Does Our Work Separate Us From God
- Deacon Dan DeLuca
- Oct 4, 2022
- 5 min read
Does our work separate us from God? That is a question that I don’t think we ponder often enough. Work is good for mankind. It is an essential part of his existence as man was called to subdue the earth: to work. Yet work can also become problematic. It can become all consuming. It can pull us away from relationships, most importantly, our relationship with God. We soon forget that man works to live, he does not live to work. The story of Martha and Mary provides us with the perfect opportunity to consider our relationship with work in greater detail.
At the Home of Martha and Mary
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10 : 38-42
Scriptural Analysis
Mary and Martha were sisters who lived in the town of Bethany: some two miles from Jerusalem. It is interesting that Luke places this story here at the start of the journey to Jerusalem when Jesus is presumably still some distance away. This highlights that, at times, Luke orders stories in a logical fashion as opposed to a chronological fashion in his Gospel.
Mary assume the posture of a disciple: sitting at the feet and listening to Jesus. A literal translation of the Greek would be, “listened to his words (logos).”Martha, on the other hand, is concerned with serving her guests. The original Greek indicates the amount of work Martha had to do was an objective fact and not simply an obsession of hers. She wasn’t out to be the best hostess ever. Additionally, Martha is following the example set forth in the Old Testament. We hear how the widow of Zarephath and the woman of Shunem were hospitable to the prophets Elijah and Elisha. However, Martha was so consumed with her work that she wanted to pull Mary away from Jesus, to help her with her tasks. Martha even asks the Lord for help in getting her sister to assist.
Jesus corrects Martha responding in an affectionate way to her repeating her name, “Martha, Martha.” He warns her about being worried and anxious: two states of mind that he over and over tells us to avoid. Now Martha’s worries arrive from a desire to serve Jesus not from worldly pleasures. Nevertheless, she needs correcting and Jesus explains to her why Mary’s behavior is proper. Martha is worried about many things where Mary is focussed on the only thing that matters, Jesus. His phrase, “but few things are needed—or indeed only one” notes that the essential part is to pay attention to the guests: only that is necessary the rest is optional. The aspect that takes priority when Jesus is being welcomed is to listen to him, his message of salvation. This is the better part that Jesus speaks of. The word used here to signify Mary’s choice is agathos which indicates a moral dimension in Mary’s choice: receiving the person of the Prophet who is defined by his words.
Daily Application
The King of kings and Lord of lords was in Martha and Mary’s presence and yet Martha chose to focus on her work: on serving and being a good hostess. As was mentioned earlier, she was not doing this out of a desire to win esteem or make herself look good. She was motivated by a sense of obligation and duty. In other words, she was working for the right reasons. So why did Jesus not take her side and tell Mary to get up and help but rather chose to correct Martha?
The answer to that question lies in what Martha was giving up in order to complete her work. She was sacrificing time at the feet of Jesus: time at the feet of the master. She wasn’t working to live but rather living to work. She lost sight of what was truly important in that moment.
This is easy to do and I would venture that most of us have fallen into this trap at some point in our lives. We have set aside Mass or prayer time to work. Doing this on occasion because of a work obligation is probably not a problem (although we should always do all we can to fulfill our Sunday obligation) but if a pattern emerges then there is likely cause for concern. Work has become an obstacle to your relationship with the Lord: to your spiritual growth. Saint Francis of Assisi, whose feast day we celebrate today, had this rule regarding work for his friars, “The friars who have a trade should work at it, provided that it is no obstacle to their spiritual progress.” Saint Francis recognized the value of work but that value has limits. Once it begins to become an obstacle to continued growth in the spiritual life, then it is no good.
The challenge is recognizing when this happens. Most of us approach work the same way Martha did. We are not after worldly praise and acclaim but rather trying to provide for our families doing something that at least brings us some satisfaction. Because of this, it becomes really easy to sacrifice stuff in the name of these goods. Working to provide for one’s material needs is a good thing. In fact, St Paul tells us we need to do this, “If any one will not work, let him not eat.” (2 Thessalonians 3:10) However, work can become all consuming: especially in America where consumerism rules the day. We must draw a line to know when work has gone from providing for our reasonable material needs to become a stumbling block in the spiritual life.
St. John Cassian provides a great reflection on how the story of Martha and Mary can help us understand this:
To cling always to God and to the things of God, this must be our major effort, this must be the road that the heart follows unswervingly. Any diversion, however impressive, must be regarded as secondary, low-grade and certainly dangerous. Martha and Mary provide a most beautiful scriptural paradigm of this outlook and of this mode of activity. St. John Cassian : Conferences
The things of God must be our major effort. Martha’s major effort was service. What are our major efforts? Are they focussed on God or this world? Are our major efforts helping us grow in our spiritual life? As you consider that, invite God in to that reflection and ask him to show you how you prioritize work in your life. Ask God to help you know if your work separates you from him.
Comments