Encountering God

Intro and Scripture

Luke 10:38–42 NIV

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Pray.

Opening illustration (cleaning the kitchen with guests that are there. or hosting.)

Mary and Martha

I have to be honest with you because I have often shied away from this text. Don’t think I have ever taught on it. Largely because I thought it was so cliche, with all the sermons I have heard in my life about not being Martha and you should be a Mary. Sometimes I have thought to myself…dang what about hospitality. They end up eating something, thanks to Martha. But this week through the lens of hurry, goodness this little narrative rocked me to my core.

Let’s make some observations here.

There is no reason to think something like this actually took place. But notice Luke is not concerned with historical reporting details.

When Jesus was “on their way” ..... uh to where?

“They came to a village.”

This story is surrounded by teaching and conversation and in a moment Jesus will teach them how to pray.

This is because Luke wants you to know that this is all about the thematic interaction. The point of this story is to bring you inside this home.

So Martha opens up her home. Her sister Mary is there. Martha is likely the eldest and she is doing what she would be expected to do. She is hustling. She has both the ovens going. Appetizers coming up. Sides and sauces.

In all seriousness she would have so much going on. She might have to wash or see to it that all the disciples are clean. And yeah the story reads like there are 3 people but its really 12-15 or more.

So Martha is hurrying.

I love to cook for people. If ministry does not work out for me, I have been preparing for my fall back plan. Opening a taco truck. But when you are cooking for a group of people…everything is about timing. You can cook each thing right but if the timing is off then everything can be ruined.

But in all of this…she was hurrying and it was culturally expected, celebrated and embraced.

.....By the way, you know that the world taught you to hurry, works for you to hurry, benefits from your hurry, and will only celebrate you when you hurry?

The way of Jesus is slow, methodical, intentional, and seemingly inefficient.

So in her hurry, she gets frustrated. All these dudes laying around. And her own sister is sitting around with the guest of honor and listening to all of the good stuff. She gets frustrated and confronts her, well sort of…she does that passive aggressive big sister thing....Jesus it sure would be nice if someone helped me with this food.

Jesus rebukes:

Luke 10:41–42 NIV

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Martha’s hustle is exposed hurry and her hurry is stripping away from her place with Jesus, her relationship with her sister and who she is called to be.

1. Hurry destroys relationship with God

Martha is so busy she is quite literally missing Jesus right in front of her. In this rare opportunity to host Jesus in her house she is missing the best thing as Jesus puts it at the end of the narrative.

Maybe in your hurry you are unable to get a grasp of what God is doing all around you.

Corrie Ten Boom

“If the devil can’t make you bad, he will make you busy.”

You know why we do not have a place, a shelf space, a category for spiritual warfare? Because for too long we have been inoculated with unspiritual things. What if spiritual warfare is rampant but the end of it is to just dull your senses of God....to decrease your imagination. To fill you with fear, doubt, and the allusion of self-sufficiency.

How is your life in God?

2. Hurry destroys other relationships

The vertical relationship with Martha is not the only thing that suffers, Horizontally things change here too and it is often overlooked. I never thought about it until this week, but Martha straight up throws Mary under the bus, doesen’t she?

Luke 10:40 NIV

But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Jesus!!!!! Tell her to do something, haha. I heard it in my 6yr old’s voice.

And she has some serious FOMO, doesent she?

Her FOMO is itching at something, but she has the wrong solution. This FOMO is godly because she knows that she is missing time with Jesus in the other room....but she just thinks everyone else is doing it wrong.

In her hurry, she looks inward and forgets others around her.

In my moments of hurry: What kind of dad, husband, pastor, son of God, am I?

When I was a stay at home dad with Luke. I will never forget naptime.....

Want to check your own heart this week? How are you with interruptions?

CS Lewis: How you respond to interruptions is who you are really.

4. Hurry destroys identity

Finally, Martha and Mary provide a stark contrast for us. Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus in the posture of a disciple. Martha is running around the house trying hard to impress the room.

Discipleship is a lot more about posture than it is success or accomplishments.

What if your identity is found in proximity to Jesus rather than in things you do?

Two categories of end of life experiences: 1. all they accomplished 2. how deeply they were known, and how deeply they loved.

Now this is not to erase responsibility. Before the fall was work. Idleness leads to a dangerous path. This is about priorities

So how do we slow down?

John Mark Comer provides some helpful suggestions:

Practice:

Drive the speed limit and get into the slow lane

Define the Relationship with your Cell Phone

Don’t text and drive

Show up ten minutes early for an appointment, sans phone

Boundaries on Apps

Parent your phone: put it to bed before you and make it sleep in

keep your phone off until after your quiet time

Set times for email

Read a book instead of watching tv

Single-task

Walk slower

Sabbath

Journal

Closing:

Starting in the 3rd century we see a monastic movement begin to take place, Christians called to dedicate their entire life to serving and worshipping God. We have much to learn from monasticism. In the 6th century there is a man named St. Benedict and he establishes a rule for those monks in his care. Its not the first rule like this but one of the more well known this many centuries later. He established these 7 prayer times throughout the day. Times when the monks would drop everything they were doing and pray.

The point was 7 times a day to turn your heart to God and to experience his presence and to abide. The end goal was not to just pray 7 times a day. The goal was to learn to pray without ceasing.

These were designed to reset the body, mind, and soul.... to again reorient towards God.

How do we encounter God?

Means of Grace

I would have preached on means of grace today, but I think there is a greater need before we go to the well.

But if I told you to pray more, in your hurry, you wouldnt be able to.

Anyone else tired this morning?

I am.

I am tired of feeling like there are not enough hours in the day or days in the week. I am tired of constantly feeling like I left something undone. I am tired of feeling like I have to be “on” all the time. I am tired of wondering if I am falling short as a husband and dad as a pastor. I am tired of being all things to everyone.

I am tired of seeing College kids tear apart their own schools for a cause that is likely more complicated than most of us know. I am tired of local politicians texting me. I am tired of thinking about the next presidential election. I am tired of answering questions of Methodist politics.

What else would you add?

Oh, I am tired of checking the weather…

And this exhaustion is a symptom. It is a symptom of hurry. It is an indicator that I spend more time in the kitchen than at the feet of Jesus. I need a reset. I need to slow down. Maybe you do too?