What is the right way to cure hiccoughs? (Yes, hiccoughs. You know, hiccups.) Answers abound: A spoonful of granulated sugar, drinking a glass of water upside down, holding your breath, rubbing your throat. Do nothing and simply wait a few minutes. Then there’s curing someone’s hiccoughs by startling them. I can confirm that this works, although the person I cured stopped hanging around with me shortly thereafter. My preferred method is to press on the base of my throat, in the squishy hollow just above the collarbone, and swallow a few gulps of water.
Which is the right way? That depends, of course. The way that works for you might not work for someone else. There isn’t really a right way; there are many good techniques (and probably some bad ones, too). So when your friend gets the hiccoughs, you might offer a few suggestions, but you never really know what’s going to work best.
In Luke 10 we get a story of two sisters who each have their own way of fellowshipping with Jesus. Martha busies herself preparing a meal, while Mary sits at the feet of the rabbi to listen to his teaching. Eventually, Martha complains about Mary not helping. Who can blame her? When the Messiah pops in for dinner, you don’t make him starve—you make dinner. Martha is simply fulfilling her responsibilities as a good hostess. There is a lot of work to do: cleaning the fish, rolling the dough, mixing the sauce, heating the oven, setting the table, lighting candles, pouring the wine, filling the salt cellar . . . and through all of it, Mary sits chatting with Jesus, completely ignoring her duties. Martha, understanding the need for hospitality, does everything herself. But it isn’t fair that Mary just sits and chats.
Jesus, rather than suggesting that Mary lend a helping hand, rebukes Martha.
Should Martha have been also sitting at Jesus’ feet? Would the dinner just magically appear? Would the house clean itself through the mighty faith of Martha? If we read too quickly, we might think that Jesus is rebuking Martha for choosing hospitality over conversation. But Jesus didn’t say that. Read carefully:
“Martha, Martha, 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.”
Jesus does not say that Martha’s choice of hospitality was wrong—only that Mary’s choice of conversation was right. His rebuke is not directed at Martha’s actions, but at her anxiety. Jesus does not call Martha into the parlor and tell her she should stop working so hard; rather, he responds to her complaint that Mary was not working hard enough. He adds an enigmatic observation that “few things are needed—or indeed only one.”
What was the One Thing? Ooooh, wouldn’t we like to know the One Thing that is needed. We could just do that One Thing, and life would be perfect. Apparently Mary was doing the One Thing; she was sitting at Jesus’ feet, listening. But Jesus still does not tell Martha to sit. So perhaps the One Thing for Martha isn’t the same as the One Thing for Mary.
Jesus rebuked Martha for demanding that Mary welcome their guest in Martha’s way. Mary was doing it her own way. The One Thing that was important for Mary, at that moment, was being with Jesus exactly as she was. Mary didn’t tidy up first, or fix her hair, or put on makeup; she just sat down with her Lord. That wasn’t what Martha needed. Martha needed a different One Thing, and Jesus didn’t tell her what it was because she already knew.
Martha wanted to welcome Jesus into her home. She then got so caught up in preparing her home to welcome Jesus, she forgot to welcome Jesus. Rather than focusing on her own relationship with Jesus, the One Thing that she needed, she became frustrated that Mary did not share her anxiety about the home.
Each of us needs One Thing: a relationship with Jesus. How we go about that is different for every person. We need not concern ourselves with how someone else is welcoming Jesus into their lives; we can focus on our own walk with God.
Peter Cress works for an electrical distribution equipment manufacturer in Ontario. He also writes blog posts, enacts VBS stories, and leads conversations in Journey Sabbath School.