OPEN: A mother and her young daughter had been driving on the highway for a couple of hours and traffic had been difficult… in fact, some of the other drivers had been downright frustrating. They wouldn’t use their turn signals, she’d been cut off, tail gated, and then there had been the cars in front of her who insisted on moving way below the speed limit.
Have you ever had that happen to you? Yeah, me too.
And as the day wore on, her patience ran out and she began to begin to speak her frustrations out loud. She began to talk about the level of intelligence of the other drivers. They were ignorant, jerks, stupid.
Have you ever done that? Yeah, I’ve done it too.
Well, after a while, she tamed down and got control of herself. And in the quietness that followed, her young daughter looked up innocently at her and asked:
“Mother, have you ever been stupid?”
Have you ever been behind the wheel of your car… and been… stupid?
Yeah, me too! In fact I did that just last week.
ILLUS: I had been on the road for a few hours and I was running low on gas, so I pulled into a gas station through the back way. I wanted to get gas quickly and get back on the road and I could tell there were about 4 gas pumps that were open, but I couldn’t get to them. There was this white truck parked across my path… and he was just sitting there. He wouldn’t MOVE and I couldn’t get to the pumps. He just SAT there. It was so FRUSTRATING.
What would you have done in that situation? (Honk horn).
Yes sir. That’s what I did. I honked to let him know how upset I was.
But then – no sooner than I honked my horn – I see this other vehicle backing out of a parking spot in front of the gas station. And I suddenly realized… that white truck had just been being courteous to car. He had been waiting patiently, giving that other vehicle room to back up.
He had been patient. I hadn’t.
I had acted like a jerk…. I had been STUPID!
APPLY: Now, in our text this morning we read the story of a woman who acted… stupidly.
Her name was “Martha”.
Now in fairness and full disclosure I have to tell you that Martha was my mother’s name… so I’m kind of partial to her.
Just like me at the gas station, Martha did something foolish.
Now, she hadn’t started out to be foolish. She’d actually been trying to be a very gracious hostess to Jesus and His disciples. They had been traveling across the countryside as Jesus taught the crowds, and they’d stopped by Martha’s village. She had invited them into her home to rest. And she began to prepare a meal for them.
Now, this was quite a task. She hadn’t expected them and nothing was prepared for such a large group. And it wasn’t like she could go down to the corner grocery and buy food that had been precooked. Everything she set before them had to be made from scratch. But she did this gladly, because Jesus and His men were honored guests.
And while she prepared the meal… Jesus sat down in the next room and began to teach.
Now, (Martha’s sister) Mary is there.
And she’s excited.
She loves Jesus. She idolizes Him. He’s her hero.
John 12:3 Tells of another time that Jesus came to their house and it says “Mary (took) a pound of very costly ointment… and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair...”
Jesus is Mary’s hero.
She literally worships the ground He walks on.
And NOW… here He is… in her house… and He’s teaching.
This is GREAT!
Mary doesn’t get much of a chance to listen to Jesus.
But now here He is and she’s so excited she just sits right down at Jesus’ feet and listens to Him.
And she forgets ALL about Martha
And the meal
And setting the table.
Now Martha doesn’t share Mary’s enthusiasm.
It’s not that she doesn’t enjoy listening to Jesus
(Everybody loves listening to Jesus)
But there’s work to be done… and Mary ain’t doing it.
And I can see this in my mind’s eye as it all plays out.
Little by little… MARTHA… GETS … UPSET.
She starts by making little noises in the kitchen to express her displeasure.
She sets a pot down on the table… really hard.
She bangs a few of the utensils into the wash bucket.
And you can see a small frown begins to play at the edge of her lips.
As she putsying around the kitchen she glances into the other room. And she’s always looking at Mary – just SITTING there – doing nothing. And the looks she gives her sister are not pleasant looks. They’re dark and ugly.
She steps over to the fire and vigorously she stirs the stew. Too vigorously. Some of it slops over the edge of the pot, and she angrily wipes it up with a cloth. And she burns her hand a little. Then in her anger she wads up the washcloth and throws it over in the wash bucket… and she misses.
One thing, leads to another thing, leads to another thing. And she gets more and more worked up, because NOTHING is working out for her. Everything’s going wrong. And it’s all Mary’s fault. Mary’s just sitting there and doing nothing.
And Martha starts getting so mad she can hardly see straight. Finally… she has had ALL SHE CAN TAKE! She stomps right over to Jesus and she says: "Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? TELL HER to help me!" Luke 10:40
Now, this is wrong on so many levels, it’s hard to know where to start.
Martha has lost her temper
And she’s pitched a fit in front of her guests.
But worst of all – she’s forgotten who’s in her house.
She’s gotten so upset about her agenda that she’s begun to treat Jesus like a servant.
She’s TELLS HIM what to do.
“You tell her to come help me” (she says)
Now, at this point, Jesus is faced with one angry woman
And I want you to notice how He handles her. He says to her:
"Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." Luke 10:41-42
Now, some folks have believed that Jesus was implying that Martha’s work in the Kitchen was (somehow) not a good thing. That Martha should have been sitting down beside Mary instead of working in the kitchen.
But that is NOT what’s happening here.
Notice: Did Jesus ever tell Martha she was wrong for working in the kitchen?
Did He rebuke her for not being in the room listening to Him teach?
No.
In fact, the next time we read about Jesus coming to her home she’s doing exactly the same thing. John 12:1-2 tells us that “Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany… Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor…”
And guess what it says about Martha.
“Martha served.”
You can’t get this woman out of the kitchen.
That’s what she does.
And she’s good at it…
Why else do think Jesus shows up there so often to eat?
And in our story this morning, it’s not like Martha couldn’t have heard Jesus while she was working. It’s not THAT big a house. She’s probably just in the next room – and Jesus has a voice loud enough to teach 1000s.
When Jesus came to her house she could have prepared the meal AND LISTENED to Him
But she wasn’t.
Martha was NOT listening to Jesus.
And, why wasn’t she listening????
Well, verse 40 says - “Martha was distracted…” Luke 10:40
What’s distracting her?
Mary is.
Mary’s not doing what Martha thinks she should.
Now was Mary a lazy girl?
No. Because, if she were Jesus would have rebuked her.
He would have ordered into the kitchen that very moment.
Apparently Mary probably did her share around the house… most of the time.
It’s just THIS time, she wanted to be in the room with Jesus.
So, the problem really isn’t Mary… It’s Martha.
But as I studied this story – I got a little confused.
Martha was being a servant. She was doing ministry.
She was meeting the needs of Jesus and His disciples.
I thought that was what we were supposed to be doing!
Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do?
But you can tell that something was wrong here because Martha got angry.
James 1:20 tells us “the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”
So allow me to let you in on a secret here…
If you’re angry with someone – they’re not the problem. You are.
When you find yourself getting mad at someone, you’re the one with the problem.
Now notice how Jesus deals with her:
"Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." Luke 10:41-42
Notice how gentle He is with her.
He’s not belittling her ministry.
He’s not questioning her love for Him.
He says her name… twice (Martha, Martha)
IT’s almost like He’s saying: It’s ok. You’ve done good things --- and I appreciate it. BUT Martha, you forgot something. You forgot to put ME FIRST. Mary has understood that. She has understood that it’s not about her… it’s about me. You forgot that Martha.”
ILLUS: Just to give you an idea of how this can happen, let me tell you about a meeting I attended about our new building project. When we were talking with the contractor he talked about things we could do that would help raise money for the new building.
He talked about having plaques we could put up for donations in memory of a loved one.
You’ve seen those in some church buildings.
They’re be a plaque that says: “this window was donated in memory of…
Or this tree was planted in memory of…
Or this brick was purchased by this member or that member.
We explained to the contractor that we don’t do that here.
And he looked at in surprise. Why wouldn’t we be willing to do that?
Well, it’s very simple.
Once a “in memory” plate goes on a door or a window it forever belongs to that family. Fifty years from now, if someone decides that it needs to be replaced you need to have a church vote or you’ll never get rid of it.
Why? Because once a door or window has been donated it doesn’t belong to Jesus. It belongs to the family that donated it. That you could have a major fight on your hands if you don’t honor “their” part of the building.
So, we’re not going to do that here.
Because this building doesn’t belong to you. And it doesn’t belong to me.
But now, wait a minute, if it doesn’t belong to you or me, who does it belong to? (Jesus)
My name, your name, your granddad’s name, NONE of that will appear on this bldg.
Because this building isn’t about YOU.
And it isn’t about ME.
It’s about Jesus.
And when you do a ministry in the church you’ve got to handle it the same way.
It’s not your ministry… it belongs to Jesus.
• When Ben does youth ministry who’s his boss? Jesus. We may pay his salary, but he works for Jesus.
• Greg does hte children’s ministry. Who’s his boss? Jesus.
• Trampas does the young adult ministry. Who’s his boss? Jesus.
• Who do the Elders work for?
• How about the Deacons?
• The Sound Crew?
• Who’s my boss?
You can usually tell when somebody forgets that.
They get upset.
They don’t feel appreciated.
They don’t agree with a decision.
They don’t believe the church is doing something right.
And so they get mad… and they throw a hissy fit… just like Martha did.
ILLUS: I knew of a church once where there were 3 or 4 very talented piano players in the congregation and they got really bent out of shape when they didn’t get their “fair share” of playing time in worship. Why were they upset? They were upset because their ministry at the piano didn’t belong to Jesus… it belonged to them.
They were Marthas.
Now, I have rarely if ever seen that happen here. And that’s why this has always been such a great place to minister. Because it seems like everybody has Mary’s attitude. You all seem to be here to worship Jesus - to sit at His feet and honor Him.
ILLUS: I remember when the (name of one of the couples in the audience) moved their membership here. Dave was concerned. He was worried that - if he tried to get involved in doing ministry here, some folks would get upset. He was concerned about stepping on toes and ruffling some feather. He had seen churches where people were concerned about their “turf”.
I told him – “Aw don’t worry about that. Nobody here cares. They’ll just scoot over and let you do what you feel you’re gifted to do… and if need be they’ll go find something else to do.”
There’s no “TURF” here.
Nobody is concerned about being pushed out of their ministry.
Because so many of you are Mary-kind of folks.
But (that said) none of us immune to Martha moments.
None of us is immune to forgetting that the church isn’t about US… it’s about Jesus.
And every once in a while, even the best of us can get a little upset
ILLUS: Several years ago we had a full time youth minister here named Brad. Brad was VERY good at his job. In fact, he deserved far more than we could afford to pay him. He was a very talented and Christlike man.
But he was almost too good. He was so good at so many things that (confession time here) I literally began to be concerned about him possibly taking my job. For a short period of time, I considered what I might do to “slow him down.” It was a Martha moment for me. But fortunately, the emotion so shocked me that I had a long talk with Jesus about it. And I mentally gave my job to Jesus. I told Him that the pulpit was His to do with as He saw fit. If He wanted Brad to take over here that I would abide by His decision and trust Him for the outcome.
I have heard of preachers who have ruined youth ministers because they became jealous of them, and I know of one preacher that ran through 3 youth ministers in 5 years because he felt threatened by how well they did their ministry.
Martha moments can happen to any of us.
And, it’s when that happens (if we let Him) Jesus takes us aside and says our name softly…
“Jeff… Jeff, you’re anxious and troubled about many things. There’s only ONE thing that important - glorifying Jesus in this church. Sitting at His feet and loving on Him.”
CLOSE: I recently heard about a problem another church had. One of the members came up with a GREAT idea for outreach and the church had done this project year after year with pretty good results.
But then – one year – the leadership decided to try something else. They decided to substitute a new program for the old one that this man had initiated for them. And he WAS NOT HAPPY!
In fact, he got so upset, that he shared his anger with several members of the church. He told them how stupid the leadership was for abandoning his dream and he proceeded to say some fairly unkind things about the Elders there.
He had a Martha moment.
He felt the leaders didn’t share his vision.
They didn’t appreciate his ministry.
And he got so mad… he flew off the handle.
And he could have damaged the church
But fortunately… just in time… he had a “come to Jesus moment.” It was almost like Jesus took him aside and told him – you’re troubled about many things. But you’ve missed the most important thing --- honoring your ME.”
He’d gotten upset because he thought his dream/vision/ministry was all about him. He’d forgotten that – when you’re a Christian – everything we do must be all about Jesus. And when that man realized what he’d done - how he’d embarrassed his Savior - he went to the preacher and he humbled himself and asked forgiveness. And then he spent several hours on the phone apologizing to folks for what he’d said.
ASSIGNMENT FOR THE COMING WEEKS:
For the next few weeks, I want to concentrate on sitting at Jesus’ feet like Mary did. Some of you already do daily devotions with a Bible program Sandra puts together. But if you don’t… this is your assignment:
Every day: Read one chapter from the book of Proverbs.
Spend time every day this week learning something from Jesus in Matt. 5:1-7:28
And as you do these devotions I want you to focus on asking yourself what Jesus wants you to do with the information you read. One wise person once said “It’s not how many times you’ve been through the Bible. It’s how many times the Bible has been through you.”
