No Distractions

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Introduction

Have you ever been in the middle of a task — maybe you’re cleaning the kitchen — and you realize you are furious at everybody else in the house for not helping? You’re not just washing the dishes — you’re banging the pots and pans around so they can hear your frustration from the other room. You’re doing the “right thing” but you’re about three seconds away from a meltdown.

Me

I am married to an “angry cleaner” — and the worst part of it is — I don’t even know when it’s coming! We’ll be watching TV — she’ll get up to get a snack or something — at least I think — and suddenly without warning of an incoming strike — I hear her rage cleaning the refrigerator. And mad that I’m not helping! And I’m like, “How did we get here?” And if you’re not the angry cleaner in your house — you’re probably the husband.

We

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We’ve been in our series, “The Heart Matters” — and today — we’re looking at one of the greatest enemies of a healthy heart focused on God: distraction. And we live in a world full of distractions, right? Maybe you’re like me — and you can walk into a room with a clear purpose — stand there for five seconds — and think, “Why am I here?”

Distraction doesn’t usually feel dramatic — right? It doesn’t sound an alarm — and it certainly doesn’t announce itself.

And the thing is — distraction doesn’t usually look like doing “bad” things… most of the time — distraction looks like being so busy doing “good” things that we forget the One Thing that actually matters. It just slowly moves important things out of the center.

And as a result we’ve turned our lives into spiritual warehouses — where we’ve stored up so many “to-do’s” and “should-haves” that we’ve buried the very Person we’re supposed to be following.

I don’t think any of us wake up thinking, “You know what? I’m gonna de-prioritize God today.”

That’s not how it works. We just get busy. And tired. We get stretched. And we respond to what feels urgent instead of what’s actually important.

And slowly — without us intending to — we move God from the center to the margins.

He’s still present.

We still believe in Him.

We still acknowledge Him.

…just not first.

And that’s what today’s message confronts.

God

This morning we’re going to be reading a passage that many of you may be familiar with — it’s the story of Mary and Martha in Luke Chapter 10. Now — before we get too far into this — let me just say — I get really annoyed when this passage is used as a way to tell women to calm down. And that’s not what we’re doing today. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this used on Mother’s Day as a way to say, “Ladies — you just need to rest at the feet of Jesus…” and then on Father’s Day the men get yelled at and told, “Step up and be a man.”

The point today is to help us recognize where we stand in our relationship with God — and if there are things — even things that are good — that have caused us to get distracted from the “main thing”.

The reason we get so mad when we’re “angry cleaning” isn’t just because the fridge is dirty — it’s because we feel unseen. We think, “I’m doing all this for them — and they don’t even care.”

And this is where Martha let distraction win. She started doing something for Jesus — but because she wasn’t with Jesus — her service turned into resentment. That’s the reality of our world. We are a culture of resentful producers because we’ve forgotten how to be joyful pursuers.

Exposition

v. 38

So look with me — at Luke Chapter 10 — starting with Verse 38.

Luke 10:38 CSB

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

So let’s set the scene here: Jesus is traveling through the village of Bethany — and his rag-tag group is with Him. And they all go to Martha’s house. And to understand the tension here — you have to understand the culture. See — in the ancient world — hospitality isn’t a suggestion — it’s a sacred duty. And when a teacher like Jesus comes to town — you don’t just “put out some snacks” — you prepare a feast. A Wal-Mart run doesn’t cut it — you have to go to Costco… even if it is clear out on the East side of town.

So Martha isn’t being “extra” here — she’s being faithful. She’s fulfilling the highest cultural expectation of her day.

v. 39

And then we meet her sister Mary. Take a look at verse 39:

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.

Mary’s posture toward Christ is also important to note here. See in this culture — to sit at somebody’s feet was the picture of a learner in submission to a teacher. Mary loves Jesus. And she doesn’t want to miss a single word He has to say.

And that’s great — but imagine the pressure Martha has to be feeling here. She’s probably got 13 hungry disciples in the living room. The house is hot. Jesus is teaching. The bread ain’t rising. And the water jars are empty. She’s working her tail off for the Son of God. She is literally serving the Bread of Life a meal.

v. 40

But it’s not all rainbows and butterflies. Look at Verse 40.

Luke 10:40 CSB

40 But Martha was distracted by her many tasks,

Luke uses a very specific word here to describe Martha. It says she was distracted. In the original Greek — the word that we get “distracted” from literally means “to be pulled in different directions” or “to be dragged away”.

Have you ever felt that? You’re trying to pray — but your brain is dragging you toward your inbox? Or you’re trying to have a conversation with your spouse — but your phone is “pulling” you toward a notification? That’s what this word means.

Martha wasn’t distracted by “bad” things — she was doing what was supposed to be done. But she was distracted by many things. She wasn’t distracted by sin. She was distracted by soup! And here’s the danger for us:

“THE MANY THINGS” GRAPHIC

The “many things” are the greatest enemy of the “One Thing”.

Here’s where the heart starts to drift. The problem isn’t that Martha is in the kitchen. The problem is that Martha’s heart has left the room. She is physically three feet away from the Messiah — but she’s miles away in her mind.

When we turn our hearts into warehouses full of tasks — even good tasks… even “God” tasks — we eventually run out of room for God Himself.

So Martha finally snaps. Somewhere in the middle of her to-do list — it dawns on her that she’s the only person getting anything done. Mary’s just in here lounging around — talking with Jesus — and Martha’s exhausted! And listen — we’ve all been there, right? We finally explode at somebody for not helping.

Look at what she says to Jesus in the second half of verse 40:

Luke 10:40 CSB

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

In my mind — I can just picture Martha sticking her head around the corner from the kitchen. You know… her hair’s a mess — she’s probably got flour on her face — and she is fired up. In the great Commonwealth of Kentucky we call that “fit to be tied”.

Surely we can relate to that, right? It’s so easy for us to get distracted from the main thing — because of all the little things that feel like they have to be done. We live in a “Martha” world. We have 50 tabs open in our brains all at once.

It can even happen right here at church! We think we have to do all the things — and don’t get me wrong — those things are important. But we can think being “busy” for God is the same as being with God. And eventually — we start letting those things impact our own walk with Christ. When our service to God affects our relationship with God — we’ve lost sight of the reason we’re serving to begin with.

And then Martha does what many of us have been guilty of doing. She goes from welcoming Jesus to blaming Him. Notice what she’s implying here: “Jesus — if you really cared about me — you wouldn’t be talking to my sister right now. You’d be telling her to get up and do some work!” How many times have we been guilty of doing the same thing? How many times have you tried to kick Him out of the driver’s seat because you think you know best? I don’t know about you — but every single time I’ve done that in my own life — 100% of the time — it never works out for me. Even with the best of intentions — we still mess up.

But it still doesn’t end there. While she’s running around with her hair on fire — she now starts making demands of Jesus. She says, “Tell her to give me a hand!”

And what I think is kind of funny here is that Martha doesn’t say this to Mary — she says it to Jesus! Martha is so mad at Mary that she’s being passive aggressive. She’s not even talking to her sister. That’s how you know this is getting ridiculous, right?

v. 41

But as Jesus always does — even in the middle of our chaos and mess — even in the middle of our frustration and immaturity — in the middle of the mess we have created by all of our distractions — He doesn’t respond with anger or malice. He isn’t annoyed. He doesn’t roll His eyes or tell her to shut up and get back to work.

Look at the response of Christ in Verse 41:

Luke 10:41 CSB

41 The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things,

Jesus responds here with a kindness that is disarming. And He says her name twice. “Martha, Martha,” He says. In Hebrew tradition — saying a name twice was a sign of intimacy. It’s what God did with Abraham — and Moses — and Samuel. It’s the voice of a Father saying, “I see you. I see your hustle. I see your stress. But you’ve missed the point.”

And notice here — Jesus doesn’t scold Martha for cooking. This is what she’s supposed to be doing. He challenges her for being distracted. “You are worried and upset about many things.”

And we’re not too different. In Martha’s culture — you’re judged by how well you treat your guests. In today’s society — we’re judged by how busy we are. And we wear it like a badge of honor, don’t we? We’re constantly running around — wearing ourselves out — and being distracted by so many things that we just work ourselves into an anxious mess.

Think about if we were in Martha’s shoes. If Jesus stepped into our lives and into our homes — would he walk into a heart of worship or a heart that has become a warehouse for all our anxieties?

But the thing I think I love most about this exchange is not only does Jesus show compassion — but through this statement He also affirms what she’s going through.

For all of the “do’ers” in the room — this statement from Jesus can feel like a slap on the wrist because Martha’s doing too much. But His intent and heart behind this statement isn’t condemnation — it’s Him recognizing — and acknowledging — and validating what Martha is feeling. Jesus isn’t telling her to just get over it. He shows her that He recognizes the frustration she’s experiencing.

His validation doesn’t endorse her distraction — and it doesn’t give her a free pass to continue behaving in this way — but it redirects her focus with compassion.

He tells us, “I want all of you — not just your work.”

And He does the same thing for us. He isn’t a cold and distant God who doesn’t care what you’re going through. He looks at you today and says, “Hey, I know this is hard. I know it feels like it’s all crashing down around you and that you’re the only one holding it together. But I want you to know that you don’t have to bear the weight of that responsibility.”

The Psalmist said in Chapter 46:

Psalm 46:1 NRSVue

1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

v. 42

And He’s here to help Martha in this situation too. Look at how this exchange ends — Verse 42:

Luke 10:42 CSB

42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Jesus says, “Only one thing is necessary.” Think about that. In a world of “many things” — Jesus offers the “One Thing”. He isn’t asking Martha to be less productive. He’s asking her to be more present. He’s showing us that the “God section” of our lives isn’t a checklist to complete — it’s a Person to sit with. Mary isn’t being lazy — she’s being attentive. She realizes that the King is in the room.

But that doesn’t mean Martha was doing the wrong thing. Mary was serving and learning — just like Martha. Their roles look different — but their heart posture should be the same: growing in relationship with Christ. Martha’s problem wasn’t the kitchen — it was her perspective.

You

And you know — it’s so easy for us to sit here and judge Martha for clanking pots and having a bad attitude… but if we move from the kitchen in Bethany to our own homes — we have to ask:

“WHAT ARE THE MANY THINGS” GRAPHIC

What are the “Many Things” that have become “The Main Thing” for me?

Because here’s the hard truth — you can’t be devoted to Jesus if you’re constantly distracted by the things you think are more important. In other words — where is the “clutter” in your warehouse?

We often think that the biggest threat to our faith is “sin” — the big — and obvious bad stuff. But for most of us in this room — the biggest threat is actually distraction. We aren’t necessarily being pulled away by “evil” — we’re just being pulled away by all the “good” things that have taken up too much space.

We wear our packed schedules like a badge of honor.

We’ve got too much stuff in that warehouse of our life: career goals — and kids sports — or social standings.

We try to check the weather on our phones and then we get sucked into social media — and suddenly we’re looking at a stranger’s vacation pictures from 2019!

We think if we aren’t stressed — we aren’t succeeding.

But if our success requires us to be too distracted to sit at the feet of Christ — is that really success? We’re so busy building our own kingdom that we’ve stopped sitting at the feet of the king. And as a result — we’ve pushed Jesus to the back corner of the basement. We haven’t kicked Him out of the house — we just piled so much laundry on top of Him that we can’t see Him anymore.

We

But imagine what our lives would look like if we followed Jesus’ call here to Martha?

Some translations of Verse 42 say:

Luke 10:42 NRSVue

42 Mary has chosen the better part…”

…and this is such a hopeful phrase. It means sitting at His feet isn’t a luxury for the super-spiritual — it’s a choice for the hungry. And even when we think of ourselves as more of a Martha than a Mary — we can still choose the “better” part in all of our doing. Choosing the better part means decided that something else is going unfinished to make room for Christ.

Imagine what our lives would feel like if we were willing to leave just one thing “unfinished” this week so we can be more present with God? Maybe the “better part” is leaving the dishes in the sink for ten minutes so you can pray. Maybe it’s turning off the podcast in the car so you can actually listen. It’s choosing the hush over the hustle.

Imagine how grounded we’d feel without the distractions pulling us in multiple directions — and the peace we’d feel — sitting at His feet.

Call to Repentance

Martha was loved by Jesus. He wasn’t kicking her out. He was inviting her in. And He’s doing the same for us. And if we can learn anything from this — it’s that God isn’t asking for perfection — He’s asking for priority.

Maybe the most honest prayer you can pray is this: “God — I didn’t mean to move You — I just got distracted.”

And if you don’t know Him today — if you’ve never accepted the free gift of a relationship with Him — His invitation is still the same. Jesus responded to Martha’s frustrations with deep affection. And centuries later — He responds to us with the same grace. He isn’t standing over you with a clipboard checking your productivity. He’s sitting at the table — pointing to the empty chair next to Him — saying, “Come here. Rest in my presence.”

And in His presence — there are no distractions. Only peace. Praise be to God.

Prayer

Communion