What does your ‘To Do’ list for today look like?

Ever drawn up a ‘To Do’ list before?

Sure you have and therefore you also know the frustration of jotting down all the important things you need to do and then trying to prioritise them, say from 1 to 100.

We seem to have so much to do every day that it is no wonder people have come up with the most elaborate systems, with colour-coding and the like. The problem is (as you have no doubt discovered) that most everything on your list is important and needs to get done rather sooner than later. Too often many of the items need to be placed simultaneously in the number one priority spot. Like my brother has told me before, “Which is more important, buying food for the cat or finishing that report for work? The truth is they are both important. Don’t buy food and your favourite cat dies. Don’t finish the report and you get fired.” The point is that there is a lot of stuff and things and deadlines going on daily in our lives that need to get done or need our urgent attention. Just trying to decide what to do first can create more stress and anxiety in our already busy, stressful lives.

There is a wonderful short story about ‘To Do’ lists in the Bible. Most of us know the story well but have probably never thought of it quite along these lines. Interestingly, the only gospel writer who mentions it is Luke. Maybe he was a very busy guy and Jesus’ message about prioritising struck a chord with him.

The story is found in Luke 10:38-42 and starts off with Martha inviting Jesus to her home for a meal (This is not the same event at which Mary anoints his feet). Jesus is always keen to go where invited and therefore, gladly accepts the invitation. Martha is completely consumed with running to and fro, preparing food and serving all the guests. She therefore gets upset with her sister Mary who is not helping her, but sitting at Jesus’ feet listening intently to him. In Martha’s mind Mary wasn’t really doing anything important, but just sitting around with Jesus. You can just imagine Martha’s ‘To Do’ list for the day. “Okay, first I need to get the main course on the go, then while that is cooking I’ll set the table and yes, I mustn’t forget to put some nice flowers on the table. Oh, I hope I haven’t forgotten anything important. The guests are here already and where’s that sister of mine, I need her help.”

Getting out of the kitchen

It is interesting that Martha is the one who invites Jesus into her home, but then gets distracted with other things. These ‘things’ are not necessarily unimportant. Let’s be honest, we do the same don’t we? We invite Jesus into our lives and then after a short time tend to get distracted and worried ‘about many things’. We all need to get out of the kitchen (or the office or the workshop) for a while and sit at the feet of Jesus and we need to do this on a daily basis. This is more important than anything else in our lives. This time with Jesus has to be number one on our daily ‘To Do’ list. I always tease friends of mine who go away on holiday for a few days and then keep on mentioning how much work there is to do at the office. “Don’t worry,” I tell them, “the work isn’t going anywhere. It will still be there on your desk waiting for you when you get back”.

Notice that in the story recorded by Luke, Jesus rebukes Martha gently. He doesn’t say that what she is doing is not important, or that it does not need doing. On the contrary, preparing food and eating is important, isn’t it? However, he does say that there are more important things in this life that we have need of. The wording Jesus chooses to use has a culinary context and plays on the fact that Martha is busy cooking and preparing food. Jesus actually says that Mary has chosen the best portion of the food on offer.

At the top of the list

Martha asks (in fact makes a dogmatic statement) if Jesus does not care that Mary has left her to serve alone. Obviously Jesus always cares. Secondly the word ‘left’ can also be translated ‘abandoned’. In Mathew 10:37-39 Jesus talks about us forsaking or abandoning everything, even family, to follow him. In the end this is what Mary has done. She even ‘abandoned’ her sister to be with Jesus. We cannot serve Jesus in name only.

It is just a few days before Jesus is crucified. Once again a supper is prepared for Jesus and once again Martha is serving (John 12:1-8). This time we don’t hear Martha complaining or being rebuked either. Someone had to make the dinner and hospitality seemed to be one of Martha’s real loves and talents. This time however, we can imagine her regularly stopping in on the guests and listening to Jesus and feasting on his rich, delicious teachings.

So the next time you sit down to draw up a ‘To Do’ list, make sure that spending time at the feet of Jesus is at the top and many of the other priorities will fall naturally into place. A famous Christian (I think it was Martin Luther) once said something along the lines of, “I have so much to do today that I will have to spend an extra hour on my knees in prayer.”