Good morning.
Turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter 10.
We're going to be looking at verses 38 through 42.
Thankful to be with you this morning.
And we have a good word from God in His word to us this morning.
And what we have in this text this morning is an awkward situation.
We've all been in social situations that turned awkward.
Maybe we're sitting around a dinner table and somebody brings up a politically charged topic
and there's a variety of opinions about it and they start speaking very opinionated ways about it.
And everybody is kind of like, I don't know, should we engage?
You know, should we change the subject?
Or maybe a party and, you know, people are hanging out, maybe playing games or something.
And then one of the couples there gets annoyed with each other, starts arguing,
kind of passive-aggressively sniping at each other.
And everyone else is like, you know, how about the Bears, right?
Or the Brewers or the Packers.
Or anything.
Because it got awkward.
Or maybe you are speaking to someone, you know that they were dating this other person.
And so you're like, hey, did you do anything fun with Rachel for the 4th of July?
And they're like, we broke up two weeks ago.
Where do we go from there?
We've all been in these social situations that have turned awkward.
And in our text this morning, we see a social situation, a high-pressure social situation.
We see two priorities exemplified there.
Two different people focusing on two different things.
And then things turn awkward.
There's an exchange.
There's a conversation where things turn awkward.
And in the midst of that awkwardness, Jesus speaks some good news for us.
So let's look at this situation here.
Let's look at the setup.
What's going on?
We see a situation here where there's two people with two different priorities.
Let's look at verses 38 through the first part of 40.
It says,
Now as they, that's Jesus' disciples, went on their way, Jesus entered a village,
and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house.
And she had a sister called Mary who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching.
But Martha was distracted with much serving.
Now as Jesus and his disciples traveled around the country during Jesus' ministry,
they were itinerant.
They were moving around from place to place, city to city, town to town.
And so they relied on friends and family and generous strangers in various places to host them,
to give them a place to sleep, some food to eat.
And this was not unique to Jesus.
It was how many traveling teachers at the time functioned.
They would travel around in exchange for the teaching they provided.
They would have a place to stay.
And in the ancient Near Eastern society, the Middle East, where this takes place,
this society was significantly oriented around the idea of hospitality.
Hospitality not meaning just having your friends over for dinner,
but hospitality meaning welcoming strangers and outsiders and caring for them.
It was about doing whatever was necessary to provide shelter, food, and rest to whoever may come through your doors.
And a large part of your standing in society at that time,
a large part of your honor among your town and your relatives and the people who knew you,
was based on how well you could show hospitality.
Basically, whether you were considered a good person, a respectable person,
wasn't as much based on what did you do or how much money did you make or what was your house like.
It was how well can you show hospitality.
What lengths are you willing to go to to care for people who come through?
So here we have a woman, Martha, and she welcomes Jesus and she shows hospitality to him and to his disciples.
And it was a big task.
We don't know exactly how many people were there,
but Jesus traveled around with a minimum, usually, of 12 men,
and there are usually a lot of other people with him as well.
And so we see how the situation is set up.
Martha is working like crazy to host this crowd
and this famous teacher and miracle worker who has come to her house,
and there is a lot at stake for her.
Because in this situation with this particular guest
and in the society and the way they viewed hospitality,
Martha's reputation is on the line like it probably never has been before in her life.
So whatever stress you may feel when someone comes over to your house
and you're trying to clean up and get ready and make dinner,
multiply that by about 10 to account for the centrality of hospitality in this culture,
which we don't share in our culture.
But then also imagine that the person that you're hosting is nationally significant and famous.
And so as we see Martha here,
with all of this pressure, all of this expectation,
ask yourself, what pressures and obligations and ministries
do you feel like you need to carry out in your life?
What do you feel like is required of you
in order to be a good person or a good Christian?
Or a good parent?
What do you feel like you have to keep doing in order to please God?
So Martha is running around trying to be everything that she thinks that she needs to be,
and she is totally distracted.
It says Martha was distracted with much serving,
and distracted from what?
Because she's actually laser focused on exactly what everyone expects her to be doing.
She's, if anyone looked into this house and saw what was going on,
they would say, yep, looks right.
She's focused on hospitality.
So what is she distracted from?
Well, she's distracted from Jesus.
And meanwhile, Martha has a sister.
And in the midst of this rush of serving Mary, what is she doing?
She's not helping.
She's sitting at Jesus' feet, listening to his teaching.
In other words, based on the perspectives of the day and of that culture,
Mary has completely abandoned her position as host.
She's totally neglecting the principle of hospitality.
She's being rude.
And she's actually taking up the position of a disciple,
sitting at his feet, listening to his word.
And it's a pretty gutsy move on Mary's part to say,
well, no, I'm not going to serve you like everyone expects.
I'm going to take up my post here as if I was one of your 12 disciples.
So in this situation here, anyone looking at this scene would have said that
Martha was an honorable, righteous person,
doing exactly what was expected of her,
being a good person, caring for this guest.
And Mary was a presumptuous person who was insulting both herself
by not fulfilling her obligations and her guests.
But then, Jesus and Martha have an awkward exchange.
And Jesus gives his perspective on this situation.
So we've got the social setup here,
and then we have this situation that turns awkward with this conversation.
Look at verse 40.
It says,
She was distracted with much serving.
And she went up to him and she said,
Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me
to serve alone?
Tell her then to help me.
Imagine that.
Imagine the situation.
There's a crowded house.
Jesus is there teaching an attentive group.
There's probably little clusters of people in the corners
and just outside having quiet conversations.
People are eating.
And Martha marches up to Jesus and says this.
We don't know whether she said it loudly or whispered in his ear,
but in whatever case,
Jesus has stopped his teaching to listen to her.
And now everyone is looking at these three,
wondering what's going on and what's Jesus going to say.
And even if they did not hear Martha's words,
they could probably tell by her body language
and just by knowing what was going on
that she's probably upset with Mary.
Do you hear the frustration in Martha's question?
My sister has left me alone to serve.
Mary should know better.
I know I would be frustrated in a similar situation.
Why am I doing everything by myself here?
Do you hear the accusation of Jesus in her question?
Do you not care that this is going on?
Not only should Mary know better,
Jesus should know better.
Jesus, Martha is saying,
is actually in the wrong here
for allowing Mary to sit at his feet
instead of helping her sister.
As a teacher of righteousness,
Jesus should have reminded Mary,
hey, you need to get up and go help your sister.
It's unfair for you to leave all that work to her.
She's doing what a good person should do
and you need to help her.
And if Martha was anything like us,
there's probably in her questions here
also the accusation of Jesus
that he cares about Mary more than her.
That Jesus is playing favorites
and Martha's not important to him.
Do you not care that my sister
has left me to serve alone?
But she doesn't just make a frustrated accusation,
she also gives Jesus a demand.
Have you noticed how assertive Martha is?
We see that also in another place in the gospel
when Jesus comes to visit her and Mary
after their brother has died.
And Jesus never minds it, by the way.
It doesn't bother him.
The way Martha confronts him in both situations.
But with all of her frustration overflowing,
Martha demands that Jesus order Mary to help her.
She's so sure that she's in the right
and Mary and even Jesus are in the wrong
that she decides she's going to tell
her famous, miracle-working,
scripture-teaching, prophetic guest
what to do.
And now in the awkward silence
as everyone waits for Jesus' response,
everything is on the table.
Martha's choice and Mary's choice
of what to focus on,
what to prioritize,
are shoved in Jesus' face
in front of everyone
for him to evaluate,
for him to respond to.
And here's his response,
starting in verse 41.
For the Lord answered her,
Martha, Martha,
you are anxious and troubled
about many things,
but one thing is necessary.
Mary has chosen the good portion
which will not be taken away from her.
the message of this text
from God's Word
from Jesus
for us today.
Choose closeness to Jesus
over every good thing.
Choose closeness to Jesus
over every good thing.
not instead of every good thing,
but choose closeness to Jesus
over every good thing.
Jesus responds to Martha's
confrontation with great
gentleness and affection.
He says her name twice
because he really loves her
and he wants her to hear
what he has to say.
He knows the anxiety
and the stress
and the frustration that she has
and he wants her to be free of it.
Martha,
Martha.
He contrasts the many things
that are troubling Martha.
The practical logistics
of hosting a crowd.
Societal expectations
for perfect hospitality.
A desire to be that person
who always does their duty.
hope for favor and respect
from a person,
a guest of high status
like Jesus.
And a desire,
we can assume
a genuinely good desire
to serve God
by welcoming one of His prophets.
All of these things
that are troubling her,
he contrasts all of those
with the one thing
that Mary has prioritized,
which is to be close to Jesus.
And he says that Mary
has chosen the one thing
that is better
than everything else.
Choose closeness to Jesus
over every good thing.
Because it's one thing
to choose Jesus over sin, right?
Over things that we know are wrong
and that we need to leave behind.
It may be hard to do that,
but it's clear,
it's obvious.
It's much harder to recognize
when we are choosing
genuinely good things
over closeness to Jesus.
It's harder to see that,
parse it out.
And even when we do recognize it,
it can be very difficult
to reprioritize
because reprioritizing
means deprioritizing
something else
and doing that feels wrong.
It's not just that,
oh, yeah,
we should say no to sin.
It's like, no,
if I lower this,
I'm failing something
or I'm failing someone,
maybe even I'm failing God,
if I deprioritize
this other thing.
He wants me to do this.
So here's an example.
If it doesn't apply to you,
that's okay.
Just an example.
It's a very good thing
to be a parent,
to be a devoted,
attentive parent
who is passionate
about the growth
and health
and maturity
of your children.
what if in the midst
of all that,
some of those commitments
of time
and schedule
and energy
and focus
are keeping you
from having any closeness
to Jesus?
What if there's no space left
as you run
from place to place,
thing to thing?
Now, for those
who might be
over-invested
or over-committed
in these ways,
doing less
for your child
is probably
going to feel
like a little bit
of failure
or a little bit
of neglect.
So you have to ask
the question,
does my current schedule
allow me
to be close to Jesus?
In the end,
that's what your kids
need more
than anything else anyway.
Choose closeness
to Jesus
over every
good thing.
Now,
what does closeness
to Jesus look like?
What does that mean?
Well, at minimum,
looking at Mary's example
in the text here,
we can say
closeness to Jesus
is going to include
giving Him
the best part
of your focus,
relating to Him
in humility
and eagerness
like she was
sitting at His feet
and being attentive
to His word,
hearing what He has
to say.
Knowing what's
important to Him.
Knowing Him.
Closeness to Jesus
means knowing Him.
Because it's one thing
to say you believe
in Jesus.
It's one thing to say
you've trusted in Him
for your salvation.
But do you know Him?
Are you close to Him?
Jesus calls Martha
and He calls us
to prioritize
closeness to Him
over any of the
many good things
that fight for our attention.
and He gives us
three reasons
why we should do this.
Why should we
choose closeness to Jesus
over all these
other good things?
Three reasons.
First one,
closeness to Jesus
is necessary.
You see that right
in His words,
verse 42?
One thing
is necessary.
Out of all the good things
that you might give
your time,
energy,
and focus to,
closeness to Jesus
is the one thing
that is necessary.
It's the one thing
that you really need
more than any
of those other things.
The word necessary
here is the same word
that's used elsewhere
in the New Testament
to describe how sick people
need healing
or hungry people
need food.
It's essential.
For someone with
a debilitating illness,
the need for relief
and healing
is paramount.
There's almost nothing
that they would not do
or nothing that they
would not give up
to be rid of this
debilitating illness.
For someone who is
genuinely going hungry,
the need for food
is paramount.
Everything else
gets deprioritized.
Gotta eat.
And for followers
of Jesus,
closeness to Him
is the paramount
need of our lives.
Author Rosaria Butterfield
often says
that modern American
Christians live
in what she calls
a starvation diet
of community.
She means that we lack
relationships
and connections
in our churches.
She calls it
a starvation diet
of community.
Now when you hear
the word starvation diet,
what do you think of?
I think of World War II
soldiers in Japanese
prison camps.
You've seen the pictures,
right?
Men who were given
so little to eat
that they ended up
looking more like
walking skeletons
than living humans.
And you wonder
as you read the stories
and see the pictures
how it's possible
that they were even
able to stand up
and walk around.
A starvation diet.
And when Jesus says
that closeness to Him
is the one thing
that is necessary,
I can't help but think
that many American
Christians are living
on a starvation diet
of Jesus.
if you looked
at many churches
and you had the lenses
to see,
you might see
a bunch of walking
emaciated people.
How can you tell
am I on a starvation diet
of Jesus?
Here's one
diagnostic question.
What do you love
about Jesus?
The question is not
do you love Jesus?
It's what do you love
about Jesus?
And if nothing
or very little
comes to mind
in answer to that question,
you're probably living
on a starvation diet
of Jesus.
You're not close to Him.
And Jesus tells us
that closeness to Him
is the one thing
that is necessary
in our chaotic lives.
Three reasons
why we should choose
closeness to Jesus
over every other thing.
First of all,
closeness to Jesus
is necessary.
Second,
closeness to Jesus
is better.
Jesus says,
one thing is necessary.
Mary has chosen
the good portion.
Jesus tells us
that Mary
just straight up
made a better choice.
that term
good portion
evokes
a variety of ideas.
It's like
there are some
really good cuts
of meat
and there are
some very tough
cuts of meat
that only really work
in the slow cooker
or something like that.
One
is better
than the other.
Or in these terms,
one is a good portion,
one is not.
Or think of like
an estate
inheritance situation.
One family member
gets the car,
one family member
gets the toaster oven.
Right?
One is better
than the other.
It's a good portion.
Martha's choice
of prioritizing
all these other things
means that she's
losing out.
The better portion
is what you would choose
if you could really
see all the factors
and all the outcomes.
We've all made choices
where we've chosen
something that didn't
turn out quite like
we wanted
or something we
didn't know about
at the time
and that it wasn't
what we were hoping for.
When Jesus says
that closeness to Him
is the good portion
it means that
it's what you're
looking for
and you won't
be disappointed.
If you choose
closeness to Jesus
you'll never wish
that you could get
a redo
and make a different
choice.
Closeness to Jesus
is necessary.
It's better.
The third reason
Jesus gives us
why we should
choose closeness
to Him
over every good
thing
is that
closeness to Jesus
is secure.
He says
one thing is
necessary
Mary has chosen
the good portion
which will not
be taken away
from her.
Very, very few
things in life
are secure.
Health can be
lost in one
accident
or one
unexpected
diagnosis
from the doctor.
Finances
can be
trashed
in one
bad economic
year
or one
job loss
or one
major home
repair.
Family members
can be lost
to death
or family
conflict.
Reputation
can be lost
in one day
whether because
of the truth
or a lie.
our lives
are very
insecure.
There's almost
nothing in our
lives that's
truly secure.
But Jesus
says that if you
choose to be
close to Him
that's something
that you will
never lose.
It's secure
and He guarantees
it Himself.
Your close
relationship with
Jesus cannot be
taken away
by others
or lost to
some disaster
and Jesus
is personally
invested
in making
sure
that it
remains
yours.
You see
what happens
here
with Mary
and Jesus
as Martha
confronts them?
Have you ever
felt like you
put yourself
out there
for someone?
Made yourself
a little vulnerable?
Invested
in somebody?
Took a relational
risk?
And in the
moment of
testing
that friend
leaves you
out to dry?
When the
social pressure
is on
they take
a few steps
back?
Jesus
doesn't do
that.
Mary took
a risk
to be
close to
Jesus.
She left
her socially
expected
duties
of hospitality
and she
was bold
enough
to place
herself
among
Jesus'
disciples
sitting
at his
feet
and when
she
faces
the
prospect
of
public
humiliation
and rebuke
in front
of all
these
people
Jesus
says no
Mary's
not going to be
shamed here
no one's
sending her
back to the
kitchen
I've got
her back
Jesus
is a
really
good
friend
to have
Mary
chose
close
to
Jesus
and
Jesus
says
that
cannot
be
taken
away
from
her
I
don't
care
what
the
people
here
think
so
choose
closeness
to
Jesus
because
it's
secure
today
and this
week
I want you
to think
about this
whatever
we give
to
Jesus
and
whatever
we
receive
from
him
is
ours
forever
and
he
guarantees
it
himself
whatever
we
give
to
Jesus
and
whatever
we
receive
from
him
is
ours
forever
he
guarantees
it
so
I
say
whatever
we
give
to
Jesus
I
mean
whatever
time
and
whatever
priority
and
whatever
attention
we
give
to
Jesus
is
never
lost
we
all
know
that
there
are
plenty
of
things
that
we
can
invest
time
and
energy
and
focus
into
and
at
the
end
of
the
day
or
the
end
of
the
year
or
the
end
of
our
lives
it's
all
washed
out
didn't
come
to
anything
and
they
may
be
good
things
that
we
need
to
attend
to
but
there's
whatever
we
give
to
Jesus
whatever
time
we
invest
in
being
close
to
him
is
never
lost
it's
not
even
lost
at
the
end
of
our
lives
like
so
many
things
are
it's
ours
forever
and
whatever
we
receive
from
Jesus
is
ours
forever
so
whenever
he
draws
near
to
us
and
gives
us
comfort
and
gives
us
his
friendship
and
gives
us
hope
and
gives
us
courage
insight
into
who
he
is
that
we
didn't
have
before
when
he
helps
us
through
a
situation
that
we
can
only
endure
with
him
with
his
strength
whatever
Jesus
gives
to
us
is
ours
forever
and
he
guarantees
it
himself
whatever
we
give
to
Jesus
and
whatever
we
receive
from
him
is
ours
forever
so
choose
closeness
to
Jesus
over
every
good
thing
because
it's
necessary
because
it's
better
than
anything
else
because
it's
secure
there's
so
many
good
things
in
life
family
and
friends
meaningful
work
ministry
service
to
others
rest
food
hobbies
art
fitness
health
so
many
good
things
in
life
and
part
of
the
message
of
the
Bible
is
that
God
loves
for
us
to
engage
with
all
of
these
things
and
enjoy
them
and
find
fulfillment
in
them
he
created
them
for
us
and
the
point
of
what
Jesus
is
saying
here
in
this
text
is
definitely
not
that
we
should
avoid
doing
all
sorts
of
good
things
in
fact
look
at
the
passage
that
where
Jesus
makes
it
clear
that
he
expects
his
disciples
to be
neighbors
to
everyone
to
act
in
concrete
ways
of
care
and
service
for
them
so
the
point
is
not
that
we
avoid
doing
good
things
in
our
lives
the
point
is
not
that
we
cease
all
service
and
all
activity
but
in
light
of
God's
word
for
us
today
you
take
a
minute
to
reflect
on
your
daily
and
weekly
life
so far
this
year
we're
halfway
through
the
year
reflect
on
your
daily
and
weekly
life
so
far
this
year
and
with
a lot
of
honesty
ask
yourself
is
there
space
in
my
life
for
developing
closeness
to
Jesus
and
if
there's
not
what
do
you
need
to
deprioritize
so
that
you
can
choose
closeness
to
Jesus
over
every
other
good
thing
it's
necessary
it's
better
and
it's
going to
be yours
forever
let's
pray
father
thank
you
that
you
are
good
enough
and
big
enough
that
we
can
give
you
the
best
hope
news