Worship or service, — which ? Ah, that is best To which He calls us, be it toil or rest, — To labour for Him in life's busy stir. Or seek His feet, a silent worshipper.^
4. Christ gladly accepted the offering presented to Him by different types of followers. He sat at Martha's table. He proclaimed His pleasure in Mary's offering. Special qualities, even when in excess, He did not reject. Martha's extravagant activity, and Mary's extravagant generosity, did not offend Him. He looked at the motive, and, knowing that was right. He did not disdain the deed. He saw in the one a desire to honour Him in life, and in the other a desire to honour Him in death ; and the desire consecrated the meal, and made of the anointing an embalming. Thus, whatever may be our native characteristics, love to Jesus will render them all acceptable to Him. And without that love, they will all be to Him an offence. Though some or all faculties and sensibilities be developed in you to the utmost possible extent, though you had all knowledge, and could remove mountains, and gave your body to be burned, with- out love you would be nothing.
^ It is worth remarking how much the poco piu — a little more — will add to a whole character. Two persons may seem to have equal elements of mental power, but there is an indescribable somewhat in the one which gives a flavour to all he has, or a certain direction to it, and which makes him more diverse, or even opposite. Mood is its passive form, purpose its active. It is like the perfume of a plant, or the amalgam in a conglomerate stone, and gives the man this individuality. By the first of these — what may be called the perfume of a character — our likings and friendships are determined; by the second — the purpose of ^ Caroline A. Mason.
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it — we guide our moral judgment. If we are to have a true friend these should go together.^
II.
Doing and Being.
1. Of the two sisters we have speaking likenesses. Their characters are of that pronounced type which is stamped on every act and manifested in every scene. In joy or in sorrow, at the feast or at the funeral, the individuality of each is clearly marked, the position of each is definitely fixed. Christ knows them per- fectly. He has no need to ask Mary where Martha is at the time of feasting, or to ask Martha where Mary is at the time of mourning. There is the hall-mark of goodness on each of them, 1. but we must look for it in the activity of the one and in the receptivity of the other. The goodness of Martha will be mani- fested in her many duties, that of Mary in her deep feeling and . serious thinking. They were ideal sisters, and together took the place of the ideal wife, whom Lazarus must have despaired of finding. The one sister was the complement of the other in the v home at Bethany. Martha made the home complete with every comfort; Mary filled it with peace and joy. If Martha was absent Lazarus felt uneasy, if Mary was away he was depressed. Neither sister could fill the other's place. Martha would have made a most fidgety Mary, and Mary a most unconcerned Martha. The one was a perfect head of the house, the other was the heart of the home. A division of work could never have been dis- cussed between them, for it divided itself. Each instinctively took the part that naturally fell to her, and their united efforts made the home at Bethany an elysium of comfort and happiness.
\ The Master does not extol sentiment at the expense of practical duty. We once knew a lady who sat for hours mooning over religious themes, and who grew quite lyrical on the subject of entire sanctification, whilst her fire-grate was choked with ashes, and her house became a veritable chaos. She mistook herself for Mary.
Our Lord delicately touches the defect of Martha in the word " cumbered," or, as it is given in the margin, " distracted." Simply,
* J. Ker, Thoughts, for Heart and Life, 12. ST. LUKE — 15
226 THE ONE THING NEEDFUL
we must not allow legitimate cares to impair our full and free fellowship with our Master. It is here that so many of us err. The sisters represent two types, in themselves equally admirable ; as an old writer puts it, Martha is good before dinner, and Mary after. Happy the Christian who combines the two ! ^
2. It is easier to do than to be. God has planted in us so strong an impulse towards doing that into that, almost by a necessity of our nature, our main strength ordinarily flows. He has made us restless in childhood, active and energetic in youth, that we may not sink into sloth. There is an inherent delight in one's own activity which makes all in some degree, and some, perhaps, even to excess, long to be on the move, to have a share, or, if they can, to take a lead, in all that is to be done. Every one knows that an unemployed life is not the happiest ; and if no employment is a necessity of our position, we are forced to make employment, or otherwise we are wearied out with having nothing to do. And with this natural spur to activity, God has further linked some of the highest gifts that He has put within our reach. It is generally in active service that we learn the warmest love. Those to whom we give our labour almost always at last win our hearts also. Those for whom we have made sacrifices we in- voluntarily cherish with the truest affection. If we wish to learn to love, the way to it is generally to serve.