Article March 2, 1998 Issue

Feeling burdened? There's a way to lighten the load

Whatever your role in the household, Christ ministers to you.

By Jane K. Mercereau

We Have All Read books and been to movies that leave the story without a complete resolution. It isn't as though the writers got tired and stopped, but rather that they had sufficient confidence in their audience to know that they would resolve the story satisfactorily. After all, if the hero dies, we know that the heroine goes on to complete the hero's work, finds a new life, and so on, don't we?

The Bible has a number of stories that may also seem unfinished. My favorite is that of Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, in the book of Luke (see 10:38—42). The Bible records that Jesus came to Martha's home, and instead of helping her sister serve the meal, Mary sat and listened to what Jesus was teaching. Martha, thinking that she was badly used by her sister, asked Jesus to intercede.

But Jesus knew that Mary was doing the right thing—she was listening to the Christ—so he responded so gently, so lovingly, "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." And that's where the Bible leaves it. What about Martha? Poor Martha. Would the Christ leave her without help and comfort?

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