21. Who is Jesus?
January 23rd, 2010
Good and Better
Jesus primary ministry had been located in Galilee for some time. Now it has shifted south and His ministry is in full swing in Judea. His time here is limited as His mission is getting closer to completion. The shadow of the cross is growing and Jesus ministry is almost over. We are in Luke 10:38 where Jesus is going to spend some time with two wonderful women who connect to Him very differently.
Jesus arrives in Judea just before the Feast of Tabernacles where it is likely He bumped into an old friend, Lazarus. Lazarus went home and told his sisters: Mary and Martha, who instructed him to invite Jesus over for diner. During the feast Jesus is too busy to get away, but when it is over He makes His way to their home. Mary and Martha live in a town called Bethany which is about two miles east of Jerusalem near the Mount of Olives. This is the first time that Jesus is mentioned being in the home of Mary and Martha but it is certainly not the first time they met, they are already close friends. Now this is an important distinction. Jesus has lots of followers, people who have chosen Him. Mary and Martha are Jesus’ friends meaning Jesus chose them. He hand selected these people out of everyone to be His friends. So they have a unique relationship with Jesus.
Jesus spends most of His life ministering to others. Mary and Martha minister to Jesus. As He is traveling and teaching Jesus is homeless. So Mary and Martha open up their home to Jesus so that He has a place to stay. Mary and Martha are not public leaders is in the church, they serve Jesus from behind the scenes investing in Him as He invests in others. Even Jesus needed friends. He needed people who would invest in His life. Sometimes we think that leaders are like robots with energizer batteries. They can just go on and on forever. They cant. Leaders like everyone else need people who will pour into their lives. Traveling long distances even in a vehicle is exhausting. When you reach your destination you are tired, hungry, and ready for sleep. Jesus is traveling on foot. When He arrives the crowds who are all well rested and energized are waiting for Him eager to hear what He has to say. They want Jesus to pour into them. Mary and Martha know Jesus needs rest, so they provide for Him a refuge. They are not great Bible scholars or powerful leaders, they are just regular people who serve Jesus so that He can better serve others. Sometimes the greatest thing you can do for the kingdom of God is to play a supporting role, to pour into someone else’s life so that may do great things.
Last week we saw Jesus encounter an expert in Mosaic law where He dealt with the issue of choosing between good and bad. Where the real issue is not between the two but about doing what you know is right. There is a universal law that is ingrained in the hearts of man to know that some things are wrong and some are right. This is why every major civilization in history will have similar laws that regulate it. As human beings we are all capable of distinguishing between good and evil. A far greater challenge is choosing between good and best. Many in the church struggle with this. They have good hearts and a desire to do right before God. They do good work and good things but sometimes to the neglect of more important priorities. Just because it is good doesn’t mean it is what God is asking you to do.
Lk 10:38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. Lk 10:39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. Lk 10:40 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!” Lk 10:41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, Lk 10:42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Jesus wasn’t able to make it right away, but when He finally arrives Mary and Martha are getting dinner ready when Mary gets distracted. The world is full of distractions. There are no shortage of things in this life that demand our attention and prevent us from doing what we should. It is easy to get caught in the lure and appeal of sin and be taken in to its trap because the lie is very convincing. The real problem however is not just evil. Most people are capable of distinguishing between good and evil. The real challenge is learning to distinguish between what is good and what is better. If we look at the story of Mary and Martha we see that not all the distractions that we face are temptations to sin. Sometimes the most dangerous distractions are not bad things, but good things. Even good and Godly things can distract us from Jesus.
Mary and Martha are hosting a meal for Jesus and associates. Which means these two ladies are in charge of preparing a banquet for at the very least fifteen people. That is assuming that Jesus only brought the twelve apostles with Him and not the larger group of 72. The more important the guest the more pressure the host will naturally feel to make sure everything goes well. So Martha is a basket case. She is one stress unit away from spontaneous human combustion.
To make matters worse when Jesus arrives Mary leaves Martha with all the work. She goes out and she sits at Jesus feet while He is teaching. This is the posture of a disciple. Martha is now forced to run back and forth trying to get everything ready for the banquet by herself. Each mad dash from the kitchen to the dinning room as pots boil and the oven keeps on beeping frustrates Martha a little more. Finally Martha completely overwhelmed and likely somewhat erratic comes out of the kitchen and explodes. She has a Martha Stewart like psychotic break where she starts telling Jesus what to do. Despite the fact that she is freaking out what Martha is asking for is very reasonable. Mary had no place sitting at Jesus feet. She had responsibilities as a host.
That’s not all: at this time you didn’t apply to a university you applied to a specific rabbi. If that rabbi investigated your life and found you to be an acceptable candidate they would grant you the honor of sitting at their feet while they lectured. So the commitment was not to a school but to a teacher. Mary sitting at Jesus feet means she has been accepted as one of His students to be trained in ministry by Jesus Himself.
Women were not allowed to assume the role of a disciple. That was considered an honor worthy only of men. So culturally what Mary is doing is not appropriate. Beyond that it was very inconsiderate of her to leave Martha to do all the work by herself. Martha comes out and is rightfully upset. She tells Jesus what to do. Who does she think she is talking to? Jesus reaction is a little unexpected: He defends Mary. Martha has a conniption because she is burnt out and tired from doing something that Jesus didn’t ask her to do in the first place. So how many of us are Martha? Some of are frustrated because we elected ourselves to do something Jesus didn’t ask us to do and when it doesn’t work out we get frustrated. Some of us spend a lot of time doing things that Jesus didn’t ask us to do.
From Martha’s perspective Mary got distracted. She was supposed to be helping get diner ready when she stopped to listen to Jesus. Jesus corrects her. It is not Mary who was distracted, it was Martha. While Martha was worrying about diner Mary was focused on what was really important. Martha had a wonderful opportunity to sit at Jesus feet but she was missing it because she was trying to make sure the dinner was just right. Her focus is preventing her from getting time with Jesus. Five months from now Jesus will be gone. She wont have an opportunity to sit at His feet.
We so often repeat Martha’s mistake. We allow ourselves to get so focused on all the little things that could be done or need to be done that we miss Jesus. Jesus only had a few months left on earth and Martha was going to miss Him because she was worried about diner preparations. Don’t miss this. Martha was trying to serve Jesus. Her heart was in the right place and what she was doing was gracious, generous, and good. Mary was focused on being in the presence of God, Martha was focused on giving presents to God. Mary’s heart was full, Martha’ schedule was full. Mary was content being in the presence of Jesus. Martha couldn’t sit still long enough to enjoy His company. The Martha’s of this world don’t know how to sit still. Mary’s just needs to be with God and His people.
The problem is that of the two things Martha had access to she didn’t make the better choice. Like Martha we have an opportunity to sit at the feet of Jesus, to spend time with Him, learn from Him, and just be near Him but instead sometimes we spend it taking care of all these less important tasks. Martha missed Jesus for the dishes. We miss Him for even less significant things than that.
We live in a culture that is busy. We are not at risk of being bored to death. We have more demands on our time then we could ever hope to satisfy. How many of you have something you would love to do if you had time? Like learn another language or get involved with an activity or sleep through the night. The danger of many of these demands on our time is that they are not evil. If they were evil we would warnings. Sometimes the problem in our relationship with God is not sin it’s our to-do list. Jesus doesn’t fit neatly into your schedule for the day. You try to pencil Him in around lunch and He just keeps asking for more. When Jesus shows up its like, well there goes my plans for the day. Jesus doesn’t want to be a part of your day. He wants to take it over.
What Jesus says to Martha is: Ok Martha, there are tons of things you can do but only one that really matters. All the things you have checked off your lists, all the things you have accomplished, all your goals combined are not as important as spending time with me. Martha needs to sit still long enough to realize that life is about more than checking off your to-do list. Mary made the better choice. She is doing the most important thing first. She is not lazy, she is spending time with Jesus.
Martha is not a bad woman. She invites Jesus into her home and into her life. Martha is serving and supporting Jesus. She is making a meal for Jesus. She is a wonderful woman. Her mistake is an easy one to make: she put the to-do list above Jesus. Martha feels she is in the right because she is doing the most for Jesus. Jesus needs to eat and she is the only one cooking. The problem is while she is doing things for Jesus she is not spending time with Jesus. There is a time for working for Jesus. There is also a time to just be with Him in His presence absorbing everything He has to say. Don’t let the trivial matters of life distract you from your divine appointment.
We have been given a great command to share the love of God with the world but it has to be more than a to-do list. People don’t want to feel like they are an object to be scratched off a list. They want to be loved. We have a great task but it must be done through relationships. Love is not a check list sort of item. It is a stop what you doing and sit down with each other sort of deal. Lists are great, they keep you organized and efficient but you have to know when to set them down. You have to know when you are too busy so they dont become more important than spending time with Jesus.
There is only thing that makes you look like Jesus. It is not an impressive list of accomplishments, it is spending time with Him. There are good and even Godly things in the world that get in the way of our relationship with God. The only thing that really matters is spending time with Jesus and sharing His love with the world. For some of us the problem is not what we are doing, it is what we are not doing. Everything is all about Jesus. Time with Jesus and His people has to be a first priority or everything else we do will fall apart. Your first responsibility as a Christian is just sitting at the feet of Jesus. If you don’t you may get lots done but your life will fall apart around you. Jesus doesn’t need us to get things done for Him. He just wants us to spend time with Him. For some of us this means we need a radical life change. We need to take time to throw our to-do lists away and just sit in the presence of Jesus. Jesus doesn’t want to feel ignored because we are too busy doing things. We can all chose between good and bad, but having Godly priorities means you don’t just choose what is good but what is best.
