Listening, Laboring & Living For Jesus
Luke 10:38-42
Some years ago I was involved with a big project for the company I was working for. I had been working on this specific task for about a week and was making great progress. The supervisor had called a special meeting one morning for all who were involved in this project. I was so busy working that I missed the beginning of the meeting, I figured since I was already late, I would just continue working on the task at hand. I worked on for several hours and then the supervisor stopped by and noticed all that I had done. I was proud of what I had accomplished and was waiting for a pat on the back. He walked in the warehouse and said “things look really good in here, too bad you did it all for nothing, we decided yesterday to move all of this stuff to the company headquarters (which was in another town). He then added, you would have known this if you had been at the meeting this morning!” My pat on the back turned into a kick in the gut. I was so busy working that I missed out on what my boss really wanted me to do!
Sometimes in church life or Christian service we may get so busy that we miss out on an important message from Jesus. We may be so consumed with church work that we miss out on worship. We may be focused on ministry and forget the Master. We may be overwhelmed with the tasks at hand that we forget why we were working in the first place.
It is very important for us to work for Jesus! Scripture tells us that “the harvest is great and that there are few laborers in the field”
- Our Lord desires our service to Him
- He delights in our service to Him
- He deserves our service to Him
- He demands our service to Him
There is no doubt that we could all do more for our Lord! But the subject tonight is more about timing. There is a time to work for the Lord, but equally important is for us to take time to listen to the Lord. These facts are illustrated in the lives of Lazarus’ sisters “Mary & Martha”.
I would like to step inside Martha’s home for a little while and examine the actions of each of Lazarus’ sisters and preach on the thought “Listening, Laboring & Living for Jesus”
Let’s me go ahead and give you the outline:
i. It Is Important To Labor For The Lord
ii. It Is Imperative To Listen To The Lord
As we consider the actions of Mary & Martha in these few verses, let us not forget that these are both faithful disciples of Jesus. As we read in the story of Lazarus’ resurrection they are close friends with Jesus and He loved them both very much. I have no doubt that at times Mary served Jesus and Martha listened to Jesus and vice versa.
The successful Christian life is a life that is well balanced. A church would be in a dangerous predicament if everyone labored all the time and never listened to the Master. The same would apply if a church was comprised of people who listened to the Lord all the time but never put to action the things that they heard from Him.
Let’s look to the text and begin with the fact that:
I. IT IS IMPORTANT FOR US TO LABOR FOR THE LORD v38-40
* v38 Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
* v40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
There is no question that both of these ladies loved the Lord. In scripture every time they are mentioned their love for Jesus is apparent! Here, Martha opens up her home to the Lord and His disciples. It is believed that Martha was a widow and that Mary & Lazarus lived with her. She worked very hard to be a good hostess to the guests in her home.
If you knew that Jesus was going to physically come to your house and knock on the door this evening chances are you wouldn’t be here, you would be doing all you could to get the house in order for Jesus’ visit. (That sounds like another sermon in itself)
Many times we are so focused on our service to Jesus that we ignore Him in the process. That is exactly what happened to Martha. Notice …Martha was thrilled for Jesus to be in her home. No doubt, she desired to spend time with Him. But in her mind there were some things that had to be done first.
Imagine Jesus and His disciples showing up unannounced at your front door. It was a great honor, but Martha began to focus on making everything perfect and neglected her guests. I can see her making room for each of the Lord’s followers in her home. Maybe there were some things that needed to be picked up and put away. Martha is used to serving a meal for three and now there are at the very least 15 people to feed. The food had to be prepared, the table had to be set and the meal had to be served. All of these things were running through her mind.
Serving the Lord, distracted Martha from enjoying His presence- v40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving,
The Greek for “Encumbered” means - “to be drawn in many different ways at the same time”. Martha was at a place where she knew what needed to be done, but there was so much to do she didn’t even know where to start. While all of this is going on, Mary is sitting in the floor at the feet of Jesus!
This did not go unnoticed by Martha, in fact she even addresses this with Jesus - (Martha)… came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
In just a moment we will consider Jesus’ reply. But there is much we can learn from Martha in these couple of verses. Her desire to serve the Lord is commendable. Her devotion to the task at hand is admirable. Her frustration towards her sister is somewhat understandable. We need people in the church today who are willing to serve like Martha served.
Though there are many positive points we could take away from Martha’s response, if you listen to what Jesus says you will find that there was an error in her thought process. He says in verse 41 … Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: 42 But one thing is needful:
Jesus addresses the fact that Martha was “troubled” or “distracted”. The literal translation of this means that her “mind was divided”. She was distracted by “many things”. The things that Martha was concerned about didn’t matter at all to Jesus.
I am afraid that Martha’s problem has become the problem for many churches in our day. Some churches have something going on morning, noon and night, 7 days a week. There is no shortage of “activity” but not very much “productivity” There is a difference in a healthy church and one that is just fat! And there is a difference in a church that is busy and one that is beneficial for the Kingdom.
The same can be said for Christians as individuals. There are some who are always doing some type of “ministry” (which is commendable). But while working for the Lord, they fail to converse with Him.
A couple of weeks ago one of my closest friends came to preach for me. From the time he and his wife arrived I was running all over the place. I had to makes sure he knew where everything was, I had to ensure that he had water, wire him up for sound, I had to get with Keith about the order of service and welcome the visitors. After the service was over he had to leave in a hurry and when I got home it was like I hadn’t even seen him because I was so busy while he was here.
Martha was so busy that she missed Jesus’ visit to her own home. Sometimes Jesus doesn’t want what you can do… HE JUST WANTS YOU!! Serving Jesus is a vital part of the Christian life, but along with that work must come alone time with the Lord. We must take the time to talk to Him, And we must spend the time it takes allowing Him to speak to us.
Through Martha we can see that “It Is Important For Us To Labor For The Lord” but as we look at her sister Mary we will see that:
II. IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT WE LISTEN TO THE LORD - v39a {Martha} had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word
Here we are introduced to Lazarus’ other sister Mary. While Martha is working non stop, Mary is resting at the feet of her Master. We find Mary in this position several times in the Word of God.
a) Here in Luke Chapter 10
b) At the death of Lazarus in John 11:32 Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
c) Washing Jesus’ feet in - John 12:3 then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.
Mary realized the importance of listening to Jesus.
When the Jewish scholars, would listen to the instructions of the rabbis they would be seated at their feet. The Apostle Paul said that he was “brought up at the feet of Gamaliel. Gamaliel was the premiere Rabbi of his day. (Acts 22:3)
Let’s compare Martha & Mary’s actions for a moment. Martha was cumbered about… working & worrying nonstop… But Mary was comforted at Jesus’ feet. Martha was concerned with preparing physical food. But Mary was getting fed spiritually! Martha was willing to work for the Lord But Mary just wanted to be near Him!
What can we learn when we are at the feet of Jesus?
a) Information - Why things are the way they are.
b) Instruction - What we are supposed to do and not supposed to do.
c) Correction - We can be taught hard lessons after we have failed.
d) Direction - We can learn where we are to go.
I could go on and on, there is no limit to what we can learn at Jesus’ feet. There will be a time where you have to get up and go to work, but if you will find yourself at the feet of Jesus you will then have all the knowledge you need to do things his way. You can go forward for Him! You can have an impact on the Kingdom! Instead of just being active you can be PRODUCTIVE!
Friend, See Jesus for who He is… AND WORSHIP AT HIS FEET!
