The actor readily agreed and asked if someone at the dinner table would like to suggest what he should recite.
There was a deadly hush until an old clergyman raised his hand and said:
“May I ask you to recite the 23rd Psalm?”
The actor was rather taken back but agreed, saying: “I will recite Psalm 23 - if you will recite it once I am finished”.
The clergyman rather reluctantly agreed.
The actor then recited the 23rd Psalm with as much passion as he could arouse.
His voice was perfect. His intonation was flawless.
The audience was spellbound. When he finished, he was met with rapturous applause.
The old clergyman then stood up to speak and recited the Psalm.
But his voice was rough and broken from many years of preaching.
His diction was anything but polished.
But when he finished there was not a dry eye in the room.
Then the actor got up from his seat came over and put his arm around the clergyman and said:
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I know the 23rd Psalm. This man however knows the Shepherd of the 23rd Psalm.”
Christianity is all about relationships. Mary also knew the Shepherd of the 23rd Psalm.
It is always amazing how a family like this can have two sisters:
• They had the same parents.
• They were raised in the same environment.
But yet they are so different.
However, it is their differences that teach us so many things about serving the Lord.
Let’s take a good look at these two sisters. I would like to show you THREE things in this story about them.
First, let’s look at-
I. THE SAVIOUR
Look at verse 38, we read, "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."
What is significant in this verse of scripture about Jesus entering their house?
We often find Jesus in people’s homes.
• Matt. 8:14 Jesus went into Peter’s house.
• Matt. 9:23 Jesus went into the Rulers house.
• Luke 7:36 Jesus went into the Pharisees house.
• Luke 8:51 Jesus went into the house of Jairus.
• Luke 14:1 Jesus went into the house of one of the Chief Pharisees.
• Luke 19:5 Jesus went into Zacchaeus’ house.
But of all the homes the Lord entered, He probably felt more welcome in the home of Mary and Martha than all the others.
When you enter some homes you find yourself that reminds us of the t.v. program called “Startrek”, that is as you enter some homes you feel you are entering “WHERE NO MAN HAS GONE BEFORE”.
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger tells when he was in Bible College he would travel about forty miles to a country church where he served the Lord each Sunday. Being in Bible College he could not afford to travel back to college two times on Sunday. So this church would have families to take him to their home and feed him dinner and supper before the evening service.
Some of these homes were really nice and he enjoyed the fellowship and the meal.
But one Sunday this elderly couple were pig farmers and they took him to their home. When he arrived it was an old dilapidated farm house that was not kept up but it is where these pig farmers lived.
There were all kinds of animals in the yard and in the house, chickens, dogs, ducks, cats.
He was invited in the house and in no time the lady of the house asked him to come into the dining room. He sat down in an old chair and scanned the table for the food that was prepared.
Everything looked good and he reached for his silverware and right off he noticed it was a dirty fork gummed up from previous meals.
He thought what can I do, I can not eat with a dirty fork like this. And he felt like God gave him some wisdom, it might have been the devil, he took his hand and knocked the fork off the table and the lady of the home heard it when it hit the floor.
She said let me get you another fork. She did! She came back with another that was as dirty as the first one.
He had no choice but to eat with that dirty fork or offend these nice pig farmers.
But he later said when he ate that meal with that dirty fork, he felt he ate two meals, the one before him and the one that someone else ate with that same dirty fork.
From what the scriptures tell us about Mary and Martha their home was a favorite place for the Lord to visit.
A. JESUS WAS AN INVITED GUEST
Look at verse 38. We read, "And a certain woman named Martha RECEIVED HIM INTO HER HOUSE."
It was indeed a special honor for Mary and Martha to have such a distinguished guest. They recognized the honor, and treated him as a special guest.
In the same manner, we who have the Lord dwelling in our homes, need to recognize the honor it is to have Him there.
We need to recognize the honor of having Him in our homes but also the importance of others knowing that the Lord dwell:
(1) He hears every conversation.
(2) He knows the kind of books we read.
(3) He sees the kind of things we watch on television.
We can not see Him but He certainly can see us.
• He is the silent listener of every conversation?
• He is the unseen guest at every meal?
And if we have Him dwelling in our homes, it should be obvious to everyone that He dwells there.
Illus: G. Campbell Morgan tells about how his father visited his home shortly after he was married. His father walked into their house, and began looking around. He walked through the house, peering into every room, and then said, "Yes, all very nice. But nobody will know by walking through here whether you belong to God or the devil!" Morgan says that he made up his mind, that from henceforth, there would be no room in the house that did not have some message in picture or book, that would tell every visitor that here is a home that is serving the King.
If you knew the Lord was coming to your home would you need to rush home and get some of the magazines, gambling cards, beer bottles hid.
It is not only by the things that we:
• Have ADDED to our homes that we show HE DWELLS THERE,
• But also by the things we have SUBTRACTED, that reveals HE DWELLS THERE.
When some folks know company is coming, they make major changes because of necessity, but when the company leaves, they go back to their old way of living and doing things.
They live their lives trying to make an impression.
Illus: They make me think of the young lady that was trying to make a good impression on her date with a young man. She worked two days getting dolled up. When he arrived he told her how nice she looked! She said, I ALWAYS LOOK LIKE THIS!!!
Have you ever noticed this as you talk with people? A lot of people, out of necessity, can make major changes immediately.
Illus: Such is the case with two pastors in Hendersonville, N.C. They were getting hungry and so they stopped at a Cracker Barrel restaurant in. As they were standing and waited to be seated there was a big barrel of drinks of root beer on ice.
This rather large young man, that was a stranger mention on one of the pastors “Wouldn’t it be nice if these bottles were filled with liquor!”
This pastor responded by saying, “No” and began to witness to him.
But the moment the man found out that he was talking to a Minister of the Gospel, he wanted it to be known that he was a Christian.
• He began to tell him that he was a member of a fundamental Bible preaching church.
• His pastor was a “great” preacher.
• He told him how he went out with the pastor to meetings.
The problem was, he had already shot himself in the foot and ruined his testimony because of his first remark.
This man reminds us of so many who know how to make temporary adjustments out of necessity.
Our churches are filled with people who can go to church and give the impression they really love the Lord.
But when they go out of the church doors, they go back to:
• Their lying.
• Their cheating.
• Their cursing.
• Their gossiping.
You see, they are not genuine, they make adjustments in their lives out of necessity, but when it is no longer a necessity, they go back to living the same sinful way they have always lived.
We have too many today, who make temporary adjustments for the sake of convenience.
In Bethany, there was always a godly home available to the Lord Jesus. The Lord could visit this home at any given moment, and He would find this was a home where He was loved.
JESUS WAS AN INVITED GUEST, but also-
B. JESUS WAS AN INTIMATE GUEST
There is no doubt that the Lord loved these people. In John 11:5, we read “Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.”
Illus: The Lord loved Mary and Martha, you might say, the Lord loved “M and M’s”.
Jesus was an INVITED GUEST and he was an INTIMATE GUEST.
• They loved Him deeply.
• He loved them dearly.
We took a good look at THE SAVIOR, but now let us look at -
II. THE SISTERS
Notice, how the Bible refers to these two women.
• Vs.38 “A certain woman named Martha..”
• Vs.39 “And she had a sister called Mary..”
They were sisters, but they were different.
HOW WERE THEY DIFFERENT?
A. MARY WAS A WORSHIPPER
Look at verse 39. We read, “Mary . . . sat at Jesus feet, and heard His word.”
In the East, the expression, "sitting at someone’s feet", had two significant meanings.
(1) It was indicative of worship.
(2) It was indicative of discipleship.
Both of these describe Mary. She was a WORSHIPPER and a DISCIPLE of the Lord Jesus.
Mary sat at the feet of Jesus often. Look at:
• Luke 10:39, she, “...sat at His feet and heard His word.”
• John 11:32, she, “..fell down at His feet...”
• John 12:3, she, “...anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair:...”
When you entered this home, you could tell that Mary was one who worshiped the Lord. She wanted to get as close to the Lord as she possibly could.
This was also the craving of the apostle Paul.
Look at Phil. 3:10. We see this so clearly as he said, “That I may know him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, ....”
I think Paul’s desire is also expressed in the life of Mary, who was often found at the feet of Jesus.
But let us look at the other sister. We see-
B. MARTHA WAS A SERVANT.
To her, SERVICE was the most important thing, not WORSHIP.
Look at verse 40. We read, “But Martha was cumbered about much serving.”
It does not take much to get some people frustrated.
Illus: 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 to her. 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, me too.
Well, after a while, she calmed 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?''
Illus: A man tells how he had been on the road for a few hours and was running low on gas, so he pulled into a gas station through the back way. He wanted to get gas quickly and get back on the road and he could tell there were about 4 gas pumps that were open, but he couldn't get to them. There was this white truck parked across his path... and he was just sitting there. He wouldn't MOVE and he 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' exactly what he did. He honked to let him know how upset He was.
But then - no sooner than he honked his horn – he saw this other vehicle backing out of a parking spot in front of the gas station. And he suddenly realized... that white truck had just been being courteous to allow him to back out. He had been waiting patiently, giving that other vehicle room to back up.
He said he had been patient. I hadn't.
Mary was SITTING, Martha was SERVING.
• A description of Mary would be: "How close can I get to Jesus,"
• A description of Martha would be, "How much can I do for Jesus."
Thank God for the “Martha’s” in the Church. If we didn’t have WORKERS, nothing would ever get done.
Thank God for those people who work, visit, teach, call others, help in the Nursery, work with young people, etc..
Someone said that in every Church, you have those who work in two areas:
• On the DESTRUCTION CREW.
• On the CONSTRUCTION CREW.
Illus: An old preacher preached one Sunday morning from Matthew 4:24, “They brought unto Him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases.”
The preacher said, “Now, the doctors can scrutinize you, analyze you, and sometimes cure your ills, but when you have divers diseases, then only the Lord can cure you.”
For example:
• Some dive for the TV set after church.
• Some dive into a list of excuses about not working for the Lord.
• Some dive for the car, and take a trip over the weekend.
• Some dive for their nickels and dimes, when the offering plate goes by.
• Some dive for the door as soon as the minister gives the invitation.
Our churches are filled with people who are afflicted with Diver’s disease, and only the Lord Jesus can cure them.
We need these Martha’s in the church. Nothing would never get done if it was not for them.
The church cannot get along without the “Martha’s”, but who ever said you could not WORSHIP GOD and WORK FOR THE LORD AT THE SAME TIME?
We have looked at
• THE SAVIOR
• THE SISTERS,
but let us now look at-
III. THE SITUATION
Beginning in Vs. 40, we see Martha getting upset with her sister.
Martha was SERVING and Mary was SITTING, and it led to this scene in the home. Look at-
A. THE ANXIETY OF MARTHA
Look at verse 40, we read, “But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to Him, and said, ‘Lord, doest Thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me.’”
When we are working for the Lord, it is easy for us to look around and see others who are not, and become discouraged.
Illus: Someone said, “I can see Martha, with her face all sweaty, a bowl in one hand, and a spoon in the other, working just as fast as she can. She wonders, ‘Where’s Mary?’ She hollers, ‘Mary, where are you? I need you.’ She passes by the kitchen door and looks into the living room, and there is Mary, sitting at Jesus feet. She seems to come unglued for a moment, ‘Mary, what are you doing. Can’t you see that I need you in the kitchen.’ ‘Jesus, don’t you care that Mary is making me do all the work. Tell her to get up from there and come here and help me get this food ready.’"
The word "cumbered", means to be distracted. To be dragged apart. We would say, "Pulled in two different directions."
Martha is very agitated, frustrated, and anxious.
Martha did not have control over her work, her work had control over her.
When we are "cumbered about" in God’s work, it reveals itself as it did in Martha’s life.
1. SHE WAS RESENTFUL. (with her sister): She was griping about Mary. However, THE PROBLEM WASN’T WITH MARY, IT WAS WITH MARTHA.
2. SHE WAS RUDE. (with her Savior): She was making a very serious accusation against the Lord. She was insinuating that she was the only one who cared about the real needs.
If you want to get your ears chewed off, then say something to a fretful worker. But remember, the problem is not with MARY, the problem is with MARTHA.
WHY WAS SHE ACTING THAT WAY?
She had her priorities all mixed up.
Illus: This reminds me of a man I knew. Rather than to come to church, he would go to visit people and invite them to come to church. Listen, it is good that he wanted to go visiting, but his priorities were all mixed up. The people that he was visiting were puzzled about him being there, when he should have been in the house of God.
We looked at THE ANXIETY OF MARTHA, let us look at-
B. THE ANSWER OF JESUS
Look at verses 41 42. We read, “And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
When Martha came to the Lord, He dealt with her anxiety problem head on. He said, "Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things."
Look at the word “careful”. This word means “anxious.”
The same word is used in Phil. 4:6, “Be careful for nothing.” It speaks of being worried.
In other words, DO NOT LET ANYTHING WORRY YOU!
Some people think the only reason God placed them here on earth, was to WORRY. They constantly hang around negative people, and that provides them with a lot of things to worry about.
Illus: Archbishop Trench was a great New Testament scholar. There was a time in his life that he became possessed with the fear that the limbs of his body were going to lose all feeling. He had some problems with his legs. He worried all the time about losing feeling in his limbs.
One night he was sitting at an elaborate state dinner, and all of a sudden, he blurted out, "Oh, it finally happened. It’s finally happened. I haven’t got a bit of feeling in my right leg."
The lady sitting next to him said, "Your grace, if it will be any comfort to you, it’s my leg you are pinching!"
Much of what we worry about, never happens!
Look at what the Lord said to Martha. "Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful."
But notice, her complaint against Mary was not that she did not ever do anything, It was because she was not doing anything when Martha thought she should be doing something.
Look at verse 40. We read, “Lord, dost Thou not care that MY SISTER HATH LEFT ME to serve ALONE?”
Martha’s complaint, was that Mary had been working, but when she saw the Lord come into the home, she ceased WORKING and started WORSHIPING, and left Martha to work ALONE!
The Lord wanted Martha to know that Mary had made the right decision.
Look at verse 42. We read, “Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
Mary was A WORKER, but she was also A WORSHIPER. She knew she needed to work, but she also knew she needed to worship.
Conclusion:
Illus: August Van Ryn, "Those who take time to sit at His feet will not serve Him less, they will serve Him with freshness and power that will make itself felt wherever it reaches."
Jesus wanted:
• Martha’s COOKING.
• But He also wanted her COMPANY.
She needed to serve, but she also needed to sit.
God’s word to the SINNER is, “ONE THING THOU LACKEST.”
God’s word to the SAINT is, “ONE THING IS NEEDFUL.”
I. THEIR SAVIOR
II. TWO SISTERS
III. THE SITUATION
