No, that’s not a typo.  As we blast through these final days before “The Day,” I think we can learn something important from Mary, Martha’s sister.

In Luke’s gospel, Jesus heads into Bethany to preach, and is invited by Martha to stay at her house.  As you can read in the account (which you can read here), we find Martha in full hostess mode.  We can imagine her sweeping and cooking and decorating and trying to keep up with the constant flow of visitors who have come to see Jesus.  It sounds a whole lot like our normal pre-Christmas crush, with gifts to buy and decorations to hang and visitors to entertain, all hustle and bustle.

Martha is doing a good thing!  She is taking care of things that are necessary to make Jesus’ time in her home comfortable and welcoming.  She is making sure all the details are covered so Jesus, his disciples, and the other visitors don’t have to.  To her credit, she only has a minor complaint about Mary, her sister and roommate, who, by all rights, should be helping with the hosting.  She asks Jesus for his help to get help for herself to keep things running ship-shape.  It’s not a bad request.

Jesus offers her help, but it’s not what she expects.  Instead of mustering even more activity, he offers her what she really needs – encouragement to take a moment to stop, rest, and listen to Jesus.  Mary, Martha’s seemingly lazy sister, is actually doing what Jesus recommends for Martha, too.  She is sitting and listening to Immanuel, God-with-Us.

Listening is a powerful thing.  I think we’ve all heard that active listening is a wonderful display of respect and love.  It’s also more welcoming than a perfectly set table.  In Mary’s case, it comes with an important added benefit – she gets to be close to her Lord and her God for precious moments.  Jesus tells Martha that Mary has chosen “what is better.”  What’s more, she can never lose it, unlike all of the details to which Martha is attending that will be gone with the scraps from the most recent meal.

In these last couple of days before we welcome Jesus into our harried, time-crunched and crowded world again, I’m going to take a page from Mary’s book.  I’m going to sit quietly and listen to Jesus.  In the midst of the dash for gifts and the rush of holiday activities, I’m going to stop, sit, and hear what I most need to hear – the loving, patient, and kind words of my Lord.  Unlike all the ghosts of Christmas past, which have faded and lost their luster, I don’t believe I will lose what I receive when I do.  I invite you to consider doing the same.

I hope that you and those close to you will have a Merry Christmas!  I also wish for you a Mary Christmas.

I share thoughts of a similar sort and more in a sermon I was privileged to share last Sunday, December 19, 2021.  If you are interested, you can hear it here.