pramsay posted on March 15, 2007 05:54 1550 views
Are You Good At Climbing Miff Trees?

When did you last climb a tree? I remember it was easier climbing up than coming down. Have you ever climbed a miff-tree? They’re more difficult than maples and oaks. It doesn’t take much effort to go up but it sure requires a lot of intestinal fortitude to get down. Miff tree climbers have to swallow hard before they begin the descent; but when they hit the ground there’s such relief. Miff tree photos are scarce but portraits of the climbers are plentiful. Pouting and sulking faces. Scowls. The hurt look. Tight facial muscles.

Martha and Mary were busy preparing a meal for the Lord. Mary left the kitchen to sit at Jesus’ feet to enjoy the richness of His presence. But Martha was frantically working. The broccoli could NOT be mushy. Napkins had to be folded. Cutlery had to be polished. And the pots should be washed and put away before they eat. Martha was scurrying around while her sister was crouched at His feet doing nothing!

“I do everything around here! Everybody thinks she’s so great. Doesn’t anybody see the work I do? Not even the Master cares about my work. Mary gets all the attention!” Martha storms into the room and you can almost see her with her hands on her hips and her feet firmly planted on the floor: ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister left me in the kitchen alone to get all this meal ready? Tell her to get up off the floor and to make herself useful!

Jesus then very gently but firmly rebuked Martha: “Martha, Martha thou art careful and troubled about many things; but one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42) The episode ends there so we’re left wondering how Martha reacted to the rebuke. Was she miffed?

Later on, Jesus and his disciples gather for another meal. There’s quite a crowd of them waiting to be fed. Where’s that Martha? Was she hiding upstairs with the door closed, sitting on her hands on the bed swinging her legs with that pouty look, muttering to herself: “No one appreciates me. Their stomachs can growl and howl for food, but I’m not budging. I’ll make them get on their hands and knees and kiss my toes and beg me to come down and get them some food.”

Do you think Martha was perched up in the branches of the miff tree and had to be coaxed down? Not at all! The Lord and the disciples had gathered for a meal and John recorded this absolutely beautiful stand alone phrase:

“And Martha served.”
John 12:2

John later said that if everything was written that should be written he supposed not even the world could contain all the books.(John 21:25) If that’s the case and if space was so valuable and some things were left out, why was it so important to make room for these three words: “And Martha served?” Because serving others is important to the Lord. In the very next chapter, John 13, we see Jesus kneeling to wash the grimy feet of the disciples and to wipe them with a towel. He was teaching them how they should treat and serve each other.

But I think there’s another reason why the “And Martha served” phrase is so important. It’s the rest of the story. Without those three words we might have concluded that Martha was miffed and had never extricated herself from the miff tree. That one phrase let’s us know that she took the rebuke and the next time was found happily serving the Lord again in the kitchen.

If you’re up the miff tree, swallow hard, make haste and come down quickly. You’ll never, never, never, never be happy or useful again until you climb down.

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