Do Not Be A Martha This Christmas

By Madam Louise Tay

Jesus Christ is Love and all the things He does for us revolve around Love. His gospel is built on Love, as John 3:26 says: “For God so loved the world He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” That is the ultimate proof of God’s love. Jesus has to endure indescribable pain because He loves usand wants to set us right with God the Father. Hence the miraculous birth of our Saviour in a manger.

Sometimes, human beings complicate things and cause problems for ourselves by pondering and reading too much into things. We have been told time again that the key to heaven is through Love: Love God and love your neighbour and you will have eternal life. That was what Jesus said.

In modern times, the true spirit of Christmas is being drowned by the noise of merry-making. People seem to take advantage of the holidays to indulge in all kinds of food and drinks. Lots of money is usually spent buying presents, sometimes not appreciated by loved ones, all in the name of Christmas. In many countries, the incidence of rowdiness and drunkenness rises during the Christmas holidays.

Jesus looking down would be sad… we are celebrating His birthday with delights of the flesh instead of spiritually connecting with Him. Christ should be the focus of Christmas, with love being the main theme of the season. He is the symbol of love, a perfect model of love for us to emulate: We are to love the “Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind,” and, “Love your neighbour as yourself”.

We should spend time with Jesus on Christmas. In these present economic hard times, we should cut down on spending and donate more to charity as there would be more people out of jobs and needing our help.

Yes, the exchange of gifts is important when there are children as it will teach them the spirit of giving, sharing and loving one another but we should also tell them the reason we are celebrating Christmas. It is heartening to note that Trinity Methodist Church Petaling Jaya will bring some Christmas cheer to the less fortunate children in our community this year. The children will definitely be pleased that they are remembered this year and should look forward to receiving some presents and food.

This Christmas, let us not be like Martha, the sister of Mary, who was so busy running around that she missed out on a better thing. It is more important to be fed spiritually by Jesus than to bother about physical meals. While preparing the meals for Christmas is important, especially when we have guests to entertain, we should keep it simple and spend more time with God as the way to heaven is to “Love thy God and love our neighbour as ourselves”.

The story of Mary and Martha is related in Luke 10, just after the Good Samaritan parable. Jesus was visiting the two sisters and Martha, after finding it hard to cope with whatever she was doing complained to Jesus: “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

?And Jesus answered: “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Most of us are like Martha, distracted by all the festivities around us that we miss out on a wonderful blessing. We should be like Mary and find delight in Jesus’ words.

We are so familiar with the Good Samaritan parable that sometimes we forget what Jesus is trying to tell us in the parable. There must be a link between the Good Samaritan parable and the Mary and Martha episode as they are put beside each other. Most of us would just take the surface lesson, that Jesus is asking us to love our neighbour and to help him when he is in trouble. On closer study, the parable is told in response to a question by an expert in the law, “And who is my neighbour?” Sometimes, we are such “experts” in reading and pondering over the Bible that we do not know how to love. The priest and the Levite are “men of God”, yet they do not show compassion for the injured man. The Samaritan, is a foreigner and not schooled in the laws of the Jews, yet he stopped to help a fellow human being. I guess Jesus wants to show that true acts of kindness and love come from the heart and not from studying the law. Indirectly, He is making a comment about the “experts in law” who do not seem to know how to be good neighbours. Jesus’ rule is simple. Love God and love our neighbours, and we are on the right path to heaven.

And it is interesting that the Martha story follows the Good Samaritan parable. I guess both the stories are related in
the sense that we should not sweat over the small things. Just be spontaneous in loving God. The law experts pour over books learning about the rules and traditions that they forgot how to love God and their fellow men. Martha is busy with her work she forgot how to love God and be close to Him to listen to His words. What follows after these two episodes is even more pertinent. Jesus had just finished praying when one of his disciples asked Him to teach them to pray and that was when He taught them The Lord’s Prayer! We should love God with our whole heart and soul, and also love our neighbours, and most of all, pray to God.

In the countdown to Christmas, it is important that we take time to ponder on the birth of Christ. The birth, death and resurrection of Christ are the cornerstones of the Christian faith and form part of God’s plan for our salvation. Just like the experts in law, many people go through the Bible without registering the truths. Thus it came as no surprise that some people were still “confused” about the afterlife after reading the Book of Isaiah. Just like the Israelites, they want signs and proofs. “No one has come back to tell us about heaven. How would we know there is such a thing,” they asked. Some say they would be happy if they were blessed with a good life on this earth and would not be too bothered about life after death. Huh? They had read the book and Isaiah had warned that the Second Coming of Christ also meant judgement time for people who had not lived according to God’s will. Yet they opted for a good life here and now. It would seem like a lost cause but God has promised that one day the glory of Jerusalem will be revealed and all those who rejected God will bow before Christ and worship Him. “For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand.” Isaiah 52:15

My Christmas Prayer:
Dear Lord, thank You for loving us so much that You sent Your only begotten Son Jesus Christ to die for us so that we can be re-connected with You. You really make us feel special although we are like tiny specks in this whole big universe. You created us to serve and adore You but we are stubborn people and prone to sin. Over the course of history we have strayed from You again and again but You are a patient Father and will not abandon us even when we turn our faces from You. It must hurt terribly but You wait for us to return with open arms… This Christmas, let us not be caught up in the festivities and lose sight of You, Jesus, You who give us new life for eternity.