Introduction
Most everyone wants to be prepared for what lies ahead. If someone were to ask you what you need for the coming year, how would you answer?
More money? More time? New friends? A vacation? A new job? A job? More education?
More quality time with the family? A new house? Better health? Change of hair color? A new car? You get the idea.
All of us have some kind of idea or perception as to what might make the coming year more productive, happier, just plain better. The problem is, today’s culture doesn’t have a clue how to discern what is important and what isn’t. Since God created each of us, it would follow that he might have some clue as to what real life involves. We would expect to find some help from the Bible as to man’s basic need. And most certainly the Bible addresses the things that God’s reckons most important in life.
Passage Luke 10:38-42
I.Observe the interaction
Three significant characters grab our attention. Jesus, Martha, Mary
Background
Jesus and his disciples stopped to visit the home of a woman named Martha who had a sister named Mary.
While there, Jesus took the time to teach those gathered in Martha’s home.
Martha assumed the responsibility for any necessary preparations to welcome the guests and provide for their needs while in her home.
Mary chose to sit and listen along with the others to the words of Jesus.
Mary
The passage tells us that Mary heard (imperfect) the words of Jesus having situated herself right in front of His feet.
Martha
Martha “received” Jesus into her house. Luke used a word meaning “to welcome as a guest into your home.” The Jews took the responsibility of hospitality seriously. You can possibly imagine the mental state of Martha trying to entertain a house full of people. Luke used a word meaning “to be pulled or dragged away, become or be distracted, quite busy, overburdened.” In contrast to a focus on the words of Jesus, Martha became distracted from hearing the words of Jesus by what she perceived as a vital and necessary service (diakonia – deacon) to her guests. Focusing on the urgent she missed the important.
Luke used the same verb tense for both ladies. Mary focused on listening. Martha focused on serving.
Which is more important? At this point, many interpreter of this incident opt for the importance of both. Some people focus on serving and other on listening. We logically deduce that there are Marthas and Marys in this world. But is that the intended teaching of this passage? We must be careful to conform our thinking to the clear teaching of Scripture and not impose our culture or own logic on the Scripture. Thinking her choice of priorities to be the proper one, Martha naturally expected that Mary embrace the same priority and tried to manipulate Jesus to instruct Mary to help her with the preparations.
‘Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me."
Notice the obvious frustration. “Doesn’t it concern you?” Her choice of words leads me to believe that she was trying to manipulate Jesus. Doesn’t it even concern you that Mary is in here sitting and I am out there working by myself? If you really care about this injustice, tell Mary to take hold of herself to finish this important task together with me.
Jesus
Jesus responds to Martha’s statement probably in an unexpected way. We would have expected Jesus to reassure Martha that he really cared and redirect Mary to go help her. After all, the woman’s place is in the kitchen anyway, right? (Just kidding!) With distinctive tenderness yet deliberate training, Jesus first addressed Martha’s struggle then presented a basic spiritual principle.
Martha’s struggle
Martha, Martha! Dear Martha! You are continually stressing and worrying (present active) about many things. You are continually troubled and thrown into disorder (present passive) about many things. The word translated bothered is found on only here in the New Testament but a close relative was used to indicate “noise, clamor, uproar, and turmoil or excitement.” Jesus points out how Martha continually stressed and worried over things (active choice) and continually allowed things to put her into disorder, turmoil and distraction (action to her). She demonstrated both internal and external stress that caused her to lose her focus on the important.
Not only did she stress out, but expected others to embrace her priority and obsess over the urgent rather than opt for the important.
II.Focus on the truth so clearly taught by Jesus
Following this gentle exposure of Martha’s fussiness, Jesus calls her to refocus on a most basic principle and commends Mary for choosing to focus on the good. Jesus unmistakably declared that out of all the things in this life that one may chose to purse, only one is truly necessary. It was Mary not Martha who chose the good thing. Just what did Mary chose?
Some say the lesson is to sit at the feet of Jesus. The main verbal idea in the passage is not to seat at the feet of Jesus but to hear or listen to the words of Jesus. Listening was the good thing so clearly pointed out by Jesus. Mary chose to put herself in a position to best pursue the important. The universal principle taught by Jesus here in this passage is not so complicated. There is only one good thing necessary to pursue. Not to work more. Not to get more money. Not to have more friends. Not to even be the most effective host or hostess.
It is to listen to the words of Jesus.
The simple truth God communicates to us today and I hope will ring in our ears throughout this entire year is that the only absolutely necessary pursuit of our life that counts for anything is to get ourselves in a position to continually hear the words of Jesus.
As I think about this truth and think about how to apply it to my life, several questions come to mind.
III.Apply the truth
A.Why is listening to the words of Jesus so necessary?
Several Scriptures come to mind that address the absolute necessity of this practice.
1. It is the foundation of eternal life.
And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." But He answered and said, "It is written, ’MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.’ " Matthew 4:2-4
Jesus faced Satan’s temptation by rehearsing the principle of genuine life.
The words of God sustain spiritual life as surely as bread sustains physical life.
"It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. John 6:63
for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God. 1 Peter 1:23
Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. John 6:68
"And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. John 17:3
2. It is the foundation of our freedom
Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:31-32
3. It is the foundation of answered prayer
"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. "By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. John 15:7-8
4. It is the foundation of our transformation and growth
like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, 1 Peter 2:2
But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. 2 Cor. 3:18
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. 2 Peter 1:2-4
Therefore putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. James 1:21
5. It is the source of stability in the midst of the storms of life.
"Everyone who comes to Me, and hears My words, and acts upon them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation upon the rock; and when a flood rose, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. "But the one who has heard, and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house upon the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great." Luke 6:47-49
6. It is the source of abundant blessing
But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man shall be blessed in what he does. James 1:22-25
The benefits are obvious and many have risen to take the challenge.
The early church devoted themselves to the teaching of Jesus through the apostles.
And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Acts 2:42
The great commission commands us to teach the words of Jesus
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20
Paul prayed that believers would be filled with the knowledge of His will
For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. Col. 1:9-12
B. What keeps us from listening to the words of Jesus?
Both our present passage and the parable of the sower (Luke 8:5-15) provide insight into what keeps us from making this a priority. What are the things that serve to distract from hearing and heeding the words of Jesus?
It relates to the condition of the heart as will as the circumstances of life.
Satan prevents genuine belief and salvation in an unbelieving heart
Temptations cause doubt in a hard heart
Worry, riches and pleasures of this life Choked fruitfulness in a divided heart.
Martha stressed out and allowed herself to be distracted by things that should have been lower on the priority scale. Anxiety and worry distract from the clear promises of God.
We expend a great deal of emotional energy worrying over things that most likely won’t happen. We expend an even greater amount of time and energy pursuing financial riches and security that can be lost in an instant. What energy we don’t spend preventing disaster by our worry or pursuing riches we spend pursing the pleasures of this world that bring no lasting satisfaction. We then offer God the leftovers and wonder why the abundant life eludes us. Jesus is clear.
Listening to the words of Jesus is the only worthy and fruitful pursuit in life and the foundation of genuine enjoyment of the things he grants us to enjoy here.
“Seek first the kingdom of God and living a kingdom life and all these other things will be added.”
Hear and heed! The good and honest heart pursues and receives the word. As a result, that person realizes a fruitful eternal harvest. We will all reap a harvest. What we sow we will reap. Sow to the flesh reap corruption.
Sow to the spirit by listening to the words of Jesus we will reap eternal life here and hereafter. If you struggle to make listening to the words of Jesus a priority, check the condition of your heart.
Unbelieving heart – prime target for Satan’s seed stealing activity.
Hard heart – prime target for crumbling under temptation of life in a fallen world.
Divided heart – prime target for distraction by worry, riches, pleasure.
If you want life…
If you want freedom…
If you want answers to prayer…
If you want growth and continual transformation…
If you want stability in the storms of life…
If you want abundant blessing in all you do…
You must take your cue from Mary who chose the good thing that would not be taken from her, and position yourself where you can hear the words of Jesus.
Hearing and heeding the words of Jesus must become our ultimate priority. Is it?
Just look at your schedule and your life style. Your schedule does not lie. Your priorities dictate your schedule. We give our time to what we value most. How much time is devoted to listening to the word of Jesus? The success of the early church rested in their complete devotion to learning along with fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer. What are we devoted to? A cursory look at your schedule will tell the tale.
C. What can we do about listening more?
I propose to you this challenge. For the next 30 days intentionally listen to Jesus every day and write down what he tells you in a journal or notebook. He will communicate to you through Bible reading and study, a song, another person, a sermon, the radio, a book, a magazine article.
Make your number one pursuit of the year 2000 to be the development of a habit of getting yourself in a position to listen EVERY day for the words of Jesus. Then of course beyond that to actually make plans to do what he tells you.
Everyday, ask yourself this question. What does Jesus want me to know, feel or do as a result of this communication?
