The Stuff of Stars

Many women who are familiar with the life and ministry of Christ will often type themselves as one of two women: as either a "Mary" or a "Martha." These two women, sisters of Lazarus, were dear friends of Jesus and are mentioned several times in the Gospel for their friendship and support of Jesus' ministry. Mary is revered in Christian circles for being the sister who sat at Jesus' feet and anointed him with precious perfume. Martha, on the other hand, has been a bit maligned, I believe, for being the sister whom Jesus gently admonished for criticizing Mary for not helping her in the kitchen. I've been thinking quite a bit about Martha lately, and I think she's gotten a bad rap.

You see, I know quite a few wonderful women, and a handful of you are reading this right now, and if I put you on the spot and asked, I am sure you would all say that you are a "Martha." You'd generously display your faults of various Type A kinds, like being a control freak, a task oriented duty bound self-proclaimed martyr, and you would immediately apologize for these things. You sweet girl. You have no idea how much you are loved.

Through all the craziness of the past year, I have come to love and cling to a fantastic story in the book of John, chapter 11. It is the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. I first came to love the story because, more than once over the course of the last year, I observed things or people proverbially dying in front of me, and I needed desperately to cling to the One who could bring dead things back to life. My love for Jesus has grown just by reading and re-reading this story: He is so purposeful, mysterious, direct, loving, and powerful in this story. But I also came to love Martha. Here's why.

Jesus is walking down the road toward Lazarus' home in Bethany; Lazarus has been dead now for four days. Martha gets word that Jesus is coming, and she goes to meet him, though Mary stays behind. Martha is such a DOER. I love it! She knows He is on His way, but she can't wait. She must go and meet Him on the road. Martha pursued Christ, even as He was coming to her.

When she sees Him, she greets Him by saying, "Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask." This statement kills me every time I read it. It is dripping with the complex emotions of her circumstances. She knows Jesus is the Son of God, and she knows that He could have healed her beloved brother. She has absolutely no idea why He didn't; He healed complete strangers, for crying out loud. But Lazarus was His friend! And even more personally, Martha was His friend. Where the heck had He been?! "But even now ..." she says, and this always makes my heart beat, "even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask." Ugh. What gut wrenching hope against hope that statement was. It's an amazing statement of faith. Notice, too, that it isn't really a request. Martha has a hard time asking for what she really wants or longs for. It is difficult for her to address her own needs.

Jesus told her, "Your brother will rise again." "Yes," Martha said, "he will rise when everyone else rises on the third day." See, ya gotta love a girl who starts spouting theology with the Messiah in the middle of a crisis.

Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying ... Do you believe this, Martha?" "Yes, Lord," she told him. "I have always believed ..." Martha's dependability, her unswerving sense of direction, her steadfastness come in real handy at times like this. Because sometimes, too many times for us, Jesus arrives 4 days too late. When He does, what's a girl to do? What are any of us to do? Especially when we are doers. We want to do something to make things right. We want to read books and check things off of our Holy Character To Do List and participate in outreach committees and all in the name of making ourselves right. I wonder if that's why Martha insisted on doing so much in the first place. Was she trying to measure up? And yet, Jesus was the one who invited her to take a load off. And even in the midst of her trying and striving and doing, even while she tended to her dying brother and no doubt prepared his dead body for burial, she always believed. She always believed. Martha's faith brought glory to God; it was as great a thing as what was to come.

Later, at the door of Lazarus' tomb, Jesus declared that the stone be rolled away. Martha says, and this is hilarious, "Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible." Uh, Jesus, I don't know if you want to do that. Have you ever smelled a decomposing body? I LOVE MARTHA! Pragmatic to the end! The details are verrrrry important to this woman. She really can't help herself. I have to imagine that Jesus appreciated her idiosyncrasies as much as I do and that He kinda smiled when He said, "Didn't I tell you that you would see God's glory if you believe?"

His response to her is so important to me. He reminds her, but He is patient with her. He doesn't say she'll see it if she keeps her mouth shut, or keeps cooking fabulous meals, or keeps the floor mopped, or submits to her husband. He only asks her if she believes that He is who He says He is and that He can do what He says He will do, both for her and for who she loves. That's all He asks.

And then Jesus spoke, and a dead man walked out of a tomb.

The story stops here. No eyewitness news accounts after the scene is over are reported. How these events affected this headstrong woman are almost lost to history. I have a couple of theories though. I'll bet she cried. I'm sure she shed a few tears to hug her brother again, but when the day was done, and she was in her bed alone, I'll bet Martha cried that deep cry that comes from the bottom of the soul. Because that day, Martha saw Jesus be who He really was, and she didn't do anything. She was powerless but Jesus did everything she couldn't do herself, and I'll bet that was the day she finally knew who she was. She was loved.

In the next chapter, John 12, Jesus is back at their house having dinner with Lazarus, "the man he had raised from the dead." Martha served.

I love Martha. She's a real character. She cracks me up. She irritates me sometimes, and she is a little disappointing at times. She is real. She is a salt of the earth kind of gal, the kind that makes the world turn. I love her. I have realized that I have alot of Marthas in my life. My new friends on Thursday nights, my old friends from college. My best friend from high school. My best friend from church. My best friend from college. There is even one among us whose patron saint is Saint Martha. I believe I'm being represented by one in court. I am surrounded by Marthas! It's nothing to work your way out of. Jesus loved Martha. He just didn't want her to think that her doing would do Him - or her - much eternal good. He simply asked her to believe. And she did, and it changed her life and all those around her.

This issue of "doing" vs. "being" is going to come up again, but for now, if you commented on my "mad as hell" post, I responded in the comments section, so check it out.