Cease Striving
by Brandon Heckman
“Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
– Luke (Luke 10:38-42, ESV)
The Good Portion
“Martha was distracted by much serving.” These words are profound considering that Jesus’ mission on this earth was to serve God and serve man (Matthew 20:28). How is it then that Martha was too distracted with doing the very action of serving to be missing what Jesus claimed to be the “good portion”? The answer can be found in Jesus’ response to Martha: “you are anxious about many things, but only one thing is necessary”. Martha’s focus was on the plentitude of issues that appeared to be at hand: cooking, cleaning, and preparing the house. Martha was attempting to ensure that everything was pristine for Christ. In contrast, Mary was ensuring that her heart was open to Him.
Martha was focused on doing for God.
Mary was focused on being with God.
Being Saves
“He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth;
He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;
He burns the chariots with fire.
‘Cease striving and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted on the earth.’
The Lord of armies is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold.”
– Sons of Korah (Psalms 46:9-11, NASB)
In this passage, God sets the command to “cease striving” within the context of God’s ultimate domination amongst nations, kingdoms, and warriors. God is contrasting peace within being in His presence with ‘doing’ the most powerful things of man: building nations, waging war, and ensuring one’s own exaltation. Within our attempt to accomplish and achieve, there is restlessness and temporality. Our nations, our companies, our armies, our culture, our accomplishments; they will all fade away. They will cease to stand. God will cause the wars to end, and He will be exalted amongst the nations. Our achievements end. Martha’s ‘serving’ was for this world. Mary’s listening to Christ was for another. God and people remain, and they are the good portion; as C.S. Lewis states:
“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit – immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously – no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption.”
– C.S. Lewis1
The Creating Word
“Regardless of your vocation or calling, God’s priority for you is not in regard to how many followers, subjects, or listeners you have, but it is, as Christ demonstrated with His own life, how well you follow God, subject yourself to His Will, and the intentionality with which you listen to Him.”
– Brandon Heckman
Our culture’s goals, accomplishments, and New Year’s resolutions tend to revolve around the temporal, yet even when they are focused on the coming Kingdom, they often are aimed towards numeric gains:
How many people can I lead to Christ?
How many people will read my article/listen to my sermon?
How many will be in my congregation at the end of this year?
Jesus was seemingly focused on no such things, as is demonstrated by His life: He spoke to only tens of thousands of people in a relatively small geographic area in only the Middle East. His small circle was relatively closed. He often would wake up early to move away from crowds and pray. He even would go to the other side of large lakes to focus on being with God over doing for man. His serving was not numbers or appearance oriented. It was Kingdom focused. It was about bringing the Kingdom here, now.
While our aim is to be more like God, the emphasis of Yahweh for us to “cease striving” insinuates that aiming to be omnipresent and omnipotent should not be our goal. While there are many praiseworthy and excellent things to pursue, Jesus’ life gives us an example of how to be human. That is, how to be a human being. In the present world of social media, the priority is often placed on the number of viewers, listeners, and likes. Success is defined by numbers in our world, just as it was throughout time (see ancient Israel in 2 Samuel 24). But for the One outside of time, the focus is on listening and being. The good portion is not in doing for numbers or to impress, but in being with Him.
Abiding in His Glory,
Brandon Heckman
Originally Published: February 2, 2021
Updated Version Published: September 22, 2024
Adore & Abide™
- Lewis, C. S. The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses. 2001. San Francisco, CA: Harper Collins, p. 46.