Guess Who Is Coming To Dinner

Guess Who is Coming to Dinner

Scripture: Luke 10:38-42

Tom Lowe

5/16/2008

Introduction:

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.

How do you feel?

Are you tired; don’t feel like doing anything; would you like to go back to your room and take a knap.

Fatigue is one of our most common complaints.

Too many people are juggling multiple responsibilities while getting too little sleep and not enough exercise.

That’s me; I don’t get enough sleep.

I sleep anywhere from one hour-5 hours, so I feel tired most of the time.

Recently the National Transportation Safety Board announced that operator fatigue is a primary cause of one hundred thousand traffic accidents every year in the United States, resulting in fifteen hundred deaths annually.

On our American Waterways, fatigue accounts for16% of all accidents; and on our rails, fatigue has caused twenty terrible train wrecks in the last ten years.

In today’s text, Jesus met a frazzled woman, named Martha, who was fatigued from stress, worry and all the work she had to do to prepare a meal for Jesus; and He talked to her about her condition.

Martha, who is thought to be a widow, lived with her sister Mary and her brother Lazarus in the town of Bethany, which at that time was about two miles from Jerusalem.

Jesus and His disciples had come to the town of Bethany,

because Martha had invited Jesus to eat at her home.

She received Him into her home in a very courteous manner.

Jesus knew this family very well.

In fact, Lazarus was a friend of Jesus.

He is the one that Jesus wept over and raised from the dead.

When Jesus entered the house, He began to preach to those that were there, and to those who came along with him.

Martha was extremely busy getting everything ready for the meal, but her sister Mary set down at Jesus’ feet to listen to what He said.

There it is!

The one thing that we need.

Jesus told Martha, “But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part.”

She sat at His feet and listened with great eagerness, diligence, affection and pleasure.

Mary chose to listen to God’s word.

God’s word is the one thing needful.

But why is God’s word so important?

Well, for one thing, it tells us who we are.

In this world, there are very few people who really understand themselves.

It’s hard for us to look honestly at ourselves.

The world is full of people, who think they are something, when they really aren’t.

Then there is the other extreme; there are many people who suffer from low self-esteem, anorexia, bulimia, who don’t see who they really are when they look in the mirror.

But the Bible, God’s word, helps us to know ourselves better.

When we look into the mirror of God’s word, first of all we discover that we are people who have set very poor priorities.

Jesus tells us that we should seek first the Kingdom of God, or in other words, that God and His word should be number one in our lives.

But in our daily lives, what place does God really have?

If what we do during the day reflects our priorities, where does that leave God?

Do you set aside time each day to study and meditate on God’s word?

Do you thank Him every morning for the new day that He has given you, for your family, for your home, for your friends?

Do you talk to your friends and family about God?

In your conversations with family and friends, do you mention that God is important to you?

I must confess that I have to answer very sadly to these questions.

There are other reasons why God’s Word is so important; it teaches us that road to heaven; the road who is Jesus Christ our Lord.

It is a lamp to guide us down the right road, it is our spiritual food, and as I have heard J.D. say, “It recharges our batteries”.

Listen to these words from Romans10:14, 17, “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”