At His Feet (Savoring His Word)
Scott Bayles, pastor
Blooming Grove Christian Church: 3/18/2012
The Bible says, in Romans 10:15, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace…” (NKJV). I don’t know about you, but when I think about beautiful things, feet don’t rank very high on my list. Feet are sweaty and stinky. Did you know that your feet have roughly 250,000 sweat glands!? That’s why they’re so stinky!
Madeline Albrecht knows all about stinky feet. Madeline knew she was destined for greatness when she was hired by the Hill Top Research Laboratories, a testing lab for Dr. Scholl’s. Her job was to sniff feet, which she did for 15 years. During her pungent career, Madeline set the world record for sniffing approximately 5,600 feet.
You thought your job stinks!
Our feet may not be the sweetest smelling appendage, but if the feet of those who share the good news are considered beautiful by God, then how much more beautiful are the feet of the One who made the good news so good?
Joni Eareckson once shared a little story about a trip she took with her friends Francie and Judy to Johns Hopkins Medical Center. In a luxurious lobby, a 25-foot statue of Christ towers beneath a four-story glass rotunda. The sculptor fashioned Jesus looking down with his arms outstretched, as if bestowing a blessing. Simply awestruck, Joni lowered her gaze realized just where she was, then whispered to her friend, “It’s good to be at his feet.”
Suddenly an officious-looking man approached. “Isn’t your name Joni?” he asked, introducing himself as an administrator at Johns Hopkins. “I’m a Christian, too,” he said. “If there’s anything I can ever do to help, let me know.” It was a generous offer, but after flying home to California, Joni forgot all about it. She forgot, that is, until her friend Melanie-who is rapidly going blind, told her, “My specialist says that the only people who might be able to do anything are at Johns Hopkins. But I don’t know a soul there and I don’t think I could ever get an appointment?”
Instantly remembering what happened at the feet of the statue of Jesus, Joni made a call to the administrator, putting him in touch with Melanie... and the door opened for her. Before she flew east for her appointment, Joni emailed her: “Dear Melanie, there’s a statue of Jesus you must see when you go to Johns Hopkins next week. Don’t miss it. Amazing things happen at his feet.”
She’s right, you know. Amazing things happen at the feet of Jesus. And no one knows that better than Mary of Bethany. Nearly every time her name is mentioned in the Bible, she can be found at the feet of Jesus. In fact, the Bible shares three different stories about Mary at Jesus’ feet and each time amazing things happened. This morning I’d like to look at the first time Mary is found at His feet. This time, she’s at His feet savoring his word. Let’s take a look at this story:
As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.” But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42 NLT)
My guess is—most of us here today probably identify more with Martha than with Mary. So many sermons, articles and books have been written about this poignant passage. My favorite is a book titled Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World. That’s what we all need, isn’t it? A heart like Mary’s—a heart that leads us to the feet of Christ. So, how do we develop a heart like that? How do we have a Mary heart in a Martha world? First, having a heart like Mary’s requires a shift in focus.
• A SHIFT IN FOCUS
Mary and Martha had a very distinct difference in focus.
Admittedly, Martha has a lot on here plate right now. She’s as busy as a room full of kindergarteners. She’s just invited Jesus along with his twelve hungry apostles over for dinner and she doesn’t whip up an impromptu casserole of Kraft macaroni and cheese and Ballpark franks. Not, this hostess! She goes all out. Martha is the Queen of the Kitchen—and the rest of the house too. The Bible doesn’t tell us her last name, but I’m betting it was Stewart. She’s the Proverbs 31 woman; Israel’s answer to Betty Crocker. Martha is going to prepare a banquet fit for a King—the King of Kings. She sends one servant out to slaughter a lamb and another one to the market pick up those delicious pomegranates she saw the other day. Forget about stopping to smell the roses, Martha has to pick the roses, cut the stems at an angle, and arrange them in a vase with some baby’s breath. Then maybe she’ll take second to snap a quick picture and upload it to Facebook before moving on to the next chore. So much to do and so little time. The Bible says, “Martha was distracted by her many tasks” (Luke 10:40 HCSB).
Sounds familiar to some of you, doesn’t it?
Life can get pretty hectic at times. Some days, my alarm clock goes off and my mind just instantly starts scrolling down the day’s to-do list. And Sunday mornings can be worst of all. I like how Dave Ramsey puts it. He said, “My wife and I would just about lose our religion getting ready for church in the morning!” One morning his wife tells him, “How about we switch jobs today. You can get the kids up, dressed and ready to go and I’ll sit in the car honking the horn.”
If your family is anything like ours, then you’ve got a lot going on. You’ve got a laundry to fold, dishes to wash, children to care for, a spouse to love, a dog to feed, church commitments to keep, soccer games to attend, toddlers to chase, lunch appointments, doctor’s appointments, hair appointments and that doesn’t even begin to account for the projects, paper work, and priorities at the office or in the shop or on the farm.
Have you ever thought that maybe God is calling you to slow down a little, take a deep breath, and actually smell the roses? Maybe Jesus is trying to tell you what he told David: “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10 NIV). It isn’t easy to be still. It requires us to change our focus. While Martha was focused on her tasks, Mary was focused on her Teacher. While Martha was focused on jobs, Mary focused on Jesus.
What amazes me is that even after reading this story, many of us are tempted to cheer for Martha! While Martha was distracted by many things, Mary had discovered the one thing worthy of all her attention. That brings me to the second shift necessary for having a heart like Mary’s—a shift in fellowship.
• A SHIFT IN FELLOWSHIP
Martha had opened her house to Jesus, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that she had opened her heart to him. In her eagerness to serve Jesus, she almost missed the opportunity to know Jesus.
I’m convinced that Mary was helping Martha with all the preparations until the guests arrived. Maybe Mary took their jackets and walking sticks and piled them in a corner somewhere in Martha’s perfectly ordered house. Then, after Jesus and the disciples made themselves comfortable in the living room, complimented Martha on her lovely home and wrapped up the small talk, Jesus began to teach.
Jesus speaks like none else ever has. There is a joy and winsomeness about him, and a magnetism in his words as if they breathe life itself. Mary creeps closer, her arms wrapped around an empty pitcher, just listening to Jesus. She knows that there’s more work to be done, but she can’t move—except closer. It wasn’t socially acceptable for a woman to sit in room full of men, but his words are so welcoming. She gradually moves closer and closer until she finds herself kneeling at his feet, savoring his every word.
Somewhere in the distance, she hears her sister calling her name, but it’s drowned out by Christ’s words, by his call to draw near, his call to listen.
Meaningful intimacy and fellowship with God will never come out of the busyness of Martha’s kitchen. It can only be found at the feet of Jesus, which is right where Mary wanted to be.
How’s your relationship with Jesus?
I’m not asking if you go to church every week, or if you volunteer for junior worship, or put a check in the offering plate each week. I’m asking how much time you spend sitting at his feet, savoring his word. Your time with God, your time with Jesus, is important—more important than anything else you have to do today or any day.
The “one thing” that matters is Jesus—knowing him and experience intimate fellowship with him. The apostle Paul put it this way: “I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him.” (Philippians 3:7-9 NLT).
If we want to have a heart like Mary’s and experience real intimate fellowship with God, then we have to put the important thing ahead of the urgent things. There will always be endless demands pressuring every hour of the day. But sitting at Christ’s feet, soaking in the red letters canvassing the pages of you Bible, is the most important thing you can do with you time—because nothing is more valuable than getting to know Jesus.
And when you do that, as you begin to develop this Mary-like heart, you’ll notice a shift in feelings.
• A SHIFT IN FEELINGS
Let me ask you—how do you think Martha felt that day?
It’s not hard to figure out, is it? She was obviously a little bent out of shape. She was stressed out over everything she had to do and angry that her sister wasn’t helping her. Jesus even says, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details!” (Luke 10:41 NLT). Worried and upset.
You know what that’s like don’t you?
You’ve got a deadline to meet and a stack of orders to get out, so you get worried and upset. Your co-workers aren’t pulling their weight around the office, so you get worried and upset. Your kids are acting like the Tasmanian Devil hopped up on Mountain Dew, so you get worried and upset. Your mother-in-law is coming for a visit, so you get worried and upset. The preacher goes five minutes overtime on his message, so you get worried and upset!
It’s no fun being worried and upset, is it? You don’t want to feel like that and neither do I. God certainly doesn’t want you to feel that way. Worry has become so “spiritually acceptable” that many of us forget that worry is a sin—we do it all the time. For some of you, being worried and upset is a way of life.
But take a look over at Mary, sitting at his feet, hanging on Jesus’ every word. Does she look worried or upset? Does she seem stressed or bent out of shape? Could it be that Mary’s choice to sit at Jesus’ feet came with a soothing side-effect?
I’m convinced that the more time we spend at the feet of Jesus, the less we’re going to worry about the little annoyances of life. In fact, the Bible says, “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” (Isaiah 26:3 NLT). When we fix our thoughts on Christ, we experience peace in his presence. Mary experienced his peace in the midst of a pressure-filled day. And Jesus invites all of us to have that same experience.
A while back Ashley started having anxiety attacks. When the first one hit, she’d never experienced it before—her chest tightened up, her breathing became erratic, and she was convinced she was having a heart attack. She said it was the scariest experience of her life. But then it happened again. And again. She was having them nearly every day. I’m sure a lot of it had to do with the constants pressure of being in ministry and trying to raise three kids without losing her mind, but after a while Ashley started to see it as a wakeup call from God. Ashley lives in a Martha world with a Martha mindset and she felt like God was forcing her to kneel at his feet. Whenever she felt her anxiety building up, she would just turn to God in prayer. She relied on 1 Peter 5:7: “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (NIV). In time, her anxiety attacks stopped and her prayer-life flourished. She still gets stressed out from time to time, but now she knows the importance of being still, simply sitting at his feet, and savoring his word!
Conclusion:
Amazing things happen at the feet of Jesus. I want to encourage you to spend some time at his feet this week, savoring his word. Get away from all the distractions, shift your focus to Jesus and run a finger down the finely cut pages of the gospels hunting for the words in red. Then cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.
Next week, we’re going to return to the feet of Jesus where we’ll find Mary sharing her woes. In the meantime…
