Mary & Martha

Good morning. Happy Sunday. Are you glad to be here this morning?

It sounds like it. Sounds like you are, right?

With electricity and all the things that come with it, air conditioning, all those things.

There was talk this week, earlier in the week, that if there was no power in

the building today, but things were safe, that we were going to have a service outside.

Would you have come? That'd be kind of fun, right? All right,

everyone grab your chair. Let's go.

Well, maybe, but certainly we can't let a little thing like electricity stop

us from coming together as a family and worshiping. That's good.

So aren't you thankful, though, really, that how easy it is to have a worship

service? It's really good.

Thank God for that. That's what I want to say there.

So today, with the benefit of electricity, we begin our ninth part of this series,

conversations that Jesus had.

It's a conversation between Jesus and two sisters, Martha and Mary.

Actually, he only has a conversation with Martha.

Mary is there, and she's in the title of this, but Luke, what he writes down

when he wrote this, it doesn't make any mention of Mary. She doesn't say anything.

The conversation includes her. It's about her, but she doesn't actually do any of the talking.

Matthew, Mark, John, they do not mention this conversation. Luke is the only

one who writes about this.

John does write other conversations about these two sisters and their brother, Lazarus.

Like maybe you know the time, you've heard of the time where Lazarus was raised from the dead.

Remember that story, right? That was the brother of Martha and Mary.

And then there was another time that John wrote about this family when Mary

was washing the feet of Jesus.

And it was very expensive perfume.

Judas made a big to-do about it. He thought it was terrible,

waste of money, good resources, all of that happens in John's book.

But this is the only, Luke is the only book that talks about this conversation

that we're going to look at today.

This is a short conversation. So if you are a get to the point kind of person,

then this is for you. This is your kinds of conversation.

This is a quality over quantity conversation.

And it is jam-packed with application.

And it's a conversation, though short, it's going to tell us what Jesus thinks

and believe is important.

And now you finish this sentence with me. And if Jesus thinks something is important, so should...

Yeah, we. So should we. So should us. So should I. All of that.

And here's the last thing I want to say as an introduction about this conversation. It's this.

This conversation has the potential to significantly change your life.

Are you ready for the conversation? Like, are you interested in a conversation

found in the Bible that has the potential to significantly change your life. You interested in that?

All right, good. Take your Bible and turn to Luke chapter 10.

Luke 10 · chapter mention

Luke chapter 10, the last four verses of this chapter, verses 38 through 42,

Luke 10 · chapter mention

we find this conversation. I want to read it to you.

So this is the word of God.

While they were traveling, he entered a village and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house.

She had a sister named Mary, who also sat at the Lord's feet and was listening to what he said.

But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, and she came up and asked,

Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to serve alone?

So tell her to give me a hand.

The Lord answered her, Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many

things, but one thing is necessary.

Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.

That's the conversation. A conversation between Martha and Jesus that consists of 51 words.

21 words spoken by Martha, 30 words spoken by Jesus if you're using the HCSB,

the Holman Christian Study Bible, which is what we are using today, I'm using.

So let's backtrack and go through these verses, starting at the start of verse

38. While they were traveling, he entered a village.

The second word in this verse and the pronoun they is a reference to Jesus's disciples.

Jesus is well into his ministry at this point. And by now, his 12 disciples

were pretty much with him 24-7.

Where Jesus went, they went. Which means the next pronoun in this verse,

the he, while they were traveling, he entered the village. Who do you think that he is?

Jesus. He is the one. And he entered this village. So Jesus and the disciples

are together. They enter this village.

It's a small village known as Bethany. It was located about two miles away from

Jerusalem in the foothills around the mountains.

So it would be just a short walk into Jerusalem by their standards.

Two miles might do us in, but for them, very much part of their life,

they could do that, right?

And then verse 38 concludes by saying, a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home.

So the disciples and Jesus, they arrive in Bethany at this house in Bethany

where a woman named Martha has invited him. That's what we know.

What this verse doesn't tell us, but I believe to be true, is that Jesus had

already had a relationship established with Martha and her family.

Somewhere in a previous time, they had already made a relationship.

In fact, when John writes about this family, he's got this really cool verse.

It says this in John 11, verse 5.

John 11:5

Now Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. Like, how cool is that to be

named as one whom Jesus loves?

What's interesting how John writes this verse is that he names Martha by name, but Mary not named.

Only refers to her as Martha's sister. Like, maybe that has ever happened to you.

You're the younger sibling. You know what I mean? Don't you just love it when

you're only known because of your sister or your brother?

Yeah, I think that happens. What's great about this verse, and we're going to

look at it closely here and see in a few minutes, is that in this conversation,

it kind of looks like Mary's the bad guy, or the bad girl,

and that Martha is the good girl.

But when John talks about the family, he mentions Martha by name and doesn't mention Mary.

Just take it for what you want. I thought it was interesting.

Back to Luke 10, verse 39. She had a sister named Mary, who also sat at the

Luke 10:39

Lord's feet, and was listening to what he said.

But Martha was distracted by her many tasks.

Now here is the first noticeable difference between the sisters.

Mary was like laser focused on one task, listening to what Jesus had to say.

And Martha was like hair on fire, trying to do many tasks.

And I think this is where stories like this, a lot of maybes,

start coming around because we only know some of the details of the story.

Maybe Martha's house is also Mary's house.

Maybe they share a house. That would not be uncommon for this time.

Maybe they do that. We don't know for sure.

Technically, verse 38, Luke did say that Martha welcomed Jesus into her home.

I'm not sure if it was their home or not, but maybe that's the situation.

And there's no mention of a husband for either one of them.

Maybe they are married. Maybe they're not. Maybe they're widows.

Maybe they're single. if they didn't own the house together,

maybe Martha invited Mary to come over and to help with all the hospitality needs.

Remember, this is Jesus coming over.

This is the Messiah coming over. This is the one who they both loved and worshiped

as their Lord and Savior.

So this had to be an incredibly special time for them.

I mean, how often does a person get the opportunity to have God come to their

house in flesh and blood.

So maybe Martha invited Mary to come over and to be part of this special time,

and instead of helping with all the chores that had to be done,

Mary just plops down and starts listening to what Jesus has to say.

Can you visualize that? I mean, you look at this. This is a great opportunity

right here for her to sit at his feet and to hang on his every word.

I said earlier, Luke is the only one who mentions this conversation between Martha and Jesus,

but there are two other times that this family is mentioned in the Bible,

and both times Mary is found at the feet of Jesus,

listening to him, worshiping him.

So that means that the three times that Mary is mentioned in Scripture,

three times, two in John, one here in Luke, she is mentioned at the feet of Jesus.

Mary, the lady who sits at the feet of Jesus.

Not a bad way to be known.

And that's significantly different than her sister.

Martha has three appearances in the Bible, and all of her appearances are associated

with this heavy emphasis on doing things and getting things done.

Martha is a doer, not a sitter.

Okay? But if you notice closely here, Jesus wasn't the only invited guest coming over for dinner.

He had all 12 disciples coming with him as well.

That leads us to consider a lot more maybe Maybe this caught Martha off guard.

Maybe when the ding-dong doorbell rang, she goes, oh, great, Jesus is here.

And she runs to the door to meet him and goes, oh, there's 12 other hungry guys with you.

That changes dinner plans. That would be super stressful for a doer.

And maybe they spent the night. Maybe they spent several nights.

So the distractions, the anxieties, the stress, there's a lot of maybes to consider.

But here's what we know for sure.

Martha had a sister and her name was Mary.

And on the day that Jesus and his disciples arrived in Bethany and came over

to the house, Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening like the others were.

And Martha was not.

Martha was distracted by her many tasks. Verse 40.

Martha was distracted by her many tasks and she came and asked,

and here's the conversation start, Lord, don't you care that my sister has left

me to serve alone, so tell her to give me a hand.

Now that's what she said. We know that's what she said.

She said, Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to serve alone,

so tell her to give me a hand.

What we don't know is, how did she say it?

Maybe. Maybe her tone was gentle and quiet and humble.

I don't think so. As a matter of fact, in the next verse, Jesus even says,

Martha, you're very upset.

So maybe she came bursting through the kitchen doors.

Lord, my sister has left me all alone. Tell her to get back in the kitchen.

Like, how do these situations play out at your house?

I can tell you how they play at our house, but Sherry's here this morning, so I won't.

That is not true. Sherry is a very calm-natured person.

True that we probably go to more like fleet mode, right? We just kind of like, let's just be quiet.

But I don't think Martha was that way. I think she was bursting through the

kitchen doors, all emotionally charged.

Maybe, maybe she's pounding the pots and the pans a little harder,

trying to make her point.

Mary, I'm in here all alone.

Mary, don't you hear me? Mary, I need some help. And then getting after no response,

no help at all, Martha loses it.

Maybe as she speaks to Jesus coming into the room, there's this awkward silence in the room.

There is red-faced Martha.

Jesus stopping mid-sentence, the disciples looking at Martha,

then looking at Jesus, and then looking back at Martha,

all the while Mary sitting at Jesus's feet and doesn't say a word.

And oh, doesn't that just happen when a person doesn't say anything at all,

make the boiling pressure just go up in the blood pressure?

Maybe. These are some situations. I don't think it's far-fetched.

And when you look at this first sentence from Martha, Lord, don't you care that

my sister has left me to serve all alone?

It's borderline sounding more like this. Lord, you don't care that Mary has left me all alone.

It's almost more like a statement than a question. And people still talk like this today.

People make statements all the

time in question form. it's called passive aggressive you ever done it?

Yes you have so have I.

And look at Martha's second sentence. It's her last sentence in this conversation.

Tell her to give me a hand.

Tell her to get back in the kitchen and help me.

Now, this seems like a very appropriate time in a sermon to say this.

It's never a good idea to be passive aggressive with Jesus. And it is certainly

never a good idea to be bossy with Jesus.

It's also a good time to make an application point. And it's this.

Doing good, right, kind, thoughtful, godly things can be done the wrong way.

Look at this. What Martha's doing isn't wrong. It's good, but it's the way she's

doing it that makes it wrong.

Having Jesus and his disciples over to his house, that's great.

Hospitality is fantastic, both to the one who gets it and the one who's receiving

it. It's the same thing for serving.

Serving is fantastic, both to the one giving it and the one who gets it.

Maybe you've done some of that with a hurricane.

Go over to that neighbor and chop up that tree. Doesn't that make you feel good?

I think so, and I know the neighbor loved it.

In these verses, we should look at Martha and her example of hospitality and

serving and say, I want to strive to live the same way.

In these verses, a case can be made for Christians having other Christians over

to their house and to hang out and fellowship together, just like we see happening in these verses.

That should happen. It should be a part of our regular life.

And in other places in the Bible, there are verses that make the case where

Christians should have non-Christians over to their house in a very intentional

way, in loving people who don't know God yet.

And of course, There are so many verses in the Bible that address the importance

of being a servant and serving others.

We should admire Martha and her willingness to be hospitable and to serve others.

However, we must also take note that doing a good thing can be done the wrong way.

Have you ever seen someone being like Martha doing a good thing the wrong way?

Like she's doing her job or the waiter he brings you your food to the table

but the way she did the job and the way he brought the food to the table it

was bad it was rude it was inconsiderate have you ever been served like that no well i think you have.

Like, how dare they treat me that way? They plop the food down.

Here's a harder question. Have you ever been like Martha, doing a good thing the wrong way?

Bad attitude, grouchy, complaining, inconsiderate, short-tempered,

not treating others the way you expect to be treated yourself?

It is so much easier to identify this in you than it is in me, in others.

But Martha's issue wasn't that she wasn't serving

her issue was that she was serving in

the wrong way and that is a teaching moment for all

of us well how does Jesus respond to Martha look back again at verses 41 and

42 the Lord answered Martha answered her Martha Martha you are worried and upset

about many things but one thing is necessary Mary has made the right choice

and it will not be taken away from her.

So verses 40 and 41, 42 describe Martha as distracted, busy,

worried, upset, and describes Mary as sitting at the feet of Jesus,

making the right choice, and that will never be taken away from her.

And I think what Jesus is saying to Martha is this.

You, Martha, have chosen to be distracted.

And I think that happens sometimes intentionally and sometimes unintentionally.

But Mary has chosen to not be distracted and has made spending time with me

a high priority in her life.

And that will never be taken from her.

And what we must consider for our own lives is this.

What are we making as our top priorities in our lives? What are our top priorities?

And can these priorities be taken away from us?

Would you say it's very likely that Jesus could say the exact same thing to

you that he said to Martha.

Like, if ever there was a time when you could insert your name and have it repeated

a second time in the Bible, might it not be right here?

Mario started our service with praying and praying and personalizing it.

This is a personalizing moment.

Your name, your name. You are distracted and worried and upset with many things.

How far off would it be to say that?

Maybe you are busier more than you are upset.

Maybe you are more worried than you are distracted.

But there's this combination of these things, things distracted,

busy, frustrated, worried, upset. They make up a large portion of your life.

Busy is the one that really jumps off the list to me.

When I ask people how they're doing, the answer is usually, I'm good,

followed by, and very busy.

I'm not sure the first answer, good, is always true. That just seems to be like

an automatic response that we give, even though it's probably not true.

But I do believe the answer, very busy, to be true.

I think it's fair and accurate to say for many of us, if not all of us, We live busy lives.

We live full lives. We live fast lives, lives on the go, fast-paced lives.

Everything we do is full and fast and more, always more and always the next

thing to do. And here's the thing.

We choose to make it like this. we

determine the priorities of our lives and the

big big question for this morning from this conversation is

this how much do you prioritize spending time with jesus and spending time in

his word how does your priority to spend time with jesus look compared to the

many other priorities in your life.

Do you work and work and work and then do more work?

Do you get to one activity, to another activity, to get to another activity?

Do you find yourself missing some activities because you can't possibly make

it to all of the activities?

Between your schedule and oh, if you have kids, their schedule,

and all the practices and rehearsals and games and performances and birthday parties, whew, whew.

Do you also answer the question of how are you and say, I'm tired?

Yeah, it's exhausting. It's even more exhausting if you own a pet.

And you got to get them to the vet and all that.

Trying to fit all of that in while also getting yourself to all the other appointments.

Is every red light spent doing something on your phone? Calling,

texting, emailing, checking social media.

Some of y'all do that with green lights too.

That's just too busy. It's too distracted. And we haven't even mentioned all

the normal duties that have to get done.

I mean, there's a house that has to be cleaned, a lawn that has to be mowed,

servicing the vehicles, get the groceries, get to pay the bills.

And somewhere we certainly still have to have time for date nights, right, babe? have to.

And then family time, family night, and spending time with the friends.

And we can't forget all about the hobbies, the favorite hobbies that we all

enjoy. We have to get those in, especially pickleball.

Does spending time with Jesus fit into that kind of schedule?

How much time does that leave for spending with Jesus?

And really, isn't that a horrible sounding question? How much time is left for Jesus?

Like he's the last option. Let's squeeze him in when we can. He gets the leftovers.

That doesn't sound like making Jesus a priority.

And what Jesus is making clear to Martha and now for us today is that what Mary

chose was right and best. It would not be taken away from her.

All these distractions, all this busyness, will any of it last forever?

Shouldn't your top priority be something that can never be taken from you?

What are you making a priority in your life but can still be taken away from you?

Wealth? I got news for you. Someday that will be taken from you.

A spouse or significant other, as valuable and treasured and special as that is.

Someday that will end. Either you will die or they will die.

And children and family, that too, it has an ending.

And don't get me wrong, all these things are good things.

This isn't like they are sinful priorities, though there may be some of those.

That list that I just gave certainly isn't.

But it is possible that we misplace the priorities.

But what Mary chose spending time

with Jesus having a relationship with Jesus will never be taken away so here

is a way to significantly change

your life because it is impossible to do everything that you want to do.

Prioritize your priorities. Spend time with Jesus needs to be our highest priority.

It can never be taken away from you.

So what needs to change? What has to happen?

Jesus wants Martha to make this significant change.

I say that because when Jesus says Martha's name two times, Martha,

Martha, Jesus expects a significant change to happen in her life.

I say that because there are several places in the Bible that a person's name

is said, and then it's repeated a second time by God or Jesus.

And when it happens, it is associated with a significant event that is about

to happen in a person's life.

In Genesis 22, 11, it was Abraham, Abraham, as he was about to sacrifice his son, Isaac.

It was a life-changing moment.

In Exodus 3, 4, it was Moses, Moses, at the burning bush. That was no small moment in his life.

In Luke 22, 31, it was Simon, Simon at a critical time in his life,

in his faith, and in following Jesus.

In Acts 9, 4, maybe you remember this one if you were here for this series on Paul.

It was Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Christians?

While he was doing that, he himself became a Christian and his life was forever changed.

And here in Luke 10, 41, Martha, Martha is meant to be a significant point in her life.

Now, it's a little bit of a bummer that we aren't told what Martha did after Jesus talked to her.

Martha, Martha, you're upset about many things. Mary's got it right.

And did Martha just pound away back to the kitchen?

Maybe it was a significant moment in her life and she changed her priorities

and she said, move over, Mary.

Mary, I'm sitting here with you. I don't know.

But Jesus's words to Martha are a great reminder for us.

People are still being called by Jesus in a way that makes significant changes in their life,

Jesus knows Martha knows her heart knows her motivations knows her struggles

he knows Martha inside out and he knows Mary the same way and get this he knows you inside out,

Jesus knows you better than you know you and he knows what's best,

what significant change that you need most and that I need,

it is important that we acknowledge that Jesus knows us this way let me say

it again people are still being

called by Jesus in a way that makes significant change in their life.

And he's using conversations like this to do it.

What is he calling you to do? Let's pray.

Father, I feel like there's just a lot that could be said here,

as we come to you to ask for your help.

I guess I'll just go all the way back to how Mario led us in prayer this morning.

Certainly we can thank you for so much grace in our lives and what you've done and are doing.

It just seems like here is a prime opportunity to go, oh, I need to repent of some of my priorities.

That's something that can be fixed. Lord, I need your help to do it.

Jesus, help me to make a significant life change. For some, it's just to come

into a relationship with you.

Stop being boss of your own life and come to Jesus and let him be your boss.

For others like Mary and Martha who loved you, loved Jesus,

it's a time to consider what is the top priority? What is it that's getting the most attention?

And will it last forever? Does it come with the promise that Mary got?

Father, help us to choose to make the right choice.

Help us to understand the one necessary thing is a relationship with you.

It doesn't mean that other things aren't important in life.

It doesn't mean that we're supposed to quit our job. and stop spending time with the family.

But it does mean there needs to be a right organization of our priorities.

I ask that you would help us to do that.

For our good and your glory. In Jesus' name we pray.