“Choosing What is Better”

Luke 10:38-42

©January 1, 2005 Rev. Bruce Goettsche

The beginning of a new year is always the time of dreams. It is the time for setting goals (which are usually unrealistic) and evaluating life. We should be glad for this reference point in our lives.

Each year I find myself with some familiar goals: lose some weight, read more, pray more, read better, re-read some of the great books I’ve already read, save money, write well, and spend more time with people.

I encourage you to set your goals and make your resolutions. They do give us a sense of focus. However, this morning I want to focus on one suggestion and then explain that suggestion. If we can get this one thing in our mind and hearts then we will find that the year ahead will lead us in a different and better direction.

Our text is Luke 10:38-42. It is the relatively familiar story of Mary and Martha as they entertained Jesus and the disciples in their home.

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 only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

We are told that Jesus and the disciples were “on their way”. In Luke 9:51 we were told that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. Bethany was a frequent place to stop going to and coming from Jerusalem.

It was not any easy job to host this entourage of Jesus and his disciples. Jesus entered Martha’s home (was she a widow?) and began to teach. Mary (Martha’s sister) sat at the feet of Jesus to learn all she could from the Master. Martha on the other hand was working hard to care for her guests. I suspect she had pots boiling, bread baking, beds to prepare, and who knows what else she was trying to accomplish.

It seems that Martha was feeling a little overwhelmed by all the preparation. She saw Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus and became irritated. You can imagine what she is thinking,

· “I wish I had time to sit and listen to Jesus”

· “It must be nice to be so oblivious”

· “Who in the world does Mary think she is?”

· “Somebody has to do the work around here.”

· “Why doesn’t Mary realize that I need help?”

It doesn’t take a great deal of imagination to see Martha in the kitchen clanging pots and slamming cupboards. She’s upset. She feels she is being taken advantage of and she doesn’t like it. She is mad at her sister and is letting everyone in the house know about it.

Finally she explodes. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” Does Martha realize what she is doing? She is charging Jesus with being unsympathetic to her situation. She wants Jesus to make Mary get up and help her in the kitchen.

Fortunately Jesus doesn’t turn her into a pillar of salt. Instead he patiently instructed her.

⁴¹ “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴² but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Jesus told Martha that she was stressed when she should have been resting. It’s possible that Jesus was saying, “Martha, you’re knocking yourself out to provide a buffet when all we need are some sandwiches. He told her that Mary was really involved in a better pursuit than she was! Mary (by sitting at the feet of Jesus) has made the better choice. It’s this “better choice” that I want to dwell on. Let’s draw some principles from this account.

There is Nothing Wrong With Working Hard

It is important that we not get the message of this story wrong. Jesus is not telling Martha that it was wrong of her to make all these preparations. Martha was doing something good. It was tough to host a group this size. Martha was willing. It was becoming increasingly unpopular to be closely associated with Jesus . . .Martha didn’t care. Her intent was to show love to Jesus through her actions. Jesus is not saying this is wrong. In truth, it is a loving thing to do.

In fact, just before this account we read the story of the Good Samaritan. The whole point of that parable is that the person who truly loves his brother is the one who gets up and does something for him. So, it was not wrong for Martha to be doing practical things for Jesus.

James wrote, “Faith without works is dead”. The true believer is the one who is serving in various capacities. They are the ones setting up chairs, serving the hurting, cooking meals for those in need of compassion, cleaning up the church, and reaching out in a hundred different ways. Jesus is not diminishing the importance of these things.

So why did Jesus rebuke Mary?

You Can Do Good Things and Miss the Best Things

Notice what Jesus said to Martha. He said, “You are worried and upset about many things. but only one thing is needed.” The problem was that Martha had lost her focus.

Here’s what happens when we get out of balance and neglect “what is better’.

· We get tied up in knots

· We blame other people

· We get angry at others

· We see our sacrifice as being more significant than that of others

· Little things become major issues

· We feel defeated and abandoned

· We lose the joy of living

· We lose sight of Jesus

This is so easy to do. What Martha did was the same thing as if you invited a bunch of people over to your home and then you spent all your time in the kitchen and never had a chance to visit with your guests. The meal might have been wonderful, but the whole purpose of the gathering; to strengthen friendships, would have been lost.

Imagine a sports team that was really focused on giving to the community. Suppose they worked hard at all kinds of service projects . . . so hard that they no longer had time for practice. That would be foolish.

This happens in the family. We become so intent on providing everything for our families that we are never home to spend time with our family! We become so intent on getting ahead, or helping our children experience everything, that we have no home life! We end up trading what is truly important from mere trinkets!

This can happen in the church. When we lose sight of the main issues we get in trouble. We argue about how a dinner is served and forget WHY a dinner is being served. We focus on the elements of worship and forget the focus of our worship. We spend so much time competing with other churches that we forget our mission to reach the world with the gospel.

This happens to us personally, we want to taste everything on the buffet of life so we serve on every committee and participate in every activity. We listen to the constant manipulation of the world and give up our time with God. When this happens, we are no different that Mary.

Feeding the Soul is the Best Thing

The reason Mary was commended was because she realized that the most important thing while Jesus was in the house was to sit at the feet of Jesus and learn all she could.

I heard a great line this week: “our job is not to make God a part of our lives; our job is to become a part of His life.” Our job is not to ask God to bless our agenda . . .it is to live by His agenda.

Let me try to make this practical by giving you a simple principle. We must take care of what is in secret if we are to maintain what is public We all know that there has to be water in the well if we want water to come out of the faucet. In the same way, our personal walk with God must be in order if we want to live victoriously and have an impact on those around us.

I am always convicted by the example of some of the great saints of the past. One thing seems to be in common: the more demanding their life became, the more intentional they were about finding time to sit at the feet of Jesus. This won’t happen automatically. We must make time and must make a decision to feed our soul. We must choose to make time for God, for our family, for our marriage, and for the work that will advance the Kingdom of God.

CONCLUSIONS

So, how do we go about this process of choosing what is better?

We need to examine our Calendar. The human tendency is to try to do more and more each year. I suggest we take a different tactic: we need to resolve to make BETTER use of our time, resources and energy. Here are some questions you can use to evaluate your life:

1. Where are you becoming distracted? Are you going overboard? Are you chasing the wrong prize? Are you teaching your children to chase the wrong things?

2. Are you finding myself constantly stressed by life? If so, you have lost perspective. Worry and an indicator that something is wrong. Stressed people commonly blame others when the problem is really their own attitude. We can and must choose to rest in Him. If we don’t have time to do so . . . we need to make time!

3. Have you made a place in your schedule to replenish your soul? Do you take time to sit at the feet of the Master? The Bible tells “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Heb. 10:25). Are you obeying this instruction by making worship and Sunday School an immovable part of your weekly schedule? Are you putting aside times to learn, to read, to encourage (and be encouraged by) others?

We need to Make Time for God. Some of you are saying, “This sounds great but, I don’t have time”. I think you do. In addition to making changes in your calendar here are some suggestions on how to make some time.

1. Get up a little earlier

2. Instead of listening to music during the day, listen to the Bible on tape or CD or listen to solid teaching. You can download a lot of good teaching for nothing.

3. Cut back on your time chatting on the Internet. Much of this is wasted time. Walk away from the computer for 15-30 minutes and give that time to the Lord.

4. Eliminate one television show a day and use that time for something that feeds your soul.

5. Use a daily devotional to guide for your daily reading.

6. Read a few pages of a solid Christian book every morning. It is better to read well than to read allot.

7. Try writing out your prayers or pray while you walk in the morning. Turn off the radio and talk to the Lord in your car.

We Need to Keep in Mind the Cost of Spiritual Starvation

Throughout the course of this year it is important that we remind ourselves regularly that when the soul is starving our lives will be out of balance. We will run fast but we won’t have any satisfaction from what we are doing. We will find that other people irritate us. We will begin to see every issue as a contest to be won. A heart that is only concerned about ME will gradually overtake our heart for Christ. You won’t even notice it happening but your soul will begin to shrivel.

If we take care of the center of our life; if we care for our spiritual health, it will impact every other aspect of our lives. We will have a better perspective, a better attitude, and will be a bigger blessing to the people around us.

So this is the balance we must walk: we must put first things first. We must seek to sit in the dust and allow Him to teach us the way we should go. Then we must get up, and get to the work that God has called us to do. There must be a part of Mary and a part of Martha in all of us. So make God help us to learn to sit and listen to the whispers of His Spirit. Then, having listened, may He motivate us to serve Him with joy.

©January 1, 2006 Rev. Bruce Goettsche www.unionchurch.com