A lesson on balance
Notes
Transcript
Intro: Several years ago Tony bought himself a hover board. When he got home he was riding it around the driveway, making it look easy. So I gave it a try! I hoped on and rode it around the driveway without any trouble. Then I tried to step off of it. When I lifted my right foot in order to step off it shifted all of my weight and the hover board began to do circles. I was spinning around and around with 1 foot on the hover board and one in the air. I ended up losing balance and fell flat on my butt on the concrete drive way. I hit hard and my poor butt hurt for several days.
Keeping balance is important, without physical balance we fall down while we walk and stand, but having balance in our Christian life is important too. We are called to Worship and serve the Lord. in this context Balance means being in a condition in which our worship and work are in equal proportions. To much serving without enough worshiping is damaging to our Spiritual life and has caused many Christian servants to fall.
In our text we can find an example of an unbalanced life in Martha along with a balanced life in Mary.
CPS: Today I want to tell you that we must serve the Lord in balance with our Worship lest we fall and get seriously hurt.
I. An example of an unbalanced life. (Martha)
A. The Importance of Service
As Children of God we are called to serve. Service is the activity of our of the spiritual life. It is meant to be man’s spontaneous love offering to God. The Bible teaches us that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son and whoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). Jesus Himself said, The son of man came not to be served but to serve a ransom of the many (Mark 10:45). Jesus served by shedding His life’s blood on Calvary's cross so that we can be forgiven of our sin. If Jesus served then we must serve too. And, by grace through faith in Jesus you have been blessed with gifts and talents to use for the purpose of furthering God’s kingdom. (Romans 12:3-8) Every believer is must serve.
ILL: There was a precious elderly lady, she was 95 and could no longer do many of the things she once enjoyed doing. She found serving the Lord difficult in her old age however her church had a weekly breakfast and she noticed that they didn’t have anyone buttering the toast, so she sat down and buttered the toast in the name of Jesus! We can all butter toast and most of us can do much more! but we have so many excuses, We are too old, our memory isn't as good as it once was. Many people in the Bible has excuses too yet they were used of God. Noah got drunk, Abraham was too old, Jacob was a lair. Moses stuttered, Gideon doubted, Samson had long hair, David was too young and his armour didn't fit, Solomon was too rich, Isaiah had a filthy mouth, Hosea’s wife was a prostitute, Jonah ran from God, Elijah was lonely, Jeremiah was depressed, John the Baptist was a loud mouth, Peter was afraid, Paul was a murder, and Timothy had ulcers yet they served and God used them!
B. The trouble with unbalanced service.
Martha was a servant, a lady of faith, who trusted Jesus as Lord and Savior John 11:27! She had many spiritual gifts. She was hospitable, welcoming Jesus and perhaps as many as 72 others into her home. She was generous, and a hard worker. On that day Martha's home was blessed with Emmanuel, and she was heading up a fellowship meal and for the record she didn't get chicken and biscuits from KFC, She was preparing many dishes from scratch. But she became “Cumbered” with all her preparations. Cumbered is the Greek verb perispaō, it means she was distracted and anxious on the inside and outside! She was working but not paying attention to what was most important, her Savior was in her home. In her busyness she became distracted and before long her spiritual wellbeing becomes unhealthy. She is rude and confrontational towards the one who saved her. Verse 40 tells us, she came to Him. Came to is the Greek verb ephistēmi it is an explosive act, it is the the idea of bursting upon. In Luke 20:1 it is translated confront. She confronts Jesus because He did not make her sister break away from worship to help her serve. She had lost focus on the reason for her service and lost the joy of her service. She became worried and bothered, her fellowship was removed and her spiritual wellbeing had waned. In all her hard work she had forgotten the worship and she was missing out on the good part.
The same is true with each of us, our service must not hinder our time with the Lord or you will find yourself in grave spiritual trouble, burned out and in disdain towards the Lord. Our service must come from the overflow of our worship lest it be busy work or empty service because we are empty servants.
II. An example of a balanced Life. (Mary)
Unlike Martha, Mary is an example of a balanced life.
A. Mary Worshiped
Next to the Jesus, Mary is by far the Biblical person I admire most, she constantly worshiped the Lord Jesus. Worship means to ascribe worth and she always let Jesus know how much she meant to her. Each time we see her in the Scriptures she is at the foot of Jesus. Luke 10:39, John 11:32, John 12:3. Dr. Donnie Fox once said, worship is focusing on God and responding. With all the the preparations of that day Mary did not become distracted she stayed focused on what was important. And we must also do the same.
ILL: There is a story involving Yogi Berra, the well-known catcher for the New York Yankees, and Hank Aaron, who at that time was the chief power hitter for the Milwaukee Braves. The teams were playing in the World Series, and as usual Yogi was keeping up his ceaseless chatter, intended to pep up his teammates on the one hand, and distract the Milwaukee batters on the other. As Aaron came to the plate, Yogi tried to distract him by saying, “Henry, you’re holding the bat wrong. You’re supposed to hold it so you can read the trademark.” Aaron didn’t say anything, but when the next pitch came he hit it into the left-field bleachers. After rounding the bases and tagging home plate, Aaron looked at Yogi Berra and said, “I didn’t come up here to read. Hammerin Hank didn’t become distracted.
B. Mary’s Work
It is easy to become distracted. This is what happened to Martha, she intended to serve and spend time with Jesus, but she lost focus. But Mary proves we can do both! In verse 40 Martha tells Jesus “My sister hath left me to serve alone.” Hath Left is the Greek verb kataleipō it means to leave without help. This verb is in the imperfect tense and is active, which means she keeps on leaving. She works but returns to Jesus. Jesus tells Martha that that is the “one thing that is needful,” this is an allusion to the Ps. 27:4
One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord And to meditate in His temple.
All our service comes from the overflow of our worship, keeping our mind fixated on Him and His Word as we serve. Making it priority to return to His feet each chance we get. While the Lord was in her home Mary took advantage of it and Martha neglected it. Mary served but her focus wasn't on the manna it was on the Master and so it must be with us as we serve and worship never neglecting either but always focusing on the Savior.
Conclusion: Our lives needs balance, all service with little to no worship brings spiritual harm and leads to burnout. Over the years, I have often heard the Lord’s servants say “I would rather burnout than rust out,” but like Bill Helton once said “either way, your out.”