First Love - Part III

My friend Lizzie is always saying how important it is to look at the things that Jesus values. First Love is something he clearly values from his admonition to the Church in Ephesus in Rev. 2. Devotion is something he clearly values from looking at the life of Mary of Bethany. I'd like to open this post up for discussion about some recent thoughts I have on Mary's big sister Martha. You know the one who's always getting the bad rap for being a...well...a Martha. Look at that. We've used her name to coin a phrase. A phrase which would be commonly known in the bible world as less than complimentary. Being a Martha. We've taken that to mean, being too busy to love God. Being concerned with nonessentials. Fussin' over stuff that's not important, at least not priority. And yet I like to eat a good meal every day (several actually) and since I don't care so much for cooking I really appreciate people who do.
We find Martha busy in the kitchen at the end of Luke chapter 10. You'd think this story had taken an entire chapter to tell the way it's been written about and preached on. Are there not dozens of books and sermons about these two women? And yet the entire "story" takes only 5 verses. Let's look at them here.

"As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.” But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Jesus isn't saying to Martha "ya know, it would do you good to come in here and just sit down. What's your problem Martha? Be more like Mary will ya?" Here's a little insight I have about Martha that I'd like to discuss. If first love is to love God and others, then Martha needed an attitude adjustment not a new vocation. Man, isn't that true for all of us!
Martha is distracted. Distracted because she wasn't supposed to be in the kitchen at all or distracted because she was making a bigger deal out the meal than need be? Or distracted by her attitude? First love is to NOT be distracted in our hearts.
I love studying the temperaments. The ancient four Greek "humors" as taught by Tim LaHaye, Florence Littauer, and Gary Smalley (to name the ones I'm familiar with). I can see Martha's temperament at work here. She's not a sitter. She is just NOT going to sit still. She can't. And I don't believe Jesus is telling her to. He's not the type to compare and scold like we might be tempted to do; "Why can't you be like your sister?" "Your brother Billy never acted that way". Could you hear Jesus saying anything like that? But Martha is distracted and Jesus is clearly admonishing her here. From the text it seems that Martha is distracted from sitting at his feet and listening b/c that is the description of Mary in the preceding line. But the passage begins, "...Martha welcomed him into her home." She knows he's a rabbi and she knows he teaches. So why did she welcome him? To make an impression on him and his disciples as to what a great hostess she was? We learn from other passages about these women that they were actually very good friends of the Rabbi. I don't usually try to impress my best friends. I just want them near me. In fact the closer I am to them the less inclined I am to try and impress them. They know me too well. They would see through any phony charade in a heart beat. Jesus knows the heart beat of Martha. He knows she's more driven than Mary. He knows she has to be doing things.
I have a friend who doesn't like to take walks for the sake of taking a walk. She wants to go somewhere. "What's the point of just walking around the block?" This woman runs circles around me in terms of activity level (not mindless busyness - real accomplishments) She's driven. I love walking. Walking no where for no reason. I could spend an entire day sitting reading a book, rocking on the front porch, just sitting and thinking. Martha isn't like that. She's got business to accomplish. And I know Jesus loves her for it. What he is trying to teach her (I think) is that she can't be dissin' her sister or anyone else for not being like her, for not doing things her way. That Mary is worshipping Jesus her way and that Martha could be doing the same thing; worshipping Jesus her way. I picture Martha figuring this out later. Pouting maybe in the kitchen, maybe going a bit passive aggresive; "Fine don't make her help me. She always was your favorite. Why do the men always like the quite type with the big eyes?" And then later, as the love of Jesus sinks deeper and deeper into her being, she realizes her childishness, and wonders what it means for her to discover the one thing worth being concerned about. Which I believe the scripture tells us clearly is, loving God and loving others. Martha isn't demonstrating a lot of love here for her little sister. Jealousy, anger, resentment, yes, what's best for Mary, no. So, I can see Martha in the kitchen some time later when Jesus is passing through town. She's invited him over again. Now she's humming a hymn and "eaves dropping" on the conversation in the other room. She pauses to listen to the quieter parts. She peeks in to admire her little sister Mary as she looks up adoringly at Jesus. She is proud of Mary's expression of devotion. She smiles, her heart full of joy. She thinks about the privelege of serving the Master Rabbi and his disciples with the giftings God has given her. She's busy in the kitchen and loving it! She's not all worried about the details b/c her heart is really more absorbed with who she's doing all this for. She understands why Jesus didn't take away Mary's place and now she's found her own. May we do the same.

First Love - Part II

I stated in Part I of First Love that I would be talking about Martha and Mary (or at least Martha) in Part II but I won't be getting to it here b/c we definitely need to look at the context of the First Love passage in Revelation chapter 2 verse 4 first. I don't pretend to know all there is to know about Church history or the early church in Ephesus but I would like to forge on with what knowledge I have. In Acts 18 we see the church in Ephesus encouraging Apollos to journey to Achaia. Verse 25 tells us that Apollos "taught others about Jesus with an enthusiastic spirit and with accuracy." Apparently the church in Ephesus was concerned that other believers be strengthened in their faith, that there was church grow and that the gospel be spread. As Acts 18:28 tells us "He refuted the Jews with powerful arguments in public debate." We see some interesting activity in Ephesus in Acts 19 (the trouncing of the Seven Sons of Sceva - by a demon no less!) that leads the entire city into a reverence for the name of Jesus and causes those who are added to the faith to "confess their sinful practices" and "burn their incantation books". Such was the dedication of the believers in Ephesus. Paul spent 3 years in Ephesus with the church teaching them "the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus." (Acts 20:21)
The word first here in Revelation 2:4 is defined by Strong's as first in time or place in any succession of things or persons; first in rank; influence, honor, chief, principal. Couple this with the experiences of the early church in Ephesus and their actions or "works" as Jesus puts it and we could be onto something. Lets look at the Revelation 2:4-5 passage again:

"But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first."

The Church in Ephesus put the greatest two commandments to work here. They demonstrated their love for God by being concerned with their own hearts as individuals (repenting), the local church (publicly and collectively burning sorcery books), the church at large and the world in general (sending their best teacher). Loving God foremost then has a very outward look. Which makes sense in light of the whole of scripture. I like the way the Message states 1 Corinthians 10:25 "We want to live well, but our foremost efforts should be to help others live well." And this is consistent with the life of Christ and the gospel message. We do not live to please ourselves (Romans 15:1) First Love is about loving God and others (Luke 10:27) Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus (5:2) Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.
Let's quickly look at what the church was commended for in Revelation 2. Hard work, perseverance, intolerance of evil people, careful scrutiny of so called apostles and the routing out of liars, patient suffering and not quitting! This is quite an impressive list. Have I been so diligent? Has the church today? And yet what is the Lords primary concern? All of these things? They aren't bad, he commends them. But they aren't priority. It makes me think of the mysterious (to me) passage in Matthew 11:28-30 where Jesus says “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” This is the love Jesus has for us. I can't imagine the relief that the church in Ephesus must have felt reading this letter from John - repent and do the works you did at first. Whew! That's easy. That's not a burden! Are we now doing other things (individually and as a "church") forgetting that Jesus is the foremost, the preeminent one? Has life become a drag?
We have a tendency (I speak for myself only?) to see a call to repentance as a scolding. Warnings given by Jesus as frightening, severe. When in reality he is always calling us to himself. Is that a bad thing!?! Never. So a call to repentance with a warning is a blessing. A mercy. A kindness. Let us love God and each other as we did at first. He is worthy of this.

First Love - part I

Recent discussions on Revelation 2:4 at our ladies bible study have caused me to think. As we went around the room sharing what it is that we feel personally keeps up from loving God as we did "at first" it occurred to me that most of us were associating quiet time with love. And while the merits of quiet time need no defending, I was, and am, slightly troubled by our view of how we relate to God, how we love him. Apparently by the comments around the room that night, I'm not the only one who struggles to maintain that quiet undistracted time alone with God. But what I (we?) also struggle with is the whole concept of having a real relationship with God. What does it mean to love God? What does it mean to love him as we did at first? How can I have a relationship with him that is meaningful, rich, full and genuine? When am I being a hypocrite? And so I've titled this post part I b/c this is a big issue that will take some time to look at.
I think what bothers me about thinking of quiet time as love and devotion to God is that we therefore of necessity have to look at our jobs our husbands our children our hobbies our time spent with friends, etc as distractions. Eventually with this line of thinking they would actually become evil things that separate us from God. I know that sounds extreme, an exaggeration, but in reality this type of thinking has to produce that. I know it to be true in my own life. I've heard it joked about among women with small children. If quiet time alone is our gage for love and devotion to God then we are all woefully in love with other things. We won't admit that we so closely correlate quiet time with first love to God but when asked what hinders us from loving him as first love we turn to the things of life that "distract" us from that "quiet time". Again, I'm not discounting a set aside time to be with God undistracted, I have a room devoted to that very purpose in my home, but I am troubled that we can't seem to integrate all of life into this thing called a relationship with God. Look at it this way; lets say that I am "distracted" preparing an elaborate meal (I'll talk about Martha and Mary in Part II !), or that I am playing a game with my child or I am digging in my garden or any number of other activities, and I think "Gee, I really wish I could just go have time alone with God" does that make it a sin that I continue to do what I am doing? Doesn't the mere fact that I long for more of God mean that I am in fact loving him more than anything else? Often if the activity is "essential" we feel less guilty because of course we have to change the babies diaper or do laundry. We have the hardest time "justifying" more recreational things. Is God disappointed with me, even angry that I am laughing over a You Tube video instead of weeping over my bible? Do I feel that twinge of conviction on the less essential activities? Then surely my heart is devoted and His Holy Spirit is reminding me! My burden of concern is for the newer believer, the young mom, the working woman (I know we all work) anyone, myself(!), that we would learn that devotion and first love are not just set aside times, boxed into a routine or formula but that it is a state of the heart. When I am vacuuming my rug I am loving God, when I am shopping I am loving God, when I am reading a book I am loving God. Has he not made the vast world we live in? Did he not give Adam a job (ugh such a distraction!) in the Garden?
Keith and Melody Green edited and paraphrased (because modern man is so ignorant?) an article Charles Finney wrote in 1839 entitled "Devotion". I think Finney stated it best, " ...to attempt to please Him by isolated acts of devotion (when it is not the habit and state of our minds) is far more abominable that for a wife to attempt to please her husband with an occasional smile, while she lives only to please and gain the affections of another man."
Oh that we would learn what first love is - God of love do teach.