1.
Please
pray with me. Dear heavenly Father, we
ask that this time of meditating on Your Word would be a blessing to us
all. Open our hearts Lord so that we may
be able to understand the Scriptures and kneel before the feet of our Lord
Jesus who teaches us the “mysteries of the faith.” Fill our hearts with Your Spirit Lord and
enable us to keep you first as Mary did.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. As our prayer for this morning suggests we’re
going to be focusing on the Gospel lesson for today in Luke 10:38-42. We’re reminded in this lesson of the
importance of setting aside our busy schedules to take time to learn from God
in His Word. So let’s dig a little
deeper in what it means to choose the better thing. That is, learning from our Lord Himself. The message is entitled, “Time for God?” Dear
brothers and sisters in Christ.
2.
I want you to imagine an archeological dig hundreds of years
in the future. (This is your time to close your eyes in church, don’t worry I’m
letting you do it). On each human skeleton—young and old alike—the diggers find
a shackle on the left wrist. Some people's bonds are brilliant silver or
gold. Others appear to be leather or
plastic. A few of these manacles are strangely ticking. The archeologists
believe that these people were ruled by this little ticking object. Maybe they
considered it a household god. Well,
these future archeologists wouldn't be far off. We Westerners, especially here
in America, are constantly ruled by our watches. By time itself. We have fifteen minutes to do
one thing. Two hours to do another. We've only got five minutes to visit a
friend or twenty to take for lunch. Our lives, as the poet T.S. Eliot once said
are "measured out with coffee
spoons." If we aren't careful, this constant worry about time can
strangle our relationships and stifle our days. Time can become an idol.
3.
In her new book, “Time Peace,” Ellen Vaughn offers
sound biblical principles on how to think about time. She says, "Time is not our enemy when we’re
friends with God. Time is a resource to
be used, like food or oxygen. We can keep it, rather than be kept by
it." (We’ll see this later in
the story of Mary and Martha.)
Ellen
reminds us that God gives us enough time each day to do His will. She reminds
us of the example of Jesus, who, while he had an urgent message, didn’t seem
hurried or stressed. While His disciples yelled at people to go away, Jesus
wasn’t stingy with His time. He also didn't try to "do it all." He
didn’t heal everyone. Didn’t preach everywhere. He took time away from the
pressing crowds and He lived well and completely, all within the constraints of
time. As we see in Luke 10:38-42 Jesus
was taking time to Himself in Bethany to be with His followers, specifically
Mary and Martha.
4.
A couple of weeks ago we read from the beginning of Luke 10 when Jesus
was sending out the 72 to bring people into the Lord’s harvest field. But, now in this same chapter the importance
of “serving God and serving one’s neighbor has turned full circle.” Now we see Mary and Martha in Bethany with
Jesus. But, instead of the importance of
serving one’s neighbor, Jesus shows how vital it is to learn from Him and His
Word as Mary does in the story. As
Americans we can easily see Mary’s sister Martha in all of us. We’re obsessed with time and getting things
done. Maybe this is why Luke decided to
put this story near the end of his 10th chapter. While the beginning of Luke 10 emphasizes the “the love a person should have for one’s
neighbor,” which is the 2nd table of the Law in the 10
commandments. The end of Luke 10
emphasizes the 1st table of the Law, “that is the importance of showing our love for God and His Word.”
5.
Luke 10:38-39 says, “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.” Here we see in
Scripture that when Mary and Martha are spoken about, Martha usually takes the
lead. She’s the person with the Type A
personality. The leader between her and
her sister. Maybe you have someone in
your family like Martha, always getting things done. Directing people to their tasks. Martha’s the one who’s hosting Jesus. But, is she taking her time for God to sit as His feet as Mary’s doing
here? That’s the question we want to
ask.
6.
In verse 39 we see that while Martha has extended a hearty welcome to
Jesus, Mary’s sitting at Jesus’ feet learning from him. Here she’s eagerly listening to the words of life
that are issuing from the Savior’s lips.
For her all is well. In verse 40 we hear, “But Martha was becoming distracted about all that had to be done.” Isn’t it easy to sympathize with Martha. Mary had left her to do all the work. Maybe you’ve felt this way in your own
home. You’re the only one getting the
chores done. Kids, maybe you’re the only
one of your siblings making your bed and cleaning your room. Husbands, maybe you feel you’re the only one
who takes care of the yard. Or maybe you
feel as a woman that you’re not being appreciated for keeping the house clean
or preparing wonderful meals for your family.
This is how Martha feels. Martha
is pulled in every direction. She’s
asking herself, “How will I be able to
take care of the details of this meal?
The appetizers, the salad, meat, vegetables, relishes, rolls and dessert
and arranging the guests around the table.”
Is there time for God in all this?
7.
As Martha thinks on the enormity of the task she gets frustrated and
jealous of her sister who appears to be doing nothing. She continues in vs. 40 by asking, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has
left me to do the work all by myself?
Tell her to take hold and help me.”
To many of us it sounds like Martha had every right to ask this question. There was so much to be done. So many things to do and Mary was just
sitting there. She was making a waste of
time. Yet, she was also, taking her time
for God.
To sit at Jesus’ feet. Martha
feels that she has a good reason to be annoyed.
In her outburst she finds fault not only with Mary but also with Jesus
for allowing Mary to just sit there idly.
Was it wrong for Mary to take time
for God? Let’s see what Jesus says.
8.
In Luke 10:41-42 Jesus responds saying, “Martha, Martha, You are worried and upset about many things; but only
one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen
that good portion, and it will not be taken away from her.” When Jesus says, Martha, Martha it sounds
like He’s disapproving of her. To Jesus Martha
was too inwardly worried and outwardly upset.
Jesus is saying, “Martha you’re
doing too much, a simple meal would have sufficed. Only one dish is needed. Your sister Mary has found the more important
thing. That is to learn from me and the
Word of God, which comes from my Heavenly
Father.”
9.
This leaves us as a body of believers here at Christ and Calvary Lutheran
to ask the question. “Can there be anything greater than learning
from God’s Word about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?” In our Old Testament reading we learned
that Abraham stopped everything that He was doing to serve the Lord and learn
from Him when the two angels and the LORD Himself came to Him. He wanted nothing more than to sit at the
LORD’s feet and take time for God. In Colossians the Apostle Paul reminds us the
importance of teaching one another the “mysteries of Jesus Himself through the
Word of God.” This is what Jesus was
teaching Mary. He was teaching her the
power of the Gospel along with the Law. The very fact of why He came to this earth in
the first place to suffer and die on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. The Law that shows us our sin and the Gospel
which shows us our need for a Savior. How
easy is it in this world we live in to forget that fact. The importance of taking time for God.
10.
But, how do we do that pastor? You
may ask. We do this by meeting together
on a regular basis to study God’s Word. This
coming September you will once again get opportunities to have your children
attend Sunday School and also to attend Bible Class here at Christ and Calvary
Lutheran with your fellow church members.
You may also want to take some time personally to study God’s Word on an
individual level by reading from “Portals
of Prayer,” they’re available for you to take home with you in the narthex
of our church. Or, maybe even start
up a Bible study group of your own to learn from God’s Word. Ask me later and I’ll give you some
suggestions on how to do it. You may
even want to take some time to go over God’s Word with your family and to learn
from Jesus Himself the mysteries of our Christian faith.
11.
So did Martha really get it? Did
she understand how important it is to sit at our Master’s feet and learn from
Him? What does God’s Word have to say
about this? Well, I believe that Martha
learned her lesson. Service to God and
one’s neighbor is important in this life.
But, it must be kept in tension with also learning from God through His
Word. The two must go together. Both service to God by learning from Him and
also service to one’s neighbor. This
isn’t an easy task to do. In John’s
Gospel we see that Martha knew that Jesus’ words of instruction had been spoken
in love. John 11:5 says “Jesus was holding in loving esteem Martha
and her sister and Lazarus.” In
fact, two of the greatest professions of faith found in Scripture echoed from
the lips of Martha. At her brother
Lazarus’ funeral Martha says in John 11: 21-22 “"Lord, if
you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now
God will give you whatever you ask." And in vs. 27 in John 11 she says,
"Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who has to
come into the world." After that
confession of faith Martha and her sister Mary witness an awesome act. Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. Martha believed that Jesus is the
resurrection and the life. In his death
on the cross and resurrection from the dead we do have life, life eternal in
His name! The Word of God does teach us!
12.
So in the end, Martha did take some time for God. She set aside her busy schedule and reflected
on the importance of learning from our Savior Jesus. Maybe she asked her sister Mary to study the
Scriptures with her so she would not be doing it alone. Maybe their brother Lazarus got in on it as
well. But, we realize that Martha did
take some time for God. May we also do
the same with the Spirit’s help so that Jesus may be glorified and the message
of His love for us may continue to dwell among us. Like Jesus, we’re to seize our days for the
kingdom, but not with anxiety. We trust God that the time we have to spend, if
submitted to Him, is leaving a legacy which outlasts time itself. May we take
time for God to learn from Him in His Word.
Amen.
