Worshipping Jesus
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction
Introduction
Thank you all for coming out this morning. I don’t know about you but I’m looking for snow. Anyone else ready for the white stuff?
Watch, I’m gonna jynx us. I was told about these bad New England winters…I haven’t seen it yet.
Open your Bibles to Luke 10.
We are continuing our series “With Us” taken from a name for Jesus “Immanuel” which means God with us.
We aren’t looking at the Christmas story in a traditional sense. We are taking an approach to Christmas that I pray is going to help us understand what it means to have God with us.
Last week we looked at the verses of John to better Understand Who Jesus is, What Jesus did, and Why Jesus came.
Today I’d like for us to see what it means to Worship Jesus.
Now, I’ve got two candy bars here a Reese’s and a Hershey.
If I were to ask you to pick one, you probably have a favorite right? Some of you enjoy the pure milk chocolate of a hershey’s bar while others like the mixture of the peanut butter and the chocolate together.
Let me ask you though, if I just gave you one and you didn’t get to pick, you wouldn’t be too disappointed right?
Why? because your not choosing between dirt and chocolate. You don’t have a choice between good and bad. You have a choice between better and best.
And that choice you make could depend upon what mood your in and what you need.
Today we are going to see a moment in the life of Christ where there are two ladies that have choices to make. They each make different choices. Neither are wrong but one is better in the moment of time they are in.
Follow along with me as I read out of Luke 10:38-42 and we will see the two ladies and their choices.
Luke 10:38-42
38 Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.
40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
PRAY
Now if your not familiar with this moment in time, let me paint a picture for you.
Jesus has been ministering to people in His travels and is within a year of his crucifixion. He has come to the village where Mary and Martha’s house is.
Mary and Martha are Lazarus’ sisters. Lazarus is the one that Jesus raised from the dead.
He is at their house apparently spending time with friends and resting.
While doing this, we see this moment where Martha is up busy about serving the guests, cleaning, and taking care of things in the home, while Martha is at the feet of Jesus.
Think after Thanksgiving dinner and you see your spouse just lounging. That’s what Mary sees as happening with martha.
She calls her our to Jesus and Jesus says…Mary has made the good choice.
Wow…right?
So what can we take from this moment in time about Worshipping Jesus?
I believe we can first see that
1. Working and Worshipping can be the same.
1. Working and Worshipping can be the same.
Too often I believe this passage is depicted as though a believer must choose between either serving Jesus or spending time with Jesus. I do believe both are different but neither is bad. There is a time and place for each.
Remember the verse from last week from 1 Cor? I know you do but just for those that weren’t here.
1 Cor 10:31
31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
The reason both are needed is because both should be for the same purpose…glorifying God. The motive behind which you serve in the church or lift your hands determines whether the action is good or bad.
If it is for your glory or for you to be seen as someone spiritual then you find yourself in the company of the Pharisees
2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
It was the hypocrites of Jesus’ day that would ensure everyone saw their service, their giving, and their acts of worship so that they could be acknowledged as spiritual people rather than for the glory of God.
But serving in and of itself is not wrong, in fact it’s encouraged.
Matt 23:11
11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
Prov 11:25
25 The liberal soul shall be made fat: And he that watereth shall be watered also himself.
Prov 11:25 can be understood in modern vernacular as “
A generous person will be enriched,
and the one who gives a drink of water
will receive water”
So why was it that Mary made the better choice? Because Jesus said in that moment, one thing is needful and Mary chose that.
She chose to spend time with God rather than allow Him to be with her and her distracted by everything else missing the opportunity to be at the feet of Jesus.
As a Christian you have this access to God the Father through Jesus.
The question is, are you making time for it?
So many books. seminars, and life coaches try to get people to by their new “time management” tools. I’ve bought a few myself. The more I’ve learned about time management is that I can’t manage time. No matter how hard I try, I can’t add more hours to a day. I make it slow down or speed up. I can’t manage time at all.
What I can manage is the same thing you can manage, and that is our focus.
Focus management is a better way, I believe, to approach making the most of our time on earth. What do I mean? Well, as attention spans continue to decline and more and more things seek to take our focus, we have to be intentional about what we are focusing on at any moment in the day.
You have to intentionally put the phone down. Turn off the TV or video game. You have to be purposeful in what you allow to take your focus.
Martha allowed the business of life to take her focus off of Jesus and in that moment, she made the wrong decision.
Now, we have access to God through Jesus that Martha did not have. When Jesus would leave her home that day, she did not have the Holy Spirit indwelling her. She couldn’t be in the presence of God without Jesus being there.
Many of us spend the Christmas season working, serving, busy, distracted, by all that’s going on around us. All that we believe “needs” to be done.
This is where Mary made the better decision. She saw all the dishes. She saw the people needing drinks.
Just like you see the laundry that was dried a couple days ago. Just like you see that thing you said you woudl fix months ago. Just like you get distracted by the job you work to buy the gifts for the kids or your financial situation that needs to improve or whatever else it is that is taking your attention, Mary saw all of that.
But when the time was right, she made the decision to worship rather tahn work. She made the decision to sit rather than serve.
I believe Martha was serving because she believed it was the right thing to do and her motives were in the right place. I believe Mary sat to worship because she thought it was the right thing to do, not because she was lazy.
If your motive is to glorify God, then your work is worship. The problem that comes from working so much for worship or worshipping so much your not working or just ignoring worshipping God all together, is that you can become bitter.
Martha got to this place. You see that in how she calls her sister out to Jesus.
40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
She started comparing their worship.
2. Comparing your life to others leads to frustration.
2. Comparing your life to others leads to frustration.
God has gifted each of us differently. He has each of us using our talents and abilities in different ways, or at least we should be.
When we begin to think we are doing more for the cause of Christ than someone else serving in a different way. We will find ourselves getting into a place of bitterness toward others.
We can think of this in two ways. Either that person isn’t doing as much as I’m doing or I’m not doing as much as that person is doing.
Comparison to one another is pointless. Why? Because you are most likely comparing their front stage life to your back stage life,
Think about it. You scroll through Facebook, instagram, tik tok, or just look at people when they are in a public setting and see the best of them. No one posts the worst of their life on Fb. That’s depressing.
Most put out the good times. I mean, how many of you frame the family photo of the arguments and crying while getting people in position?
You see others success or how “easy” they have it and begin to compare. Not realizing that they are struggling as well.
Martha saw Mary at the feet of Jesus when she was working and called her out. I don’t know what Jesus was speaking about at that time. What I do know is that whatever it was, Mary needed it.
Mary needed that moment of worship rather than work. Mary needed to take a break.
Martha beleived she should serve Mary believed she should worship.
You believe you should be working or doing more and subsequently believe others should be doing the same as you. Yet thats not what they need in that moment.
Remember the words of Paul in
Gal 1:10
10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
When we compare ourselves to others we are saying that we want the approval of men or that they need our approval. The approval of men matters little when you have the approval of God.
When you are living your life based upon biblical principle and seeking first God’s kingdom, it may and most likely will look different than someone else doing the exact same thing. Why?
Individual Soul liberty.
Romans 14:11-12
11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
Notice the last verse there, everyone shall give account of himself. You won’t give an account for your spouse or your children’s action as an adult. You won’t give an account for a friend, acquaintance, or person you see on social media. So why worry about what they are doing or how they are doing it in comparison to your self?
Live your life for the Lord and let them live theirs. Take personal responsibility for your own Christianity and don’t expect anyone else or any establishment to grow your relationship with the Lord for you.
Doing so relieves much stress and anxiety as you decide to not focus on what others have or are doing that you would like, which is also known as coveting or maybe your a person who sees what others are doing and things your better. That’s called pride.
Mary and Martha are both right in this moment, until Martha compares herself to Mary. You can be doing great things in your life and for the Lord but the moment you begin to comparing, your on a slippery slope to pride or covetousness.
Working and Worshipping both have their place. You need both in your life. Just because you are engaged in one and someone else is not, doesn’t mean they love the Lord less or are doing the wrong thing. You mind your worship and let them mind their own.
because when you begin to compare your life to others, it will lead to Frustration. I believe we can also see that Life becomes empty without rest.
3. Life Becomes Empty Without Rest
3. Life Becomes Empty Without Rest
Luke 10:40
40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
Notice the Spirit in which Martha is approaching Jesus. She is verbally and most likely visibly upset in this moment.
You can see it now, her walking over “Lord, don’t you care that she is sitting there being lazy while I work? Tell her to get up and help me.”
Hear the anger..hear the bitterness..the frustration…the worry over things getting done.
That type of attitude typically comes up in my life when I’ve pushed myself to get a lot done in a little time and someone else isn’t helping me or they are doing something that I see as distracting me from accomplishing what I need to get done.
I’m sure you’ve had busy weeks. Ones that just exhaust you. Ones that you feel start on Monday and you don’t sit down until the next week.
That type of living will lead you to neglecting a spiritual disciple that is typically partnered with prayer. Self reflection or Self Examination.
Two times in scripture this is mentioned directly.
1 Cor 11:28
28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
Prior to taking part in the Lord’s supper that symbolizes the broken body and spilled blood of Christ we are called to examine ourselves in light of Christ.
Psalm 139:23-24
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: Try me, and know my thoughts:
24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.
David writing here calls upon God to search his heart. This is taking time for God reflection. For the Christian there should be time for this to happen and it should include both a reflection by us and us calling upon God for Him to examine us and to reflect on ourselves in the light of His truth.
It’s during these times that we find rest. We find relaxation and we find the path God has for us and we make any course corrections to get there.
When we go and go and go, and don’t stop for this type of rest, we are putting ourselves under a yoke that the Lord did not intend for us. We are putting an unnecessary burden on us and on our families and anyone else around us.
Jesus said
Matt 11:28-30
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
That doesn’t mean you can do all things in service to the Lord and it be easy. You can’t work, do Christmas shopping, spend time with family, serve at the church, attend that event, take care of the house, take care of the car and yard, and it all be easy in light because you are doing it in the name of Christ.
Jesus isn’t placing those requirements on you. Jesus called for faith. Jesus called for us to deny ourselves. That may mean denying overtime. That may mean denying more gifts for the kids. That may mean doing some that is best rather than something that is good.
Whether you find yourself to be like Mary in this moment running around with lots going on or like Martha who seems to not be doing as much, remember…too much work makes you ineffective. Too much idle time, makes you ineffective.
Seek a balance between doing and resting.
Some times you need to get up and get things done and others....you need to worship.
Because as Christians, when we trust in Jesus as our Savior, we are indwelt with the Holy Spirit of God. And, unlinke mary and MArtha we don’t have just to wait for Him to stop by, He has called us unto Him and any time of day we can say that we have...
God with Us.
Time of Response
Time of Response
As we bow our heads to respond to the message this morning can I ask you a question…Are you living your life to worship Jesus? Are you spending time in service to Him? Are you spending time resting in His love?
Christians, there is great rest and freedom found in resting with the Father. Take time this week to do just that. If your one that’s been resting and beleives you need to do more…get up and do it....but don’t forget, we all need rest from time to time.
Don’t compare yourselves with others…that will lead to bitterness and frustration.
Are you here today and you don’t have a relationship with Jesus?
Do you not know for sure that you will go to Heaven when you die?
The Bible has a clear way of entering into a relationship with God where you can know Heaven is your home and you don’t have to go through life alone.
Maybe you’ve never heard
John 3:16
KJV 190016 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
God does love you. Loves you so much He sent Jesus to die for you.
Now you are faced with a decision…will you continue finding salvation in your own works or in the finished work of Christ?
Ephesians 2:8–9
KJV 19008 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Your first have to admit your sinner
Romans 3:23
KJV 190023 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
I’m sure each of us could do that.Next you believe
Romans 10:9
KJV 19009 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Then confess. Confess Jesus as your Savior and call out to Him
Romans 10:13
KJV 190013 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
IF you’d like to do that today I’d like to help.
“Dear Jesus, I know I’m a sinner, I believe you came to die on the cross and rose from the dead. I put my faith right now in you and ask you to come into my life and change me from the inside out. Amen.”
By trusting in Him we can all find rest.
PRAY