BALANCE
“First Things First”
Luke 2:52 and Luke 10: 38-42
Stephen Covey has written an excellent book titled the Seven habits of highly effective people. The book is been around for some time now. I first read it about 25 years ago and I studied the book with a group of professionals in Nashville. We spent about 65 hours together learning the principles that are in the book and how to use them in ministry. One of the seven habits is this: learn to put first things first.
In other words, once you establish your priorities, make sure that these things are taken care of before anything else. Never let anything get in the way of your priorities. Put first things first. In this preaching series we have been looking at Luke 2:52 and I told you that in order to live a balanced life as Jesus did, there are four areas we must pay attention to. This is the verse-and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.
1. So first of all, get wisdom. Learn to be wise. Proverbs 4:7. Be wise.
2. Be Fit. Be physically fit. Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. It is the only one you have. If you don’t take care of it, no one will do it for you.
3. Now we move to the 3rd part of this verse today. Be still. The Psalmist records these words. Be still and know that I am God. The scripture says in Luke 10: 38-42.
So at this time Jesus was beginning to establish a following. Mary and Martha lived just outside Jerusalem in the town of Bethany. They were sisters and their brother was Lazarus the one Jesus raised from the dead. Jesus was apparently friends with all three of them. We are told that Martha was the one who met Jesus at the door that day and welcomed him into their house. Now there is no doubt that she wanted everything to be just right in her home when Jesus came to visit. I mean after all, if I told you that Jesus would be coming to your house today at 1 o’clock, I’m guessing that most of you would get up and go home so you could be prepared for his visit. Right? So Martha was busy working while Mary was at the feet of Jesus listening to what he had to say. We cannot help but notice in this passage that Jesus tells Martha that Mary has chosen the best part. And what we notice here are some differences in these two women. Basically, Mary chose to sit and be still at the feet of Jesus while Martha elected to get the meal and her home ready for the visit. Both have a priority; both were necessary, but one of them shows the better option.
Notice first of all there was a difference in their focus. Focus simply means that we center our attention on something or someone. And we do it at the expense of everything else. Jesus was the honored guest so it was customary to prepare a meal for the guest. And I feel sure Martha put everything she had into it. She was busy serving Jesus. I should be clear at this point-Martha’s service was not a bad thing. But the problem is Martha had allowed it to become her focus. Now think about this for a moment... You have the Lord of the universe-God himself in your home but you are too busy to listen to what he has to say. You are too busy doing things for him and you have no time to speak with him.
It still happens of course... We come to church, we sit in the presence of the Lord and our thoughts are 1000 miles away. Our minds are too busy to hear what God has to say. One of the things this passage has to say to all of us is that we must be careful that we do not put all of our energy into things that are temporary. Spending time with Jesus is always the better option. Choose the best part.
Two. There was a difference in their fellowship. Let’s look now at Mary. She was seated at the feet of Jesus. The Greek implies that she literally sat down right at His feet. As close as she could get. Mary did not want to miss a single word that Jesus had to say. Let me remind you this morning that right now you are is close to Jesus as you want to be. You have all of him that you want. We all have to answer the question, how much do I want? You determine your own level of spiritual experience with Jesus. So here’s the question again. How much of God do you ewant? In this passage it all comes down to priorities; what comes first in your life? You and I both know what it takes to grow spiritually.
Now let’s go back to Martha. We are not told where she was in the house except that she was distracted by having so much to do. We assume she was in the kitchen. One version of the Bible says she was cumbered. That’s a word most of us do not use today. It simply means she felt the weight of having too much to do. I’ve been there, you’ve been there. Martha was driven by her work but her work was driving her away from Jesus. But we do need to remember that Martha was the one who welcomed him into their home. Then she went to work.
Now here is a picture of what happens in the life of the believer. We welcome Jesus into our heart-then we go to work. We start by spending time with him, then we go to work for him. Now as your pastor I want to quickly say that’s not a bad thing--I mean all of us are called to serve in some way, but never at the expense of our personal time with Jesus. We can be so busy doing things for Jesus that we fail to spend time with Jesus. And most of us are guilty in this area at some point. Very few of us spend enough time in the feet of Jesus just listening to what he has to say.
Hebrews 2:1. It says we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard or we may drift away from it. And what we have to do to drift? Nothing. It is very easy. I read the story this week of a man who just bought a boat and kept it in the harbor on the coast. A hurricane warning that come along was in effect and the storm was about to make landfall. He didn’t know what to do so he called a friend in Florida to get some advice. His friend said, don’t tie the boat to anything on land. If you do, it will be ripped to pieces. He said, your only hope is to anchor deep and the boat will ride out the storm. That’s good advice for all of us. Anchor deep. A second thing of course is that if you do nothing, the boat will drift away. If you do nothing with Jesus, you will drift away.
3. Notice also there was a difference in their feelings. Look at what Jesus said about Martha in verse 41. Reading this in several versions, we read that she was troubled... She was anxious, she was worried... She was distracted. We get the picture. Troubled, anxious, worried, distracted-that’s what you get when you don’t keep your focus on Jesus.
Remember Martha had the one right there with her who had…
• Spoken during a storm... Simply said “Be still” and the waters obeyed him.
• She had the one who would calm the demon possessed.
• The one who had brought her brother Lazarus back to life.
All of that, yet she was not at peace. She was anxious, worried, troubled, distracted. Just imagine if she lived in this world today. How would she feel? Let me tell you it has not gotten any easier.
• We send our kids to school and don’t know if they will be safe or not
• Look at our checkbooks and we don’t know if we will make it through the month
• our recent health report has caused us to be less than peaceful
All of this seems to be a part of living 21st-century.
Now let’s look at Mary. The Bible doesn’t tell us what Mary was feeling. Just tells us that she was sitting at the feet of Jesus. She was focused. One of the first Bible verses I memorized was this: “you will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you.” That’s what Mary was practicing. Now notice what Jesus says to Martha. He said, Martha, one thing is necessary. Doesn’t that make it simple? Just one thing to remember here. Martha I know your day is full, I know your schedule is busy-I know all about you, but still-one thing is necessary. I mean what would it matter if dinner were a few minutes late; the biscuits are burned? I mean Jesus could probably heal them anyway... We get busy with all kinds of things-work-home-family, but listen if you’re not spending time with Jesus then you have missed the main thing. Vincent Lombardi used to say the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.
Jesus told Martha, Mary has chosen the good part, the best part and it will not be taken away from her.
David Ring who has suffered from cerebral palsy since birth. His father died when he was 11. Cancer took his mother four years later. Ring was an orphan at the age of fourteen. Depressed from the combination of losing his parents and the difficulties of his disability, Ring dropped out of high school. Ring specifically struggled with losing his mother, the only woman he believed would ever love him. He attempted to commit suicide many times over the course of the following two years due to his depression. Then in 1970, he gave his life to Jesus. He now says I have Cerebral Palsy but Cerebral Palsy doesn’t have me. I love that.
He said in his testimony, don’t feel sorry for me. One day I’m gonna be well. I won’t talk funny anymore. I won’t walk with a limp. God’s still making me and he’s baking me. And one day he will open up the oven and he will say well done, good and faithful servant. That is the words I want to hear also. Keep your focus in one place—on Jesus.
