Christ at the Crossroads: Priorities

This morning I would like to look at Luke chapter 10, a passage from Luke chapter 10.

Luke 10 · chapter mention Luke 10 · chapter mention

! We'll also look at Luke 9 a little bit, but Christ at the crossroads. How do we set our priorities?

! Today as Americans, most of us feel like we have limitless possibilities. With a click

or two, we and our families can fill our lives and schedules with fantastic experiences. With

a click or two, we have access to education and information on topics and events we never

knew existed and we can't wait to find somebody to share it with, right? Until our eyes glaze

over. With a click or two, we can fill our houses, our garages, our closets, our pantries

with delightful things from around the globe. What an incredible time to be alive. But we

cannot do it all. We cannot learn it all. And even though you may have a plastic card, we

cannot buy it all. So how do we decide? How do we discern what is good, better, best? What

will make our priority list? After coffee, what is the rest of your top 10 on your priority list

for this week? As a teen, I had the privilege of God bringing a youth pastor into my life who

helped me take significant steps of growth as a follower of Jesus. A tool I was introduced

to was a priority list. The priorities and their order have changed over the years. Obviously,

God and Jesus topped the list. First thing in the morning, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, reading the

word, meditating on it, praying. But then missionaries would come. And they would come to speak and stress,

you really need to get up at five in the morning to spend an hour or more. And oh, as a young person,

the guilt, the feelings of failure that would flood my mind. Lord, I love you. I want to grow in you.

I wanted to make it my aim to please you. But I struggle to prove it. By spending 60 to 90 minutes

every morning, Lord, there must be a better approach. And Jesus shows us that. And I believe

in this passage. Come to the end of chapter 10. In Luke chapter 10, he shows us this in his interaction

Luke 10 · chapter mention

with Martha and Mary. Now, as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village, and a woman named

Martha welcomed him into her house. She had a sister called Mary who sat at Jesus' feet and listened

to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said,

Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.

But the Lord answered her, Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things.

But one thing is necessary, and Mary has chosen the good portion which will not be taken from her.

Before you harass all the Marthas in your life, yes, in this passage, Martha seems to earn a bad name.

But Martha has a glorious reputation in Scripture. Before we dive into this, let's just glance at the

context. In Luke chapter 9, Jesus sends the 12 out two by two to proclaim the kingdom of God.

Luke 9 · chapter mention

As simply, take nothing with you, just go simply and proclaim the kingdom of God. He feeds

5,000 men, women, and children. 5,000 with just loaves and fishes. He foretells his approaching death,

that death is coming. God allows, God the Father allows him to reveal his glory to Peter, James,

and John. And then he announces his approaching death again. Then he gives the priority of humility,

that the least of you will be the greatest. And the priority of counting the cost to proclaiming

the good news of Jesus Christ. Then he has 72 willing to go. In chapter 10, verses 1 and 2,

after this, the Lord appointed 72 others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two into every town and place

where he was about himself about to go. And he said to them, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

If you were here in the first hour, you saw on those graphics, the harvest is plentiful, and the laborers are few.

Pastor S., who is the host pastor of our main teaching site, has an alarm set on his phone for

10.02 every day. And at 10.02, the alarm goes off to remind him to pray Luke 10.2.

Lord, please raise up laborers to go into the harvest. I don't know if that would impact your

service time, but if you want to set an alarm right now for 10.02, just to remind you to pray that God,

please raise up laborers. And may that be me. Pastor S. spent a week this spring in an isolated

community of 80,000 practicing this, going in simply, not knowing anybody, and seeking people

that might respond to the gospel. He did it also in a community of 160,000 of no-known believers,

and seeking to proclaim the good news, and saw four come to faith. The message of the gospel

that he gives to the disciples here is very simple. Heal the sick in it, and say to them,

the kingdom of God has come near you. Jesus sends the 72 out into towns, two by two, living simply,

and announcing that God is initiating his rule on earth, beginning in the hearts of men and women,

and also announcing that he can bring healing, and he can bring wholeness to our broken lives.

In these contexts, a life that is transformed by coming to faith in Jesus Christ becomes visibly

different. And it is so exciting to see the healing that has begun in their lives as they submit to

Jesus Christ. But we must receive this. As John would later record, believe in Jesus, trust him,

receive him, trust him that Jesus is who God says he is, that Jesus accomplished what God said he did

by raising him from the dead. And at that moment, you are made alive, you are born of God, you are a

child of God. Jesus tells them as he's sending them out, the one who hears you, hears me. The one who

rejects you, rejects me. And the one who rejects me, rejects him who sent me. The 72 returned with joy

saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. When you are involved in sharing the

good news, it's not about you. If they reject you, don't take it personally. They're rejecting him.

They're rejecting the good news of the living God and what he has done through Jesus Christ. But you

want to encourage them to receive it. Because at that moment, nevertheless, do not rejoice in this,

that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.

Hmm. The moment you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, that he died in your place for your sins,

and that you believe and trust that God raised him from the dead to say that is sufficient.

At that moment, your names are written in heaven. And Luke would later record, there is joy before the

angels of heaven of God over one sinner who repents. You could make heaven shout today. You could make the

angels of heaven shout today by simply coming to trusting faith in Jesus Christ.

Do you take joy in that? Priority, rejoice in whose you are rather than what you can do for him.

Rejoice in whose you are rather than what you can do for him. Could you imagine the disciples,

especially the 12, they'd already been arguing over who had been least or who had been greatest,

and now they come back. Could you imagine them comparing stories? Well, wow, you should have seen this.

You should have seen, well, I just said this. Wow, this happened. And they were trying to maybe even

outdo each other of whose story was bigger. And Jesus said, okay, enough. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in

this, that the Spirit is subject to you. Take your joy that your names are written in heaven, in the Lamb's book

of the living forever.

Lord willing, Lord willing, they will graduate from our program. And in teams, they will move into these

communities and begin house churches. Jesus continues in verse 23.

Then turning to his disciples, he said privately, blessed are the eyes that see what you see.

For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you

hear and did not hear it. Jesus gives them the priority. Rejoice in the blessings of seeing and hearing God's

promised rescue through the Messiah, his son. We get to see and hear what Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Isaiah,

they just hoped to see it. They didn't see it. We get to see it. And some of us have 15, 20 copies of it

in our house in all different languages. We have apps on our phone. We can access it anytime.

But do we? And when we access it, do we take it in as informational, academic information? Or do we take

it in as life-giving word from heaven above that we are blessed of God to see and to hear his active

rescue through Jesus? Jesus continues on with a story. And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test,

saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And he said, Jesus said, what is written in the

law? How do you read it? The lawyer answered, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,

with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.

Religious people around the world cry out the same question. What shall I do to inherit eternal life?

What shall I do to be right with God? Just please tell me what to do, and I will try to do it.

But Jesus has this man say those priorities. Love God completely,

and love your neighbors as yourself. Jesus first illustrates the priority of loving your neighbor

as yourself. A Jewish man was beat and left for dead. The priest and the temple worker,

they had other priorities, schedule, religious purity, safety. Whatever it was, they just kept walking.

But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where this man was. And when he saw him, he had compassion.

He went to him and bound up his wounds, and pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal,

and brought him to an end, and took care of him. And the next day, he took out two denarii,

and gave them to the innkeeper, and said, take care of him, and whatever more you need or spend,

I will repay you when I come back. A Samaritan set aside his other priorities to show love, compassion,

mercy to a Jew who likely would not have done the same for him. To love your neighbor as himself.

Who is your neighbor? Who is your co-worker? Your friend? Your contact? Your schoolmate? Your acquaintance?

That needs a touch of Jesus' love? My daughter had modeled this so well for us. She uses horses to help

young ladies begin to talk and to heal. She looks for those that others would shun.

But on the field, we see it through Pastor Z. Pastor Z and his family had to move out of their

apartments three times in 18 months, whenever the landlords found out that he was a pastor.

Last fall, God gave them a place of their own, and their priority is to use their home to be able

to serve believers, but also to extend Jesus' love to their neighbors who currently despise them.

Every time he leaves the building, someone yells from the window, infidel! And that's where he lives,

but he seeks to gently, kindly love them. In January, we were able to re-begin teaching in his city,

and this is where Pastor Andrew will join me, Lord willing, in September. And what a group. The young

couples have left the comforts of city life in a second world population to serve a desperate region.

They are daily setting the priority of loving women and children that others would despise and have

neglected. If we're going to use a priority list, we see that God might want to have us reorder it.

Love God completely.

Rejoice in whose you are more than what you can do for him. Rejoice in seeing and hearing God's rescue

through his son. Humility. Genuine humility.

Love your neighbor from the heart. Count the cost. It can get expensive to your reputation,

to you personally, to proclaim the good news. Count the cost and trust him. And then proclaim

the good news. You have somewhat limitless opportunities. Are these on your priority list?

Do they make it? But since missionaries are good at making you feel guilty,

I want to introduce you to a tool that has helped me more than lists.

During our internship, I was introduced to a more helpful approach.

Think of priorities and responsibilities of life as a circle.

With seeking God and his rule, his kingdom, his righteousness as the center. That God desires to

have expanding influence on every area of our lives.

God wants us to come to him to sit at his feet, to sit at the feet of Jesus for wisdom and insights

for every area of our life. This is so much more than 15 minutes, 60 minutes in the morning.

This is every moment throughout your day. God, what would you have me to do?

God, in this moment, I want to react in this way. How would you please rule over and guard and guide my reactions?

But in this opportunity to invest our time and resources and our interest in so many different things,

a book that is extremely helpful in evaluating what we hold as the essential center

is Tim Keller's book, Counterfeit Gods.

He writes,

The human heart

is an idol factory.

What is an idol?

It's anything more important to you

than God.

Anything that absorbs your heart

and your imagination

more than God.

Anything you seek

to give you what only God

can give.

Idols are not usually bad things.

But good things

turned into

ultimate things.

Things that constitute our most fundamental significance

and security.

And so they function

as gods

in our lives.

An idol

has such a controlling position

in your heart

that you can spend

most of your passions

and energy,

your emotional and financial resources

on it

without

even a second thought.

It can be a family.

It can be family

and children

or career

and making money

or achievement

and critical acclaim.

Maybe even saving face

and your social standing.

It can be a romantic relationship.

It can be peer approval.

It can be competence

and skill.

Maybe secure

and comfortable

circumstances.

It can be your beauty

for some of you.

Maybe for some of you

it's your brains.

Maybe it's a great political cause

or a social cause.

Your morality

or your virtue

and even for some of us

success in Christian ministry

can begin to have

an idol effect

in our hearts

and minds.

It's whatever you

look at

and think

if I had that

then

I feel my life

has meaning.

Then

I'll know

I have value.

Then

I'll feel

significant

significant

and secure.

What brings

your life

meaning?

What makes you

feel

significant?

Makes you feel

secure?

What is at the center

of your circle?

Or

what segments

of your circle

are out of balance?

What segments

of your circle

are out of touch

to God?

Hey

that's okay

you get my Sunday morning.

Okay

I'll give you a little bit more

but

you can't have that.

What segments

of your life

do you say

God

don't touch

that one?

Matthew 6

therefore

do not be anxious

saying

what shall we eat?

What shall we drink?

Or

what shall we wear?

For the Gentiles

seek after all these things

and your heavenly

Father

he knows

that you need

them all

but seek first

the kingdom of God

and his

righteousness

and all these

things

will be added

to you.

This verse

is in the middle

of Jesus'

longest recorded

sermon

the Sermon on the Mount

sometimes referred to

as the Constitution

of God's kingdom.

If we are going

to be good

citizens

of his kingdom

we must allow

him to rule

from the center

of our lives.

What does

he value?

What is most

important to him?

How can

I please

him?

Let's come back

to our passage

at the end

of Luke 10.

Now as

Jesus and his

disciples

went on their

way

Jesus entered

a village

and a woman

named Martha

welcomed him

into her house.

So before we

go on

Martha is

commendable

okay?

She

invited them

into her

home.

Middle

Eastern

hospitality

is such

that when

you welcome

Jesus and

his 12

smelly friends

into her

home

she was

then

going to

provide them

the comforts

to be able

to cleanse

themselves

to be

comfortable

but also

to do

whatever

they needed

to be fed

to be cared

for.

Even today

if you were

invited into

somebody's

home

and they

said

would you

like to

come in

for tea?

it's not

just a cup

they fill

the table

and then

they continue

and here

in America

when we

set an

appointment

for coffee

45 minutes

an hour

yeah

I'm busy

I gotta go

I mean

that's just

about as long

as we can

tolerate people

right?

Not so

not so much

in the Middle

Eastern world

when they

invite you

for a cup

of coffee

it's gonna

be a day

it's gonna

be an

experience

and so

here Martha

she didn't

invite them

in for an

hour

she invited

them into

her home

until

they needed

to go

so Martha

is

should be

commended

she would

have fed

them

sought to

feed them

the best

that she

had

but she

had a sister

called Mary

who sat

at the

Lord's feet

and listened

to his

teaching

Mary

sat

at the

Lord's

feet

listening

in Luke

Luke 8 · chapter mention

chapter 8

we are

introduced

Luke does

a great

job in

the Gospels

but also

through the

book of Acts

of seeing

how Christ

and his

people

elevated

the standing

of women

in Luke

8

women

were following

Jesus

they were

participating

they were

learning

they were

sharing

resources

so here

also

Mary

countercultural

women

did not

sit at the

feet of

a rabbi

they didn't

even sit

anywhere near

the rabbi

they waited

until the

man in their

life told

them what

to believe

and to

think

Mary

sat at

his feet

in a

personal

intimate

way

sitting at

his feet

learning

seeking to

take all

that she

could

to take

in

and to

listen

from him

but

Martha

was

distracted

with

much

serving

she went

up to

him

and said

Lord

do you

not

care

that my

sister

has left

me

to serve

alone

tell her

then

to help

me

is

serving a

bad

thing

no

serving

is

commanded

it's

commended

we

must

serve

but

here

Martha

has

misordered

priorities

with

misordered

priorities

we become

distracted

with

much

serving

we

become

busy

busy

busy

but

we

haven't

spent

time

sitting

and

learning

at

Jesus

feet

with

misordered

priorities

we

begin

to

question

the

character

of

God

do

you

not

care

I'm

serving

in

Iwana

all

alone

do

you

not

care

and

when

we

begin

to

question

the

character

of

God

it

affects

our

relationship

with

God

with

misordered

priorities

we

begin

telling

Jesus

how

he

should

meet

our

priorities

tell

her

then

to

help

me

could

you

imagine

what

the

disciples

must

have

been

thinking

Martha

chill

I

mean

just

a few

days

ago

he

took

bread

and

fish

and fed

5000

plus

don't

you

think

he

could

take

care

of

us

can

you

imagine

Peter

James

and

John

they

had

seen

the

revealed

glory

of

Jesus

you

think

they

might

have

been

just

shaking

a

little

bit

Martha

do

you

know

who

you're

talking

to

how

often

we

forget

who

we're

talking

to

when

we

have

misordered

priorities

telling

him

our

plan

and

expecting

him

to

carry

it

out

but

the

Lord

answered

her

Martha

Martha

you

were

anxious

and

troubled

about

many

things

with

misordered

priorities

we

can

easily

become

anxious

we

can

be

troubled

about

many

things

and

I

wonder

if

Jesus

was

thinking

Martha

Martha

in

just

a few

weeks

you're

going

to have

something

to

really

be

anxious

and

troubled

about

your

brother

Lazarus

is

going

to

get

sick

and

die

when

we

have

misordered

priorities

little

things

become

ultimate

things

and

we

deny

ourselves

from

the

resources

that

God

wants

to

invest

in

our

lives

in

a

daily

personal

way

but

one

thing

is

necessary

one

thing

is

crucial

and

Mary

has

chosen

the

good

portion

which

will

not

be

taken

from

her

yes

we

should

set

time

to

regularly

sit

at

Jesus

feet

in

his

word

reflecting

on

it

and

many

followers

of

Jesus

have

found

mornings

helpful

to

be able

to have

something

to meditate

on

all day

but

we

should

have

a

continuous

posture

of

humility

we

should

desire

his

presence

his

word

to

rule

every

moment

every

facet

of

our

life

Mary

was

a

living

illustration

of

David's

cry

one

thing

I

have

I

asked

of

the

Lord

that

I

will

seek

after

that

I

may

dwell

in

the

house

of

the

Lord

all

the

days

of

my

life

to

gaze

upon

the

beauty

of

the

Lord

to

inquire

in

his

temple

is

that

the

one

thing

that

is

on

your

mind

is

that

the

one

thing

that

you

wake

up

and

about

Lord

I

want

to

see

you

I

want

to

know

that

you're

here

I

want

to

be

working

at

your

work

I

want

to

dwell

with

you

Lord

please

show

me

what

you

would

have

for

me

today

or

Isaiah's

proclamation

all these

things

my hand

has

made

so all

these

things

came

to be

declares

the

Lord

but

this

is

the

one

to

whom

I

will

look

who

is

humble

and

contrite

in

spirit

and

trembles

at

my

word

Mary

was

God's

priority

type

of

person

she

was

humble

she

was

contrite

she

wanted

to

know

more

do

you

have

that

thirst

that

longing

to

not

just

know

about

his

word

but

to

know

him

in

and

through

his

word

and

to

be

motivated

out

of a

proper

reverence

and

fear

for

him

Mary

may

have

even

heard

Jesus

say

just

a few

weeks

earlier

come to

me

all who

labor

and are

heavy laden

and I

will give

you rest

take

my

yoke

upon

you

and

learn

from

me

for

I

am

gentle

and

lowly

in

heart

and

you

will

find

rest

for

your

souls

for

my

yoke

is

easy

and

my

burden

!

is

light!

As a

young

person

we

sometimes

we're

cautious

about

trusting

God

because

he

might

send

us

to

Africa

if

I

trust

God

and

commit

to

following

his

will

and

his

kingdom

what

might

he

do?

Yeah

what

might

he

do?

His

yoke

is

easy

his

burden

is

light

are

you

Martha

this

morning?

Are

you

anxious?

Are

you

troubled?

Are

you

distracted

even

with

good

things

with

much

serving?

Come

regularly

to the

feet

of

Jesus

lay

your

burdens

at

his

feet

and

take

up

what

he

values

learn

from

him

find

rest

for

your

weary

soul

and

allow

him

to

impact

every

facet

every

moment

every

decision

of

your

life

obviously

touched

the wrong

slide

there

you

go

so

it's

recorded

in

acts

of

the

disciples

and

there

is

salvation

in

no

other

there

is

no

other

name

under

heaven

given

among

men

by

which

we

must

be

saved

now

when

they

saw

the

boldness

of

Peter

and

John

and

perceived

that

they

were

uneducated

common

men

they

were

astonished

and

they

recognized

that

they

had

been

with

Jesus

only

by

receiving

Jesus

trusting

his

perfect

sacrifice

can

we

be

saved

and

made

right

with

God

and

to

be

able

to

come

alongside

these

believers

in

cultures

where

when

you

are

right

with

God

and

you

know

it

and

the

joy

explodes

through

all

of

your

life

it's

visibly

different

do

the

lost

around

you

know

can

they

tell

that

you

have

been

with

Jesus

can

they

have

tell

you

have

been

sitting

at

his

feet

can

they

tell

that

you

were

filled

with

joy

to

have

him

ruling

at

the

center

of

your

life

do

you

rejoice

that

you

are

a

child

of

God

right

with

God

and

that

you

have

access

to

see

his

purposes

and

plans

recorded

throughout

history

and

even

into

the

future

in

2021

I

was

in

Kyiv

and

the

Ukrainian

pastor

he

scheduled

an

Uber

for us

it was

going to

be an

hour and

a half

ride

through

stop

and

go

traffic

and

we

hopped

in

the

Uber

and

there

was

a

young

Iranian

Persian

driver

and

we

were

the

pastor

and

I

were

speaking

English

to

each

other

he

was

the

pastor

was

speaking

Russian

to

the

Iranian

driver

and

eventually

the

driver

said

you

know

can

I

speak

English

with

you

because

I'm

better

at

English

than

Russian

sure

and

I

was

seated

here

and

I

could

see

in

the

rearview

mirror

I

could

see

his

eyes

and

his

eyes

were

just

exploding

joy

I

was

like

do

you

know

Jesus

and

in

stop

and

go

traffic

he

reaches

over

into

the

glove

box

and

he

pulls

out

a

New

Testament

and

he

says

oh

yes

and

I

hand

these

out

every

chance

I

get

in

a

Farsi

Persian

New

Testament

so

much

so

that

now

the

Iranian

embassy

has

blacklisted

me

and

if

I

ever

go

back

to

Iran

I

will

be

arrested

but

he

had

just

such

extreme

joy

and

I

said

you

know

I

was

here

in

2003

and

one

of

our

students

one

of

Byron's

students

was

Persian

and

he

hoped

to

begin

Persian

churches

here

in

Kiev

I

don't

know

if

you

know

him

his

name

is

Ali

Ali

he's

my

spiritual

father

20

years

later

and

the

joy

of

of

Ali

had

spread

to

Hamed

and

now

joy

Hamed

has

the

joy

he's

now

in

Germany

with

his

wife

and

not

sure

Germany

wants

to

send

him

back

to

Iran

but

his

life

has

been

marked

by

the

joy

of

knowing

that

he

is

a

child

of

God

and

that

he

spends

time

at

his

feet

in

his

word

learning

from

him

so

much

so

he's

willing

!

to

risk

his

life

to

distribute

the

good

news

He's

counted

the

cost

to

hand

out

the

good

news

wherever

whenever

if you

don't know

Jesus

there are

many here

that would

love to

take the

time

to explain

to you

clearly

how you

could know

for certain

that your

sins are

forgiven

and you

could be

right with

God

through

simple

trusting

faith

that he

died

in your

place

and that

God

raised

him

from

the

dead

come

talk

to

me

pastor

Andrew

pastor

David

many

others

that you

could

know

for certain

the joy

and you

could make

angels sing

and rejoice

in heaven

but you

could also

know

the joy

of sitting

innocently

at his

feet

that he

wants to

be the

Lord

of every

moment

of your

life

and with

him

he

could

make

our

moments

meaningful

and

eternal

and eternally

glorious

to him

dearly

father

I thank

you so

much

for this

church

family

thank you

for their

commitment

to you

and to

each

other

thank you

for their

commitment

to spreading

the good

news

in Columbus

and around

the world

Lord

please

bless

them

Lord

help

each

of us

sit

quietly

at your

feet

that you

may speak

into our

lives

in all

the

busyness

and all

the things

that call

for our

attention

our

affections

may you

firmly

have the

throne

of our

heart

may we

allow you

access

to every

moment

to every

facet

in Jesus

name we

pray

amen