Martha and Mary help us to see the dangers of busyness; of listening to ourselves, with the focus on what we do; and the delights and progress we can make in our discipleship when we listen to Jesus; abiding in him; in his love and in his teaching, with the focus on who we are in him.

It was out of eagerness to prepare an elaborate meal that Martha began to worry and became distracted. The Greek means "she allowed her attention to wander". It implies that Martha had started out sitting at Jesus' feet, but found she could not listen and think about meal preparations at the same time. Her desire to provide a feast for her Master overcame her desire to stay with him and listen to him. This is not to criticise her personally, but to understand the dangers.

Martha made a choice (to slip away from listening to Jesus) based on:

• Her priorities: serving rather than learning and enjoying Jesus' presence; doing rather than being; pursuing her own agenda

• Her opportunities: a chance to perform well and to be appreciated

• Her spiritual (religious) convictions: serving is more important than abiding

 What were the results of her pursuing her own agenda?

• It strengthened her conviction that she was right when she was wrong

• It diminished her real love and genuine respect for Jesus: "I am doing all the work while my sister 'just sits here'."

• It caused her to resent and judge others: "She's lazy!"

• It caused her to resent and judge Jesus: "Doesn't it seem unfair to you, surely it must?"

• It caused her to attempt to manipulate and control Jesus himself: "Tell her to help me!"

• It led to disharmony with both her sister and with her Lord.

All these things can happen to us if we are not careful; if we neglect to sit at Jesus' feet and cease to listen to his teaching.

And what is the heart of Jesus' teaching? That we are called to be like him and that he was just like the Father: full of grace (unmerited favour, kindness and unconditional love) and truth (reality, without falsehood, Jesus himself, reliability, demanding its presence in our "inward parts" and in our actions as something we do).

And what is Jesus' own heart like? "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light" (Mt 11:28-30).

 The transfiguration story teaches us that listening to Jesus and obeying him is the most important thing. Together, Moses (the great Law-giver) and Elijah (representing the Prophets), point to the fulfilment of all that the Old Testament foreshadowed, and they talked with Jesus about his coming death. After the Father declared: "This is my Son, my Chosen One, listen to him" only Jesus remained. We are no longer under the Law; we are under grace. We no longer need to dwell in the shadows of revelation; we have the reality in Jesus. We are to listen to Him and interpret all the Old Testament revelation in the light of his teaching and that of the rest of the New Testament.