Some years ago in another church a party was given to recognize a married couple for their outstanding work in the church’s youth program. Let me tell you about this couple. I will call them Betty and Bill. They had very different personalities.

Betty was vivacious, out-going, gregarious, affectionate... a hugger. If you gave her a “bow ribbon,” she would jump up and down and squeal with delight and then run around and hug and kiss everybody in the room.

Bill, on the other hand, was the opposite. He was quiet, reserved, shy, stable, balanced. If you gave him a Mercedes and a trip to Hawaii, all he could do is say a quiet and sincere “Thank you.”

Now, on this particular night Betty and Bill were given a surprise party. The young people jumped out from their hiding places, shouted “Surprise!” and then gave Betty and Bill a present. It was a beautiful plaque.

Do you know what Betty did? She read the plaque out loud. She squealed with delight. She cried. She jumped up and down and then ran around the room hugging and kissing everybody in sight. Meanwhile, Bill waited… and when she was through he said quietly: “I want to thank you also!”

But that is not the end of the story. Betty turned on Bill. She got mad at him… and she made a scene:

“Look at you Bill. You don’t appreciate anything. If you did, you would act like it. You would do like I do!”

But, you see Bill can’t act that way. He just isn’t made that way. He is not wired up like Betty is. He can’t act like her, can’t respond that way. If he did, it would be fake, artificial, embarrassing.

You want to say: “Betty, Betty, leave him alone. Don’t force your way on him. Let him do it his way. Let him be Bill!” Now, I have to tell you hugs and kisses are great, but I also know that Bill’s quiet “thank you” is just as real, just as genuine, just as valid.

In this episode with Mary and Martha, Jesus is saying, beware of the dangerous attitude of narrowness. It can devastate your soul.