WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.820 And you may have a seat. 00:00:11.519 --> 00:00:17.420 Welcome to all of you, especially those of you who are not normally here worshiping with us in Brooklyn in the morning. 00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:19.660 This is a bit of an unusual Sunday. 00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:20.920 It's a very exciting Sunday. 00:00:21.320 --> 00:00:26.120 We're not having an evening worship gathering, so some of you have come from our Columbia Heights parish. 00:00:26.240 --> 00:00:28.080 You're here with us this morning, so glad that you're here. 00:00:28.459 --> 00:00:32.960 We'll also not be celebrating the Eucharist this morning. 00:00:33.479 --> 00:00:35.119 The service will be ending early. 00:00:35.219 --> 00:00:38.320 We'll be transitioning directly into a members' meeting. 00:00:38.579 --> 00:00:46.579 Throughout the year, every now and then, it's very important that our church gather and that we have family time, family meeting time. 00:00:46.679 --> 00:00:51.219 And there's a lot of great things happening, some good updates to give you, so very excited. 00:00:51.320 --> 00:00:54.659 We'll transition directly into that, and it's pretty appropriate. 00:00:54.659 --> 00:00:57.299 The worship doesn't end when the service ends. 00:00:57.299 --> 00:01:03.519 The worship continues, and the family meetings that we have are a huge part of the worshiping life of our church. 00:01:03.599 --> 00:01:04.679 So glad that we get to do that. 00:01:05.200 --> 00:01:12.479 But right now, we're going to open God's Word together, and we're going to continue a series this morning that we started a few weeks ago when Lent started. 00:01:12.939 --> 00:01:16.519 And we're looking at the seven deadly sins together. 00:01:17.340 --> 00:01:18.719 The seven deadly sins. 00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:25.159 And when you say the word sin, the idea of sin sounds a bit antiquated these days. 00:01:25.420 --> 00:01:34.180 Outside of church, other than pop culture, movies like Seven, and things like that, you don't really hear this discussed very much on a normal day-to-day basis. 00:01:34.659 --> 00:01:38.400 These days, most people believe in the inherent goodness of human nature. 00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:42.520 That we're inherently good, that we're born as blank slates. 00:01:43.359 --> 00:01:45.400 And that we're born with unlimited potential. 00:01:46.160 --> 00:01:49.780 And that we're born with a tendency to self-actualize. 00:01:49.820 --> 00:01:53.580 If we can simply remove enough barriers, that that will happen naturally. 00:01:53.700 --> 00:01:56.520 That's the common, I think, perception of human nature. 00:01:56.519 --> 00:02:07.659 Now, if that's true, if we are just blank slates with unlimited potential to self-actualize, to realize and fulfill our true potential, 00:02:08.500 --> 00:02:13.780 then it should be just as easy to live a good life as a bad life. 00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:19.759 It should be just as easy to choose virtue over vice. 00:02:19.759 --> 00:02:25.539 If I'm a blank slate, I should be able to make either choice with the same degree of effort. 00:02:27.380 --> 00:02:32.439 And yet, my life tells me on a day-to-day basis that that is simply not true. 00:02:34.080 --> 00:02:40.879 For me, it is profoundly easier to lie than it is to tell the hard truth, the embarrassing truth. 00:02:42.100 --> 00:02:47.860 You know, for me, it's a lot easier to hold on to anger than it is to actually show mercy and forgive. 00:02:49.660 --> 00:02:55.320 For me, it's a whole lot easier to covet or be envious of someone. 00:02:55.319 --> 00:03:02.759 Than it is to be thankful and content with my life and who God has made me to be. 00:03:03.539 --> 00:03:06.659 These things come way more naturally, which should tell us what? 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:09.539 That we're not blank slates. 00:03:09.539 --> 00:03:18.319 That there is something in us that pulls us away from all that is good, true, and beautiful. 00:03:18.500 --> 00:03:20.519 Something that pulls us away from God. 00:03:20.859 --> 00:03:26.199 And that inner pull away from God, that's what the Bible calls sin. 00:03:26.199 --> 00:03:37.479 And fortunately, back around the 4th century, some monks who were living in the desert, endeavoring to live lives of virtue and faithfulness, 00:03:37.859 --> 00:03:43.579 began to look inward to try to understand and to categorize this pull. 00:03:43.859 --> 00:03:47.739 What are the ways that sin manifests in our lives? 00:03:47.740 --> 00:03:51.920 And how can we combat these tendencies within us? 00:03:52.120 --> 00:03:54.240 Because here's the thing about sin. 00:03:56.420 --> 00:04:03.900 The less aware you are of sin in your life, the more it will control you. 00:04:03.900 --> 00:04:11.240 The less aware you are, the less in tune you are with the sin in your life, the more it will control you. 00:04:11.760 --> 00:04:16.379 So this series is all about understanding our tendencies towards sin. 00:04:17.160 --> 00:04:23.420 Believing that the more we understand them, the more we can then begin to take steps to overcome them in and through Jesus Christ. 00:04:23.860 --> 00:04:24.639 So that's the point. 00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:32.419 So this morning we're looking at, I think, one of the most overlooked sins in the list. 00:04:32.839 --> 00:04:34.719 And this is the sin of sloth. 00:04:35.219 --> 00:04:41.120 And because it is so overlooked, I think it has the potential, based on what we said a moment ago, to be very, very, very dangerous. 00:04:42.019 --> 00:04:44.399 So we're going to look at a case study, as we've done every week. 00:04:44.459 --> 00:04:49.479 We're going to look at Luke chapter 10, verses 38 to 42, a case study of a woman named Martha. 00:04:49.959 --> 00:04:51.099 We're going to see four things. 00:04:51.139 --> 00:04:53.240 We're going to move through these things rather quickly. 00:04:53.240 --> 00:05:00.560 We're going to see what it looks like, where it comes from, why it matters, and then how to begin to take steps to overcome it. 00:05:00.680 --> 00:05:01.460 This is sloth. 00:05:01.680 --> 00:05:02.120 Let's pray. 00:05:06.819 --> 00:05:11.800 Our Father in heaven, we thank you that we have the freedom, the ability to gather here. 00:05:12.579 --> 00:05:16.300 And that we know that we could be here in a high school auditorium. 00:05:16.420 --> 00:05:17.939 We could be in a church. 00:05:18.060 --> 00:05:23.100 We could be in the middle of a field or sitting under a tree, as many churches have done over the centuries. 00:05:23.240 --> 00:05:25.960 And that wherever we are, you are with us. 00:05:26.040 --> 00:05:26.780 You're Emmanuel. 00:05:27.920 --> 00:05:29.759 And that you speak to your people. 00:05:31.160 --> 00:05:32.960 Words of truth spoken in love. 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:34.579 And that's what we need this morning. 00:05:34.699 --> 00:05:37.120 Your words of truth spoken in love. 00:05:37.180 --> 00:05:45.879 Just as your word brought order to chaos millennia ago, we now pray that you would bring order to the chaos of our lives through your holy word. 00:05:45.879 --> 00:05:48.240 And it's in your son Jesus' name that we pray. 00:05:48.600 --> 00:05:48.899 Amen. 00:05:50.219 --> 00:05:53.139 So let's look at sloth together. 00:05:53.620 --> 00:05:55.620 Sloth is often misunderstood. 00:05:55.839 --> 00:05:57.839 As misunderstood as it is overlooked. 00:05:58.399 --> 00:06:01.519 A lot of people confuse sloth with laziness. 00:06:02.420 --> 00:06:04.000 But that's oversimplifying. 00:06:04.120 --> 00:06:05.519 It's not quite the same thing. 00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:09.939 Other people confuse sloth with depression. 00:06:10.199 --> 00:06:12.560 A lot of times they get grouped together. 00:06:12.680 --> 00:06:13.620 Sloth and depression. 00:06:14.439 --> 00:06:24.680 Now while there is a relationship between sloth and depression, we need to be very careful and very clear to say that there is also such a thing as clinical depression. 00:06:24.680 --> 00:06:26.680 That is caused physiologically. 00:06:27.519 --> 00:06:28.680 That requires treatment. 00:06:28.839 --> 00:06:31.039 In many cases, medical intervention. 00:06:31.219 --> 00:06:32.199 And that is not a sin. 00:06:32.279 --> 00:06:33.479 That's not what we're talking about. 00:06:33.480 --> 00:06:40.480 There is also a kind of depression, a spiritual depression, that we see in places like Psalm 42, which we just read. 00:06:41.080 --> 00:06:43.460 That is more closely connected to sloth. 00:06:43.540 --> 00:06:47.120 But again, when we say sloth, we're talking about something slightly different. 00:06:48.439 --> 00:06:51.920 Let's look at this case study together in Luke's Gospel. 00:06:52.960 --> 00:06:57.240 If you look at Luke chapter 10, all of Luke 10 is about the way of Jesus. 00:06:58.280 --> 00:06:59.480 What is the way of Jesus? 00:06:59.600 --> 00:07:01.040 What does it mean to follow him? 00:07:01.100 --> 00:07:01.700 What does it look like? 00:07:01.699 --> 00:07:04.459 What does it not look like, both to insiders and outsiders? 00:07:05.740 --> 00:07:07.659 And then we get down to the end here. 00:07:07.699 --> 00:07:11.319 And we have this amazing story about Martha and Mary and Jesus. 00:07:11.439 --> 00:07:16.560 And this sort of crystallizes themes that we've seen throughout the entire chapter. 00:07:17.360 --> 00:07:19.199 Martha and her sister live together. 00:07:19.579 --> 00:07:21.319 Martha's probably the older sister. 00:07:21.439 --> 00:07:22.919 It says that it's her house. 00:07:23.180 --> 00:07:24.039 She's the hostess. 00:07:24.040 --> 00:07:29.439 And Jesus comes into town and Martha invites him to come and stay with her. 00:07:29.700 --> 00:07:30.360 This is common. 00:07:30.460 --> 00:07:31.140 You come into a town. 00:07:31.240 --> 00:07:31.640 You're a traveler. 00:07:31.760 --> 00:07:32.560 There were no hotels. 00:07:32.840 --> 00:07:35.180 You relied on the hospitality of people who live there. 00:07:35.260 --> 00:07:37.840 So Martha says, you can come and stay with us. 00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:39.660 So Jesus comes to their home. 00:07:39.920 --> 00:07:43.900 And sometime later, we don't know how long, Jesus begins to teach. 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:46.040 And the word implies that he is formally teaching. 00:07:46.700 --> 00:07:48.340 He's leading them in a kind of Bible study. 00:07:48.339 --> 00:07:53.779 And I just want to, this isn't the point of the sermon, but we have to make this point. 00:07:54.079 --> 00:08:03.039 This is very amazing because in this culture, typically, only men would be the ones to sit at the feet of a teacher like Jesus. 00:08:03.159 --> 00:08:04.039 It would only be the men. 00:08:05.339 --> 00:08:09.719 And even then, it would most likely only be future rabbis. 00:08:09.839 --> 00:08:14.379 Rabbis in training would be the ones to sit at the feet of a teacher like Jesus. 00:08:14.379 --> 00:08:27.079 And yet, Jesus is teaching these women in their home, which confers enormous dignity and respect and recognizes these women as Jesus' disciples right alongside the men. 00:08:27.959 --> 00:08:29.399 This is an amazing thing that we see here. 00:08:29.459 --> 00:08:30.339 Very countercultural. 00:08:30.980 --> 00:08:32.840 And we have two responses to this. 00:08:33.500 --> 00:08:37.200 Mary, it says, sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. 00:08:37.340 --> 00:08:37.960 Fully attentive. 00:08:38.820 --> 00:08:43.220 But, verse 40, Martha was distracted with much serving. 00:08:44.379 --> 00:08:50.039 And then Martha gets angry and she says, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? 00:08:50.279 --> 00:08:51.259 Tell her to help me. 00:08:52.179 --> 00:08:54.960 So she's essentially accusing Mary of what? 00:08:56.919 --> 00:08:59.179 Well, sloth as we typically think of it. 00:09:00.080 --> 00:09:01.799 I'm doing all the hard work. 00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:03.659 Mary's being a lazy sloth. 00:09:04.320 --> 00:09:05.399 Just sitting on her butt. 00:09:06.159 --> 00:09:07.779 Tell her to get up and tell her to help me. 00:09:08.720 --> 00:09:10.580 She's accusing Mary of being lazy. 00:09:10.580 --> 00:09:15.040 And she says, Mary's being lazy. 00:09:15.139 --> 00:09:15.960 She's not doing anything. 00:09:16.160 --> 00:09:20.620 And then Jesus gently and lovingly rebukes not Mary, but Martha. 00:09:21.460 --> 00:09:22.879 He says, Martha, Martha. 00:09:23.080 --> 00:09:24.280 Very tender, by the way. 00:09:24.379 --> 00:09:25.100 Repeating her name. 00:09:25.220 --> 00:09:25.800 It's very loving. 00:09:25.940 --> 00:09:26.400 Very tender. 00:09:26.660 --> 00:09:27.700 He's not being harsh with her. 00:09:28.560 --> 00:09:31.259 Martha, you're anxious and troubled about many things. 00:09:31.300 --> 00:09:32.680 But one thing is necessary. 00:09:33.300 --> 00:09:36.300 Mary has chosen the good portion which will not be taken away from her. 00:09:36.299 --> 00:09:41.279 Now, I don't know about you, but this story upsets a lot of people. 00:09:42.459 --> 00:09:47.079 You know, a lot of people get really frustrated at this because they say, you know, well, somebody 00:09:47.079 --> 00:09:52.539 has to do the cleaning and the cooking and the, you know, you have people over and the 00:09:52.539 --> 00:09:54.039 house doesn't just clean itself. 00:09:54.779 --> 00:09:56.319 The food doesn't just cook itself. 00:09:57.000 --> 00:09:58.000 Somebody's got to do that. 00:09:58.219 --> 00:10:00.219 Doesn't the Bible say that hospitality is important? 00:10:00.459 --> 00:10:01.139 What are we supposed to do? 00:10:01.199 --> 00:10:03.019 Just let them sit on a pile of dirty laundry? 00:10:03.819 --> 00:10:04.679 Give them saltines? 00:10:04.679 --> 00:10:07.799 Somebody's got to worry about that kind of stuff. 00:10:08.979 --> 00:10:09.399 Right? 00:10:09.479 --> 00:10:13.019 Now, I think we have a lot of people in here who might resonate with that. 00:10:14.859 --> 00:10:22.399 But it seems, as we look closely, it seems that there's more going on here than we might 00:10:22.399 --> 00:10:23.679 first see. 00:10:23.959 --> 00:10:29.399 There are clues that show us that there's a real issue here that Jesus zeroes in on. 00:10:29.399 --> 00:10:33.919 Because Martha's not just doing what is essential to show hospitality. 00:10:34.579 --> 00:10:40.740 The text actually says that she's distracted with much serving, which implies that she's 00:10:40.740 --> 00:10:43.419 not just setting out some hummus and dip. 00:10:44.159 --> 00:10:46.039 She's going above and beyond. 00:10:46.279 --> 00:10:48.120 She's doing way too much. 00:10:48.120 --> 00:10:55.700 And the text zeroes in on the fact that she's overdoing it and going way beyond what's necessary. 00:10:56.080 --> 00:11:02.580 And this unnecessary busyness is distracting her from the thing that matters most, which 00:11:02.580 --> 00:11:03.879 is Jesus' teaching. 00:11:04.659 --> 00:11:07.500 And so this is the key thing that we need to understand about sloth. 00:11:07.820 --> 00:11:12.620 Sloth most often manifests as unnecessary busyness. 00:11:12.620 --> 00:11:20.620 Unnecessary busyness that distracts us from the things that matter most, that it compromises 00:11:21.240 --> 00:11:23.419 and confuses our priorities. 00:11:24.919 --> 00:11:27.759 Now, this should make us wake up and pay close attention. 00:11:27.980 --> 00:11:34.460 If we're saying that sloth often manifests as busyness, we live in a culture that sees 00:11:34.460 --> 00:11:35.759 busyness as a virtue. 00:11:35.759 --> 00:11:42.340 I mean, in the culture of DC, at least the circles that I travel in, being busy is a badge 00:11:42.340 --> 00:11:42.879 of honor. 00:11:43.439 --> 00:11:47.340 When you go and get a job interview and they ask, well, can you share one or two of your 00:11:47.340 --> 00:11:47.740 weaknesses? 00:11:48.139 --> 00:11:50.279 99% of people in this room would say what? 00:11:51.039 --> 00:11:52.559 Well, I tend to work too hard. 00:11:53.399 --> 00:11:54.519 I tend to overdo it. 00:11:54.899 --> 00:11:55.899 I can be really busy. 00:11:57.340 --> 00:12:01.559 Probably 90% of the time when people ask how we're doing, how was your weekend? 00:12:01.819 --> 00:12:02.580 How was your past week? 00:12:02.659 --> 00:12:03.419 How have things been going? 00:12:03.419 --> 00:12:07.259 Almost always, I say, been really busy lately. 00:12:08.219 --> 00:12:09.419 Been crazy busy lately. 00:12:09.519 --> 00:12:10.979 It's a really busy season right now. 00:12:11.120 --> 00:12:12.319 Had a pretty busy weekend. 00:12:13.000 --> 00:12:14.219 I say it all the time. 00:12:15.039 --> 00:12:17.240 But it's a way of saying I'm important. 00:12:17.779 --> 00:12:18.539 I matter. 00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:20.059 People need me. 00:12:20.500 --> 00:12:21.939 There are things only I can do. 00:12:22.419 --> 00:12:23.179 I'm valued. 00:12:23.579 --> 00:12:24.699 I'm competent, right? 00:12:24.799 --> 00:12:26.279 That's what it translates into. 00:12:26.360 --> 00:12:27.199 It's a badge of honor. 00:12:27.459 --> 00:12:29.459 But this is saying that it's a sin. 00:12:29.460 --> 00:12:34.940 That much of the busyness in our lives is a sin and not just a sin, a deadly sin. 00:12:35.900 --> 00:12:39.920 A sin that is particularly destructive to our faith and to our soul. 00:12:40.060 --> 00:12:41.740 So we need to sit up and pay attention here. 00:12:43.139 --> 00:12:44.879 So that's what sloth looks like. 00:12:44.940 --> 00:12:49.460 It most often looks like unnecessary, distracting busyness. 00:12:49.460 --> 00:12:52.120 So second question, where does it come from? 00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:54.480 What causes that? 00:12:55.519 --> 00:12:57.120 Jesus gets right to the heart of the matter. 00:12:57.740 --> 00:13:01.960 Martha, Martha, you were anxious and troubled about many things. 00:13:02.540 --> 00:13:05.480 And if you look at this, it seems that Martha has a lot on her mind. 00:13:05.560 --> 00:13:07.759 There's a lot weighing heavily on her heart. 00:13:07.759 --> 00:13:13.779 And it very well may be that Martha is using busyness to distract herself. 00:13:14.059 --> 00:13:18.819 It's a way of avoiding having to deal with things that she would rather not face. 00:13:19.439 --> 00:13:24.259 When you sit down and you attend to the teaching of Jesus, you're not going to receive abstract 00:13:24.259 --> 00:13:26.200 ideas and principles for living. 00:13:27.419 --> 00:13:29.679 Jesus has a tendency to go straight into your heart. 00:13:30.080 --> 00:13:31.759 And that can sometimes be terrifying. 00:13:32.759 --> 00:13:37.100 And it very well may be that Martha doesn't want anybody fiddling around with her heart. 00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:44.399 Martha would much rather concern herself with the dishes in the kitchen than actually have 00:13:44.399 --> 00:13:46.799 to be exposed in that way. 00:13:47.620 --> 00:13:54.399 So she's distracting herself and she is using busyness as a way to avoid things that she 00:13:54.399 --> 00:13:56.460 doesn't want to maybe have to face. 00:13:56.860 --> 00:14:01.319 Frederick Buechner says this, sloth is not to be confused with laziness. 00:14:02.139 --> 00:14:04.679 A slothful man may be a very busy man. 00:14:04.679 --> 00:14:09.219 He is a man who goes through the motions, who flies on automatic pilot. 00:14:09.859 --> 00:14:13.779 He knows something's wrong with him, but not wrong enough to do anything about. 00:14:14.419 --> 00:14:16.500 He is letting things run their course. 00:14:17.000 --> 00:14:18.739 He is getting through his life. 00:14:19.959 --> 00:14:21.899 I don't know if that strikes home with anybody. 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:27.500 The idea of putting your life on autopilot and just letting life run its course certainly 00:14:27.500 --> 00:14:28.360 hits home with me. 00:14:28.360 --> 00:14:38.379 See, the core of sloth, the core issue is not busyness itself, nor is it laziness itself. 00:14:38.700 --> 00:14:39.620 It's avoidance. 00:14:40.639 --> 00:14:42.860 The core of sloth is avoidance. 00:14:44.059 --> 00:14:45.200 It's escape. 00:14:46.059 --> 00:14:47.840 It's disengagement. 00:14:49.100 --> 00:14:52.399 It's a refusal to fully inhabit our lives. 00:14:52.399 --> 00:14:58.019 It's a way of getting through life where we've just put the autopilot button on and we've 00:14:58.019 --> 00:15:00.340 disengaged and life is happening to us. 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:03.980 We're not actually living into our lives fully. 00:15:04.799 --> 00:15:08.840 And sometimes this can manifest in very specific ways. 00:15:08.939 --> 00:15:12.620 There can be specific things that we're avoiding, that we don't want to have to deal with. 00:15:12.740 --> 00:15:15.120 Maybe that's going on with Martha. 00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:17.179 Maybe there's certain issues on her mind. 00:15:17.179 --> 00:15:24.339 We see this example of this in the 1 Samuel 2 passage that we read a little while ago. 00:15:24.479 --> 00:15:25.599 This is about Eli. 00:15:25.939 --> 00:15:30.120 And Eli is a good man and he serves at the temple, or he serves the Lord rather. 00:15:30.979 --> 00:15:38.319 And it says that Eli has these two sons and these sons are priests, but they are wicked. 00:15:39.039 --> 00:15:40.359 And they're corrupt. 00:15:40.979 --> 00:15:44.799 And the things that they're doing are profaning and blaspheming the Lord. 00:15:44.799 --> 00:15:52.039 They have a racket going where they're forcibly getting meat from people who are there to bring sacrifices. 00:15:52.659 --> 00:15:56.059 And this has been going on for, it seems like, a very long time. 00:15:56.359 --> 00:15:57.500 And Eli's not doing it. 00:15:57.579 --> 00:15:58.599 His sons are doing it. 00:15:58.779 --> 00:16:00.639 But then look what it says in the next chapter. 00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:02.719 Chapter 3, verse 13. 00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:03.839 God says, 00:16:03.839 --> 00:16:10.559 And I declare to Eli that I'm about to punish his house forever for the iniquity that he knew 00:16:10.559 --> 00:16:14.740 because his sons were blaspheming God and he did not restrain them. 00:16:14.799 --> 00:16:18.819 Eli is conflict avoidant. 00:16:20.019 --> 00:16:20.439 Right? 00:16:20.519 --> 00:16:22.620 His sons are doing this again and again and again. 00:16:22.719 --> 00:16:25.879 And everybody knows they're corrupt. 00:16:26.379 --> 00:16:27.919 They're mistreating people. 00:16:28.139 --> 00:16:29.559 They're abusing their power. 00:16:30.019 --> 00:16:32.319 And you can imagine how many times people have come to Eli and said, 00:16:32.379 --> 00:16:33.500 You've got to do something about this. 00:16:33.719 --> 00:16:34.740 Your sons, they're horrible. 00:16:35.039 --> 00:16:36.199 They're, they're, they're, they're, 00:16:36.519 --> 00:16:38.139 and the word is spread all over them. 00:16:38.259 --> 00:16:39.639 Eli, won't you do something about this? 00:16:39.819 --> 00:16:41.259 And Eli just keeps putting it off. 00:16:41.799 --> 00:16:42.679 I'll talk to him tomorrow. 00:16:43.159 --> 00:16:44.479 I got, uh, things are really busy today. 00:16:44.519 --> 00:16:45.219 I'll talk to him tomorrow. 00:16:46.099 --> 00:16:47.079 I'll talk to him next week. 00:16:47.079 --> 00:16:47.759 I'm kind of tired. 00:16:47.859 --> 00:16:49.599 And they just, they, they're going through some hard things. 00:16:49.719 --> 00:16:50.719 I'll talk to him next week. 00:16:51.079 --> 00:16:54.359 And you know how that goes when you just put it off and put it off and put it off and put it off. 00:16:54.479 --> 00:16:55.939 And God finally calls him to account. 00:16:57.099 --> 00:16:58.459 And says, you had your chance. 00:16:58.679 --> 00:16:59.719 You never said a word. 00:16:59.899 --> 00:17:00.939 You never confronted this. 00:17:00.940 --> 00:17:04.480 So now I'm going to step in and bring judgment against your house. 00:17:05.279 --> 00:17:05.380 Right? 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:06.940 So this is a form of sloth. 00:17:07.220 --> 00:17:08.360 It's a lack of courage. 00:17:08.460 --> 00:17:09.960 It's Eli avoiding conflict. 00:17:10.559 --> 00:17:11.980 I know some of us resonate with this. 00:17:12.539 --> 00:17:14.240 So that's one way that we can be slothful. 00:17:14.980 --> 00:17:21.160 But there's another way of being slothful where it's just simply a way, a posture with which we live life. 00:17:21.640 --> 00:17:23.539 Avoidance just becomes our M.O. 00:17:23.539 --> 00:17:29.059 So Richard John Newhouse defined contemporary sloth as this. 00:17:29.460 --> 00:17:31.059 He says, here's contemporary sloth. 00:17:32.599 --> 00:17:35.980 Evenings without number, obliterated by television. 00:17:36.899 --> 00:17:43.539 Evenings neither of entertainment nor of education, but a narcotic defense against time and duty. 00:17:45.599 --> 00:17:47.359 That gets me when I hear it. 00:17:48.379 --> 00:17:49.619 You're not really being entertained. 00:17:50.299 --> 00:17:51.319 You're not really engaging. 00:17:51.659 --> 00:17:53.220 You're not really being educated. 00:17:54.079 --> 00:17:57.180 It's just a narcotic defense against time and duty. 00:17:57.279 --> 00:17:58.220 Just zoning out. 00:17:59.379 --> 00:18:02.659 Imagine if he had been writing in the era of smartphones. 00:18:03.819 --> 00:18:07.500 Imagine what he would have said if he was looking at an iPhone rather than a television set. 00:18:09.680 --> 00:18:14.680 I can fill up my work day with all kinds of tasks. 00:18:15.859 --> 00:18:21.700 I mean like that, I can fill up my day with all kinds of little tasks that I can get done. 00:18:21.700 --> 00:18:24.120 And I can get through eight, nine, ten hours of just tasks. 00:18:24.119 --> 00:18:32.159 And then I can come home and I can crash with a cocktail, some show on Netflix that I don't even really like. 00:18:32.959 --> 00:18:34.699 Maybe watch three or four episodes of it. 00:18:35.239 --> 00:18:36.459 I don't even really like it. 00:18:36.460 --> 00:18:37.779 I don't even really follow the plot. 00:18:37.779 --> 00:18:55.880 And I can literally be sitting between an amazing book of poetry on the side table on my right and my amazing wife, who I haven't talked to all day on my left, and engaging in either direction would be spiritually and emotionally and intellectually enriching. 00:18:55.880 --> 00:18:57.580 And yet what do I do? 00:18:58.420 --> 00:18:59.440 Do I hear, hear, hear? 00:18:59.520 --> 00:18:59.800 No. 00:19:00.420 --> 00:19:04.440 I'm flipping half-heartedly through my news feed on my iPhone. 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:06.480 Right? 00:19:06.520 --> 00:19:12.240 So you can be busy or you can be lazy or you can be busy some of the day and lazy the rest of the day. 00:19:12.780 --> 00:19:14.640 And it all amounts to the same thing. 00:19:14.860 --> 00:19:17.280 It's a slothful disengagement. 00:19:17.279 --> 00:19:25.240 It's an unwillingness to fully inhabit ourselves and our lives and to engage the things that matter right around us. 00:19:25.599 --> 00:19:26.940 That's what sloth looks like. 00:19:30.519 --> 00:19:45.379 So our third question is, if sloth can look like laziness or busyness, and if it comes from this inner tendency or desire or temptation to avoid, disengage, why does this matter so much? 00:19:45.380 --> 00:19:47.380 And maybe some people are thinking, well, who cares? 00:19:47.780 --> 00:19:49.940 Yeah, that sounds like me, but who cares? 00:19:50.140 --> 00:19:51.080 Life's challenging. 00:19:52.380 --> 00:19:56.780 Well, sloth is the thing that most often leads to spiritual apathy. 00:19:58.120 --> 00:19:59.940 Sloth leads to spiritual apathy. 00:20:01.700 --> 00:20:02.960 Spiritual apathy is what? 00:20:04.180 --> 00:20:14.740 I just don't really care about God, God's kingdom, what God's doing in the world, God's word, God's people, God's agenda, God's priorities. 00:20:15.380 --> 00:20:15.940 I just don't care. 00:20:16.500 --> 00:20:17.220 Worshipping God. 00:20:17.400 --> 00:20:18.160 I just don't care. 00:20:19.100 --> 00:20:22.100 And I hear this so often from people, you know, I just don't care. 00:20:22.320 --> 00:20:25.720 This, it just doesn't figure prominently in my life. 00:20:25.780 --> 00:20:27.380 I just, I have other things that I care about more. 00:20:27.460 --> 00:20:28.560 I just can't, I don't feel it. 00:20:29.100 --> 00:20:30.080 I don't feel it. 00:20:30.540 --> 00:20:31.660 That's spiritual apathy. 00:20:31.660 --> 00:20:36.940 And the thing that we need to understand about our faith is that faith is very much like muscle. 00:20:38.360 --> 00:20:45.060 The more you use your faith, the more you challenge it, the more you exercise it, the more it grows, it gets stronger. 00:20:46.180 --> 00:20:51.240 But if we don't use our faith, if we don't exercise it, it atrophies. 00:20:51.240 --> 00:20:53.620 And it's never neutral. 00:20:53.799 --> 00:21:01.519 You're either getting stronger in your faith or it's atrophied over time and it's getting weaker and weaker and weaker. 00:21:03.200 --> 00:21:07.640 And if you feel spiritual apathy, I just don't care about this. 00:21:07.740 --> 00:21:08.740 This doesn't matter to me. 00:21:08.819 --> 00:21:09.680 It's just not a priority. 00:21:10.880 --> 00:21:13.240 That is an indication that you have atrophied. 00:21:14.059 --> 00:21:17.240 Spiritual apathy is a direct result of spiritual atrophy. 00:21:17.240 --> 00:21:17.960 Atrophy. 00:21:19.299 --> 00:21:21.059 Your faith is weakened. 00:21:21.640 --> 00:21:22.880 It's shrinking. 00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:26.519 It's being starved slowly. 00:21:27.279 --> 00:21:33.660 See, the ancient spiritual disciplines, things like prayer and fasting and contemplative reading of Scripture, 00:21:34.099 --> 00:21:37.660 these are the things that are meant to strengthen our faith. 00:21:37.759 --> 00:21:41.420 These disciplines that have been passed from one century of believers to the next, 00:21:41.420 --> 00:21:46.220 these are the things that God's people come back to again and again and again to strengthen that muscle. 00:21:47.240 --> 00:21:50.799 But the thing that they all have in common is that they're difficult. 00:21:51.700 --> 00:21:53.099 And they take time. 00:21:53.579 --> 00:21:54.759 And they take discipline. 00:21:55.500 --> 00:21:57.519 And frankly, sometimes they're tedious. 00:21:58.259 --> 00:22:00.180 And they're not always immediately rewarding. 00:22:00.279 --> 00:22:01.400 It's a lot like working out. 00:22:03.500 --> 00:22:07.279 And so because of this, because of the nature of these spiritual disciplines, 00:22:07.640 --> 00:22:12.420 many people, most people have not tried them and found them wanting. 00:22:12.880 --> 00:22:15.920 They've just not ever really tried them because they're just too difficult. 00:22:17.240 --> 00:22:24.859 And it's impossible to live a busy life and to adequately give time and energy to spiritual disciplines like this. 00:22:25.140 --> 00:22:25.579 They can't. 00:22:25.740 --> 00:22:26.579 You have to choose. 00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:29.039 Busyness makes these things impossible. 00:22:29.400 --> 00:22:32.940 You cannot sit down and contemplatively engage, 00:22:33.700 --> 00:22:36.259 prayerfully engage and reflect on God's Word 00:22:36.259 --> 00:22:42.259 if you're also doing a million other things and you're not even really present for any one of them. 00:22:42.259 --> 00:22:43.460 You just can't do it. 00:22:45.019 --> 00:22:47.000 See, sloth is the thing in us. 00:22:47.319 --> 00:22:51.759 Sloth is the thing that wants the benefit and the payoff without the effort. 00:22:51.940 --> 00:22:52.980 That's what sloth is. 00:22:54.259 --> 00:22:57.059 So sloth wants the mystical experience. 00:22:57.519 --> 00:22:59.339 Sloth wants the spiritual high. 00:23:00.039 --> 00:23:04.519 Sloth wants the radical transformation and the deep sense of God's presence. 00:23:04.519 --> 00:23:06.900 But we want those things on demand. 00:23:07.980 --> 00:23:08.920 Like Netflix. 00:23:10.359 --> 00:23:12.579 I'm focusing on this and this and I've got to get this done 00:23:12.579 --> 00:23:14.119 and now I want a spiritual high right now. 00:23:14.160 --> 00:23:15.559 And I've got ten minutes for a spiritual high. 00:23:15.759 --> 00:23:16.859 We want a button that we can push. 00:23:17.559 --> 00:23:19.000 And it just doesn't work that way. 00:23:19.639 --> 00:23:23.639 I mean, unfortunately, a lot of churches recognize that this is how people operate 00:23:23.639 --> 00:23:26.359 and so they try to create that experience on Sunday. 00:23:27.000 --> 00:23:28.480 We get these people for an hour. 00:23:28.480 --> 00:23:32.640 Let's make sure the music and the lights and the message 00:23:32.640 --> 00:23:34.539 and the entire experience soup to nuts. 00:23:35.180 --> 00:23:36.920 Let's, you know, the emotionalism. 00:23:37.099 --> 00:23:40.400 Let's make sure it's all there so that we can create this spiritual high 00:23:40.400 --> 00:23:41.920 that fits into their busy schedule. 00:23:42.039 --> 00:23:43.680 Because they've got to get to soccer practice. 00:23:44.200 --> 00:23:45.220 So let's make this happen. 00:23:46.220 --> 00:23:48.259 And there are a lot of books that do the same thing. 00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:52.180 Spiritual transformation, radical, powerful, face-to-face encounter with God 00:23:52.180 --> 00:23:54.240 is just around the corner with these simple steps. 00:23:55.960 --> 00:23:57.220 Sadly, all these things do. 00:23:58.480 --> 00:24:00.160 Is enable sloth. 00:24:01.579 --> 00:24:04.559 So over time, we're having these emotional experiences. 00:24:04.779 --> 00:24:07.880 But underneath, our faith continues to atrophy. 00:24:10.160 --> 00:24:10.819 Right? 00:24:10.880 --> 00:24:15.319 And over time, over time it gets weaker and weaker. 00:24:15.500 --> 00:24:17.240 And this is really a vicious cycle. 00:24:18.740 --> 00:24:23.200 You know, we exercise our faith less and less because of sloth. 00:24:23.900 --> 00:24:27.660 Which results in our faith beginning to atrophy. 00:24:27.660 --> 00:24:30.940 Which then leads to more spiritual apathy. 00:24:31.580 --> 00:24:33.540 Which then leads to more sloth. 00:24:34.200 --> 00:24:36.840 Which leads to us doing less to exercise our faith. 00:24:36.940 --> 00:24:39.240 And it just goes around and around and around. 00:24:39.980 --> 00:24:40.420 Right? 00:24:40.620 --> 00:24:42.720 So the greatest threat, here's really the point. 00:24:42.940 --> 00:24:48.200 The greatest threat to your faith is probably not going to come from another religion making a better argument. 00:24:48.660 --> 00:24:50.820 You know, or from the new atheists. 00:24:50.819 --> 00:24:54.859 The greatest threat to your faith is probably not Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens. 00:24:56.579 --> 00:24:59.220 The greatest threat to your faith is probably busyness. 00:25:01.939 --> 00:25:02.799 It's busyness. 00:25:02.799 --> 00:25:08.899 It's going through your life from one thing to the next. 00:25:10.519 --> 00:25:11.779 On and on and on and on and on. 00:25:11.879 --> 00:25:14.159 Never really inhabiting or fully engaging any of it. 00:25:15.200 --> 00:25:18.180 And then over time, your faith erodes. 00:25:18.180 --> 00:25:21.360 And it gets weaker and weaker and weaker and weaker. 00:25:21.600 --> 00:25:23.580 Until one day you just kind of look around and you say, 00:25:23.960 --> 00:25:28.460 I don't care about any of this anymore. 00:25:28.900 --> 00:25:30.120 And it just crumbles apart. 00:25:33.000 --> 00:25:34.180 So then what's the answer? 00:25:34.680 --> 00:25:34.840 Right? 00:25:34.839 --> 00:25:38.859 If sloth manifests in the ways that we're talking about, 00:25:38.939 --> 00:25:43.179 if it's this innate thing in us that wants to avoid and disengage and escape, 00:25:45.179 --> 00:25:50.119 if this is probably one of the biggest threats to our faith overall, 00:25:51.119 --> 00:25:52.619 then how do we overcome it? 00:25:53.959 --> 00:25:55.379 Well, Jesus says to Martha, 00:25:55.819 --> 00:25:57.039 one thing is necessary. 00:25:57.679 --> 00:26:00.559 And of course, Jesus is referring to himself. 00:26:01.599 --> 00:26:03.279 And this is great for a preacher. 00:26:03.279 --> 00:26:08.480 Because sometimes sermon applications are kind of a stretch. 00:26:09.119 --> 00:26:10.299 Or they require some nuance. 00:26:10.779 --> 00:26:12.859 Or they require some massaging of the text. 00:26:13.180 --> 00:26:14.980 They require a little contextualization. 00:26:16.019 --> 00:26:17.220 It's just not one of those times. 00:26:18.359 --> 00:26:19.440 It's pretty straightforward. 00:26:19.980 --> 00:26:20.160 Right? 00:26:20.420 --> 00:26:23.599 So I'm going to tell you something right now that you need to remember. 00:26:24.319 --> 00:26:25.119 There's one thing. 00:26:26.240 --> 00:26:29.339 I'm going to tell you something that if you leave this church 00:26:29.339 --> 00:26:31.859 and you never come back and you move to another part of the world, 00:26:31.859 --> 00:26:35.500 if there's only one thing that you ever remember from being here, 00:26:35.899 --> 00:26:36.839 this is the thing. 00:26:38.699 --> 00:26:41.779 There is only one thing in your life that is necessary. 00:26:43.459 --> 00:26:44.699 And it's Jesus Christ. 00:26:46.399 --> 00:26:50.599 Your relationship with God is the single most important thing there is. 00:26:50.599 --> 00:26:53.379 It is more important than your spouse. 00:26:53.539 --> 00:26:55.059 It is more important than your kids. 00:26:55.339 --> 00:26:57.019 It's more important than your job. 00:26:57.240 --> 00:26:59.240 It's more important than your financial security. 00:27:00.500 --> 00:27:05.219 Your relationship with God is the single most important thing there is. 00:27:05.220 --> 00:27:09.240 And this is the remedy for sloth. 00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:14.680 Because sloth is precisely the thing that confuses our priorities. 00:27:14.839 --> 00:27:18.700 It convinces us that secondary things are primary things. 00:27:18.779 --> 00:27:21.000 And primary things are secondary things. 00:27:21.819 --> 00:27:26.980 It leads us to spend vast amounts of time and energy majoring in the minors. 00:27:26.980 --> 00:27:30.940 Only one thing is necessary. 00:27:32.019 --> 00:27:34.099 There's only one thing that matters. 00:27:34.819 --> 00:27:38.599 And if you don't get that thing right, nothing else matters. 00:27:38.779 --> 00:27:42.059 I don't care if it's A-pluses across the board. 00:27:43.059 --> 00:27:47.720 On this one issue, everything in your existence hinges. 00:27:47.720 --> 00:28:04.680 I think the way to overcome sloth is to have the kind of community where we continually remind one another to have this clarity in our priorities. 00:28:05.660 --> 00:28:14.200 Simply put, if you're living your life in any way that detracts from your ability to focus on, contemplate, reflect, and enact the teachings of Jesus, 00:28:14.799 --> 00:28:17.100 then you need to make changes to the way you're living your life. 00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:25.140 You know, Eugene Peterson has an interesting insight where he says that often sloth is caused by laziness. 00:28:25.720 --> 00:28:28.579 Or I'm sorry, the busyness in our lives is caused by laziness. 00:28:28.700 --> 00:28:32.680 But it's the particular kind of laziness where we let other people determine our priorities. 00:28:33.480 --> 00:28:37.920 We don't actually carve out and decide how we're going to invest our time. 00:28:38.039 --> 00:28:39.860 We let other people around us do it for us. 00:28:40.220 --> 00:28:42.059 And we simply go along with their expectations. 00:28:43.740 --> 00:28:45.360 Only one thing is necessary. 00:28:45.360 --> 00:28:47.019 I don't care who you have to disappoint. 00:28:48.039 --> 00:28:49.539 Only one thing is necessary. 00:28:49.539 --> 00:28:53.879 By the way, this is why God instituted the Sabbath. 00:28:55.819 --> 00:28:57.220 You know what sloth means? 00:28:57.299 --> 00:29:00.099 That we never really work and we never really rest. 00:29:00.799 --> 00:29:01.680 You ever feel that way? 00:29:02.440 --> 00:29:11.000 You're kind of all, you're at work, but you're kind of working, but you're also checking social media and feeds and news and kind of, you know, drinking coffee and talking to people and going for walks. 00:29:11.100 --> 00:29:13.000 And you're kind of getting stuff done, but not really. 00:29:13.000 --> 00:29:16.980 And then you kind of come home, but you don't ever really disengage. 00:29:17.220 --> 00:29:22.019 You're just kind of still on your, checking your email and you're still kind of responding just one quick thing and just kind of get this. 00:29:22.279 --> 00:29:23.220 I forgot to get this. 00:29:23.440 --> 00:29:26.900 And it's just sort of your life just becomes this blur where you're never really doing either. 00:29:26.900 --> 00:29:31.600 And so Jesus teaches about the Sabbath. 00:29:31.720 --> 00:29:35.900 He says this isn't meant to be an overly burdensome regulation. 00:29:36.500 --> 00:29:37.560 This is a blessing. 00:29:37.559 --> 00:29:44.039 God created the Sabbath and instituted it to bless human beings so that there's a clear demarcation. 00:29:44.339 --> 00:29:46.099 So that when you're working, you're working. 00:29:47.119 --> 00:29:48.839 And when you're resting, you're resting. 00:29:50.839 --> 00:29:51.279 Right? 00:29:51.379 --> 00:29:53.720 Jesus himself said this was meant to be a blessing. 00:29:54.379 --> 00:29:59.119 And we need regular times to stop and to notice what God is doing when we're not doing anything. 00:30:00.119 --> 00:30:01.599 That's what the Sabbath is all about. 00:30:02.819 --> 00:30:06.539 And you see in Jesus, Jesus lived his life with one singular purpose. 00:30:07.559 --> 00:30:11.859 I mean, whether Jesus was being tempted in the desert or flattered by the multitudes, 00:30:12.039 --> 00:30:16.619 when all the rest of his disciples had fallen asleep in the garden or abandoned him altogether, 00:30:17.019 --> 00:30:20.539 Jesus remained focused on one thing, and that was the will of his Father. 00:30:21.799 --> 00:30:27.500 So from the manger to the workshop to the cross to the grave to the throne, 00:30:27.819 --> 00:30:30.980 Jesus never wavered in his focus on his Father's will. 00:30:30.980 --> 00:30:37.579 And because of his courage, because of his full, unwavering focus on his Father's plan, 00:30:37.799 --> 00:30:38.940 no matter what it cost him, 00:30:39.720 --> 00:30:44.339 we now have the grace and the spiritual power we need to overcome sloth, 00:30:44.900 --> 00:30:48.000 to inhabit our own lives, 00:30:48.539 --> 00:30:51.000 to devote ourselves to the only thing that truly matters, 00:30:51.779 --> 00:30:52.420 Jesus Christ. 00:30:52.960 --> 00:30:53.400 Let's pray. 00:30:53.400 --> 00:31:01.720 Our Father, an unhurried life. 00:31:03.800 --> 00:31:10.640 Whether we are working full-time jobs that expect too much, 00:31:10.740 --> 00:31:12.540 or raising young children, 00:31:12.900 --> 00:31:20.660 or dealing with the chaos that comes from all of the transition that is so common to the city, 00:31:20.660 --> 00:31:22.860 whether we're laboring under unrealistic expectations, 00:31:22.980 --> 00:31:24.279 either from without or from within, 00:31:25.200 --> 00:31:27.019 Lord, whatever it is that drives our busyness, 00:31:27.120 --> 00:31:29.759 may we be an unhurried people. 00:31:30.840 --> 00:31:35.920 May you give us the wisdom and the courage to live unhurried lives 00:31:35.920 --> 00:31:39.680 in the midst of a very, very, very hurried city. 00:31:40.840 --> 00:31:44.640 Lord, we pray and we have this vision that we might be known 00:31:44.640 --> 00:31:50.180 as people who work hard and who do good work, 00:31:50.780 --> 00:31:53.560 and yet who do it without being rushed and hurried, 00:31:54.220 --> 00:31:57.540 that we never lose our sense of what matters most, Lord. 00:31:57.820 --> 00:32:00.440 We pray that you would put that ever before our eyes, 00:32:00.520 --> 00:32:03.520 that as often as we need a gentle rebuke, like Martha did, 00:32:04.020 --> 00:32:06.280 that you would use this community to do just that. 00:32:08.100 --> 00:32:11.100 We pray that busyness would no longer be a badge of honor, 00:32:11.099 --> 00:32:13.659 but that it would be a confession of sin. 00:32:14.839 --> 00:32:17.659 And we pray that that would lead us more deeply into your presence and grace. 00:32:18.299 --> 00:32:19.459 In your Son's name, amen.