward. This misunderstanding parents - yes even Christian parents - have been teaching their children for generations. Perhaps you also were taught like many others when you were young, that when it comes to gifts: tis’ more blessed to give than to receive. If there is a conflict between these two - giving and receiving - if push comes to shove . . . it would be better for you to be on the giving end rather than receiving. And the reason for this is obvious: giving to others is virtuous, but receiving from others is not. And as some Christians might think . . . if the giving involves very important people, say even Jesus, then clearly, its is much more important, much more virtuous, to give than to receive.

This was Martha’s conviction when Jesus made a surprise visit to her house. She frantically rattled her pots and pans in the kitchen trying to provide Jesus a good meal on very short notice. And to make matters worse, she was not getting any help from her bump-on-the-log, do-nothing sister. Martha was also confident that Jesus shared her perspective over against her doing-nothing-to-help sister, Mary, so she implored Jesus: Tell her to help me! To Martha’s shock, however, Jesus did not share her concern. Mary has chosen the good part [meaning the better part] and it will not be taken from her.

It is important for you to understand the point that Jesus is making, but then also a point He is not making. Jesus is not debating the point that the greater virtue is serving or giving to others over receiving. Rather He is indicating two things: First, He is indicating that when Jesus shows up, He is always the host, because He is the Lord of Hosts. He is the Suffering Servant who has come into this world to serve, not to be served. And secondly, His indication to Martha that her sister Mary has chosen the good part - to receive Jesus and his Word - implies something very important for us to remember, especially during the Advent season: tis’ more blessed to receive that to give . . . if you are a sinner, and if it comes to Jesus. And, of course, both were the case with Mary and Martha, and both are the case with each of us. You are a sinner, and this being Advent, it means that this also is about the arrival of Jesus. Let us be very clear on this. Jesus is not trying to put down giving. Giving is certainly virtuous behavior . . . but virtuous behavior never saved anyone. Virtuous behavior will not reconcile you with your Heavenly Father. It will not grant you the forgiveness of sins. Virtuous behavior will not overcome the sharpness of death, nor will it merit a happy forever. Indeed, all your giving and serving, even to Jesus, renders no blessings that can overcome your problem of sin.

And what can we learn from Mary as we would prepare for receiving Jesus this Christmas? What can we learn from her unexpected visit about how to order our lives this Advent season for the coming of the Christ? Well, to follow Mary’s example and Jesus’ approval of it, it is this: Do what well may be the most inconvenient thing for you to do this busy time of year . . . Do nothing! Stop and and provide some time for nothing . . . stop all your hustle and bustle in the kitchen, at the shopping mall, at whatever. Put down your lists of what to do and what to give since it is the Christmas season . . . and because it is the Advent season, put yourself at the feet of Jesus in His Word, and come, sit yourself at His Supper . . . And doing nothing, get ready to be served by the coming Immanuel, God-with-us. Get ready to open again your gifts of grace and be amazed and thrilled that He has come to you and again given you just what you needed - grace, life, and salvation. Sit down to his prepared meal - the body and blood of the Lamb of God who has taken away the sins of the world . . . . Feast on the Lamb and know that there is more where that came from in preparation for the Great Feast to come. And then let us smile at Him and at one another during this most inconvenient time to do nothing, and let us say also to our children. Christmas is coming! And that means that Jesus is coming and because that is so, tis’ more blessed to receive that to give!

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. A-men.