How many of us Christians want to do something great for God? How many of us want to do the big things for God, be a missionary, lead a ministry, or start an organisation? I would say probably most of us want to do the great things we see in the Bible. We see the great Biblical figures and think "I want to do something great like that!" But there's a problem with this. Every Biblical character we see that is labelled as "great" also had sinful donwfalls. David had his sin with Bathsheeba leading to murder. Samson lived most of his life in sin. Moses disobeyed God and had anger issues. Lot lived in one of the most wicked cities then got drunk and slept with his daughters. Solomon had many wives and concubines. Each Biblical figure also had their downfalls which means they were nothing special. They were simply people chosen by God to carry out his plan.
Think about this for a minute. God created every single person to have ever lived, but did not create a higher class or "race" of humans to do great things. He used ordinary people in great ways. We are all equal creations in God's image and when we die, it doesn't matter whether you were a king or peasant, we are all humans accountable to God. David was a mere sheppard boy. Moses was a Hebrew baby that was in danger of being murdered at birth. Samson was a common boy born to a common woman. The difference is that God used them, even if some were not initially willing. But God does not always call everyone to a large ministry or to lead a church. He has a mission for each person on all different levels, all of which are important. But sometimes, I think we get too tied up in trying to do the great things, that we miss the small things.
In the book of Luke, we see two woman who are contrasted that are sometimes overlooked. Luke chapter 10, verses 38-42 says,
- Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
Martha was the busybody. Jesus came to visit her house and what do you do to prepare for guests? She was in the kitchen preparing the meal, serving the food, and working to be a great host. I'm sure she cleaned up her house with maybe some last minute tidying to make the place spotless. She probably had her best china and silver out on the table to be used. She was serving to her best efforts for Jesus.
Then we have Mary, Marthas sister. Unlike Martha, Mary did not work to prepare the meals or clean. Afterall, it's Marthas house isn't it, not Marys? She, instead, hung out with Jesus and listened to him. Martha was obviously irritated with Mary when she said "dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone?"
There is an obvious difference between these two women and Jesus addresses this in the last two verses of the passage. How often are we like Martha? Trying to keep busy doing things for God? Leading the small group Monday, perticipating in the nursing home ministry Tuesday, attending the Bible study Wednesday, volunteering at the community meal Thursday. We work so hard to serve Christ and try to please him, but what is our motivation? Is it out of love and wanting to genuinely serve God? Or is it to satisfy the rest of the church and keep your holy "status"? Or maybe your belief is that your good has to outweight your bad? But we, like Martha, miss the point.
Having quite a bit of experience in ministry and service in the church, I know a thing or two about trying to be involved in all of the service I can be. But I noticed something, maybe not right away, but I noticed something. Yes, I was growing in Christ, but what was my focus? My focus was on serving, not growing in Christ.
You see, Martha was doing her best to serve Jesus, but that is not what Jesus calls for. He tells her "Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things." Martha was to caught up and worried about the service and not actually listening to God. However, Mary was said to have "chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her."
God calls us to grow closer to him in our relationship. That is the true purpose of our Salvation. Yes, it keeps us out of Hell, but it's ultimately so we can have a relationship with God and live with him eternally. And God wants us to focus on growing closer to him through our prayer life and meditation in his Word. Mary understood this and wanted to just spend time with Jesus. Neither of them cared about the food or how clean the house was. Mary wanted to just have that time with Jesus and Jesus with her. And Jesus praised her for it.
We try too hard to "serve" God when really we just need to spend time with him. We try to do the great things by being in service for God, when we really need to spend more effort on the small things and strengthening our relationship with God. When we grow closer to God, he will give us opportunities to serve. We cannot lead others if we can't lead ourselves and we can't guide people spiritually or serve spiritually if we don't have a close relationsip with Christ.
David spent his life trusting God as a boy, long before God used him to slay Goliath. Samuel spent his childhood growing and learning before God used him as a priest. Solomon spent his life living for God and building a relationship with Christ before becoming king. The point is, before God can use us effectively, we must have a close, growing relationship with him. Sure, you can work your way into a ministry, but how effective will you be if God does not bless that ministry because it's outside his will? We must be called into whatever field, ministry, or service we are involved in. If not, it will lead to suffering of some sort. Serving God in a ministry is a priviledge he gives us and is a great satisfaction, but must be in his timing. Don't worry about trying to get involved. Spend your life just living for God where you are and whatever God has in store for you will be presented to you at the right time.
This doesn't mean that if an opportunity presents itself, to not get involved or capitalise on it. God does call us to spread his word and do everything to our best. But we should not spend our energy on trying to be "busy" for God instead growing closer to him. Jesus even tells us that the greatest commandment is not to put in so many ministry hours a week. It's not to go to church so many times a week or be involved in so many volunteer positions. In Matthew 22:37-40, Jesus tells us, "...Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." How do we love God? Spend time with him and do as he asks. How do we love our neighbor? By being the Christian testimony that will lead them to Christ. That's a lot different than spending hours a week trying to be busy in service.
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