Never Too Busy

Foundational scripture:

Luke 10:38-42

38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 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.”

41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Outline:

1. INTRODUCTION

It seems like our lives today are busier than ever and we have less time to get more things done than our parents or grandparents ever did. There are literally hundreds of applications on the computer and tablets that all claim to help you organize your life. Many of us keep list after list of To-Do’s, Things To Do, Toodledoo’s, Honey Do’s and so on and so on. But the Bible says that there is nothing new under the sun and the same problems that we face were faced by Martha in the text. She simply had too much to do.

2. BODY

Our text this morning deals with a woman who just had too much going on in her life; too many errands to run, too many kids to take to practice, too many phones to answer. Just too much! This is Martha, the sister of Mary and the sister of Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead. The text says she was so busy, she had to ask Jesus to yell at Mary her sister for sitting at His feet and not helping. Imagine the look on her face when He said Mary is doing the right and needful thing! But, I had some confusion with this chapter that I needed to clear up. Right before our text, Jesus had just given an answer to a lawyer that was trying to trip Him up when he asked, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

26 Jesus answered him, “What is written in the Law? What do you read there?”

27 He answered, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind. And you must love your neighbor as yourself.”

28 Jesus told him, “You have answered correctly. ‘Do this, and you will live.’ ”

So the question then becomes who is my neighbor and how do I love him? Jesus gave the lawyer a parable about a man traveling along a dusty road who caught a beat down from some thugs who wanted all his gear. So they beat him, stripped and left him for dead by the roadside. Later on, a preacher came walking by, saw him laying there half dead and crossed over to the other side. Later still, a church musician (levite) came by and did the same thing when he spotted the man. Finally, a man who ain’t been to church since Heck was a pup, came along, saw the man and came to his rescue. He grabbed a first aid kit and helped dress the man’s wounds. Then he put him his car, took him over to a hotel, and took care of the wounded brother all night long. The next day, he went down to the clerk and gave him some money and his cell phone number and said, ‘take good care of him and if you need more money, just call me and I’ll be there.’

Then Jesus asked the question 36 “Of these three men, who do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the bandits?”

37 He said, “The one who showed mercy to him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do what he did.” Uh huh, this man did a great work didn’t he? He helped a man that was beaten down, saved him from possibly dying by a roadside. What a great work he did do. If only this man knew God we would say he was a great servant for the Lord, helping someone less fortunate.

So then, I had to ask myself, why would Jesus in this parable, in this chapter, highlight the fact that the WORK that the Samaritan did in showing mercy to the man is what we should all do, yet in the very same chapter later on, He chastises Martha and tells her that Mary, by sitting by and listening to Him, is doing the right thing? Which is it Jesus? Am I supposed to be doing all these works in Your name or am I supposed to be listening to You and doing nothing else?

The answer lies in the text of v. 38:

8 Now as they were traveling along, Jesus went into a village. A woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. At the point that you welcome Christ in, your telling Him that your desire is to commune with Him, to fellowship with Him, to break bread with Him and to sit at His feet and learn from Him. This is the time to lay aside every other thing. Like He told Martha, you might think your doing the right thing by worrying and fussing over so many things but Mary here has it right by doing THE only thing that needs to be done; sit at My feet and worship Me. Church is The primary place that most come to praise and give worship and reverence to God. But over time, as you go deeper into the church you start TO GET BUSY. You find yourself in meeting after meeting

[POINT] You find yourself in the choir, on the usher board, deacon in training, teaching 2-3 classes each week, going out witnessing, cooking church chickens, running the kids car wash and on and on and on. Your TOO BUSY AND GOD IS SAYING TO US LIKE HE SAID TO MARTHA, “SIT DOWN!!!”

That’s one of the things I completely appreciate about Pastor Smith. He insists that if you think that your going to do ministry at this church, you certainly better find the time to commune and fellowship with God. You better be in service consistently, in Bible study consistently and in a SPREAD class consistently. Why? So it can look like GBF has so much going on? No, its because he knows that everything else is only a second priority to THE ONE THING that is most pressing; seeking the face of God.

[POINT] Listen, let me let you in on a little secret. The church’s primary function is not to keep Saints busy doing work. The church is here to train and equip each of us to GO OUTSIDE THESE WALLS. That’s where the Work begins. Matt 9:37-38 - 37 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; 38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.

THE WORK IS OUT THERE! BUT WHETHER IN HERE OR OUT THERE,

Never be too busy to:

• Never too busy to seek God in prayer

• Never too busy to throw up my hands and worship

• Never too busy to fall on my face and cry to my Father

• Never too busy to take my burdens to Him in prayer

• Never too busy to praise Him

• Never too busy to study His word

• Never too busy to go down on my knees in prayer

• sit at the Master’s feet

III. [TRANSITION TO YOUTH ENCOURAGEMENT]

And so, youth, as your still celebrating your graduations or just glad to be home on summer break, if you’re saved and proud of it then when you go back to school, remember to never get Too Busy For God either. Don’t let:

• Time spent with the AKAs, the Deltas, the Alpha phi Alphas or the Omega Psi Phi’s keep you from spending time with the Alpha and Omega

• Don’t spend so much time making new friends that you forget about THE friend who is closer to you than a Brother

• Don’t worry so much about your core requirements and your electives that you forget that He chose you to be THE ELECT; children of God shaped in His image and likeness before time began; able to succeed and win no matter what obstacles may come your way!

• Don’t get caught up by peer pressure when you know, you should be PRESSING TOWARD THE MARK

• Don’t worry about arguments and fights between your friends and them asking you which side are you on. You tell them I’m on the Lord’s side

Listen,

When it is time to play, go ahead and play, enjoy life and all it has to offer. When its time to work and study then work to 100% of your ability. But when it’s time to spend time with God, lay aside every other thing and put your entire focus on the Master.

Illustration – a little boy was sitting by a pond with just a stick for a fishing pole. Not long after, a group of bigger boys came along with all kinds of fancy fishing poles, special spinners and lures and every kind of bait imaginable. They started splashing in the pond, laughing and playing around as they cast their reels but never seemed to catch a single fish. Meanwhile, the little boy would pull in another fish every few minutes. Finally one of the boys went over to him and asked him what his secret was; was he using some kind of new bait? The boy looked up and said, “I’m trying to feed my family so I’m fishing for fish. Your fishing for fun.” What’s the moral? Our time with God should be our time with Him and no other distractions should keep us from communing and fellowshipping with Him.

John 15:5 - I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.