The Pattern of Discipleship

Well, good morning, everyone. It's great to see you here. What a lovely day. Thank you

to all who've participated so far in our service. Could I ask you to grab your Bibles? It's

so important that we have God's Word out in front of us. So whether that's a paper copy

or you scroll down in your phone or iPad, whatever it is you do, then make every effort

to get the Scriptures open in front of you. And Luke chapter 10 and verses 38 to halfway

Luke 10 · chapter mention

through chapter 11 is where we are this morning. You should have received hopefully a sermon

outline as you came in. That's going to be quite important for this morning. So if you

don't have one, put your hand in the air that you just don't care and Al McIntosh will get

one to you. But why don't we still ourselves as we come to this wonderful portion of Luke's

Gospel that we've been in for quite a while. And let's take just a moment in our Martha

world just to have a moment of Mary's stillness. Will we do that and we'll pray as we come

to God's Word this morning. Let's pray.

Our Father, we would thank you for this morning. And we would ask that as we come to your words

now that you would help us to still ourselves, to still our hearts. Father, you would help

us to focus our minds and to be ready to both receive and meet with you, we pray in Jesus'

precious name. Amen.

Well, to get us thinking this morning, if you had to sum up your life at present in one word,

what would that word be? Why don't you just take 10 seconds, turn to your neighbor. What

is that one word that you're thinking of that describes your life right now?

Okay, it's 10 seconds. Put your hands up. Here's a little case study this morning. Put

your hands up if that word was the word busy. Come on, show of hands. How many of us that

was the word busy describes our life just now? Right in the air. So just have a look around

and take that in. Because we are a busy people. You can put your hands down now. We are a busy

people. It's one of the buzzwords of our day, isn't it? Our generation busy. We are always,

always busy. Everybody's busy. Everyone I talk to is busy. Even in pastoral ministry,

when you go to minister's conferences, how do people respond? How are you? Oh, I'm busy.

We're always busy. In fact, I heard someone the other day refer to our always on world. Our phones

are never off. Our alerts are always going. Our minds are always active. We live in an always

on busy world. Well, here's the question that I want us to think about this morning.

What are we busy with? There are, I don't know if you've ever stopped to think about this, there

are 10,080 minutes in a week. Just think to yourself, what do you fill them with? What are

you busy doing? Here's the challenge that God's word would bring to us this morning as those who are

following Jesus Christ? Are we making room in our busy lives for the things which matter most?

Now, if you remember last week, we said that we're in this kind of school of discipleship portion

of Luke's gospel. And the big question that Luke's trying to get his readers to think through

is what does it mean to follow this King? What does it mean to follow Jesus Christ?

And last week, we looked at the parable of the Good Samaritan, and we saw that following Jesus

involves sacrificially and compassionately loving and caring for those round about you as those who

have been made in God's very image. But this week, if last week's question was, or discipleship lesson

rather, was an external lesson, well, this week Luke gives us an internal one. And it's no accident

that he's put those two right together next to each other. There's an external part to following Jesus,

and there's an internal part. In other words, it's not all about doing, it's about being and knowing.

What are the things which matter most? That's the question that we should be asking right about now.

Well, we're going to see two things this morning that should mark our lives as disciples of Jesus Christ.

What are they? Sitting and listening and stopping and praying. In other words, what will a disciple be marked by?

Well, he or she will be marked by firstly, devotion, and secondly, dependence.

And if you've got your Bibles there, we pick up the narrative at verse 38 of chapter 10, if you've got it there.

And Jesus has been welcomed into Martha's house.

And Luke tells us this story.

And as he tells us this story, the focus of his story isn't as much on Jesus as it is actually on these two sisters.

Do you notice that there? Firstly, who do we get in the story?

Martha, the host.

How would she describe her life in one word?

Well, she's busy.

She's busy. What's she doing?

She's busy being a good host.

Now, you can picture her, can't you, in the scene?

She's chopping the veg.

She's cooking the stew.

She's setting the table.

She's got Jamie Oliver's 15-minute meals out in front of her.

All of that summed up in those words that Luke gives us at verse 40, if you see.

Much serving.

This is Martha.

Much serving.

That's what she's doing.

But it's not what she's doing that seems to be the problem, but how she's doing it.

And the way that Luke tells us the story here, it gives us the clues that we need to be able to ascertain the true state of Martha's heart.

How is she?

Verse 40.

Distracted.

Here we have a distracted sister, which I think we are led to understand means a little more than she was just a little bit flustered as she was going about her chores.

It's more than that.

She is overwhelmed.

She's bothered and she's burdened.

And do you see how it comes out?

It spills out in her language.

Do you see it there?

Such a blessing for us in our lives, isn't it?

That what makes it to our tongues is just simply a byproduct of what's going on in our hearts.

What does she do?

Verse 40.

She confronts Jesus.

Now you can picture her.

She throws off her apron.

She throws the dish towel on the floor.

Lord.

Notice what she calls him there.

It's not that Mary doesn't know who he is.

Lord.

Lord.

Do you not care?

Do you not care that Mary is doing nothing?

Well, I'm doing absolutely everything.

Now we have to say there's a little bit of us that understands what she's saying there, doesn't it?

How is Jesus going to respond?

What's he going to say?

Good point, Martha.

Come on, Mary.

You need to up your game here.

No.

What does he say?

Would you notice the grace in Jesus' response to her?

Martha, Martha.

Gentle yet deeply concerned words for this woman.

Verse 41.

Jesus, he sees her heart.

And he sees that she is anxious.

And she's troubled about so many different things.

But the cares of this world, the pressures of life, what are they doing?

They're coming into her heart.

They're choking her joy.

And they're dragging her away from a right devotion to Jesus, her master.

You see, it's not that the stuff that Mary is doing is bad.

It's just that those things are pulling her away from what is best.

Kevin DeYoung, he writes this about this passage.

Martha is so busy with dinner that she's giving Jesus her spiritual leftovers.

Here's Martha.

She's busy.

And then we get the other sister, don't we?

We get Mary.

And where is she in this picture?

She's sitting with the right heart at Jesus' feet.

She's like Greyfriars Bobby.

You go and you look at his statue just up Northbridge.

I pass it every day and I stop to read it this week.

You see the plaque that reads,

Here is the dog that faithfully followed his master.

This is Mary.

She's there.

She's at his feet.

Because we need to understand that in Jesus Christ,

she's found somebody who's captivated her heart.

That's why she's at the feet of Jesus.

And what is she doing at the feet of Jesus?

She's listening to his teaching.

The very words from her master's mouth.

You see, Jesus hasn't just captivated her heart.

He's captivated her mind.

And what does Jesus say about her?

Some of the most beautiful words I think Jesus says about a human being here.

What has she chosen?

The good portion.

The good portion.

It's kind of psalmy language.

The language of the psalms about close fellowship with God being the most desirable thing in one's life.

Mary has chosen the good portion and Jesus commends her for it.

Jesus commends her for her undistracted devotion to him and his words.

And I think that as we read this story this morning, we are invited.

As we look at this woman here, we are invited to ask ourselves as followers of Jesus,

which one is your heart?

Help us think that through.

Let me ask us a couple of diagnostic heart questions.

Firstly, do you detect the marks of Martha?

Do you see them in your own life?

Do you see anxiety clouding your heart?

Do you find yourself distracted by the pressures of life?

And do you notice it firstly in your actions?

And particularly, do you notice it in your words?

The words in your texts?

And the tone of your emails, how you reply to people, and the things that you post on Facebook and Twitter,

do you notice this in your words?

And maybe even those internal words, those kind of mental manuscripts that we always write,

the internal things that never actually make it to print.

Do you see the marks of Martha in your life this morning?

It's even possible to be distracted, isn't it, as we serve in church?

Things of this world that we allow them to cloud us as we serve in here?

Do you detect the marks of Martha?

And secondly, do you desire the heart of Mary?

It's a beautiful irony in this story that the one that's held up to us here never actually says a word.

What did she do?

Well, let me just draw your attention to two words.

Mary firstly chose.

That's the verb there.

She chose.

She presumably made the decision.

And amongst all the other things that could have occupied her time,

all the things that could have taken her attention and drawn her away,

she decides to choose to sit at her Lord's feet and listen to his words.

And according to Jesus, Mary chose that which was good.

It was good.

I'm sure if you'd asked her at this point,

Mary, do you need to spend time with Jesus?

Do you need to spend time listening to him?

She would have looked at you puzzled.

And she would have replied,

No, I do not have to do it.

I get to do it.

And the question for us this morning is,

as disciples,

as followers of this King,

do we see that choosing to spend time,

making the time,

to be with our Lord,

with our Bibles open,

listening to his word every day,

is good for us?

It's good for us.

Just something practical.

If you're looking for something to do this week,

something I found really helpful is just to write the word,

this is the good portion,

on a post-it note,

and stick it on the front of my Bible.

Because it reminds me,

as I come to this every morning,

that this isn't a duty,

this is a delight.

That I get to sit at the feet of my Lord

and listen to his words every morning.

This is the good portion.

Can I say what I found out quite transforming this week in my own life?

That this is the good portion,

what a great thing to be reminded of,

as we come to read our Bibles every morning.

Before we move to Edinburgh,

Alex and I used to live in Bristol.

Lovely city.

And in Bristol,

there's this street called Muller Road.

And it's named after one of Bristol's most famous sons,

George Muller.

Don't even know anything about George Muller.

I knew diddly-squat before I moved down to Bristol.

But George Muller is a wonderful Christian man.

Because as well as being a pastor and a traveling preacher,

he's most famous for founding a number of orphanages

in and around Bristol and further seas as well.

In fact, in his lifetime,

I googled it this week,

he pioneered the construction of five large orphan houses

and he cared for 10,024 orphans.

This is George Muller.

Do you see what a difference this faith made in his life?

Now there's a busy man.

Right?

Busy man.

And he wrote in his journal,

he wrote,

somebody asked him,

how did he do all of it?

How did he do all of it

and serve with a heart of joy?

And he writes this in his diary.

He says this.

Now this is wonderful if you want to listen to this.

He said,

I saw more clearly than ever

that the first great and primary business

to which I ought to attend every day

was to have my soul happy in the Lord.

It's another wonderful phrase.

To have my soul happy in the Lord.

That's Mary.

She is thrilled with Jesus.

She is delighted with her master.

There she is sitting at his feet,

desperate for more of his words.

You know,

are we making room in our busy lives

for the things which matter most?

Are our lives as disciples,

are they first they are,

are they characterized by devotion?

And secondly,

as we move into chapter 11 this morning

and this wonderful passage about prayer,

we get the second mark of the true disciple.

Are our lives marked by dependence?

Now look how we get into chapter 11 here.

What does Luke tell us?

He tells us that Jesus was praying.

He was praying,

which I don't know about you,

but that always encourages me.

That Jesus,

in amongst the busyness of his life and ministry,

in amongst all the people,

all the urgent situations that surrounded him,

all the needy people that came to him,

he made time

and he made prayer,

that is communion with his heavenly father.

He made it an absolute priority in his life.

And by including this here,

I think Luke's lesson for us as we look on

is that if dependent prayer was appropriate

for the creator of the universe,

then it's certainly appropriate for you

who would try and follow him.

It encourages me.

It challenges me.

And his disciples,

what do we get there?

They look at him praying

and they ask him,

will you teach us to pray?

Which is a wonderful question.

Teach us how to pray.

Jesus gives them three big lessons

in the school of prayer.

Three big lessons

that I found to be so practical this week,

so helpful this week,

so challenging this week,

so transforming this week.

Three big lessons

that I've got so much to teach us this morning

as we follow after this king.

You ready for them?

First,

big lesson,

verses one to four.

Jesus lays out for his disciples

what they should pray.

Verse two,

when you pray,

say.

Do you see this?

He gives them the very words to say.

And there's two axes,

I think,

to this prayer.

There's the kind of God word axis

and there's the you word axis.

It starts

with God and his glory

before it moves to

you and your needs.

Wonderful lesson for us there

that we'll come on to see

in just a moment.

Firstly,

let's consider the God word axis.

Who is this God

that they pray to?

He's the all-powerful one.

He's the all-knowing

and all-present one.

He is the creator

and sustainer

of absolutely everything

and he is a blind

and he is a blindingly

holy God.

And what is his relationship

to them

and to us

this morning?

Distant spectator?

No.

Ruthless dictator?

No.

Father.

Jesus invites,

and get your heads around this,

his disciples

to call this God

Father.

It's the Greek word

pater there.

Now whatever the precise usage

of that word was

in this culture,

surely the main point

that Jesus is making

is that the relationship

between this God

and his people

is one of intimacy

and access.

That he is no cold

and distant God.

He is a gracious

and a near Father.

Now what an amazing mystery

that is.

That the almighty God

would look on us

and because of his son

Jesus Christ

and his shed blood

on the cross

that makes us right

with our heavenly father,

our God,

that he adopts us

and he calls us

his sons

and daughters.

Is it not a mind-boggling joy

that the one we address

in prayer

and we get these two truths,

firstly,

that we come before him

reverently

because he is holy,

that he is so far above us?

As I heard one person

say it this week

how we must be careful

not to just simply

address God

as the God almighty.

He is the God almighty.

We must never lose

that sense of reverence

as to who he is

and who we are.

He is a holy God.

But secondly,

the second truth to grasp

is that we come before him

because of Jesus.

We come before him confidently

and we can call him

our father.

Two wonderful truths

that we must never let go of.

Oh, in our Christian lives

may we never get past

the jaw-dropping effect

of that one word.

He is our father.

And so the only response to us

as we get that right

is hallowed be your name.

hallowed.

It's the cry of a transformed heart

that beats for God's glory

and says,

God, because you are so great

I want to see your name

in lights.

I want to see your name

made great in my life,

in our lives,

and in our lands.

I want people up and down

our nation,

in our city

to see your greatness, God.

Would they see it?

And would your kingdom come?

Would your rule

and your reign,

would it come here?

Would you save people

in our city

to yourself

as they hear

and respond

to the message

of Jesus Christ?

And not just in our city

and in our land,

but in the world.

Do you see the truth

for us there?

that knowing God rightly,

it feels worship,

it feels mission,

and it feels prayer.

This is our God.

So Jesus rightly,

as he gives them

this pattern of prayer,

he begins by drawing

their gaze to God.

As if to say,

it starts with him,

it doesn't start with you.

He is the orbit

in which you are operating,

not the other way around.

Once they have

their vision

of who God is,

God their Father,

once they have

that vision refined

and clarified,

then they can

begin to see

themselves rightly.

And we get

the other axis

to this prayer.

Firstly,

the God word axis.

Secondly,

the you word axis.

What does Jesus

teach us

teach his disciples

about themselves?

Well,

as we've already

sang earlier,

and this is the reason

we sang it,

he teaches them

this profoundly

simple yet

wondrously

profound

lesson about

the Christian life,

and it's that

we need

God.

We

need

God.

They need

God.

There's three

aspects of their

need that Jesus

outlines here in this

prayer.

firstly,

they need a bread.

Do you see it there?

The daily things

that they need for life.

Jesus is teaching

them to stop

and reflect

that,

God,

you are the one

who makes the sun

rise every morning.

God,

you are

the one

who sustains me

and provides for me.

You see,

Jesus is teaching

them here to have

a heart stance

of dependence

and thankfulness.

Lord,

that Sunday

happened today,

not just because

it rolled around

from Saturday,

but Sunday

happened today

because you

decided it should

happen today.

And you have

got your purposes

to fulfill today

for your glory.

That's why it

happened today.

I wonder if you

find yourselves

thankful this

morning.

Do we find

ourselves

aware of God's

goodness to us

every day,

every moment of

every day,

or have we

grown accustomed

to his

mercies?

As the late

John Stott

once said,

thankfulness

is a soil

in which

pride

does not

easily grow.

Father,

thank you.

They need bread.

Secondly,

they need forgiveness.

They need to be

examining their

own hearts,

confessing their

failures and

sin and

shortcomings

against their

holy father,

and recognizing

that he is

gracious,

and he is

merciful,

and knowing

that because of

Jesus and his

shed blood that

speaks a better

word for us,

that he is

faithful and

just to forgive

their sin.

And you see

how Jesus so

tightly knits

here the

relationship with

God to the

relationships with

others.

Because knowing

that they have

been forgiven

much by God,

it should affect

how they

relate to

others,

that they

seek to

forgive

others,

that they

seek to

be right

with others,

that they

seek to

deal with

issues that

arise with

others.

You know,

let me ask

you this

morning,

is there

anyone that

you need to

get right

with?

Is there

bitterness

brewing in

your own

heart against

another brother

or sister?

Is there

unconfessed

sin in the

chambers of

your heart

that is

holding your

back in

your walk

with the

Lord?

We need

forgiveness.

And thirdly,

they need

protection.

It's a

confession that

Lord, I know

my own sinful

heart, I know

as the old hymn

says, I know

that I am

prone to

wander, Lord,

I feel it.

I know my

weaknesses, and

so Lord, I

need you by

your spirit

living in me

to direct and

to guide my

every step and

my every

thoughts and

my every

action today.

Would you

deliver me from

evil?

I need you,

Heavenly Father,

I need you.

Before we

came to

Brunsfield five

odd years ago,

Alex and I,

we spent a bit

of time working

in a Christian

hospital,

Malawi, and

every morning

we used to

have these

team meetings

at a

ridiculous

o'clock in

the morning.

We used to

start by

reading a

portion of

God's word

together, and

we would sing

together.

Now, you

can imagine

coming from a

British background

into that.

It was a bit

weird singing

together.

But we sung

together, and I

used to think I

could hit a

note, but I

heard these

guys sing, and

I thought,

oof, right, I

can't hit a

note.

But every

morning we

used to sing

the same

song.

We used to

sing, give

me,

power, Lord

Jesus, give

me power, Lord

Jesus, give me

power, every

hour to be

strong.

O, give me

power, and I

used to repeat

about six

times.

Now, I'm

all up for

repeating

choruses, but

that one got a

bit repetitive.

But I sat

there, convicted,

because I

looked into my

own heart, and

I thought,

Graham, have

you ever sung

that song,

really?

Have you

ever

acknowledged

that you

need God?

Have you

ever acknowledged

that you do

not have the

ability to

guide your

way through

life?

You do

not have

all the

answers.

And in

fact, the

cry, if I'm

honest, the

song of my

own heart

was, I'm

okay, Lord

Jesus.

I've got the

power.

I've got the

power for

every hour to

keep me

strong.

And I

wonder if

that is

true for us

this morning

that we

rate our

ability to

navigate our

ways through

the ups and

downs of

life.

I've been

praying this

week for

us that we

would see that

we do not

have the

power.

Individually, in

our own

lives, we

would see our

need of God,

we would see

that we need

him, and

corporately as

a church, that

we would see

that we need

God.

how often

do we think

we're okay

because we

can put on

nice events, and

we can make

nice coffee, and

we can do nice

Bible studies, we

can function as

a church, we

can get by.

But my prayer

this week has

been, oh Lord,

would you rid

us of our

complacency?

As a church

community here,

would you forgive

us for the times

that we think in

our busy lives, that

we can run from

thing to thing, and

task to task, and

think that they

are excuses for

not stopping to

acknowledge that we

need Jesus.

you.

Do you feel that

in your own

heart?

Lord, I need

you.

Wednesday the

10th of May, prayer

meeting in the

upstairs hall.

We're going to

pray for our

nation, the UK.

We put that

together about six

months ago, not

really knowing what

would happen, but

what a time to

pray for our

country.

Brexit, snap

election, we

need to pray.

We need to pray

to our great

gods.

Come, Wednesday

the 10th of

May, let's pray

together as a

community, and

acknowledge that

we need him.

Martin Luther,

famously wrote,

I have so much

to do today that

it leaves me with

little option but

to spend the first

three hours of this

day in prayer.

You know, one

thing I've tried to

do this week, and

I'll invite you to

do it, is I've just

printed, well, just

try and make the

Lord's Prayer the

focus of my prayer

times this week.

and I've just printed

it on the back of

the sheet.

Maybe you want to

just, this week, make

that the focus of

your prayer, just slip

it inside your Bible,

come to it every

morning, and I

found it such a

realigning experience

to pray this prayer

and to stop after

every line.

That these are the

words my Lord gave

us, his followers,

to pray.

These are his

words.

And this is how I

should be praying.

Heavenly Father, I

need you.

That is what they

should pray, and

we'll rattle through

these last two.

I'm aware of time.

Secondly, verses 1

to 10, Jesus lays

out to his disciples

how they should

pray.

And he tells them

this parable, and

it's about a host who

receives an unexpected

guest at what you

must be able to say

is an ungodly hour.

And he's unprepared

for this guest.

Now, in this

culture, hospitality

is a big deal.

And so a first

century host would

do absolutely

everything in

their power to

offer their

guest the very

best that they

could give them.

In a village,

hospitality is not

just an individual

thing, it's a

corporate thing.

Everybody in the

community was

obliged to help

each other be a

good host.

And so it was

the duty of this

neighbor, no

matter how

inconvenient, no

matter what the

hour, his duty

to get out of bed

in order to help

his neighbor.

None of Jesus'

listeners would

refuse to get out

of bed.

That is the

point.

No matter what

time it was,

no matter what

the cry was,

to help a

neighbor in need.

So when Jesus

asks this question,

which of you has

a friend who

wouldn't act like

this in a situation

like that?

The disciples are

thinking to themselves,

well, none of us

have a friend like

that.

All of our

friends would

help.

Well, says Jesus,

if that neighbor

disturbed and

hassled as he may be,

if he will rise and

respond to the request

from his neighbor

and needs,

then how much

more will God

rise to answer

your prayers when

you knock at his

door and ask?

Big point from the

parable, that God

is not a begrudging

and inconvenience

grantor.

God is a willing

and ready giver.

If your friend will

answer your cry for

help because you

were bold in asking,

how much more will

God answer your

cry for help because

you are his child?

So what does Jesus

invite his disciples

to do here?

Ask.

Ask.

In line of what

he's outlined to

them to pray, ask

and do it boldly.

Your friends may

reluctantly give you

what you need.

But how much more

as God's child will

he gladly give you

everything that you

need?

You may well be an

inconvenience to your

neighbor.

And if he answers,

how much more will

God your good

father be willing to

open up the door to

you?

This is how you're to

ask, says Jesus.

You're to ask boldly

and you're to ask

confidently.

And thirdly,

verses 11 to 13,

Jesus lays out for

them why they should

pray.

And again, it's

this how much more

logic.

There's a bit of

humor in there as

well, isn't it?

If you earthly

fathers, if you know

how to give good

gifts to your

children, how much

more will your good

and perfect father

not give his

children things that

will be bad or

dangerous for them,

but give them the

things that are good

for them?

And to see it

outlined there,

most notably, his

very presence with

us through the

Holy Spirit.

And as we close

this morning, let's

maybe bring a few

of those strands

together and bring

ourselves back to

that question that we

asked at the outset.

In our always-on

culture, are we

making room in our

busy lives for the

things which matter

most?

As disciples of

Jesus Christ, are we

making time in our

busy lives every day

to sit and listen

and to stop and

pray?

Are our lives, are

they marked by

undistracted devotion

and by unashamed

dependence?

And I thought it'd

be great for us this

morning, just as we

close, to close by

saying the Lord's

Prayer together as we

read it here.

But before we do

that, why don't we

just take a moment

before we rush into

our Martha world,

just to still our

hearts before the

Lord and let's

respond to his

words as we've

heard it this

morning.

Let's pray together.

Father, hallowed be

your name, your

kingdom come.

Give us each day our

daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we also forgive

everyone who sins

against us.

And lead us not into

temptation.

Amen.