Sermon (17-Jul): "A Mary Heart in a Martha World"

Scripture:

38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.

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

40 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!”

41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things,

42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Big Idea:

There are many things that we can do but what is the needed thing(s)

Introduction:

- Martha, Mary, Lazarus and Jesus...some theologians would say they were, not just family, but good friends

- In the gospels' account, we are shown Lazarus passing away while Jesus was nowhere near the town

- But here, we are shown one of the prime lessons of what Jesus was all about

- For those who have been in church awhile, we may be familiar with this passage

- Personally, it's always refreshing to hear especially in today's society

- We seem to be inundated with the type A, do all you can, while you can mentality

- And if you don't have that mindset...you can get left behind

- Others get rewarded while you are seemingly left behind

- Believe it or not, I get it

- When your focus doesn't rival others, your commitment and passion can be called into question

- While you focus on believing in God and pushing toward His calling,

- Well there aren't too many people that are rewarded for that

- It's not celebrated enough

- Which further pushes others away from what Christ touches on as important... intentional worship

- Quite possibly, Martha and Mary were just going about their business on a normal day when Jesus shows up

- Both are comfortable with Him being there…initially

- Some may have heard sermons regarding worship vs work mentality and this is one story that kinda points to that

Transition: On the one hand, we have Mary's approach, her heart; on the other, there's Martha's world

1 - Mary's Heart

- (v.38) Right away, we are introduced to Jesus arriving in Bethany (Martha, Mary and Lazarus' town)

- The text explains that this was Martha's house so she might have been the elder of the two sisters

- Notice that the verse also says that she welcomed Jesus into her home

- Here's a side note that's come to me recently: "It's one thing to be invited to an event, outing, or gathering but isn't it an entirely different thing to be welcomed.”

- Invited to me says it's more of a courtesy thing but to be welcomed says, personally, "I'm glad you showed up."

- You may remember different situations in your life where you may have been invited to the gathering but did you feel welcomed?

- And, not that the situation has to be about you, that's not what I'm getting at.

- But, feeling welcomed, shows appreciation for showing up.

- So, for Jesus to be welcomed, says a lot about his place in the lives of Martha and Mary.

- They both enjoyed his company, were influenced by His presence and, arguably so, sought his wisdom.

- I believe they saw His person and potential possibly before the disciples and the general public might have

- In a passage aside from this one, we see that He is "touched" by the news that Lazarus is sick albeit on his deathbed

- He informs Martha on the way to raise Lazarus that "He is the Resurrection and the Life."

- There must have been a pre-existing relationship between the three or the four if we include Lazarus.

- Yet and still, we have this text which highlights the contrast between the two sisters and their "approach to Jesus"

- v.39 The text talks about Mary's approach to Jesus visiting

- I say that's where we see not only her "approach to Jesus" but also her heart

- Some would say that Mary hung on everything about Jesus:

- His Presence and Word drew and captivated her attention

- One translation (Amplified) says that she was “continually listening to His teaching”

- Mary knew the value of Jesus' Word

- Have you ever been in a situation where you longed and needed to hear from God?

- I was at an appointment the other day

- The young lady who happened to be assisting me let me know she was getting out of the military

- She's a bit unsure of how things are going to play out

- She has some ideas and options but listen to what she said and I'm paraphrasing,

"I'm not really that religious but I'm wondering God—what You have planned for me?"

- She's wondering and waiting for God to give her direction

- Most of us have or are wondering that even today

- We know that when God is involved that it will ultimately be good

- We just don't know how His plan will unfold

- And, sometimes, I am guilty of this too--we get a little impatient in the process

- NBA player Joel Embiid once said, "Trust the process"

- Which is indeed correct if your process involves trusting God

- There are still those times when we understand it in our heads and spirit

- Then, we see it with our eyes and the outlook gets a little bleak or grim

- Because we only have a small sliver of the picture and God will always see more than we do

- He sees the whole situation from beginning to end before it even begins...if that makes sense

- For Mary to sit at Jesus' feet, makes perfect sense

- I believe her heart, not discrediting Martha's, led her to Jesus

- There are several things that Mary could have been doing at that time...

- Even things that Martha may have needed her to do

- And, Mary chooses Jesus

- She wasn't forced to sit at Jesus' feet

- Jesus didn't beg or bribe her to do so

- She, Mary, positions herself at the Master's feet

- Much like we can feel, Mary knew that Jesus had something that she needed

- She knew that the only way that she could get it--

- Whether it was compassion, encouragement, knowledge, wisdom or all the above

- The only way she was going to get any or all of them was to make it a priority to be in the place to receive...

- Literally or figuratively at His feet

- The circumstances and issues we face today--in the home or outside the home--only have hope sitting at the feet of Jesus

- I would love to say that it is but It's not a one-shot fix either

- A small portion of the time it happens because God is still God and He can show up and show out however He wants

- But the greatest blessings show themselves when you are in His presence continually

- When we are continually listening and continually watching

- Life still happens and problems still come and problems will go

- Yet, if we can fix our anchor to Who He is, we are much better off

- The storm won't last always and hope needs to be our staple

- The old hymn says, "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness"

- That's exactly where we need to allow ours to be as well

Transition: Then, there's the contrast in the story, that of Martha

2 - Martha's World

- We enter the world of Martha

- Quite frankly, isn't it comparable to the mentality of the world we live in today

- Or, even the church world that we live in today

- We see from the text that Martha was not only busy but was distracted

- But, first, let us put ourselves in Martha's shoes

- If we gather from the opening verse in the story, this is her house

- She might have felt the pressure of entertaining guests in her home

- At the very least, we see she welcomed Jesus into her home

- Jesus must have felt her intentions

- Martha not wanting to feel like a bad host wanted to extend the utmost hospitality to their friend Jesus

- A hostess of a house feels pressure like no attendee would feel

- Guests come in and out of the house while the hostess has the taxing responsibility of the house--setup, tear down and clean up

- I usually feel that the least I can do if I can do anything is to help tear down or clean up

- I can't do it all the time and maybe it's the old deacon side of me

- But making sure everything is cleaned up and put away helps out tremendously for the host or hostess

- Maybe those things among many others are racing through Martha's mind

- And, if you have seen the pace of our world, our society is built and prides itself on that concept

- We, being the church, can get roped into that mindset pretty easily if we're not cognizant of it

- There are and will be times when that is needed

- In the military, we're taught to move with a sense of urgency and a do more with less thought process

- But, when that becomes the regular—too regularly—mishaps happen

- When we become too number and statistic driven, people and details tend to get overlooked

- Martha wasn't necessarily doing a bad thing but her timing in doing what she was doing wasn't the best

- Jesus—the Resurrection and the Life—is at your house

- The Bread of Life and Light of the World is at your home

- The text says that not only she was busy but that she was distracted

- Distracted from the teaching and worship that was going on in her home

- When I say worship, I'm not referring to singing and dancing

- I'm referring to worship as intentional attention on Jesus and not the surrounding situation/circumstance

- I know the issues that you are facing are big and are drawing your attention

- It may feel as if sometimes you are just keeping your head above water

- Or, that your situation is unique

- Surely that was on Martha’s mind as she questions Jesus (v.40),

“Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

- Asking the question, “Lord, do you not care…?”

- I’m guessing that Martha must’ve felt frustrated and understandably so

- The burdens and pressures of hospitality can be challenging to anyone

- And, it would seem that she’s left by herself and no one quite understands

- Undoubtedly, no one understands…

- Yet God, and specifically Jesus, understands this about each and every one of us

- He’s not so caught up in His own agenda—in being worshipped—that He would forget about you

- Or, not concern Himself with your concerns as He has already said (Psalm 138:8),

“The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.”

- That is not in line with Who He is

- As many great things—you and I—we can do, nothing compares with worshipping Him

- Jesus wanted to make sure that Martha knew this particularly

- His response to Martha’s request (v.41) is kind of amusing, one translation puts it this way,

“My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details.”

- That alone would have made me feel small

- Keep in mind…that Jesus wasn’t attempting to humiliate her

- He simply wanted her to put things in perspective

- What about you are you keeping things—what you’re experiencing and going through—in perspective?

- If we think about it, there will always be work that needs to be done

- Sometimes I need to remind myself of that simple truth

- But, what should we actually be concerned about?

- What should we focus on?

- Should it be our to-do list or what is the abundant value in worshipping and getting to know Jesus?

- As I said earlier, the world applauds work

- The Father and Jesus applaud and value worship

- I remember vividly one time while I was stationed in South Carolina

- I was walking down the street and the Lord reminded me of who I was without Him

- It was pretty startling but also enlightening

- There may be accolades that you and I could flaunt but what do they matter in the end

- Or, the present, for that matter

- Jesus confirms that Mary has discovered what’s of primary importance…intentional worship

- See, Martha was indeed participating in serving

- But, so too was Mary

- Mary’s serving looked different than Martha

- But it was in no way less than or inferior to Martha’s

- Mary was interested in serving (worshipping) the guest of honor while Martha, perhaps, may have been serving the people

- I say Mary was serving in that in her worship of Jesus; departing, she would serve Him

Closing:

- As I close, our biggest takeaway needs to be centered on what Jesus magnified…relationship

- Our relationships—with Him first and others—is what Jesus amplifies

- Loving God…Loving People

- Does that sound familiar?

- I read an article recently directed to pastors but I think applies so much on a broader scale to most of us:

“We must slow down enough to go at God’s speed. And what is God’s speed? The speed of love and relationships. This one really struck me. Too often in my drive to accomplish my daily goals, I move so fast that I breeze by the relational connections that Jesus most wants me make.” – Charles Stone, Pastor

- Let us all endeavor to worship Christ and build a relationship with Him that will overflow into our relationship with others