“The Urgent or The Important – Luke 10:38-42”
Gladstone Baptist Church – TBA
When I look around the church, I see so many things that urgently need doing – people’s needs, opportunities to develop, programs to run, etc – they all seem to be urgently needed. OOPS
I’ve got a dilemma this morning, which I think many of you share. You see, when I look around me – at the ministry of the church, I see so many things that need to be done. There are needy people who need to be cared for – some need a friend, some need practical support, some need a shoulder to cry on. When I look around at all of these, I quickly realise that I can’t be there for everyone – but I’d like to be – because there are some really urgent needs here.
Then there are opportunities to reach out into the community. We all know that we are here to spread the word of God and bear a witness and there are so many opportunities to do so. I know that we could double the number of children in our brigades or in KOGS if we really wanted to and we should probably try to reach as many as we can – but then I sit back and think about what it will involve. Imagine all of those kids – We’ll need people to supervise them We’ll need to find space to fit them. We’ll need some who can actually do the work of exploiting the opportunities. Reaching people for the kingdom of God is urgent work – so much work to do but I don’t know how on earth we are going to get it all done. .
And then there is the programs we are currently running in this church. Anyone who is involved in any of the programs in our church, knows that virtually every ministry could urgently do with more people helping in it. I think most of our ministries are doing a fantastic job, but I can’t be involved in every ministry, else I’ll burn out.
This is my dilemma - I’m usually the sort of person you see who sees that something needs doing and jumps in and does it. But sometimes I find myself wishing I was an octopus who had 8 arms and able to multitask just that little bit better. It always seems that there is always more urgent things needing to be done than I can handle.
And this is probably not just true about church. I think this is true about every part of our lives.
Think about your work – Often we are faced with deadlines which seem unrealistic, demands that seem unreasonable and paperwork that seems insurmountable.
Think about your home life – there are expectations placed on us to do chores around the house and to care for our family members.
Most of you will know by now that Deanna and I are in the process of adopting 3 children from Taiwan. Here they are here - Daniel is 2, Katie is 1 and Elise is a new born. Cute aren’t they – I’m probably biased!!! While most people are thrilled to hear this, the reactions of others are probably more realistic and blunt. You tell them the news and they just stare at you in disbelief. Its as though you are an alien who has just landed. Once they compose themselves enough to speak, they go on to tell you that you are completely mad; that it is going to be unbelievably hard to have these three kids and that your life is sure going to change.
When these three bundles of wriggling joy arrive in our home, I am going to have a lot of urgent things demanding my attention. Nappies needing to be changed, bottles to be warmed, nappies to be changed, baths to be filled, nappies to be changed, toys to be picked up, nappies to be changed, children to be fed - you get the idea!!! I am going to be kept so busy with the urgent things at home, that I think I’m going to be running from pillar to post and back again.
There seems to be a real dilemma here for me – because I see so many things which need to be done – urgently – but I don’t have the time or the energy to do them.
Why is it that we can never meet all the needs around us or do everything that needs doing? How does it make you feel to not be able to do everything that needs doing? UGH
I get so exhausted trying to get everything done that is urgent and I don’t think I am alone UGH
I think that many of these reasons are valid – but it doesn’t change the fact that I get exhausted trying to get everything done that is urgent.
Urgent demands are exhausting aren’t they no matter where they come from. And when the urgent demands don’t seem to be getting done, we feel angry, frustrated, tired, despairing. We look around for others who should be giving us a hand, but aren’t and we blame them because we think they aren’t working as hard as we are or pulling their weight.
One Day, Jesus visited two friends who he hadn’t seen for some time. He was on his way to Jerusalem with his disciples and all the other hangers on where he knew he was going to be betrayed and executed. He was near to his destination and I’m sure he was looking forward to some intimate time with these dear women – their names – Martha and Mary. The account of this visit is recorded in Luke 10:38-41. Please open it up and follow along.
Now it seems that this was Martha’s house and as the hostess, Martha relished the thought of having Jesus visit. Martha, you see had the gift of hospitality and service. She was the sort of person who saw that something needed doing and did it. She was the first to arrive and last to leave. She was always a pleasure to have around when there was work to be done. Now I know that it was expected that visitors be entertained and fed, but I think that Martha was not just preparing a throw it together meal, but a feast fit for Jesus. But it was not just for Jesus. Because with Jesus were his 12 disciples and there were likely other people along for the ride also. The bible records that there were a number of women who typically followed Jesus around and there was most certainly a couple of healed lepers or reformed tax collectors who were tagging along too. Most of us would feel pretty daunted about preparing a meal for a minimum of 15 people and possibly up to 25 or 30. But not Martha – she launched into the preparations with glee.
The NIV says that Bible says that “Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.” There was no time for talk – yet - there was water to draw from the well, there was dough to knead into bread, there was water basins to fill so the guests could wash their dirty feat, there were beds to make, food to cook, the tables to set, the silverware to polish, the cushions to fluff. The list went on, but every detail was important because Martha loved Jesus and wanted to make it special for him.
Each of the jobs on her preparation checklist was urgent - someone had to do them. Everyone was hungry and were waiting to eat. Everything was depending on her pulling through, but how much preparation was enough?
As Martha worked away, she noticed before long that her sister Mary was no where to be seen. She was her younger sister and should have been in the kitchen helping. I picture her poking her head out of the kitchen door to look for Mary and being a bit shocked to see her casually sitting at Jesus’ feet. At the beginning this didn’t annoy Martha, because she loved Jesus and wanted the best for him. She didn’t mind working hard. But after a while, she heard laughter and cheerful chatter from the other room. She strained her ears to hear, but no use. She would have loved to have gone to join in, but who would have done all the preparations. So she kept working because she was worried. She was worried that they wouldn’t get finished.
But the longer she worked, the more frustrated she became. Why was it just her working? If only Mary would help, then they would get it done in half the time and then they’d both be able to enjoy Jesus’ company. The longer she worked, the angrier she got. She couldn’t believe that Jesus let Mary just sit there doing nothing. What started off as a manageable and joyful task had become a wearisome and heavy burden. Martha was becoming upset and exhausted trying to do everything that was urgent.
But Jesus once told his friend Martha that worrying about the things she thought were urgent wasn’t what was actually important at that time. AHA
Eventually, she pushed aside the work and went into where everyone was gathered. She walked upto the group and when she had caught Jesus’ attention she said “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
Martha had worked herself into such a state, that she doesn’t even refer to Mary by her name, she calls her just “my sister.” There is a barb in her words for Mary, but she also took a back handed swipe at Jesus. “Don’t you care about me?” she asks.
Jesus looked at her and responded in the most tender of ways … “Martha, Martha,” Do you hear the loving concern in those words … “Martha, Martha, 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.”
Martha had been distracted and she had been worried. She had been distracted by the urgent things which needed doing and they stopped her spending time relaxing with Jesus. While she was a wonderful worker, her work distracted her. But worse than being distracted, Martha had been worrying. She had been worrying about what she believed needed doing and how she was going to do them. And this made her anxious and upset with others.
Jesus recognised this and contrasts the many urgent things that Martha was worrying about with one thing that is supremely more important. While we are not told directly what that one thing is, it is exemplified in what Mary was doing.
Jesus said – “you are worrying about many things, but there is only one you should be concerned about and Mary has chosen what is the better thing.” What was Mary doing? Sitting and talking - just spending time with Jesus. And Jesus said that was better than preparing a 7 course meal.
Sometimes doing the things we think are urgent distract us from what is really important and as a result, we worry. WHEE
You see, Martha’s problem was that what she thought was urgent, wasn’t actually important at that time. Martha was a doer and thought that Jesus needed a bed and a good meal and all the comforts of home. And there is no doubting that these would have been nice and greatly appreciated. Jesus doesn’t condemn the work that Martha does, but says, she is doing what she thinks is urgent rather than what was important.
Luke places this event on Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem to be crucified. We don’t know whether this is the case, but if it was, then Jesus wouldn’t be wanting a great banquet, but to spend some quality time with his dear friends. It wouldn’t have mattered if they only ate some stale bread with some vegemite – the conversation with people was more important than the consumption of food. Martha didn’t stop to find out what was important to Jesus – she assumed that the urgent work of being a good hostess was important, but it wasn’t.
Sometimes we think that what we think is urgent is also important. And it is not. What is important is what God views as important, not what we think needs to be done. In this case, sitting at the Master’s feet listening and worshipping was more important than works of service.
Does that mean that works of service aren’t important? No - they are important. I want you to hear me very carefully here – I am not saying that works of service are not important to God. God is all for work and hard work at that. God worked when he created this world. He made work a part of Adam’s job description as garden caretaker even before the fall.
In Luke 10:37 - the verse immediately before this account as recorded by Luke we read that Jesus told a young lawyer to “go and do likewise.” What is this all about? Well it’s the end of the parable of the Good Samaritan which Jesus told in response to a question by a lawyer. We talked about this a couple of months ago. Remember the young lawyer asked “What must I do to show I’m going to heaven?” and Jesus turns the question back on him and says “What do you think?” His response is to quote 2 key commandments – “Love God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength”; and “Love your neighbour as yourself.” Jesus agreed that if he did these perfectly, then he would receive eternal life since he would never sin.
The young man then asked Jesus a second question “Who is my neighbour.” And Jesus told him the parable of the good Samaritan. The moral to the story was that the neighbour to the injured man was the man who stopped and helped him. Neighbours are people who help others. Jesus said “Go and be neighbours who help out others.”
So Jesus wasn’t against works of service. He was totally for them because they are good. But they must always remain our 2nd priority. When we allow these good works to distract us from what should be our first priority, then we have a problem.
Remember that there were two things which the young lawyer said would please God. The first was to Love God and the second to Love our neighbour. One is what we might call worship – spending time with God, developing relationships with him, talking to him. The other is what we might call works of service – helping those around us, caring for them, supporting them. Worship and Work. Both are important, but Worship is always lead violin.
That day Jesus came to visit, Matha put her Works of Service above her Worship. It was not that her works were bad. They were generous and appreciated. But they distracted her from the better thing. She allowed things to distract her from her Lord and so she began to worry. This always happens when we allow the things that we think are urgent to distract us from our worship that is of utmost importance.
What is important is that we do what pleases God. YEAH.
I find that often I am like Martha. I greet Jesus at the door of my life and welcome him in only then to race off into the kitchen to get started on the work that needs to be done. I think that I know what is important to God – it is the needs I see in people’s lives, it is the opportunities to reach out into the community, it is the programs that need to run – that is what is urgent and that is what I think is important.
But what I’m seeing is not Jesus’ priorities, it is my priorities. I am being distracted and am worrying about the things that are urgent and that are demanding my time. I am being distracted by these demands from what is really important and in my attempts to meet all the urgent demands, I’m getting exhausted.
But all the time, I’m missing out on the one important thing – developing a relationship with Jesus. What pleases God first and foremost is that we have a relationship with him which is not hard work really, but it does take time. And this is quite foreign to all of us Martha types. For us Martha’s, time is of the essence and if it is not hard work, it is not worth doing. For us, when we are working, we feel as though we are achieving something – it is a lot harder to sit back and develop relationships.
Developing a relationship with God is not hard work. It is easy to sit down and spend time in quiet prayer, to read His Word, to reflect on the application for us, to listen to some worship music – it’s not physically or mentally hard work at all. But it takes a commitment and it takes time and giving up that time and being committed is often hard.
What pleases God is that we love him with all our hearts and soul and strength and mind. And I have found that when we spend time with God, getting to know him, we begin to understand what he wants us to do for others. When we focus on Jesus, he then focuses our attention on what and Who is important and instead of running around doing all that urgent work, Jesus shows us how he wants us to serve others as neighbours.
Jesus longs that we be found doing what is important not just what is urgent. Still not sure what’s the difference? Well I suggest you start to program into your busy lives some quality time that you can spend with God. Just you and God – thinking, reading, praying listening. Sit at his feet like Mary and enjoy his warmth and love and then I will guarantee that you will begin to get a glimpse of the important things He has for you to do.
Someone once said …
“To choose the less, when you could choose the best, constitutes the greatest tragedy of life”
Let’s seek to choose the best thing from this day onward and commit to developing a deep relationship with Jesus.
