Sole Food

by Deb Wiles

I’m a person who has a life commandment that is this: “You gotta make hay while the sun shines!” I was raised on a farm and was taught the value of good, honest hard work…not only at home and on the farm, but also in school and in any endeavor I undertake. My life has been one of busy productivity from teaching to coaching, from preaching to counseling, from gardening to canning, from preparing weekly messages to wiping away tears. (Did you notice that I didn’t mention housework?) I am up at dawn with my rooster Pittsburgh, and go to bed with the sunset or shortly thereafter…..when I can! I know that every woman is different, but I am one of those people who, when the alarm goes off, I hit the floor running. I am not usually a “snooze alarm” type person!

I have a tendency to make a life where almost every minute counts while the sun is up! BUT every once in a while, an incident with 13 hp and a 3.5 hp machines reminds me that I am not really in control of my life or my time!

Early last spring when the mowing season was just getting started, it was time to mow our yard. Now our yard is quite large. With trimming and everything, it takes about 3 to 4 hours to do and that’s using a zero-turning radius mower. One of my quirks, I guess you could say, is that when it’s time to mow, it’s time to mow! And if I’m the one doing the mowing, I usually have just a small window of opportunity to git ‘er done!

Well, on this particular day, I cranked up the Dixon (after having about $700.00 worth of repairs done on it, mind you), and headed out to mow. I wasn’t 20 minutes into the job when that mower threw a chain, and I was done with it for the day.

OK, so what do I do? Head back to the garage and pull out the trusty back-up push mower. Sure, it’ll take twice as long to do the yard, but I have a plan! I will only mow the essentials (you know, the yard around the house and ignore the yard across the road and in the “back 40”! Come on, you’ve all done it!!) It’s kind of like closing the bedroom doors and cleaning the essentials when someone is coming over on short notice!

I pushed the mower to where I needed to begin mowing, and I primed the pump and pulled the rip cord. And pulled the rip cord. And pulled the rip cord. And pulled the rip cord. You know where this is going! And if anything is a pet peeve of mine, it’s a mower that won’t start! Remember I gotta make hay while the sun shines (and this was literal this particular day as there was a decent chance of rain later on).

I am usually not one to go “over the top” when I get frustrated, but this day….well, let’s just say I got to the point where I shed some angry tears. Ever been there? We ALL have! I was ready to kick that mower through the goalposts of life!

What is interesting is this: This incident occurred not a few days after I was asked to bring you the message this week on our passage from Luke 10. In the midst of my rant over a 3.5 hp machine, this little voice spoke to my spirit, “You need to rest at the feet of Jesus.” Boy, was I humbled and then thought what a great illustration this incident with the mowers would be for this message: “Sole Food.” Therefore, I have concluded that God made the mowers not work, so I could have a good illustration!!

Well, I do have to tell you that after calming down, I called a good friend of my husband and me and asked to borrow his mower. He told me it would be no problem, so I hopped in the truck and got his mower to finish out the yard.

Let’s read verses 39-42 from the KJV version.
39And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. 40But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me. 41And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: 42But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

I see Martha in our key passage as a “hit the floor running” type of person. I believe she was a “make hay while the sun shines” type of person. She was a woman of excellence, no doubt, but HER standards of excellence sometimes got in the way of her fellowship with THE standard of excellence, Jesus Christ. No doubt, Martha had very good intentions in the care of her home and in preparing a meal fit for a King. Just like I had an agenda with the mowing, Martha had an agenda with her fabulous preparations for the King of kings.

However, we have to be reminded from time to time that sometimes it’s OK if we don’t always “make hay while the sun shines.” We have to regularly stop hitting the floor running and take in the “Sole Food” of Jesus Christ.

So, as you can see, I tend to be more of a Martha-type of person. How about you? Are you more Martha or more Mary?

I want to look at four important points in verse 42 in this message.

“But one thing is NEEDFUL. . .”

I like the way the KJV uses the word “needful.” It’s interesting that the Greek root of this word means “employment.” It also intimates a requirement or a demand. “One thing is needful.” “One thing is a requirement.” In essence, Jesus is saying that sitting at His feet is our “occupation.” if you will. Everything else we do is just an offshoot of such a relationship!

I would like to take the liberty to bring in another account in scripture at this point of an interaction Jesus had with another woman to further flesh out this concept of “needful.”
A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." 29Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. 30At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?" 31"You see the people crowding against you," his disciples answered, "and yet you can ask, 'Who touched me?' " 32But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering." (Mark 5:24-34)
We can take this bleeding literally, and I think that is the situation we have here. This woman had a physical ailment that no amount of doctoring could cure. She sacrificed everything she had, yet instead of getting better, she actually grew worse! For her, it became NEEDFUL that she touch Jesus’ garment. It became her sole focus requirement in life at that point.
Now, let’s take this “bleeding” to a different level. How many times do we as Christians “bleed” ourselves to death in our work and pursuits, even if they seem to be worthwhile pursuits? How many of us get stressed out in the business of our lives and turn to the world’s methods of handling such stress. Like the woman with the issue of blood who consulted doctor after doctor, we seek worldly remedies for our stress-filled lives and neglect the true Stress-reliever, Jesus Christ. Martha was doing that. And she “bled” out her frustration at Mary to Jesus. For how many of us, is sitting at Jesus’ feet to absorb true “Sole Food” the last thing on our “to do” list?

Once she heard about Jesus, this woman with the issue of blood, by faith just knew that if she only touched the hem of his garment, she would be healed. She saw touching Him as a necessity as soon as she heard of Him. She made the conscious, active choice to do whatever it took to touch his garment even in the midst of the crushing mob. I think for those of us who have been in the faith for years, we sometimes lose that urgency of even touching, let alone soaking in the “Sole Food” of Christ. Gradually and gradually, the irons we have in the fire accumulate, and the “flames” drive the solace we can have in Christ further away.
We can choose to “bleed” out our lives in busyness and frustration, or we can choose the necessity of sitting at Jesus’ feet, that needful balance in our life. Mary recognized what was needful at that point. She recognized her true occupation in life.

“. . .Mary hath CHOSEN

Once Mary recognized the NEEDFUL choice, she made a choice. You know, we all have a million choices each day. ‘Tis true! Mary chose the “Sole Food” of Christ rather than the worldly food of busyness on this day. Now we can’t fault Martha totally for the choice she made in making preparations for feasting with Jesus, but in her preparations she lost sight of the One whom she was serving. In a way, we can see this as Martha’s way of showing her love to her Lord, kinda like a cat proudly bringing you a mouse to drop at your feet! Her service is her expression of her love for Christ. However, Mary chose partaking over preparation, sitting over serving, and soaking in over scrubbing up.

Let me ask you this: Have you ever in the midst of a busy day, suddenly glance at your Bible and the fleeting thought comes in that says (or rather hollers), “HEY! Stop for a moment! Pick me up, take your shoes off, sit a spell. You’all come back now, you hear?” (Oh, sorry… wrong program!). Seriously, does that inclination ever cross your path, BUT you zoom on past and the thought is left like a feather fluttering in the wind?

How often do those of us involved in ministry or other worthwhile godly pursuits not choose Christ when given the option of settling in at His feet for “Sole Food” or adding yet another “iron to our fires?”

Frankly, we do live in a world and in a church world for that matter that has a tendency to place value on busyness, to place value on our myriad of activities. How often has someone remarked to you, “Wow! I don’t know how you do it all! I so admire your way of juggling your schedule and fitting everything in!”

Come on….all of us have heard this at one time or another, right? And, be honest, sometimes your head swells just a little bit when someone commends you for your great juggling act, right? However, are there also those times when you think to yourself at such compliments, “Thanks, but I’m downright tired of JUGGLING! Could you take a couple of the balls from me?” And for some of us, do we REALLY want someone else juggling a few of our balls because we have taken such ownership in them, that some of us think only I am the only one who can do the job the way it needs to be done?

So are we really CHOOSING what is needful? Are we prayerfully choosing to turn down or set aside another “iron” so that we have the time to soak in the “Sole Food” of Jesus Christ? Have we learned to be choosy about our choices and saying “no” when we need to say “no”?

“. . .that GOOD part. . .”

The adjective “that” points to something specifically. It does not intimate the same thing as “a” which would connote more than one good part. "The good part," or "portion," is Jesus Christ Himself, who is the sum and substance of the word Mary heard, and is our Eternal Life and Salvation. Because of the specificity in the KJV, I like the KJV rendering better than the NIV (Mary has chosen what is better,).

Jesus is “THAT GOOD PART.” He is THE good part that Mary chose. Do we always choose THAT good part, namely Jesus Christ Himself? Do we find our value and worth in our busyness, rather than choosing THAT good part in whom we find our true worth? Do we recognize movements and identities in Christianity that are false “good parts” and only compete with THE Good Part? Sadly, many in the Church today are embracing movements and identities that subtly lure their focus away from the ONE and ONLY Good Part. But that’s another message!

Was what Martha doing necessarily bad? Not really. But had she chosen THAT GOOD PART and not freaked out about getting stuff done, her day would have no doubt gone much smoother, and maybe they could have called Pizza Hut for take out!

If you are fulfilling a call in ministry that just trips your trigger, we need to remember that our ministry is not THE Good Part, the Author and Sustainer of that ministry IS. Choosing THAT Good Part is our ultimate ministry, ultimate occupation. May we never forget this truth!

“. . .which shall NOT BE TAKEN AWAY. . .”

Now in this fourth point, we find a great promise: Mary chose THAT GOOD PART, and Jesus was not going to disappoint her AND He was not going to let anyone else interfere with the sweet fellowship between Him and Mary, not even her “make hay while the sun shines” sister Martha! Jesus said, “Martha, Martha…” a term of endearment and love for her. In fact, I can see Jesus gently grasping her hand and saying, “Martha, Martha, please understand and don’t spoil this precious, precious time for Mary. In fact, why don’t you come and join her? We can eat later or call for takeout!”

This GOOD PART was not going to be denied Mary. One way or the other, she was going to continue feasting on the “Sole Food” of Christ.

You see, when we choose the GOOD PART, we will NEVER be disappointed! God flat will not allow it! As leaders and women in ministry, we are doers! And we do what we do to the best of our God-given abilities! And what a marvelous privilege it is to serve the Lord Jesus Christ!

What a privilege it was for Martha for Christ to grace her dinner table. And it really was a privilege for her to serve Him. However, what an even greater privilege it was for Christ to invite Mary (and Martha) to sit at His feet and soak Him all in. My contention? We don’t do enough sittin’ at Jesus’ feet and soakin’ it all in! In fact, if the body of Christ did more SOAKIN’ first rather than SERVIN’ first, I believe our individual lives and our churches would be a whole lot healthier!

So….

Are you CHOOSING what is NEEDFUL on a consistent basis? After all, that is your TRUE occupation!
Do you embrace Jesus Christ as THE GOOD PART in life, recognizing that there are many movements and identities in the Church today that seem to align themselves side-by-side with Christ as an equal, and that just ain’t right? John the Baptist made the telling statement, “He must increase; I must decrease.” Do we have the same mindset? Our ministries are an OFFSHOOT of imbibing in THE GOOD PART; they do not replace Him nor are they the good part nor do they take on a greater prominence.
Do you know that Jesus will NOT EVER TAKE AWAY your privilege of soaking in His Sole Food if you earnestly seek Him?

You know, as I have visited with men and women over the past several months, I find many of them are hurting from various issues, are lonely, are confused about what the Lord wants them to do with their lives, and the like. My thought is that among this group of women here, the case is probably not all that much different. Sometimes we don’t want others to know that we are struggling. “I’m a woman in ministry or leadership,” we say. “I’m not supposed to struggle!” Well, be honest. WE DO! While working with others, I work at gently and lovingly gearing those who are struggling to the feet of Christ…to become more like Mary and soaking in His word and life. Like the woman with the issue of blood who recognized that Jesus was all she needed to be healed and Mary who recognized that the “Sole Food” of Jesus was more important at that point than ministry, may we also make sure we have our priorities in line as well.

So, you “Make hay while the sun shines” ladies, as we make the concerted choice to ingest the “Sole Food” of Jesus Christ, just remember the “hay” will still get baled.

Deb Wiles is pastor of the Rockpoint Church (BIC) in Abilene, Kansas.

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