INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• Today as we continue with our Deep Thoughts with Jesus series, we will come upon an interesting situation that most all of us can relate to.
• Have you ever been really busy doing something at home, maybe like cleaning the house, and your spouse and children are sitting on the floor playing games or wrestling while you are SLAVING away saving the world by ridding it of the treacherous, evil DUST BUNNIES!
• Or while this is going on and you are spending quality time with the kids, have you ever incurred the WRATH of an angry spouse because you are just playing with the kids instead of going to battle with your spouse against the EVIL DUST BUNNIES?
• Today’s text takes us to a story of two sisters who have invited Jesus into their home.
• The thing I love about this event is that when we read it, depending on how we are wired. We will relate to either Martha or Mary.
• As you go through the text you will mostly find yourself relating to or rooting for either Mary or Martha.
• In this story, you will either think that Mary is a lazy bum who if she would help her sister, things would get done much faster. Or you will think that Mary is doing the right thing by paying attention to their house guest.
• On the other side of the coin, when you think of Martha, you will think she is a whiner who is so focused on everything being PERFECT, that she cannot possibly enjoy having company and that her real job is to make everyone as miserable as she is.
• OR you when you think of Martha, you will admire her hard work and meticulous attention to every detail of the home along with her commitment to making her home a wonder picture that belongs in Southern Living Magazine!
• The story of Martha and Mary is much deeper than one sister being an uptight workaholic freak and one sister who is a lazy bum.
• The deeper thought that runs through this story of one of balance and attitude.
• LET’S BEGIN BY TURNING TO LUKE 10:38-39
• SLIDE #2
• Luke 10:38–39 (CSB) — 38 While they were traveling, he entered a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who also sat at the Lord’s feet and was listening to what he said.
• SLIDE #3
SERMON
I. An opportunity to seize.
• I cannot imagine how great it would have been to actually have Jesus in my house!
• SLIDE #4 MAP
• Jesus and His entourage had been doing a lot of traveling, they were coming from Jerusalem, probably in December as the Feast of Dedication for this short visit with Martha and Mary.
• Bethany was over the Mount of olives, two miles East of Jerusalem.
• Martha sees Jesus and His disciples and invites them into her home.
• Martha has a sister Mary, probably her younger sister, as well as a brother, Lazarus, whom a little later Jesus will raise from the dead.
• Now the fun begins.
• The passage tells us that Mary SAT at the Lord’s feet listening to what He was saying.
• So, here is an opportunity to sit down and learn from Jesus or there is an opportunity to serve Jesus.
• By the way, the CULTURAL norm was for women to serve men.
• When men were in the home, Martha was doing what her culture and society said was right.
• One the other hand, Mary did something that was not culturally acceptable, she sat at the feet of Jesus as a disciple would do. In that society, women DID NOT DO THAT!
• Think about this for a minute, IF you could have Jesus in your home, would you spend your time frantically putting together a meal and making sure the house is impeccably clean or would you spend it sitting that the feet of Jesus learning from Him?
• Be honest, who is SITTING? HANDS!
• WHO IS WORKING?
• This is a hard choice because you want Jesus to see that you are neat because after all, cleanliness is next to godliness according to…
• Oh wait, never mind, that is not in the Bible.
• Anyway, I can see the dilemma, Martha is doing what any good Jewish woman would do by working hard to serve the men in her presence.
• In their culture, women were considered by many to be inferior to men, intellectually, physically, and spiritually.
• I laugh when I hear people talk about how Jesus and Christianity suppress or are anti-woman, or teach that women are inferior to men.
• It is actually Jesus who raised women as being equal to men, we just have different roles. I digress.
• Back to Mary.
• Mary, on the other hand, is sitting there before Jesus acting like she is a disciple, a learner of Jesus, which was not really proper.
• If you are on Team Martha, can you feel the anger building in Martha as she rushes by Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus.
• I bet she made some sounds to get Mary’s attention! I bet she got the stare of death, guys, you know what I am talking about.
• DO you feel the tension building?
• Let’s move to verse 40 as we reach the breaking point.
• SLIDE #5
• Luke 10:40 (CSB) But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, and she came up and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to serve alone? So tell her to give me a hand.”
• SLIDE #6
II. An attitude to overcome.
• This is where it gets funny and probably awkward.
• Martha is fuming. I am sure folks who were paying attention probably noticed her angst.
• We are told that Martha was DISTRACTED by her many tasks.
• Ok, can you see why she is a little upset, she is doing what she was supposed to be doing, she is working to serve Jesus, and Mary is sitting there like a lazy bum in Martha’s eyes.
• Martha is letting her anxiety about the less important things than Jesus’ teaching leads her to ask Jesus for help.
• Can you imagine doing what Martha did to her guest?
• Martha appeals to Jesus. She wants to give Jesus the royal treatment.
• “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to serve alone? So tell her to give me a hand.”
• This seems so out of line.
• Martha expects Jesus to side with her on this matter because culturally speaking, she has the high moral ground.
• Here is the problem. Martha is so preoccupied by her tasks that she is missing time with the Lord.
• When we get busy, what is usually the first thing to go? Our time with Jesus.
• Martha has allowed the situation to take the joy of serving the Lord from her.
• Some of Martha’s problem was the fact she was worried too much about with others (Mary) were doing.
• Martha was doping valuable work, but she was should worry less about Mary and focus on what she was doing for the Lord.
• We often spend too much time evaluating the way others serve the Lord. We often look at what we perceive other NOT doing and we then get upset and wonder why we are the only ones doing anything.
• Can you imagine how joyful it would have been to be able to fix a meal for Jesus and His disciples?
• Martha spent her time evaluating and worrying about Mary, that what should been a joyful service opportunity turned unto something that made her mad.
• Think about how effective the church can be when we all find joy in serving the Lord, and to not allow what others do or do not do steal our joy.
• The church loses its effectiveness, joy, and energy when we spend our time being an assessment agency of others in the kingdom.
• Each member of the church should take individual responsibility for their own walk with and service for the Lord.
• Imagine how Mary feels. She is being chastised in front of Jesus, she is doing what she feels she is called to do at the time, yet she is being criticized for doing it.
• Have you ever been serving the Lord and then have others come and criticize you?
• On one hand, if Mary were to help Martha, the job would get finished quicker; however, given the timing of things, maybe Martha would have been better off simplifying and spending more time with Jesus.
• Let’s turn to verses 41-42
• SLIDE #7
• Luke 10:41–42 (CSB) — 41 The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.”
• SLIDE #8
III. Encouragement to refocus.
• Jesus goes to Mary and tells her to get off her lazy backside and get to work serving Him!
• Notice that Jesus offers a gentle rebuke to Martha.
• He does not blame her for being concerned about the preparations, but He wants her to see that she needs to refocus.
• He told her that she was worried and upset about MANY things, and in the process of being worried and upset, she was missing the boat concerning what was really important.
• He was trying to shift her focus from busy to better.
• The right choice was to put Jesus first, to learn from Him while she could.
• The worries and cares of life can choke out kingdom concerns.
• We find this thought in Luke 8:14 when Jesus told the parable of sower.
• The right choice was devotion to Jesus and His teachings.
• There is some tension between service and discipleship.
• We have to maintain a balance. In fairness to Martha, Mary could have spent a little time helping Martha, but then who would have spent time with the guests.
• Martha could have simplified so that she could have spent more time with Jesus.
• Martha was showing love to Jesus through serving, Mary through discipleship.
• In life, we need a balance.
• WE cannot be so busy serving as Martha was, that we miss the opportunities to grow in our faith and to learn more about and from Jesus.
• On the other we cannot spend all our time learning and not serving. There needs to be a balance of learning and serving.
• It is easy to go to all the bible studies, all the worship services, all the events, everything the church offers, then not have the time to serve the Lord.
CONCLUSION
• Team Martha or Team Mary?
• We need a balance between the two.
• WE have to make sure that we do what we are called to do and not police everyone else.
• Martha saw what she was doing as the most important thing and she deemed what Mary was doing as unworthy.
• As a result, Martha lost her joy of serving.
• We have to make sure we do not lose our joy in serving by focusing on what others are or are not doing.
• Jesus calls us to discipleship and part of discipleship is serving.
