There
is only one thing that means anything in life.
That's exactly what Jesus told Martha in today's text.
According to our text the "One Thing" is to spend time sitting at the
feet of Jesus to do nothing else but worship him.
Most people tend to be either a Mary or a Martha. Martha was one of
those people who didn't work to live; she lived to work. She invited
Jesus into her home and then turned her attention to preparing the finest
feast possible - verse 38.
Can't you see her slaving away in the kitchen as she was preparing the
flour to make the bread, and putting more wood on the fire so she can
cook the meat? Martha was happy as long as she was up to her elbows
in flour.
It is important for you to note that the reason Martha was slaving away
in the kitchen was the same reason Mary was sitting at Jesus' feet.
Both of them did what they did out of their love for Jesus. Martha represents
people who feel most comfortable expressing their love to Jesus by doing
acts of service. Marthas tend to be task oriented and they usually make
lists of things they need to do each day.
I thank God for the Marthas in this fellowship! Because we would never
accomplish much without them. But Mary was different. Mary wasn't task
oriented, she was more relationship oriented. While Martha sweated in
the kitchen, Mary was perfectly satisfied to simply sit at Jesus' feet
and listen to Him - verse 39.
In those days, sitting at someone's feet was a sign of honor. Mary's
position before Jesus was her way of saying she adored and honored Him.
Which is why this passage is considered to demonstrate what worship
is all about. When we worship God, it is our way of coming before him
to honor him with our adoration.
All throughout the Bible, when a person encountered the greatness and
glory of God, they fell or knelt before him. When the Apostle John saw
the vision of Jesus in the book of Revelation, he "fell at His feet
like a dead man."
Revelation
4 tells us that all the saints of all the ages "will fall down before
Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and
ever." In fact, even the sinners will one day kneel before Jesus and
worship him. For the Bible tells us that "at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under
the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord."
If you are like Mary, you love to come before the Lord and sing songs
of praise to Him. You would be totally satisfied if we did nothing else
but sing. In fact, it wouldn't bother you one bit if I never preached
at all. And not because you don't want hear me preach. But by sitting
at the feet of Jesus, and singing songs of praise to him, you are energized
and refreshed. Marthas enjoy singing, but don't only if it doesn't make
the service too long. Marthas even get a little impatient with the teaching
part of the worship service. That is because as they are listening to
the sermon, at the same time, they are thinking about what all they've
got to do once the service is over.
How many of you are guilty of making a mental list of what you need
to be doing this afternoon or tomorrow? If so, then chances are you
may be a Martha.
After Martha and Mary properly welcomed Jesus, Martha entered the kitchen
to prepare the meal. From what our text tells us, it appears that she
expected Mary to join her. But after a few minutes, still no Mary. I
can hear Martha intentionally banging the pots and pans together to
remind Mary of what she was doing. I can even see Martha coming to the
door, and behind Jesus' back, motioning to Mary to get her lazy butt
and come in the kitchen right now! Finally, Martha's anger reaches the
boiling point and her temper explodes. She rushes into the room to complain
about this great injustice. But instead of chewing out Mary; she gets
mad at Jesus - verse 40.
Let me remind you again that Mary didn't love Jesus more than Martha
did. She just showed it differently. Martha's mistake was not working
in the kitchen. Her mistake was rushing out, and demanding that Mary
show her love in the same way.
I know it's hard to believe, but sometimes I receive criticism about
the way I preach. I have had people complain because I don't walk around,
wave my arms, and hoop & holler when I preach. They say I need to get
a little more enthusiastic while I'm preaching. I have also had people
complain about teaching - verse by - verse through the Bible. They believe
that teaching - verse by - verse doesn't make me get before the Lord
to see what he wants me to say to help people in their struggles. The
opposite is the truth, because teaching - verse by - verse causes me
to seek the Lord more about how that passage applies to what y'all are
going through on a daily basis. Look, I appreciate people's comments,
but unless the Lord tells me to, I'm not going to change. My preaching
style is just that, my style.
The biggest area of criticism in today's church centers around worship.
Many churches are fighting what is being called the worship war. Some
people don't want anything but the more traditional types of songs.
Others want nothing but the more contemporary ones. Some people get
very upset when the music is played loudly. But those who like loud
music complain when it's too soft. Some people complain because the
newer music is too rock & roll sounding. But then others complain because
the more traditional songs are too draggy.
The solution to winning the worship war is not to grumble on the inside
about what types of songs are sung, or even about the volume of the
music. But instead, if you will focus on Jesus, you will enter into
a time of worship where you can just love on Him. Trust me, you'll have
a better worship experience if you don't complain because the style
of worship isn't the way you think it should be.
That was Martha's mistake, and it's a mistake that is being repeated
far too many times in today's church. Let's look next at Jesus' declaration
to Martha's complaint-vv. 41-42. Martha hoped Jesus would say, "Mary,
Martha's right! So get in the kitchen and help your sister." But instead
Jesus pointed out that if you don't spend time in worship you will end
spending most of your time in worry.
The word "upset" literally means Martha was visibly shaking. I mean
she was way beyond being mad. She was so mad that what she did is what
we call today going postal. Because Martha didn't take the necessary
time to sit at Jesus' feet to do nothing but worship him, the pressures
of life built up until she exploded in a fit of rage.
Have you ever noticed how easy it is to get emotionally distraught when
you haven't spent some time in worship? Please don't ever get so busy,
even serving the Lord, that you don't have the time to obey God when
he said, "Be still and know that I am God." The reason God commands
us to do this is because he knows that as we spend time in His presence,
that eventually our hearts will begin to overflow with praise, which
is what worship is all about, and the stress level in our lives will
decrease. If you don't stop to sit at the feet of Jesus to worship him,
you won't receive the power you need to keep on serving the Lord cheerfully.
And soon you will become emotionally depleted, and spiritually drained,
which will eventually lead to all kinds of emotional problems.
Martha was stressed out because she was trying to substitute work for
worship. There are thousands of tired, irritated Marthas in our churches
today. They are living on the edge of spiritual burnout.
When I was a kid I remember seeing a man on Ed Sullivan's TV show, spinning
dinner plates on top of flexible poles. He started one plate spinning
and then he went to another pole and spun a plate on it. He repeated
this until he had 20 or 30 plates spinning at one time. When one plate
starting to wobble, he rushed and spun the pole, just in the nick time.
By running madly from pole to pole he kept all the plates spinning at
the same time. Does that sound like your life? Is your life so complicated
and busy from running from one task to another task that you don't have
the time to sit at the feet of Jesus and worship him? If so, then don't
be surprised if you are living with a high level of stress. Which can
manifest itself in worry, or anger, or depression, or exhaustion, just
to name a few symptoms of burnout.
Another truth we see in this passage is that Work is the by-product
of worship. Our text doesn't tell us that Jesus rebuked Martha for what
she was doing. He just reminded her that there was a time for work,
and a time for worship. It would be easy to twist what Jesus is saying
here and go the extreme that says that it is okay to spend all your
time at Jesus' feet, and never get up to get involved in any kind of
Christian ministry. Remember that a balanced church is one that not
only worships the Lord, and not only meets for the purpose of encouraging
the people, but it also comes together for the purpose of equipping
the saints for the work of the ministry.
I have heard way too many people say, "That worship service just didn't
do anything for me?" That's the problem! If you think the purpose of
worship is to do something for you, you've got it backwards. Some people
just want to attend a worship service so they can have some kind of
spiritual experience that makes the hair on the back of their neck stand
up. As long as that happens, they're satisfied with their relationship
with God. And they will leave the worship service without ever seeking
God as to what kind work he wants them to do for the glory of his son
Jesus.
As I stated earlier, the main purpose of worship is to help us get to
know Jesus more intimately. Which is the One Thing in life we all must
find. But you can't worship the Lord without wanting to serve him. They
go hand in hand. If all you ever do is praise the Lord, but you never
get your hands dirty, working for Jesus in the kitchen, your spiritual
life is out of balance.
Did Mary and Martha learn this lesson? I believe they did. Turn to John
chapter 12:1-8. 6 days before Jesus was crucified, he is once again
in the home of Martha & Mary. Once again we see that Martha was preparing
and serving the meal. And once again, Mary was sitting at the feet of
Jesus. Did Martha complain this time? Nope, she was happy to be doing
what she was doing. And she was happy letting Mary to do her thing.
But I also want you to notice what Mary did this time. For she didn't
just sit at Jesus' feet to listen & worship him. Instead, she also worked.
This time, before she sat at his feet, she took a container of expensive
perfume and lovingly cleaned Jesus' feet and wiped them with her hair.
Please don't take this passage to mean that what Mary did the first
time was wrong. To get the proper balance we need in our Christian life,
we need to make sure we keep our priorities straight. And our in order
to do that, we must remember that Worship precedes work. You must first
sit at the feet of Jesus before you are ready to get up and work in
the kitchen. Then it becomes a beautiful cycle, where worship leads
to work, which leads to worship, which leads to work, which leads to
worship. Mary first sat at Jesus' feet in worship, before she worked
for him. And then after she worked for him, she once again sat down
to worship him. Do you get my point?
Thank God for the Martha types! But you are going to have to be sure
to stop working sometime, in order to sit at Jesus' feet to worship
him. You Marys keeping on worshiping. But don't forget to get up and
go to work for Him as well.
Turn back to Luke ch. 10, and look once again at the last words in v.
42. Jesus said this one thing is something that can never be taken from
you. Think about all the valuable things in your life, such as your
home, your family, your job, or your possessions. All those things are
only temporary, because they could be taken from you at any moment.
Your house could be destroyed by a fire. Your family could die in a
car crash. You could lose your job tomorrow. You could go home this
afternoon and discover that someone broke into your house and stole
everything. But your relationship with Jesus can never be taken away!
Let me close by telling you of a visit I had with a precious elderly
lady who is in a nursing home. As we talked she told me about how much
she missed being in the worship services, and not being able to serve
the Lord the way she used to. But as the tears were streaming down her
cheeks, she broke into this huge smile and said, "But you know, Pastor
Bob, I still have my precious Lord. He's always right here, and we talk
constantly." Here was a woman, who, because of her failing health, all
she could do was sit in a chair, yet, she still knew that she was able
to sit at the feet of Jesus. And nobody or nothing can take that from
her! No matter what you acquire in this world, none of it is going with
you after you die. That is why you will never see a hearse pulling a
U-haul trailer to the cemetery.
Please remember this point, A relationship with Jesus is the only thing
you can have in this life that not even death can take away.
Do you have that One Thing? If your relationship with Jesus starts when
you drive into this parking lot, and ends when you drive off, well,
all you have is religion. And religion won't get you into heaven. Jesus
wants a relationship that is not based upon any of your religious rituals.
He wants to come into your live, and rescue you from the penalty & power
of sin, and make your heart his dwelling place.
It is possible that right now someone is feeling a tug to get themselves
right with God. That tug is Jesus knocking at the door of your heart,
waiting for you to let him come in as the Lord of your life. Since Jesus
knocks, it shows us that he'll never force His way into our hearts.
You have to make the decision to allow Jesus in. If you will you open
the door to your life, Jesus promised that he would come in and sit
down, and fellowship with you! Which means your sins are forgiven, and
you are heaven bound. Won't you give your live to Jesus before you go
home?
Let's pray!!
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