WORSHIP 83 



Bethany. You will remember how Martha was fussing 

 about preparing a sumptuous supper for her Lord, whilst 

 Mary sat still at His feet, enjoying His society. And 

 at last Martha's temper gets the better of her, and she 

 comes to Jesus with the question, *' Lord, carest Thou 

 not that my sister hath left me to serve alone ? *' Whereon 

 our Lord answered, and I can imagine that there was a 

 kindly twinkle in His eye, '' Martha, Martha, thou art 

 careful and troubled about many things* But little 

 is needed, and Mary hath chosen the good part, which 

 shall not be taken away from her/* 



But little is needed. I often wish that the translation 

 which we find in the margin of our Revised Version had 

 been incorporated in the text, for as it stands at present, 

 the whole point of the story is lost. You see that Jesus 

 loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. He had not 

 come there to be made a fuss of, but to enjoy in quietness 

 the sweet intercourse of His friends ; and although two 

 thousand years have passed away since He visited that 

 quiet home in Bethany, His Nature has not changed. His 

 tastes are still as simple as ever they were, and still He 

 says to the Ritualist : ** Martha, Martha, thou art careful 

 and troubled about many things. But why all this fuss ? 

 Why all these elaborate preparations ? But little is 

 needed, and Mary hath chosen the good part which shall 

 not be taken away from her.'* 



Then again, another tendency is creeping into the 

 Churches which seems to me to be far more deplorable, 

 because it is more demoralising, than Ritualism. One 

 has only to glance at our hoardings to see that the feverish 

 desire for entertainment, which is such a striking 

 characteristic of our civic life, is creeping into our places 

 of worship, and is greatly modifying the character of 

 their services. Ministers of all denominations are 

 vying with each other in their attempts to find sensational 

 titles for their sermons, whilst their services often partake 



