W.E. Sangster relates the following story:
A frightened woman on the Titanic found her place in the life boat that was about to be dropped into the freezing North Atlantic. She thought suddenly of something she needed in light of death that was breathing down her neck. She asked for permission to go to her stateroom. She was granted just a moment or so, or they would have to leave without her.
She ran across the deck that was already slanted at a dangerous angle. She ran through the gambling room that had money pushed aside in one corner, ankle deep. She came to her stateroom and pushed aside her jewerly and reached above her bed and got three small oranges and found her was back to the lifeboat and got in.
Death had boarded the Titanic. One blast of its awful breath had transformed all values. Instantaneously, priceless things had become worthless. Worthless things had become priceless. And in that moment she preferred three small oranges to a crate of diamonds. (Quoted in Swindoll, Charles R., The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, Word 1998, p. 469)
Perhaps several of you have been in such a place before? When I was nine years old, a friend of mine and I fell into a deep, fast moving irrigation ditch with smooth, cement sides. We couldn't get out and were being carried along. At that point, all that mattered to me was a ladder. And, sure enough, we floated around bend in the canal and the engineneers had place a rebar ladder in the cement. Although I wasn't a believer at the time, I was a praying boy and God answered my prayers.
Fortunately, life and death situations, which tend organize our priorities very quickly, don't occur every day. Unfortunately, in our everyday existence, we don't tend to organize our priorities and we just sort of float through life and deal with whatever comes upon us. I think that one of Satan's chief goals is to keep us from thinking too deeply about the great existential questions of meaning and life. But God, in His sovereign good pleasure, has clearly directed us to ask these questions and find the answer in Him. God tells us that we were created by Him and exist for Him, to worship Him and bring glory to Him. And this occurs as we know and devotedly love Jesus Christ.
In the account before us today, we have a clear lesson from the the Lord Jesus about what is truly important. And, praise be to the Lord, the context is not a life or death situation. Rather it is a situation in which each one of us will find ourselves continually. The context is the daily outworkings of home life and hospitality. And it includes, very clearly, the priority of godly devotion over godly service. So, from this account in Luke 10:38-42, let us learn...
Because our ability to glorify the Lord and serve Him well is absolutely dependent on our close relationship to Him, we must prioritize loving devotion to Christ over everything else.
Message: Three aspects of pursuing the one needful thing:
1. The Opportunity ~ vv. 38-39
Luke 10:38-39 ~ Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word.
Please note, first of all, the opportunity that is presented to Martha and Mary in the coming of Jesus to their home. As we look at this passage, we can know that, even if we don't have a previous account in the gospels, that Martha and Mary knew the Lord on a personal basis and were committed followers of Him. The most amazing account that we have is in John 11, where Martha and Mary's brother, Lazarus, is raised from the dead. Following that account, in John 12, Mary anoints Jesus' body for burial with very expensive perfume. So although we don't have explicit details on the time of this event, we can observe that Martha and Mary love the Lord Jesus, are blessed by His coming to their home and understand Who He is. In verse 39, we observe Mary taking the place of a disciple and sitting at Jesus' feet to learn from Him.
But again, focus on the opportunity presented here. Jesus is traveling to Jerusalem towards the end of His three-year ministry, and His destination is the cross. As Luke presents this “travelogue” section, teaching, parable and confrontation with the religious leaders are the primary aspects of this time before the Triumphal entry. As Jesus and His disciples are traveling, He decides to stop in this town, Bethany (John 11), a few miles east and a bit south of Jerusalem. And He is coming into the home of Martha and Mary. What an incredible opportunity. The Savior of the world, God incarnate, is coming to their home! And He isn't simply coming to put His feet up for a few hours, get some rest and a good meal. That would have been a legitimate thing to do. There is some thinking here that Jesus and the disciples have recently been taking on the religious hypocrites for an extended period and that the reason He comes to this house is to get away from these guys for a while. He would have been justified in saying, “Guys, lets just take a rest for a while.”
But this is not what the Lord does. He comes into this welcoming home, gathers His disciples around Him, and begins to teach some more. The content of what He is speaking and teaching is unknown. But clearly His priority is to equip the disciples through His Word. Resting and eating is not on the Lord's mind. Mary, thinking rightly, plops down in front of Him and starts taking in the Word. The opportunity to learn is presented to Mary and Martha and Mary takes full advantage of it.
One of the consistent points I've tried to make for myself and for you is how much more privileged we are in this day than Mary and Martha, as well as the others were, in that day. Jesus was not omnipresent at that time. Although the Old Testament was complete, copies of it were not found in people's homes, but rather in the local synagogue. The New Testament hadn't even been conceived in the author's minds at this point. So the fact that Jesus comes into the home of Martha and Mary and, not only that, He teaches, was absolutely unique and amazing.
But today, you and I have the completed text. As we even look at these five verses, we get to see the end and point of it all. We get to see Martha's lesser choice and Mary's excellent choice and learn from them on how to best handle ourselves. At any given point of the day, we have access to the completed, holy text. You more than likely have more than one copy of the Word in your home. In this day of technology, some of you may be following along with my message with a Bible application on your I-phone or some other digital device. When we attended the Sola Conference in Texas in February, we were listening to Dr. MacArthur preach during one of the sessions. I was sitting next to a man who had a hand-held device and, it appeared to me, was surfing the net and texting. And I was becoming quite offended by that and rightfully so. To be texting or surfing the net, or doing anything other than listening, while someone is speaking is incredibly disrespectful and rude. If that person happens to be a man preaching the Word of God, the disrespect and rudeness is even worse because that is a sin against the Lord. I was wondering why he even came if this is what he was going to do. But, in my irritation, I glanced over at him and he happened to have the phone tilted in such a way that I could see the screen and, I saw, that I was gravely mistaken. He had Bible app open and was taking notes. And then I realized that, technologically, I live in the Dark-Ages.
Not only do we have the completed Bible readily available at all times, if you are a Christian here this morning, you have the Holy Spirit indwelling you to instruct you and illuminate God's holy Word. In 1 Corinthians 2:12, we find these words, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.” According to the Lord Jesus in John 14, this Holy Spirit didn't indwell believers until after His departure. But when the Holy Spirit does come, He abides with us forever and He is referred to as “the Spirit of truth” (John 14:16-17). Dear friends, do you see the amazing opportunity that we have over and above that opportunity that Martha and Mary had? We'll deal with this as the message progresses, but do you value the opportunity that is given to you as Mary valued her opportunity?
2. The Distractions ~ v. 40
Luke 10:40 ~ But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, 'Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”
Secondly, note that with the opportunity comes distractions. This is the only place in the Bible where this word translated “distracted” is found. It is a passive verb and it can be rendered “draw away”. In the realm of working or serving, it means “overburdened”. Seeing this word this way helps to understand Martha's attitude here. Verse 38 states that Martha welcomed the Lord and his entourage. But in that welcoming, there is a lot of stress. Martha is probably the owner of this home and her, perhaps, younger brother and sister live with her. She may be a widow. But obviously, she is in charge here. And when the Lord shows up, her responsibility as hostess overwhelms her and she automatically goes into frantic cooking and serving mode, so to speak. She feels that she has to provide a wonderful, complete buffet for these folks.
Her attitude is not without biblical precedent. In Genesis 18, we are told that the Lord unexpectedly shows up at Abraham's tent along with two other men, apparently angels. How does Abraham respond to these three visitors? He tells Sarah bake up some bread, he kills the fatted calf and puts all of this, along with fresh butter and milk, in front of them and then stands by and watches them eat. This is what godly people do. In that case, the Lord plus two others show up. In this case, the assumption is that Jesus and at least the 12 disciples have come in. It is quite a situation and Martha becomes very stressed out or overburdened.
But please note here that, contrary to what happened in the case of Abraham in Genesis 18, it seems that the Lord Jesus comes to this house, not so much to be fed as to teach. As I stated earlier, there is some thought that the reason the Lord turned to this house is to remove His disciples from the rough-edged discussions that have been going on with the religious leaders and to perhaps re-hash some of the issues and arguments. During a conference I attended in this area a couple of years ago, a question was raised during the Q/A session that was fairly provocative and resonated with many of the men in the room. Some animated discussion followed. An acquaintance of mine, an elder at another church in the area, had brought along some younger men. That evening, he took them all aside and specifically asked them how they would address the question that was raised and a fruitful, edifying discussion ensued. For a secular example from the world of sports, think about the discussions and planning that goes on during halftime of a sporting event. Adjustments to the game plan are made and incorporated to counter the opponent's strengths and exploit their weaknesses. The Lord Jesus here doesn't seem to be overburdened with Martha's overburdens. Rather, He is intent on equipping and preparing the disciples.
We may think that, if we were in Martha's shoes, we wouldn't do this. If Jesus showed up at the door, I would do what Mary did. There is an easy way to test if this is true. Are you spending consistent, meaningful time in God's Word? Again, as stated above, we have the completed, holy Word of God easily accessible to us. Reading and studying the Word is how Jesus speaks to us today. Applying the Word to our life is how we foster in-depth communion with the Lord. Take a look at John 14:21, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” It is through learning and keeping the Word of the Lord that we demonstrate love for God and He, in turn, will manifest or disclose Himself to us...make His presence felt...as we do so. So, how are you doing in this area?
Now if you are struggling in this area, ask yourself why. Some of you may be in bondage to wicked depravity of some type and that is, understandably, keeping you from serious time in the Word. I have an anonomous quote in one of my older Bibles that says, “This book will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from this book.” If you are involved in wicked sin, it is not surprising that you are not in the Word.
However, are there not some you here today who may not be spending in-depth time in the Word, but you are also not spending in-depth time in sin? Would you say that your time is being taken up by other things? Perhaps even good things? These things may involve work, maintaining the home, meeting a deadline, keeping the kid's activities organized and attended. It may involve even serving in the church. All of these things are legitimate expenditures of your time and effort and are commended by the Lord in other places. But let me say this with confidence before the Lord...if things like these are being elevated above time in the Word and prayer, if your attendance here at the teaching and preaching of the Word is being neglected because of such things, you are just like Martha. You are overburdened with much serving and you need to rethink what you are doing.
One other thought here...when you are intending to spend time in prayer or the Word, often are you not tempted to go and do something else of a legitimate nature? Paying bills, mowing the yard, washing clothes, responding to an email? Again, these are legitimate tasks that need to be done, but not at the expense of time with the Lord. It is with these things that Martha is struggling.
Look at the remainder of verse 40. The text says that Martha “approached” the Lord. This word here is literally “she set upon him”. “Approached” is much too kind. Martha burst in on the Lord. You can see the scene...Martha strides into the room, hands on hips, some sort of food spattered across her face, and she says, “Lord...!” And then she asks a question, “...do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?” Friends, this is not a question, but rather this is a rebuke. This is a question in the same way a wife asks her husband, “You are not really going to wear that outside, are you?” Husbands, you know that is not a question. Martha is not asking a question, she is accusing the Lord of neglect. Secondly, she commands the Lord to tell Mary to help her. So Martha rebukes the Lord and then commands the Lord. That is pretty impressive on her part.
We'll get into Jesus' response here in a moment, but a couple of points to note. God is abundantly aware of your load of work and has even ordained your work. It is His will for you to be a worker and server as you worship Him. But He has also directed you to keep Him first in your life. So ultimately, if you are not prioritizing time in Word, time in prayer, time in fellowship, and your reasoning is that you have too much on your plate, then you, whether you articulate it or not, are rebuking the Lord and telling Him that He has put too much on your plate. I encourage you to really analyze this thinking on your part. Is it that God wants you to be doing all that you are doing at expense of personal in-depth time with Him? Is His word not abundantly clear that seeking Him first and foremost is of chief priority? The text we are looking at clearly answer this question. The Lord corrects Martha here and, if you are one who is “distracted with much serving”, then hear Jesus' correction. And this leads to our last point.
3. The Priority ~ vv. 41-42
Luke 10:41-42 ~ And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
So how does the Lord Jesus respond to this rebuke and command? The Lord would have been right to really get into her face here. But that is not how He deals with His children who, even when they are mis-guided, want to serve Him. He deals with Martha very gentle and lovingly. With the religious hypocrites or with prideful Peter, Jesus will use harsh, directed language. But to Martha and, by extension, all of us who mix up our priorities at times, the Lord deals gently. This is not to say that had Martha continued in her ways that the Lord won't have upped the rebuke, but we don't have an account of that here. His redirects her and gently encourages her to think correctly about priorities.
There are several important aspects of these words. The Lord tells Martha that she is worried and troubled about many things, but only one thing is needed. Within the context of this passage, what is it that Martha is worried over? She is really worried about providing a big feed for everyone and the fact that she feels Mary should be helping her. She is in the kitchen putting together a several course meal and is getting stressed. But note the word play that the Lord incorporates here. He deals with two things. First of all, He is sort of affirming that Martha's concern to provide sustanence. But that rather than providing the feast, why not pull some leftovers out of the mud-cellar and we'll eat that? Jesus and the disciples don't need a feast. Rather, some bread and fish will do.
But in this same sentence about the one needful thing, He declares that “Mary has chosen that good part.” That is a bit of an odd phrase, isn't it? But the point of the rebuke is that there already is a meal being served and that meal is my Word. Mary and Martha had the choice to go and prepare a physical, temporal meal or go and partake of a meal of eternal filling. Martha chose the temporal, Mary chose the eternal. This is comparable to the Lord Jesus' words recorded by John in 6:35, “And Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.'” It is also indicative of God's words in Deuteronomy 8:3 and repeated, in part, by Jesus in Luke 4:4, “So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.” This is the message of this narrative in Luke 10. There is a meal being served here, Martha, and that meal is my Word. It is of far greater importance and need than any temporal meal or concern that you could ever have. Don't worry about the temporal when that which is eternal is available to you.
And dear friends, we have to embrace this message and priority also. We have to understand, in the core of our being, that the primary meal that we consistently need is fellowship and worship of the Lord. That is the meal that fills for eternity. Nothing else in this world comes close. Your job is temporal and will not pass into eternity. Your education is temporal and will not pass into eternity. You will not carry your diploma with you past the grave. Your extra-curricular activites are nothing compared to your closeness and relationship with God. Does it impress you that I was a two-time all-conference linebacker in high school? Let me tell you something...it doesn't impress God either. None of these things are bad in and of themselves, but they must be understood in the hierarchy of value compared to knowing and loving the Lord. In that hierarchy of value, they are way down the list. Does your life reflect this reality?
Jesus says that which Mary has chosen will not be taken from her. Her choice of sitting and learning will be with her and benefit her for eternity. What are you pursuing now that has eternal value? Sometimes that is a hard question to answer and we are right to think deeply upon it. But when you are engaged in the study of the Word for the pursue of loving your Lord better, let me assure that has eternal value. When you are praying to God, seeking His mind and desiring to conform your will to His, that has eternal value. When you are gathered together with a body of believers to sit under the preaching and teaching of the Word and to encourage each other and love each other, that has eternal value. God doesn't restrict us from working and serving and He directs us to it in other places. But clearly He values intimacy with Him far above all of that. Look back at the words of the Lord Jesus to the disciples, in Luke 10:20, upon their return from a very successful time of service and ministry, “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”
Do you prioritize that which God prioritizes?
Conclusion:
As we wrap up this message, here are a couple of points of application to draw from this text:
· You must be intentional in not letting the issues and cares of this world get in the way of the far greater eternal issues of knowing the Lord through study of the word, prayer and consistent fellowship. Arrange your priorities well. Oswald Chambers stated that, “Prayer doesn't fit us for the greater work. Prayer is the greater work.” (Quoted in Case, Andrew, Water of the Word, Andrew Case 2008, p. 222). Although fellowship and communion with the Lord prepares us to live well and effectively in this life, fellowship and communion with the Lord is that for which we were created and is the greatest work you can do, regardless of how it impacts your day to day life. A great example of this occurred just this last week. The father of a family from Texas was laid off from his great job of nearly eighteen years. The company restructured and eliminated his and several other senior positions. He has a possible job opportunity in Greeley. So this week, he emailed me and clearly expressed to me that he is interested in the job, but will not consider moving his family unless they can find a good, healthy church to attend. So he asked me if I knew of any and, praise the Lord, there is a great church in Greeley that I recommended to him. But look at his priority. Finding a good church in which to grow and serve is of far greater importance to him than this job. That is the type of mentality that Jesus is looking for and we would do well to develop it.
· A good way to analyze your priorities is to ask yourself if you are serving the Lord with gladness per Psalm 100. Martha here is serving the Lord, but not with gladness and joy. Although there will be times in this life when circumstances are hard and difficult and you are temporarily weighed down emotionally and spiritual, this should be the exception and not the rule. In Psalm 16, the writer states that in the presence of the Lord is fullness of joy. If you are consistently spending time with the Lord, joy should be the general tenor of your life and your work and service and pursuits, whatever they are, should be marked with joy. If you are overburdened and your service and work is marked by anger and frustration, as in the case of Martha here, you need to re-evaluate what you are doing and why you are doing it. Spurgeon stated that “A man whose Bible is falling apart usually isn't.” If you are spending intimate time with the Lord and pursuing His presence through the spiritual delights of Bible study, prayer, fellowship, etc., then your life should be marked by stability and joy.
· In this text here, Martha castigates Mary for not helping her but rather learning from the Lord. Jesus, in turn, gently corrects Martha and points her to rethink her position here. Are you one who directs and assists your family in the maintainence of correct priorities? Husbands and fathers in particular, are you leading your home in such a way that everyone is directed to be in close relationship with the Lord? You need to set that priority for yourself and then so direct your family in that priority also.
It has been said that getting people to think correctly and then acting on that correct thinking is one of the most difficult tasks to accomplish. Dear friends, strive to think correctly about godly priorities and then so arrange your life. The Savior, Jesus Christ, died and rose again so that we could be forgiven of our sins and then brought into fellowship with God, for which we were created. 1 Peter 3:18 makes this abundantly clear, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,...” Being with God is that for which we were created. It is the greater work. Are you pursuing this today?
Because our ability to glorify the Lord and serve Him well is absolutely dependent on our close relationship to Him, we must prioritize loving devotion to Christ over everything else.
A frightened woman on the Titanic found her place in the life boat that was about to be dropped into the freezing North Atlantic. She thought suddenly of something she needed in light of death that was breathing down her neck. She asked for permission to go to her stateroom. She was granted just a moment or so, or they would have to leave without her.
She ran across the deck that was already slanted at a dangerous angle. She ran through the gambling room that had money pushed aside in one corner, ankle deep. She came to her stateroom and pushed aside her jewerly and reached above her bed and got three small oranges and found her was back to the lifeboat and got in.
Death had boarded the Titanic. One blast of its awful breath had transformed all values. Instantaneously, priceless things had become worthless. Worthless things had become priceless. And in that moment she preferred three small oranges to a crate of diamonds. (Quoted in Swindoll, Charles R., The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, Word 1998, p. 469)
Perhaps several of you have been in such a place before? When I was nine years old, a friend of mine and I fell into a deep, fast moving irrigation ditch with smooth, cement sides. We couldn't get out and were being carried along. At that point, all that mattered to me was a ladder. And, sure enough, we floated around bend in the canal and the engineneers had place a rebar ladder in the cement. Although I wasn't a believer at the time, I was a praying boy and God answered my prayers.
Fortunately, life and death situations, which tend organize our priorities very quickly, don't occur every day. Unfortunately, in our everyday existence, we don't tend to organize our priorities and we just sort of float through life and deal with whatever comes upon us. I think that one of Satan's chief goals is to keep us from thinking too deeply about the great existential questions of meaning and life. But God, in His sovereign good pleasure, has clearly directed us to ask these questions and find the answer in Him. God tells us that we were created by Him and exist for Him, to worship Him and bring glory to Him. And this occurs as we know and devotedly love Jesus Christ.
In the account before us today, we have a clear lesson from the the Lord Jesus about what is truly important. And, praise be to the Lord, the context is not a life or death situation. Rather it is a situation in which each one of us will find ourselves continually. The context is the daily outworkings of home life and hospitality. And it includes, very clearly, the priority of godly devotion over godly service. So, from this account in Luke 10:38-42, let us learn...
Because our ability to glorify the Lord and serve Him well is absolutely dependent on our close relationship to Him, we must prioritize loving devotion to Christ over everything else.
Message: Three aspects of pursuing the one needful thing:
1. The Opportunity ~ vv. 38-39
Luke 10:38-39 ~ Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word.
Please note, first of all, the opportunity that is presented to Martha and Mary in the coming of Jesus to their home. As we look at this passage, we can know that, even if we don't have a previous account in the gospels, that Martha and Mary knew the Lord on a personal basis and were committed followers of Him. The most amazing account that we have is in John 11, where Martha and Mary's brother, Lazarus, is raised from the dead. Following that account, in John 12, Mary anoints Jesus' body for burial with very expensive perfume. So although we don't have explicit details on the time of this event, we can observe that Martha and Mary love the Lord Jesus, are blessed by His coming to their home and understand Who He is. In verse 39, we observe Mary taking the place of a disciple and sitting at Jesus' feet to learn from Him.
But again, focus on the opportunity presented here. Jesus is traveling to Jerusalem towards the end of His three-year ministry, and His destination is the cross. As Luke presents this “travelogue” section, teaching, parable and confrontation with the religious leaders are the primary aspects of this time before the Triumphal entry. As Jesus and His disciples are traveling, He decides to stop in this town, Bethany (John 11), a few miles east and a bit south of Jerusalem. And He is coming into the home of Martha and Mary. What an incredible opportunity. The Savior of the world, God incarnate, is coming to their home! And He isn't simply coming to put His feet up for a few hours, get some rest and a good meal. That would have been a legitimate thing to do. There is some thinking here that Jesus and the disciples have recently been taking on the religious hypocrites for an extended period and that the reason He comes to this house is to get away from these guys for a while. He would have been justified in saying, “Guys, lets just take a rest for a while.”
But this is not what the Lord does. He comes into this welcoming home, gathers His disciples around Him, and begins to teach some more. The content of what He is speaking and teaching is unknown. But clearly His priority is to equip the disciples through His Word. Resting and eating is not on the Lord's mind. Mary, thinking rightly, plops down in front of Him and starts taking in the Word. The opportunity to learn is presented to Mary and Martha and Mary takes full advantage of it.
One of the consistent points I've tried to make for myself and for you is how much more privileged we are in this day than Mary and Martha, as well as the others were, in that day. Jesus was not omnipresent at that time. Although the Old Testament was complete, copies of it were not found in people's homes, but rather in the local synagogue. The New Testament hadn't even been conceived in the author's minds at this point. So the fact that Jesus comes into the home of Martha and Mary and, not only that, He teaches, was absolutely unique and amazing.
But today, you and I have the completed text. As we even look at these five verses, we get to see the end and point of it all. We get to see Martha's lesser choice and Mary's excellent choice and learn from them on how to best handle ourselves. At any given point of the day, we have access to the completed, holy text. You more than likely have more than one copy of the Word in your home. In this day of technology, some of you may be following along with my message with a Bible application on your I-phone or some other digital device. When we attended the Sola Conference in Texas in February, we were listening to Dr. MacArthur preach during one of the sessions. I was sitting next to a man who had a hand-held device and, it appeared to me, was surfing the net and texting. And I was becoming quite offended by that and rightfully so. To be texting or surfing the net, or doing anything other than listening, while someone is speaking is incredibly disrespectful and rude. If that person happens to be a man preaching the Word of God, the disrespect and rudeness is even worse because that is a sin against the Lord. I was wondering why he even came if this is what he was going to do. But, in my irritation, I glanced over at him and he happened to have the phone tilted in such a way that I could see the screen and, I saw, that I was gravely mistaken. He had Bible app open and was taking notes. And then I realized that, technologically, I live in the Dark-Ages.
Not only do we have the completed Bible readily available at all times, if you are a Christian here this morning, you have the Holy Spirit indwelling you to instruct you and illuminate God's holy Word. In 1 Corinthians 2:12, we find these words, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.” According to the Lord Jesus in John 14, this Holy Spirit didn't indwell believers until after His departure. But when the Holy Spirit does come, He abides with us forever and He is referred to as “the Spirit of truth” (John 14:16-17). Dear friends, do you see the amazing opportunity that we have over and above that opportunity that Martha and Mary had? We'll deal with this as the message progresses, but do you value the opportunity that is given to you as Mary valued her opportunity?
2. The Distractions ~ v. 40
Luke 10:40 ~ But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, 'Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”
Secondly, note that with the opportunity comes distractions. This is the only place in the Bible where this word translated “distracted” is found. It is a passive verb and it can be rendered “draw away”. In the realm of working or serving, it means “overburdened”. Seeing this word this way helps to understand Martha's attitude here. Verse 38 states that Martha welcomed the Lord and his entourage. But in that welcoming, there is a lot of stress. Martha is probably the owner of this home and her, perhaps, younger brother and sister live with her. She may be a widow. But obviously, she is in charge here. And when the Lord shows up, her responsibility as hostess overwhelms her and she automatically goes into frantic cooking and serving mode, so to speak. She feels that she has to provide a wonderful, complete buffet for these folks.
Her attitude is not without biblical precedent. In Genesis 18, we are told that the Lord unexpectedly shows up at Abraham's tent along with two other men, apparently angels. How does Abraham respond to these three visitors? He tells Sarah bake up some bread, he kills the fatted calf and puts all of this, along with fresh butter and milk, in front of them and then stands by and watches them eat. This is what godly people do. In that case, the Lord plus two others show up. In this case, the assumption is that Jesus and at least the 12 disciples have come in. It is quite a situation and Martha becomes very stressed out or overburdened.
But please note here that, contrary to what happened in the case of Abraham in Genesis 18, it seems that the Lord Jesus comes to this house, not so much to be fed as to teach. As I stated earlier, there is some thought that the reason the Lord turned to this house is to remove His disciples from the rough-edged discussions that have been going on with the religious leaders and to perhaps re-hash some of the issues and arguments. During a conference I attended in this area a couple of years ago, a question was raised during the Q/A session that was fairly provocative and resonated with many of the men in the room. Some animated discussion followed. An acquaintance of mine, an elder at another church in the area, had brought along some younger men. That evening, he took them all aside and specifically asked them how they would address the question that was raised and a fruitful, edifying discussion ensued. For a secular example from the world of sports, think about the discussions and planning that goes on during halftime of a sporting event. Adjustments to the game plan are made and incorporated to counter the opponent's strengths and exploit their weaknesses. The Lord Jesus here doesn't seem to be overburdened with Martha's overburdens. Rather, He is intent on equipping and preparing the disciples.
We may think that, if we were in Martha's shoes, we wouldn't do this. If Jesus showed up at the door, I would do what Mary did. There is an easy way to test if this is true. Are you spending consistent, meaningful time in God's Word? Again, as stated above, we have the completed, holy Word of God easily accessible to us. Reading and studying the Word is how Jesus speaks to us today. Applying the Word to our life is how we foster in-depth communion with the Lord. Take a look at John 14:21, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” It is through learning and keeping the Word of the Lord that we demonstrate love for God and He, in turn, will manifest or disclose Himself to us...make His presence felt...as we do so. So, how are you doing in this area?
Now if you are struggling in this area, ask yourself why. Some of you may be in bondage to wicked depravity of some type and that is, understandably, keeping you from serious time in the Word. I have an anonomous quote in one of my older Bibles that says, “This book will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from this book.” If you are involved in wicked sin, it is not surprising that you are not in the Word.
However, are there not some you here today who may not be spending in-depth time in the Word, but you are also not spending in-depth time in sin? Would you say that your time is being taken up by other things? Perhaps even good things? These things may involve work, maintaining the home, meeting a deadline, keeping the kid's activities organized and attended. It may involve even serving in the church. All of these things are legitimate expenditures of your time and effort and are commended by the Lord in other places. But let me say this with confidence before the Lord...if things like these are being elevated above time in the Word and prayer, if your attendance here at the teaching and preaching of the Word is being neglected because of such things, you are just like Martha. You are overburdened with much serving and you need to rethink what you are doing.
One other thought here...when you are intending to spend time in prayer or the Word, often are you not tempted to go and do something else of a legitimate nature? Paying bills, mowing the yard, washing clothes, responding to an email? Again, these are legitimate tasks that need to be done, but not at the expense of time with the Lord. It is with these things that Martha is struggling.
Look at the remainder of verse 40. The text says that Martha “approached” the Lord. This word here is literally “she set upon him”. “Approached” is much too kind. Martha burst in on the Lord. You can see the scene...Martha strides into the room, hands on hips, some sort of food spattered across her face, and she says, “Lord...!” And then she asks a question, “...do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?” Friends, this is not a question, but rather this is a rebuke. This is a question in the same way a wife asks her husband, “You are not really going to wear that outside, are you?” Husbands, you know that is not a question. Martha is not asking a question, she is accusing the Lord of neglect. Secondly, she commands the Lord to tell Mary to help her. So Martha rebukes the Lord and then commands the Lord. That is pretty impressive on her part.
We'll get into Jesus' response here in a moment, but a couple of points to note. God is abundantly aware of your load of work and has even ordained your work. It is His will for you to be a worker and server as you worship Him. But He has also directed you to keep Him first in your life. So ultimately, if you are not prioritizing time in Word, time in prayer, time in fellowship, and your reasoning is that you have too much on your plate, then you, whether you articulate it or not, are rebuking the Lord and telling Him that He has put too much on your plate. I encourage you to really analyze this thinking on your part. Is it that God wants you to be doing all that you are doing at expense of personal in-depth time with Him? Is His word not abundantly clear that seeking Him first and foremost is of chief priority? The text we are looking at clearly answer this question. The Lord corrects Martha here and, if you are one who is “distracted with much serving”, then hear Jesus' correction. And this leads to our last point.
3. The Priority ~ vv. 41-42
Luke 10:41-42 ~ And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
So how does the Lord Jesus respond to this rebuke and command? The Lord would have been right to really get into her face here. But that is not how He deals with His children who, even when they are mis-guided, want to serve Him. He deals with Martha very gentle and lovingly. With the religious hypocrites or with prideful Peter, Jesus will use harsh, directed language. But to Martha and, by extension, all of us who mix up our priorities at times, the Lord deals gently. This is not to say that had Martha continued in her ways that the Lord won't have upped the rebuke, but we don't have an account of that here. His redirects her and gently encourages her to think correctly about priorities.
There are several important aspects of these words. The Lord tells Martha that she is worried and troubled about many things, but only one thing is needed. Within the context of this passage, what is it that Martha is worried over? She is really worried about providing a big feed for everyone and the fact that she feels Mary should be helping her. She is in the kitchen putting together a several course meal and is getting stressed. But note the word play that the Lord incorporates here. He deals with two things. First of all, He is sort of affirming that Martha's concern to provide sustanence. But that rather than providing the feast, why not pull some leftovers out of the mud-cellar and we'll eat that? Jesus and the disciples don't need a feast. Rather, some bread and fish will do.
But in this same sentence about the one needful thing, He declares that “Mary has chosen that good part.” That is a bit of an odd phrase, isn't it? But the point of the rebuke is that there already is a meal being served and that meal is my Word. Mary and Martha had the choice to go and prepare a physical, temporal meal or go and partake of a meal of eternal filling. Martha chose the temporal, Mary chose the eternal. This is comparable to the Lord Jesus' words recorded by John in 6:35, “And Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.'” It is also indicative of God's words in Deuteronomy 8:3 and repeated, in part, by Jesus in Luke 4:4, “So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.” This is the message of this narrative in Luke 10. There is a meal being served here, Martha, and that meal is my Word. It is of far greater importance and need than any temporal meal or concern that you could ever have. Don't worry about the temporal when that which is eternal is available to you.
And dear friends, we have to embrace this message and priority also. We have to understand, in the core of our being, that the primary meal that we consistently need is fellowship and worship of the Lord. That is the meal that fills for eternity. Nothing else in this world comes close. Your job is temporal and will not pass into eternity. Your education is temporal and will not pass into eternity. You will not carry your diploma with you past the grave. Your extra-curricular activites are nothing compared to your closeness and relationship with God. Does it impress you that I was a two-time all-conference linebacker in high school? Let me tell you something...it doesn't impress God either. None of these things are bad in and of themselves, but they must be understood in the hierarchy of value compared to knowing and loving the Lord. In that hierarchy of value, they are way down the list. Does your life reflect this reality?
Jesus says that which Mary has chosen will not be taken from her. Her choice of sitting and learning will be with her and benefit her for eternity. What are you pursuing now that has eternal value? Sometimes that is a hard question to answer and we are right to think deeply upon it. But when you are engaged in the study of the Word for the pursue of loving your Lord better, let me assure that has eternal value. When you are praying to God, seeking His mind and desiring to conform your will to His, that has eternal value. When you are gathered together with a body of believers to sit under the preaching and teaching of the Word and to encourage each other and love each other, that has eternal value. God doesn't restrict us from working and serving and He directs us to it in other places. But clearly He values intimacy with Him far above all of that. Look back at the words of the Lord Jesus to the disciples, in Luke 10:20, upon their return from a very successful time of service and ministry, “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”
Do you prioritize that which God prioritizes?
Conclusion:
As we wrap up this message, here are a couple of points of application to draw from this text:
· You must be intentional in not letting the issues and cares of this world get in the way of the far greater eternal issues of knowing the Lord through study of the word, prayer and consistent fellowship. Arrange your priorities well. Oswald Chambers stated that, “Prayer doesn't fit us for the greater work. Prayer is the greater work.” (Quoted in Case, Andrew, Water of the Word, Andrew Case 2008, p. 222). Although fellowship and communion with the Lord prepares us to live well and effectively in this life, fellowship and communion with the Lord is that for which we were created and is the greatest work you can do, regardless of how it impacts your day to day life. A great example of this occurred just this last week. The father of a family from Texas was laid off from his great job of nearly eighteen years. The company restructured and eliminated his and several other senior positions. He has a possible job opportunity in Greeley. So this week, he emailed me and clearly expressed to me that he is interested in the job, but will not consider moving his family unless they can find a good, healthy church to attend. So he asked me if I knew of any and, praise the Lord, there is a great church in Greeley that I recommended to him. But look at his priority. Finding a good church in which to grow and serve is of far greater importance to him than this job. That is the type of mentality that Jesus is looking for and we would do well to develop it.
· A good way to analyze your priorities is to ask yourself if you are serving the Lord with gladness per Psalm 100. Martha here is serving the Lord, but not with gladness and joy. Although there will be times in this life when circumstances are hard and difficult and you are temporarily weighed down emotionally and spiritual, this should be the exception and not the rule. In Psalm 16, the writer states that in the presence of the Lord is fullness of joy. If you are consistently spending time with the Lord, joy should be the general tenor of your life and your work and service and pursuits, whatever they are, should be marked with joy. If you are overburdened and your service and work is marked by anger and frustration, as in the case of Martha here, you need to re-evaluate what you are doing and why you are doing it. Spurgeon stated that “A man whose Bible is falling apart usually isn't.” If you are spending intimate time with the Lord and pursuing His presence through the spiritual delights of Bible study, prayer, fellowship, etc., then your life should be marked by stability and joy.
· In this text here, Martha castigates Mary for not helping her but rather learning from the Lord. Jesus, in turn, gently corrects Martha and points her to rethink her position here. Are you one who directs and assists your family in the maintainence of correct priorities? Husbands and fathers in particular, are you leading your home in such a way that everyone is directed to be in close relationship with the Lord? You need to set that priority for yourself and then so direct your family in that priority also.
It has been said that getting people to think correctly and then acting on that correct thinking is one of the most difficult tasks to accomplish. Dear friends, strive to think correctly about godly priorities and then so arrange your life. The Savior, Jesus Christ, died and rose again so that we could be forgiven of our sins and then brought into fellowship with God, for which we were created. 1 Peter 3:18 makes this abundantly clear, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,...” Being with God is that for which we were created. It is the greater work. Are you pursuing this today?
Because our ability to glorify the Lord and serve Him well is absolutely dependent on our close relationship to Him, we must prioritize loving devotion to Christ over everything else.
Discussion Questions:
· Do you find that “good” distractions are tempting you from prioritizing your walk with Christ? Why is this the case?
· In Psalm 100, we are directed to serve the Lord with gladness. How does prioritizing your walk with Christ impact your service for joy?
· If you are “overburdened” with many tasks in such a way that you are not prioritizing your walk with the Lord, what are some strategies for improvement?
· Is your home a place that fosters right priorities? Why or why not? How might you improve?
· Do you find that “good” distractions are tempting you from prioritizing your walk with Christ? Why is this the case?
· In Psalm 100, we are directed to serve the Lord with gladness. How does prioritizing your walk with Christ impact your service for joy?
· If you are “overburdened” with many tasks in such a way that you are not prioritizing your walk with the Lord, what are some strategies for improvement?
· Is your home a place that fosters right priorities? Why or why not? How might you improve?
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