One Thing Is Required

Introduction

For as far back as I can remember, my birthdays were a joyous occasion. I had a large family with tons of cousins and friends. I got presents galore, and I always wanted a dairy queen ice cream cake. Best birthdays ever.

But there was always one little catch. See, in my house, whenever company would come over, we had to clean the house to the point that it looked like no one actually lived there.

While I had the best birthday parties ever, I would spend most of that day cleaning and scrubbing and making sure that the house was clean.

In today’s passage, Martha invites Jesus over to her house. We don’t know whether this was an obligation she felt to ask him or possibly an opportunity she couldn’t pass up or a situation she wanted to use to impress him, we will never know.

But she ends up with Jesus in her house, and she spent her time cleaning it. Her story is the story of how easy it is to miss the main thing.

Luke 10:38–42 ESV

Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Explanation

Verses 38-39.

Martha mets Jesus. Martha invited Jesus into the house, and Jesus began to teach her. This house happens to be the one she shares with her sister, Mary.

Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus, intently learning and gleaning from his teaching and communing with Him.

Her posture before the Lord is a physical representation of what we should be doing everyday.

Sitting in his presence, listening to his teaching, and interacting with him. Scripture, prayer, and worship.

Now, While Martha is in listening to Jesus, what is Mary doing?

Verse 40

Martha is frantically (and angrily) cleaning the house and trying to host Jesus. We know she isn’t happy, because we see that eventually she lashes out at Mary and Jesus, “Why don’t you tell her to get up and help me?”

Let’s not be too judgmental of Martha. She has invited Jesus, the Son of God, the rabbi who is famous throughout all of her known world to her house. And her sister isn’t helping her clean the house so that its ready for company.

SIDE NOTE: I want to free you up. I believe the Lord values hospitality over a perfectly clean and impressive home. Some of us put so much pressure to have our house look like no one lives in it that we forget that God calls us to hospitality - not impressiveness. And where being impressive in your heart pushes out the desire for hospitality from your heart - some sin resides there.

Rosaria Butterfield would say, “Radically ordinary hospitality is this: using your Christian home in a daily way that seeks to make strangers neighbors and neighbors part of the family of God.”

All the same, God, Himself is in her house, and she is trying to get him some food and clean the living room and make sure the bathroom is decent and figure out what that smell is and she sees all of the things she hasn’t done in forever like sweep and dust, etc.

Verse 41-42 // Jesus addresses Martha’s outburst.

1. “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things”

Jesus says Martha’s name twice. This is the only time in the Gospels He does so. He is trying to get her attention. She is distracted or possibly distraught.

Jesus does not address what she is doing. He addresses how she is feeling. Why? Because sometimes the deep heart work that needs to be done isn’t simply on what we are doing in the moment but what drives that action.

He calls out her anxiety and how troubled she is over many different things. Now, we don’t specifically know what she is upset about. It could be the need to be impressive. It could be much more than that. But what we do know is that it drove her away from Jesus.

Every year, I try to take some time out of the normal routine of my life to spend with the Lord and think clearly about the direction of my life. I did that this week.

I can’t explain to you how long it took me to sit, focus on Jesus, and not let the 1 million things I have to do drown out my ability to sit with him.

Do you feel that pull sometimes?

The pull to check your phone.

The pull to look at email.

The pull to clean the house.

The pull to make that phone call.

The pull to fix dinner.

The pull to give the kids a bath.

The pull to repair that thing in the house you have been putting off forever.

That pull to see your friends you haven’t seen in awhile.

These pulls are not inherently bad things, but the can keep us from the most important thing - to sit at the feet of Jesus and be with Him.

The things that Martha thought she needed to do for Jesus drove her away from the person of Jesus.

How do we center our lives on Jesus when so many things pull at our attention?

Firstly, try to find a consistent time. Now, I have a two year old who wakes up at anywhere from 4:50 to 7:50. He just keeps us guessing. And sometimes I look at him sometimes and think, “Wow, people have multiples of this.” I understand its hard. I also know that the more consistent you are, the more likely you are to spend time with the Lord.

Secondly, sit down with a piece of paper. Inevitably, something will come to your mind that you have to do. I think it stems from spiritual warfare sometimes, because the enemy wants to steal our time with the Lord more than anything else.

Whenever something comes to your mind, write it down and tell yourself you will do it later.

I have found that 3 things swirling around in my mind that I need to do feels like more than 15 things written down on a piece of paper.

Thirdly, tell yourself that the joy you will find in everything else that you do and the effectiveness that you will have for the kingdom hinge upon that time with the Lord.

Martin Luther when his days were really busy would wake up an hour earlier to pray, because he knew he would need more prayer and time with the Lord on the difficult days than on the ordinary days.

Your time with Jesu must order everything else instead of everything else ordering your time with Jesus.

This leads us to Jesus second statement.

2. “but one thing is necessary.”

We must create a greater value on the presence of Jesus.

The gospel is the story of how far God had to go to sit with us.

We have to prioritize the presence of God in our lives.

I want to tell you a story.

I graduated from Mississippi State in 2013, and I moved back home. It wasn’t the move I wanted, but I had a student ministry job in the area and I was closed enough to New Orleans to drive to class.

I was so frustrated that I had to move home. I was in ministry, and small student ministry I was a part of grew and grew and grew. And I was being challenged in ministry. But I spent that whole time anxious about my ministry and where I would be and what I would do.

My mom had just retired. And she was adjusting to retired life. I remember sitting on the back porch with my mom many mornings as the sun came up sipping coffee and talking about nothing and everything. At the time, I was so focused on getting out of that house that I didn’t realize that I was sitting in some of my most treasured moments.

See, I moved out and took a job in Jackson, but my mom would pass only about two and a half years after the time I spent at home.

Short of my wife, my son, and my Jesus, I would give anything to sit on the back porch and drink a cup of coffee with my mom and talk about everything and nothing.

If we would give anything we own to speak with the people we love again, why wouldn’t we daily give up anything we must do/own/say to sit in the presence of our Heavenly Father and hear from Him.

May the pull towards Jesus be stronger in your life than the many things that would pull you away from Him. If you struggle with wanting the presence of God and prioritizing the presence of God and sitting in the presence of God, I have an exercise for you.

Psalm 119:9–16 ESV

How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Blessed are you, O Lord; teach me your statutes! With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth. In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.

Just because this passage says young men doesn’t mean its only for young men. It can be for young ladies, old men, old ladies, middle aged men, and middle aged ladies.

Begin to preach this text and pray to God, “Lord, help my heart to truly mean these prayers of David.”

Invitation

“Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken from her.”

If you are hear today, and you do not know God, I want you to hear me loud and clear. God can be known. And not simply in a philosophical or assenting way, but we can sit at his feet and have our sins forgiven and bask in his presence. Come to Him.

For those of you who know Jesus but life has gotten really busy, the greatest time you will have everyday will be the time you spend with Jesus. Get there, whatever it takes. Recommit your life, your effort, your affections, your everything to Him, and he will meet you there.