Inside-Out Hospitality

Hello everyone and welcome to another exciting episode of Hospitality Heroes, where we spotlight men AND WOMEN in the Bible who have exemplified hospitality to us. So far, we have had 2 men, Father Abraham and the Priest of Midian.

But today, we have the immense pleasure to welcome the first woman to the show! She is a go-getter! If there was ever any event in Bethany and even around, be it for 2 or 200,000 persons, she is the one they will call because she delivers, plus extra!!! She is the sister to Mary and Lazarus and is giving firstborn vibes (coughs), but we can’t really tell.

Let’s welcome the beautiful Martha of Bethany!

(Audience claps for Martha, but Martha is busy on the phone mumbling…no, 250 decorated chairs, total budget for the event stands at 15M….)

Host (waving): Martha, Martha, hello…

Martha: Oh, hello y’all, sorry. I have this huge women’s event coming up for International Women’s Day and the preparations are heated as the day is approaching. Oh, sorry again, that’s not why I am here, let’s focus on now. Hello again everyone, it’s a pleasure to be here! I am a little surprised that I am here, especially after the way my first dinner with Jesus went! (hides face in hands).

Host: Yes, that dinner. We will get to it soon. You know you had to be here last week, but when we didn’t get a response from you, we almost feared you would reject our invitation.

Martha: No, no…the invite was just lost in the mail…you know my mail is always full of all these event invitations…I told Mary to help me sort my mail but…anyways. I am here now.

Host: Yes, you are. Let’s dive deep into it…speaking of the dinner with Jesus…and Mary. Real talk, how did you feel when He said:

41 But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! 42 There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”  Luke 10:41-42 (New Living Translation)

Martha: Ahh my chest! Real talk? It was a rush of all kinds of emotions. Like if there were a hole I could enter in! I went there all frustrated for doing all the work and pouring out to Jesus, just to receive the shock of my life. I felt a little embarrassed to be called out like that in front of people. But honestly, Jesus had been calling for me the whole time to sit with Him, but I was just too busy in the kitchen. So, he decided to continue with just Mary. See, He even had to call my name twice because I was still distracted when He was talking.

(Host rolls eyes and smiles)

Then, I wanted to go all defensive on Him…that it’s not like the food I was cooking was for myself…it was for Him and the disciples! They were obviously hungry from all that moving around and preaching. If I didn’t do it, who will? Not Mary who was sitting at His feet! I just wanted to meet their needs. Then I felt angry because He wouldn’t send Mary to help me. I felt disappointed in myself for missing the point, and for not choosing the better part.

Finally, I felt at PEACE and at REST. You know that ah-ha moment when you finally get it!

Host: Wow, and what was it? What did you finally get?

Martha: Notice he didn’t tell me what I was doing was wrong? The problem was in the worrying, anxiety, and for me to know there was a time for everything. That balance between service and fellowship. I was carrying a weight on me that I didn’t have to. I wanted everything to turn out perfectly and felt I had to do it big. And when the King of kings is in your house, you want to go above and beyond!

So, I will spend a lot of time getting things ready for my guests but at the end of it, I am either too tired to talk with them or I am struggling to keep the place clean with the many dirty dishes lying around. By the time the person left, all the person had was a filled stomach and maybe a Pinterest inspiration for how to host and arrange your house but nothing about Jesus. I didn’t have time to ask how they were doing.

My questions will mostly be ‘how’s the food? Do you want more dessert? It was all about me and I wasn’t sensitive to their other needs like that of their soul and spirit. Taking time to share Jesus with them. Jesus was telling me there was more to hospitality than fancy dishes in a spotless house. We need to be able to spend quality time with our guests.

Another reason Jesus doesn’t want us worried or distracted is that it chokes the Word of God in us. You could be seated like Mary, but your mind is still racing somewhere else.

18 The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, 19 but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced. Mark 4:18-19, NLT

Host: That’s such a powerful lesson. It seems you got the message, because we see you serving a second time in John 12:2 but hear nothing about you complaining or grumbling, just that you served.

Martha: Yes, yes. I had learned to show hospitality without grumbling and to sit at His feet, where I find rest.  

• Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. (1 Peter 4:9, NIV)
• Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28, NLT).

Host: Wow, wow, wow. Thanks for sharing that. You know, one reason we like your story a lot is because it is so relatable. You may have grumbled about the workload, but we find ourselves also complaining about other things, such as the money, the space, the invasion of privacy, the lack of appreciation, and more. May we all learn to be hospitable without grumbling. Moving forward, how did things go with you and Mary afterward?

Martha: Well, in Mary’s defense, she helped a lot in the kitchen before Jesus and his disciples came. As I said, it’s me who had a problem, I kept adding more meals at the last minute, and so the work never seemed to finish. So, we are good. I have learned to sit still when it’s time to…sometimes I succeed, other times, the Martha in me just wants to get more things done. But Jesus keeps working on me and I am finding that balance daily.

Host: We are glad you came to the show…it’s been raining life lessons here. So, we are going to go on a break. Readers stay tuned as Martha still has a lot to share with us. After the break, Martha will tell us how to recognize we are out of balance and give us some practical tips. If you have any questions or remarks for Martha, feel free to write in the comment section. See you soon.

(To be continued in next post…next week)

PS: This is fiction and not an exact representation of the actual events in the Bible.