The gift of attention

Hey everyone, this is Josh from Encounter Church

Henley and thanks so much for tuning into our

podcast. Our prayer is that through this podcast

you can have an encounter with Jesus that will

change your life. And now get ready for an inspiring

message from our preaching team. Okay, today's

teaching text comes from Luke chapter 10 verses

Luke 10:38–42

38 to 42. As Jesus and the disciples continued

on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain

village where a woman named Martha welcomed him

into her home. Her sister Mary sat at the Lord's

feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha

was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing.

She came to Jesus and said, Lord, doesn't it

seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here

while I do all the work? Tell her to come and

help me. But the Lord said to her, My dear Martha,

you are worried and upset over all these details.

There is only one thing worth being concerned

about. Mary has discovered it and it will not

be taken away from her. This is the word of the

Lord. I wonder how many of us start watching

a movie only to end up grabbing our phone and

scrolling through social media, playing a game

or even replying to it. There's a pause in the

conversation and without thinking we pull out

our phones to watch TikToks or cat videos. I

do. How many of us here let distractions pull

us away from actually being present in the moment?

There was one time I was meeting a friend at

the bowling alley and I just absentmindedly drove

15 minutes past where I needed to be before I

even realised where I was going and then had

to turn around and come back and was super late.

which is pretty standard for me anyway. We live

in a world where almost anything we want is just

a few taps away. If I don't know the answer to

something, no problem. I just ask Google. Hungry,

but nothing in the fridge. We can just grab our

phone and order food. What if we suddenly realize

we forgot grandma's birthday? Easy fixed. Hop

online, pick a gift, get it delivered straight

to our door, and you don't even need a visitor.

Even when we have just five minutes to spare,

we jump online scrolling aimlessly, watching

videos, checking socials. If I'm waiting at an

appointment or hanging around for a friend, I

instantly grab my phone to avoid feeling awkward.

One reel leads to another, a few games, in my

case, especially word games, or maybe a meme

or two sent to a mate. It's become so normal

to interact through screens. People share so

much of their lives online that we feel like

we're keeping up even with people we haven't

seen in years. You run into someone randomly

and somehow you already know everything about

their life because of their posts. And what about

when we wake up? How many of us instinctively

reach for our phones instead of a book or even

the person lying next to us? Lately, I've been

thinking about how often are we actually present

when we're stuck in those mindless scrolling

moments? How often are we giving someone or something

our full undivided attention? Or are we always

constantly distracted, always somewhere else

mentally? If we're always online, always plugged

in, are we ever really here? I've heard it said

that most people will make a judgment based on

the first seven seconds of a conversation. And

statistics show the average attention span during

a talk is around eight minutes. So given that

my first seven seconds are up and I'm about four

minutes in, I've got maybe four minutes left

before you guys mentally check out. So I better

keep it interesting. But seriously, what would

it look like if we just paused? If we sat still

for a moment to rest, to learn, to observe, to

listen? What if being present wasn't just a habit,

but a spiritual discipline? And what if attention

was more than just a skill? What if it was a

gift? In our teaching text from Luke, we read

about Jesus visiting sisters, Mary and Martha.

While Mary sits at the feet of Jesus, Martha

is preoccupied, busily preparing the meal she

intends to serve. The text suggests that Martha

is more focused on being an attentive hostess,

perhaps hoping she can impress Jesus with her

hospitality rather than being focused on receiving

his teaching. As she toils away at her tasks,

Martha begins to feel justified in her frustration.

Why should she shoulder all the responsibility

while her sister simply sits in the company of

Jesus? She voices her frustration asking, Lord,

doesn't it seem unfair to you that my sister

just sits here while I do all the work? Tell

her to come and help me. In response, Jesus gently

redirects her perspective. My dear Martha, you

are worried and upset over all these details.

There is only one thing worth being concerned

about. Mary has discovered it and it will not

be taken away from her. Though both sisters clearly

love Jesus, it becomes evident that only one

is offering him her undivided attention. So why

does Jesus praise Mary for what appears to be

doing nothing while Martha is the one doing all

the work? It's worth recognizing that Martha

was doing all this work for Jesus, so how could

that be less important than simply being with

him? But the truth is, doing things for Jesus

doesn't automatically help us grow in faith or

build a deeper connection with him. Think about

it this way. If you invite someone over for dinner

and spend the whole time in the kitchen, you

miss the chance to actually connect with them.

It's the same with Jesus. A deep personal relationship

with Him comes first, and then from that relationship,

the doing will naturally flow out of the being.

In that moment, Jesus doesn't shame Martha for

working hard. He's not bothered by her efforts.

Her efforts are not the problem. It's rather

her distraction. Martha is so caught up in doing

that she misses the one thing that truly matters,

being with Jesus. Mary, on the other hand, isn't

being lazy, even though it may seem that way.

Her stillness is a sign of spiritual awareness.

She recognises the moment and chooses to be fully

present. Sometimes, like Martha, our attention

is elsewhere. We miss the opportunity for deep

connection that only comes through undivided

presence. We can confuse being still for being

lazy. We live in a fast -paced world in which

we can send and receive information in microseconds,

so we can feel like being still can be a waste

of time. Even in moments that should have our

for -all attention, we are resistant to the stillness

and busy ourselves wearing multitasking as a

badge of honour. Perhaps we need to start seeing

these moments of stillness as spiritual awareness.

Choosing presence rather than worrying we are

being lazy or missing opportunities to get things

done. What if we reimagined the way we perceive

stillness instead of viewing it in the absence

of noise or activity? We begin to see it as a

sacred space, a quiet invitation to hear the

voice of God. What if, in the stillness and silence,

we actually positioned ourselves to notice His

voice? In those undisturbed moments when we start

our day, what would happen if we stopped, not

to scroll or rush, not to concern ourselves with

being busy, rather take the opportunity to sit

in solitude or prayer with God? What if we turned

down the radio on our drive to work and invited

God into the silence, allowing that time to become

a space for deeper connection? What if rather

than offering God the leftovers of our attention,

we made him our first priority? Why is it that

God so often comes after the scroll, the binge,

the to -do list? Why do we claim to be too busy

for God, but willingly give our time to everything

else? For so many of us, the true challenge isn't

just finding time, it's learning how to be present

and still while letting go of the need or pressure

to always be doing something, achieving something.

For many of us, stillness can feel unproductive

in a world that measures success and value by

what we do. Instead, we can find in that stillness

that something better, something holier happens.

If most of us were truly honest with ourselves,

We'd probably struggle to remember the last time

we gave anyone, let alone God, our full, undivided

attention. The sad truth is life will always

pull at us. Work consumes so much of our day,

especially when we have deadlines to meet. Study

fills our nights and early mornings as we scramble

to finish assignments and tasks we've desperately

avoided. Our calendars can fill up quickly with

lunches, dinners and catch -ups, books, weeks,

or like us, sometimes months in advance. And

often we find ourselves keeping up with these

commitments out of a sense of obligation, not

wanting to disappoint anyone, but often there

are times when our commitments are simply unavoidable.

Life will pull us in every direction. So many

of us, like Martha, often feel overwhelmed by

the sheer volume of things that need to be done.

And taking the time to sit at Jesus' feet like

Mary can feel unrealistic. But the beauty of

Jesus is that he will never ask us for perfection.

He doesn't expect us to have it all figured out.

He welcomes the moments we take for him, no matter

how big or small. Whether it's 10 quiet minutes,

reading a devotional, a quick whispered prayer

in the car on the way to work, or signing up

to a verse of the day to read between tasks,

or even signing up to Word Week with your church

family. What takes us away from God is not our

busyness, but our priorities. It's when we fill

our days with everything else and leave him out

entirely. No one likes to feel like they are

low on the list of someone's priorities. It can

lead to feeling undervalued and unwanted. Spending

quality time with people can lead to more positive

emotions, even giving people a sense of purpose.

God himself even says, it's not good for us to

be alone. He created us to be in relationship.

Much of what we can gain, learn and experience

from relationships is a reflection of the kind

of connection God wants to have with us. Many

of us probably live in that tension. I know I

definitely do. For those of you who know me,

this is not a shocking revelation, but I have

a really poor attention span. Thanks, Sammy.

Mix this with hectic calendar, three kids and

undiagnosed ADHD. I'm sometimes a bit of a train

wreck. I can't even begin to detail the struggle

of writing this sermon and committing to it at

that. Let alone the irony of preaching on a subject

that is objectively one of my greatest weaknesses.

Growing up, my attention span was always the

topic of conversation on my school reports. Kara

would do really well if she could just pay more

attention. Kara needs to pay more attention to

the task and not everything else around her.

I'm chronically late. Apparently lose my spot,

which is great. Yes, I'm chronically late and

I believe I'm currently on my second. or third,

actually think it could be fourth when I think

about it, expired referral to be assessed for

ADHD. It's not from a lack of want, but rather

I'm simply just always distracted. I love to

start watching new TV series, but will often

find myself reaching for my phone and deep diving

into Wikipedia to find out the life story of

the leading actor. I'll start a crochet project

and often almost finished when I find another

job to begin. I have started but am yet to complete

not one but two separate university degrees and

one diploma in education support. It's clear

to anyone around me that I have good intent and

even execution but I just never seem to land.

Why? Writing this sermon has really challenged

me to think deeply about why I always fall into

patterns of distraction and why I can't really

give my full and undivided attention to just

one thing. Is it FOMO? Do we all suffer from

the fear of missing out? Maybe it's something

as simple as the design of technology being so

alluring. We are constantly receiving notifications,

emails and texts. If you have a smartwatch, those

notifications are on hand at all times vibrating

on your wrist and drawing your attention. Not

to mention the internet seems to read our minds

and tailor our algorithms to target the things

we're talking to our friends about. The quick

refresh of information is constantly at our fingertips,

pulling us away from the things that really matter.

We can make the choice to fall into the distraction

of life, instead of choosing to pay attention

to God. God models this so simply for us. From

the very beginning of time, He has paid close

and intimate attention to every detail. He models

the very act of attention for us. When we choose

God and we pray, we have the undivided attention

of God and He loves nothing more than giving

us His full attention. So why do we choose the

distractions of life over our devotion to God?

In the long list of things we do each day, does

time with God even make our lists or are we simply

too busy and too distracted to notice? Statistics

show the average amount of time people spend

on screens per day is six hours and 38 minutes,

with over 50 % of that time being used on our

mobile devices. As healthy individuals, we can

expect to have 10 to 15 usable hours in a day.

Of those 10 to 15 hours, most of us can allocate

eight hours to an average working day, leaving

us with two to seven remaining hours. of usable

time. With our average daily phone usage time

of six plus hours, that doesn't leave us much

time for anything else. Earlier this year, a

survey conducted by Red Search reported that

as many as three out of four Australians will

check their phones within 10 minutes of waking

up in the morning, while four out of five of

us will do it before we go to bed. With statistics

like this, it would be fair to assign a label

of addiction or deem it problematic, because

not only does phone and screen usage lower our

need for social interaction, it also has negative

impacts on our sleep and our physical and mental

health. So knowing how easily we're pulled in

every direction, the question becomes how do

we quiet the noise and turn our focus to what

truly matters? How do we replace these constant

distractions with something that brings peace,

strengthens our faith and supports our physical,

mental and emotional wellbeing? We can engage

in spiritual practices like Sabbath or focus

prayer and increase our social interaction with

people or even employ digital boundaries. Exodus

Exodus 20:8–11

chapter 20 verse 8 to 11 says, remember to observe

the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. You have

six days each week for your ordinary work, but

the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated

to the Lord your God. On that day, no one in

your household may do any work. This includes

you, your sons and daughters, your male and female

servants, your livestock, and any foreigners

living among you. For in six days the Lord made

the heavens, the earth, the sea and everything

in them. But on the seventh day He rested. That

is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set

it apart as holy. Sabbath is a day which we set

aside to give our attention to God. Sabbath is

like a gift to God of your full attention. Focused

prayer can sometimes seem like a chore, but it

can be as simple as praying in the shower, like

I do, or even turning off the music on your drive

to work. You could sign up to an hour time slot

in our 24 -7 prayer room, attend prayer meetings

at our prospect location. Sometimes I know I

feel like I might not have much to pray about,

but if you go to our Slack, you can read about

other people's prayer needs and you can add them

to your prayer time. When we are busy people,

it's hard sometimes to give our full attention

when we are so easily distracted by everything

around us. Engaging in Sabbath can help us to

slow down and take time to listen to God, pray

with Him and be in His company. In this time

we can give God our full attention and in return

we have His. Being present with people isn't

a hard task. You can employ rules like no phones

at the dinner table, pop a container on the bench

and everyone has to put their phones in there

for an hour to avoid digital distraction. Make

time for people in your life and give them your

full attention. To achieve this, you may need

to create some digital boundaries, set limits

for social media apps. have phone lock times,

make times to play board games rather than online

games, charge your phone in another room, tell

someone about your plans so that you might have

an accountability buddy. At the end of the day,

it's up to us. We decide whether we'll stay distracted

or start being intentional with our time and

attention, especially when it comes to others

and to God. Before we can choose how to live

differently, we need to choose who we're living

for. I'll be honest, sometimes making time for

God feels impossible. Life can get loud and even

messy. But if we find time to schedule coffee

dates, hair appointments, or even to scroll,

why can't we carve out time for the one who gave

everything for us? It really is a small ask compared

to the sacrifices made on our behalf. I know

personally sometimes it's easy to be distracted

by all the things we need to do because we can

see them. That lot of dishes in the sink, the

big pile of laundry that needs folding, the reminders

in our phones and calendars that tell us that

we have places to go and people to see. These

things are always there and in our faces. It's

hard to avoid them but we can't see God so it's

easy to get consumed by the tasks that are visible

and forget about directing our attention to God.

I can assure you, as someone who feels like they're

juggling full time work, three kids, dance mum

duties and church, I get it. Life can be hectic,

but I've found that when I do make space for

God, everything else becomes clearer. I feel

lighter and more grounded. So maybe instead of

asking ourselves, do I have time for God? We

should be asking ourselves, will I make time?

What could change if we penciled him into our

calendars like we do everything else? James 4,

8 says, draw near to God and he will draw near

to you. This reminds us that when we make time

for God through Sabbath, prayer, worship, or

reading the word, we're invited into a deeper

relationship with him. Yes, God is always present,

but intentionally seeking him allows us to truly

experience that presence. Even Jesus modeled

this, Luke 5 16 tells us, but Jesus often withdrew

to the wilderness for prayer. Even in the middle

of his ministry, surrounded by crowds and constant

need, Jesus made it a priority to find time and

connect with the Father. That speaks to the deeply

personal and intentional relationship that he

had with God. As we follow his example and seek

out time with God, we'll find joy, peace and

renewal. Prayer gives us space to unload our

burdens. It heals both spiritually and mentally.

Scripture makes it clear. When we chase after

God with attention and intention, our relationship

with Him grows and thrives. God is always offering

us His full attention, but are we offering Him

ours? I know how easy it is to struggle to give

God our attention, and when we consistently choose

distraction over devotion, we're saying something

about what truly matters to us. Are we prioritizing

comfort, entertainment, and the noise of the

world over the one who offers peace, purpose,

and love? In today's teaching text, Jesus tells

Martha that Mary chose the better thing. By this,

He means that if we choose the material things

and prioritize worldly pleasures like comfort

and entertainment, we miss the opportunity to

listen to His teachings and focus on our spiritual

growth. With that spiritual growth comes a deeper

relationship, which is what we have been made

for. If we keep ignoring those sacred moments

to connect to Him, we risk missing out on the

fullness, the blessings and the deep peace that

comes only from walking closely with God. Ephesians

2 .8 reminds us, God saved you by His grace when

you believed, and you can't take credit for this.

It is a gift from God. The gift of grace has

been afforded to us by the sacrifice God made.

For our grace and salvation, God surrendered

His only Son, Jesus. How lucky we are to be able

to receive such a gift from God. We should seek

to be in relationship with God. We should choose

God over any distractions. Quite simply, Martha

chose to be distracted. Mary chose to pay attention.

Neither sister was wrong. Martha longed to serve

Jesus while Mary longed to sit and listen. Both

loved him deeply. Neither approach is better,

but it shows us that we need to seek balance.

If we are always serving God in practical ways,

we become consumed by acts of service and neglect

the opportunity to be in relationship with God.

We should seek to serve God when we can, but

we should also seek to pursue a deep relationship

with Him. It was Mary's simple gift of attention

that earned the greatest reward. She received

Jesus' affirmation, His wisdom and His presence,

but most of all, she received Jesus Himself and

that was everything. Sometimes we need to sacrifice

the busyness in our lives so we can give our

full attention to God. In the moment that Jesus

sacrifices his own life on the cross, a sacrifice

we ourselves could never replicate, he models

the ultimate act of service, while throughout

his ministry he models to us how to find balance

between service and heartfelt acts of communion

with God. God saw how trapped we were in sin,

so lost without hope, and he sent his one and

only son to give his life for ours, so we could

be with him in paradise forever. We all struggle

to give God our full attention, but because of

Jesus' selfless sacrifice we now have the Holy

Spirit living within us, God with us always.

Through Jesus we can confidently say that God

is present with us every single day. We always

have His attention in the moments when we pray,

when we rest, when we worship together. God is

with us and He deserves our full attention. The

band can come up if they like. So if anything

I've said to you today has stirred something

in you, if you feel that desire to be more present

with God, to be more active in your faith, then

maybe this week's Henley homework is for you.

It's been a while, so I thought I'd bring it

back. Yeah. This week, let's find a way that

we can intentionally be with God. Start that

Sabbath practice. Charge your phone in another

room. Block out an hour in the prayer room. Choose

attention over distraction this week. Choose

to make God your priority. None of these steps

are hard, but they will take intentionality.

In a world that's always on, it really is a challenge

to slow down. But when we finally make that choice,

to make space for God, we realise we're not losing

anything at all. We're gaining everything. So

friends, in a world full of noise and chaos,

where distractions are fighting for our focus.

Let's choose differently. Let's choose the gift

of attention because what we gain by giving our

time to God will always be greater than anything

we give up. Thanks so much for tuning into this

week's message. If you felt challenged or need

prayer, we'd love to hear from you on Instagram

at encounterhenley. or if you're interested in

how you can support this ministry, please go

to our website encounteradelaide .com .au Thanks

again for listening. God bless you.