Serving Jesus Luke 10:38-42

Serving Jesus

Growing up I listened to country music.

There was a song released by Alabama that really hits at the message of this morning’s text.

The chorus goes.

“I'm in a hurry to get things done Oh, I rush and rush until life's no fun All I really gotta do is live and die I'm in a hurry and don't know why”

How many of us feel this?

There’s so much to do.

There’s not enough time in the days.

I feel like I’m a hamster in a ball running my legs, but never getting anywhere.

For some of us this feels hopeless, it’s exhausting.

However, for many believers we where it as a badge of honor.

Look how busy I am.

I get more done.

I have more to do.

And b/c of that, I am more important and more needed than any one else.

Now if you fall into the category of one who carries the badge of busyness with pride.

One of the things that irks you is when someone else stops and smells the roses.

When they enjoy the simple things in life.

And honestly this is a trap that I can fall into too.

I don’t like to be late anywhere.

I take the old adage to be true.

If you are early you are on time,

if you are on time you are late,

If you are it’s unacceptable.

So imagine the sanctification that happens when you have kids who are never in a hurry to get anywhere and the most precious daughter that God gave you just loves to skip, twirl, and make observations at the wrong time.

What does all of this have to do with the scripture this morning?

We are going to look at a short vignette that Luke chose to share with us in the life and ministry of Jesus.

The story is a story about two sisters.

Mary and Martha.

They are women with differing personalities.

And even more than that differing priorities.

Martha is a very Type A get things done type while Mary is a more stop and smell the roses type.

Both of these women love Jesus.

Both of these women want to honor Jesus.

Both of these women want to be disciples of Jesus.

And yet they both respond in different ways.

Many of you are familiar with the Mary and Martha story.

But as I’ve shared before, this story about these women would have been shocking to the Original audience.

We can’t overlook this truth.

The fact that women dominate this story would have made people uncomfortable.

We talked about last week how people would be uncomfortable with the Samaritan being the hero of the story.

And this week women are highlighted.

Remember there was no women’s right movement during Jesus’ time.

Women were dismissed and marginalized culturally.

They aren’t supposed to be the focal point of any story or even discipleship.

But here Luke makes sure to highlight Mary and Martha as followers and disciples of Jesus.

This is important thematically to Luke’s Gospel.

Luke wants us to see that even those viewed as on the outside are loved and cherished by Jesus.

But the main point of this teaching is about priorities.

Not just for Mary and Martha, but for all followers of Jesus.

What is the most important as we follow him.

So though this story is about Mary and Martha, we can all find ourselves in their shoes.

Now, before we dive in and look at the Scripture let’s ask the Lord to open our eyes.

Luke 10:38 CSB

38 While they were traveling, he entered a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home.

Jesus Welcomed

Luke doesn’t want us to forget that Jesus is on a journey.

Where is he headed?

Jerusalem. Why? To die for our sins.

But as he’s traveling with his crew of disciples they come to a town of Bethany.

Now we aren’t told it’s Bethany here, but through John’s gospel we know that Mary, Martha, and Lazarus all live in Bethany.

Bethany is about 2 miles outside of Jerusalem.

An unassuming village on the slope of the Mount of Olives, where many events in Jesus’ life take place.

B/c they are traveling, they need some where to stay.

They are getting tired, hungry, and need rest.

Jesus and the disciples are welcomed into Martha’s home.

This is an amazing bout of hospitality for Martha.

From what we can observe, she didn’t have a heads up.

She didn’t have time to prepare for Jesus’ arrival.

And yet she still opens up her home.

Martha’s hospitality stands in direct contrast to the Samaritan village’s lack of hospitality earlier in 9:51-56.

Hospitality was a big deal during Jesus’ time.

Hotels and motels didn’t exist.

They did have inns, but they weren’t always the cleanest or healthiest places to stay.

So a traveling preacher like Jesus would have to rely on the hospitality of others to open their homes.

It wasn’t just that the host would have to provide a place to sleep, they were also responsible for feeding their guests, taking care of their animals, and ensuring their safety and comfort.

Being hospitable was a sacred responsibility especially for Jewish people.

This was an aspect of their worship that was commanded by God as part of their covenant with him.

They are instructed to care for the stranger and the travelers.

In addition, right before this picture of Mary and Martha, we see an extreme picture of hospitality through the Good Samaritan taking care of the man that was beaten and left for dead.

So Martha’s invitation to Jesus and his disciples to enter into her home is God honoring and a blessing to Jesus.

She is now taking on the responsibility to care for and provide for Jesus and his disciples.

Martha had a lot to do.

I’m sure she felt a lot of pressure and she understood the weight of Jesus staying in her home.

But nevertheless, she opened her home to Jesus.

In the next verse, Luke introduces us to Martha’s Sister, Mary.

Luke 10:39 CSB

39 She had a sister named Mary, who also sat at the Lord’s feet and was listening to what he said.

At the Feet of Jesus

Jesus enters Martha’s house and what does he do?

He begins to teach.

We don’t know exactly what he is teaching, but we can infer from his ministry and from previous teachings that he is proclaiming the kingdom of God.

He is also most likely instructing those listening on what it looks like to be his disciple.

Mary, Martha’s sister is intrigued by Jesus and his teaching.

She is sitting at his feet.

But she isn’t just sitting there she is listening to his words.

On top of this being a scandalous story that features two women, this would have added to scandal of Luke’s Gospel.

In the ancient time, sitting at a teacher’s feet was equal to saying that you are a disciple of that teacher.

So Luke is essentially saying that Mary is being discipled by Jesus.

This seems pretty common to us, but for the First Century Jew, women had no place learning about the things of God.

They had no place learning about theology.

They had no place being instructed by a rabbi.

For Jesus’ ministry to include women would have been atrocious to many who would hear this account.

In addition to that, Luke makes the distinction between those who “listen to Jesus” and those who don’t.

Those who listen have eternal life.

Those who don’t will not have eternal life.

Those who listen are his disciples.

Those who don’t listen are not his disciples.

Mary is intent on soaking up every second, every sentence that Jesus speaks.

This is part of her personality that shines through in the text.

She is like a little sponge that wants to soak up Jesus, his wisdom, and his teaching.

I just want to take a moment to highlight that Jesus’ desire is for all kinds of people to sit at his feet.

He wants those who are the outcasts of society to sit at his feet.

He wants all kinds of people from all kinds of backgrounds to be his disciples.

Again this is highlighted by the fact that there is a woman sitting here listening to and learning from Jesus.

There is no discrimination at the feet of the Jesus.

The only categories that Jesus distinguishes is those who listen and those that don’t.

Sitting at the feet of Jesus isn’t just for those of us who went to school.

It’s not just for pastors and deacons.

it’s not just for your grandparents or parents.

It’s for all people.

That’s one of the beauties of Christ and his kingdom.

Those who believe are invited in.

It doesn’t matter where you come from.

It doesn’t matter what you have done you are invited.

Man, woman, boy or girl.

Black, white, poor or rich.

If you desire to listen to Jesus, he will accept you as his disciple.

That’s the picture we get here with Mary.

However, being at Jesus’ feet isn’t just simply giving him attention.

It also demonstrates submission.

Mary is willing to serve Jesus with all that she has.

She’s willing to follow him where ever he goes.

She’s willing to let him guide her life.

Mary isn’t ignorant about the way that people thought about a woman learning from a rabbi.

She’s well aware that her discipleship was going to stir up emotions and reactions from others, but she doesn’t care.

She is unashamed about being a disciple of Jesus.

She earnestly and wholeheartedly is devoted to learning from and growing in her understanding of Jesus.

Every single believer should sit at the feet of Jesus and submit to him.

We should live unashamed of the one who gave his life for us.

Mary lived in a time that sitting at Jesus’ feet would cause the religious people to lose their minds.

We happen to live at a time where to say we follow Jesus send the non-religious into a fit.

As disciples of Jesus we cannot and must not bow to the cultures expectations.

Christians in America have been far too quite and complacent in their discipleship.

We need to sit at the feet of Jesus

And Up to this point, we don’t know what’s going on with Martha.

We know she’s in charge of the house.

We know she invited Jesus in, but we don’t know a whole lot about what she’s doing.

That is until v. 40.

Luke 10:40 CSB

40 But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, and she came up and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to serve alone? So tell her to give me a hand.”

Distracted and Bitter

Martha sees all that lays before.

She sees all the tasks.

All the things that need to be attended to.

She is so distracted from the greatness of Jesus.

She’s got floors that need to be swept.

She’s got beds that need to be made.

Dinner that needs to be cooked and served.

Being hospitable is hard work.

But hospitality is in Martha’s Blood.

And Notice it isn’t the hospitality that’s the problem.

It’s Martha’s heart.

Her heart turns bitter toward her sister.

The word distraction here is interesting it means to be dragged away.

Martha was being dragged away from the presence of Jesus.

Listen to what Charles Spurgeon said about Martha.

“Her fault was not that she served. The condition of a servant well becomes every Christian. Her fault was that she grew ‘cumbered with much serving,’ so that she forgot him and only remembered the service.”

I can’t help but think about the holiday season at my Momma’s house.

There’s a lot that needs to get done and she doesn’t like to ask for help.

She wants to do it all on her own.

Leading up to the gathering she’s cleaning the house.

Vacuuming the floors.

dusting the baseboards.

getting the rooms clean for guests.

She makes cookies for what seems like weeks.

There is so much that must get done before guests arrive.

Then when we get together for Christmas or Thanksgiving, she spends the whole time cooking.

Preparing the meal.

Making sure that everything is up to her standards.

She’s so busy during that time that she doesn’t even really get to enjoy her family.

Momma was so distracted by serving, that she missed the beauty that was right in front of her.

The problem with all of these distractions is that distraction soon gives way to self-pity.

Self-pity is something like this.

I did all this work without thanks.

I cooked this meal, slaved over a hot stove.

I did all these things and no one noticed it.

Not once did someone even ask to help.

And as those thoughts start ruminating in our minds, we start to get resentful toward those who aren’t helping.

And self-pity gives way to resentment.

I’ve seen it and I’ve felt it.

After a long day of cleaning and cooking, we’ve finally had enough and we start yelling about the lack of help.

We start getting angry that everyone else enjoying their time while we are working hard.

It builds up in our hearts until it explodes out of our mouths.

That’s what happens to Martha.

She get’s so tired of Mary not doing anything that she comes over…not to Mary, but to Jesus.

And what doe she do?

She demands of Jesus to make her sister help.

Martha assumed her sister ought to be serving Jesus the way she’s serving Jesus.

And when she isn’t she gets mad.

Luke 10:40 “... “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to serve alone? So tell her to give me a hand.””

Martha is demanding of Jesus that he tell Mary to serve like Martha serves.

How presumptuous is it of Martha to approach Jesus and demand he do something.

Her rebuke of Jesus is misplaced and Ironic.

She comes to him calling him Lord but then demands something from Him.

Martha’s exasperation with the lack of help from Mary pours out on Jesus.

This is ugly and reprehensible behavior from Martha.

Her resentment toward her sister corrupted her attitude then led her to believe that she had the right to accuse Jesus of not caring for her.

The assumption that Mary should serve like Martha serves, corrupts Martha’s heart.

So much so that as Jesus is teaching she barges in and demands that he remedy the situation.

This kind of attitude isn’t unlike some of our attitudes in the church.

And our attitudes towards our brothers and sisters.

Let’s think about it this way.

Let’s say you have a heart for a particular ministry.

Maybe it’s the homeless.

Maybe it’s the homebound.

Maybe it’s the nursery.

Maybe it’s the hospitality team.

It doesn’t really matter what it is.

This is a good thing and should be applauded.

The Lord has given you a compassion and heart for a certain type of people, problem, or program.

However, there is a problem that occurs when you start to believe that other people should have the same heart toward that ministry as you do.

Then you begin to be bitter.

You begin to resent them.

You begin to start questioning their heart.

Now longer does you service to Lord bring you joy, but instead it corrupts your heart b/c you feel like others should be just like you.

The beauty of the body of Christ is that he has called and equipped all of us with different skills, abilities, and passions.

Not so we can glorify ourselves, but so we can glorify him.

It hurts our mission and our unity if we are upset that others aren’t like us.

Not only that, but it hurts our relationship with Jesus and with others when that resentment builds up in our minds and hearts.

We begin to find the faults and failures in others b/c they aren’t like us.

We begin to get critical of them because we are busy and distracted by our service that we forget who we serve.

We cannot let our service for Jesus distract us from Jesus.

Martha was doing a good and worthy task by being hospitable, however, the problem arises when her focus on her task shifts to what Mary’s doing.

Instead of accusing Jesus of not caring about her situation and demanding that Her sister serve like she did, Martha should have performed a heart check.

Martha was so busy and so distracted.

She had so much she needed to do that she missed the blessing of Serving Jesus.

Martha lost her right posture in serving.

So as we are serving the Lord in whatever capacity and calling he has set before us, we should never allow what we do distract us from who we serve.

We should constantly run back to the question, why am I doing this.

And if the answer is tainted with anything other than, b/c I want to glorify God, then we need to reevaluate what we do.

And Why we do it.

Let’s not fall into the same trap that Martha falls into.

I love the way that Jesus corrects Martha after her outburst.

Luke 10:41–42 CSB

41 The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Jesus’ Response

There are any number of ways that Jesus could have responded to Martha.

But the way he responds is with love, compassion, and grace.

The way that he simply says “Martha, Martha” shows how deeply he cares for her.

She had an ugly and ungracious attitude toward her sister, but Jesus reproaches her with kindness and gentleness.

Through his divine knowledge and observation he points out Martha’s problem.

She is worried and upset.

The Greek words used there refer to one who is mentally anxious and outwardly agitated.

All the work that needs to get done.

All the energy she puts in.

All the distractions that have consumed her, Can’t allow for Martha to be present in the moment with Jesus.

I want us to notice that Jesus doesn’t rebuke Martha for being a good hostess.

He doesn’t tell her that she should stop and smell the roses like Mary does.

His gentle rebuke points at the anxiety and anger that has stirred up with in her.

Whether she realizes it or not, Mary is serving the Lord, just in her own way.

She is listening to him, soaking up his word.

Mary is allowing Jesus to pour into her life and her service at this point in time was to be a learner at the feet of Jesus.

Martha’s serving is not bad, its her heart towards Mary that has become corrupt.

But where does that stem from?

Her self-rigtheousness.

She believes that what she is doing in Serving Jesus is more important and even Better than what Mary is doing.

She sees her role as more valuable than Mary’s.

In her service to Jesus, she has fallen into the role of a victim rather than the role of a servant.

Look at all I have done.

Look at how far I have stretched myself.

I slaved away all day over a hot stove.

I’ve made a meal that I wasn’t prepared for.

I’ve cleaned the house and all Mary has done is sit at your feet.

She didn’t lift a finger to help me Jesus.

Even in doing what is good and right, Martha has missed the mark.

Jesus is gently guiding her back to the point of her service.

Here’s where this text usually ends up when it is preached.

Mary did what’s right

Martha didn’t.

Be more like Mary and less like Martha.

And though this is true in one sense it’s not what Jesus is truly getting at.

Mary’s right choice isn’t that instead of serving she sat a Jesus’ feet.

Her right choice was that she kept her focus on Jesus.

Martha thought that she HAD to serve Jesus.

Rather than that she GOT to serve Jesus.

The “had to” mentality is what cause the anxiety, frustration, and eventual anger toward her sister.

But here’s the thing about Jesus that is so humbling and even more gracious.

Jesus doesn’t need anything from us.

He doesn’t need our work.

He doesn’t need our service.

He doesn’t need us to make everything perfect.

He doesn’t need us at all.

Instead, by he great kindness and grace he chooses to use us.

Let’s not forget that Jesus is the one who turned water into wine.

He’s the one who fed the 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish.

He’s the one who calmed the raging seas.

He’s the one who casts out the demons.

He’s the one who will by the end of Luke over come the grave.

He doesn’t not need anything from us.

When we rely on ourselves to serve Jesus we will get overwhelmed, anxious, self-righteous, and angry at others who aren’t doing the work.

Mary did the right thing b/c she allowed Jesus to serve her.

While Martha was slaving away, preparing a meal, Mary was feasting on the Word of God.

Mary’s position was in relationship with Jesus while Martha’s service was disconnected from Jesus.

Now I want us to be careful here b/c there can be an over correction that causes more harm.

What Jesus is not saying is that we aren’t supposed to go out and participate in the ministry.

Service has a practical place in the Christian life.

Jesus both values our service and demands it from us.

We were saved to do good works.

The good works we are called to do are in relation to our relationship with Jesus.

If our works are not connected to the heart of Jesus then we are doing them out of our own power and felt obligation.

That heart and mindset does not honor God.

May we never forget that Jesus is our good portion.

Jesus is the right choice.

And our relationship to him will never be taken away from us.

So as we are called to work in service to the Lord, let our focus be on him, not on what we are doing.

B/c when our focus is the service rather than the Savior we will end up bitter.

So our service to the Lord will at times be hands on cooking, cleaning, visiting the homebound and homeless, serving in the nursery, etc.

And sometimes our service will be sitting at his feet and being filled up by him.

There is a delicate balance of our walk with Jesus where we learn and his feet and then we go out and hit the streets.

Let’s not neglect either aspect of our discipleship.

Let’s pray.