The Only Necessary Thing

Jesus Asking: A Lenten Series by Seedbed

Luke 10:38-42 (NIV) 

38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” 

41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” 

Transcript
Please forgive any errors in this automatic transcript. Thank you!

Now, I don't know about you, but when I read the story of Mary and Martha with Jesus as their guest, I pretty strongly pick a side which is going to say a lot about the unsanctified parts of me, because at first glance, when I read the stories ever since I was a child, by the way, my first instinct is to be like, Martha was right, Mary, get up and go do things. Like, don't lie because that means right. Doesn't that mean that Martha has double the work? Because Mary's just sitting there learning things like at the feet of Jesus, but, you know, like she's not helping. Come on, Mary. Well, when we take a closer look at what's really going on here, we see that not only is Martha not in the right, but she has a lot to learn from her sister sitting at Mary's feet and considering I seem to side with Martha, I've got a little bit to learn from Mary, too. I want you to imagine that you are in Mary and Martha's living room. You are there with them. This is how I imagine the scene unfolding. Martha offers Jesus the best chair. He's like, oh, that's not necessary. And she's like, sit in the best chair. He's like, okay, who am I to tell you otherwise? Um, and so he sits in the best chair and she's running around. She's getting, I don't know, maybe queso and chips, maybe not. Uh, that's what I would be doing. If you ever come to my house, I will be like Martha stirring around and there probably will be Mexican food because it's my comfort food. And so she's scurrying around, she's getting everything done. We just have Martha fluttering around like a like a bumble bee or maybe like a honeybee. And we have Mary just sitting there just staring up at Jesus like he is the best thing she's ever seen in his life, in her life. And to be clear, he is. But we got Martha over here like a honeybee flying around. And Mary's just sitting there listening, like really listening right now. Is that the time? So I wonder, I want to know where you would be. Would you be running around like a honeybee like me and Martha? Would you be on the floor listening to Jesus? Or if I wasn't helping Martha, I would have gone and found the dog. I don't know if they had a dog, but I'm pretending. Okay? We're pretending that they had a dog. I would have gone and found it. Um. Let's see, what kind of dog would Mary and Martha had? Um. I'm feeling like a Labrador. Yeah. So I would have gone. I'd be petting the Labrador.Um. And or maybe that's where you'd be. So where are you in this living room. I want you to imagine being here. I'm going to remind you throughout the sermon that we are in a living room together. And what we're about to witness is two frameworks that we have talked about for transformation. And we're going to see them lived out in real time. So as a reminder, we talked about this three fold movement of transformation, which begins with consecration. Consecration is a fancy word for you Present your body to God as a living sacrifice. You present your whole self to God. You are the sacrifice. You're presenting yourself and you're saying, I am ready for you to transform me. I am willing, but God is the one doing the transformation and then demonstration. That's when the actions come. I've given myself to God. He's done his thing, and now my actions and my words and everything about me are demonstrating it. But it's coming from the work that God did in me. That's the threefold movement of learning to live like Jesus. But our instinct is to go backwards. And when we go backwards, all the words change their meaning, especially consecration. Let's see what happens when we start with demonstration like Martha does here. We're doing all the things and we're hoping that it'll change us. We're gonna fake it till we make it. Do we feel better? We think maybe I've been changed. Um, we're gonna we're gonna have extra discipline. Do the right thing. You know, get better language, use better. Um, say nice things to people. I'm going to do it, and then I'll be changed, and I'll start acting like a better Christian. And then consecration. This is why it says it changes its meaning. It's no longer consecration because then we're presenting ourselves to God, not to not as a sacrifice, but like as a presentation. AM I enough? Did I do it right? Do I need to go back to demonstration and try again? Try harder. Do it a little better this time? What do I need to change? How's my performance review going? Consecration loses its meaning. It really turns into judgment. But when we consecrate ourselves first, it's Jesus that the father is judging, not us, is it? Performance review was exceptional. And so when we give ourselves to Jesus, we allow God to transform us. We're not working harder to transform ourselves. So that's the backdrop we're in. Remember, we're at Martha's house. We're in her living room. We're going to witness these two frameworks in real time. And these two sisters, they are doing what they know best to love Jesus. I want to be honest, Martha's intentions were pretty good. She was trying to do the right thing, but she was working awfully hard of her own will based on her own cultural expectations of a good hostess. Rather than realizing Jesus is in my living room. I don't know who your your idol is or you have a favorite, a person, maybe in your career field, or a favorite actor, or a favorite author. If they were in your living room, you would be probably tempted to make sure everything's right and looks nice so that they have a good time. But what you probably should be doing is listening to everything that comes out of their mouth, because there's a reason you idolize them. Listen to them. And this isn't just a celebrity. This is Jesus. They're trying - They're both trying the best they know how to show their love to their Savior. Well, one of them starts with demonstration rather than consecration. And so we're going to talk about Martha first. Martha is carrying the burden of being the perfect hostess, because what higher pressure is there than the Messiah sitting in your living room? Suddenly you're noticing all the dust on all the baseboards. You're realizing that one thing you forgot to pick up and you got you got to fix it. Everything's got to be perfect. It's got to be fixed. The Messiah is here in my living room. Who's here? And so she's carrying all that. But here's the thing. I think that she's carrying more than just the burdens of hosting even someone as big as the Messiah. I have a feeling that the burdens Martha carries are the same burdens we carry. Perhaps she was carrying some disappointment, maybe some frustration she had with Mary twenty years ago. And now Mary not helping right now is triggering her being upset about that. Perhaps things didn't quite work out like she was expecting things to. This week in any other setting, she's disappointed, she's frustrated, and she's carrying those burdens, too. And when we're carrying those burdens of the world, it makes even just the, the, the simple things like hosting feel huge. And maybe she's a bit like us coming into church today. We all have worries and concerns on our hearts. Perhaps you're worried about your finances. Perhaps you're thinking about your children or your spouse or your your parents. You're thinking about these people that you love, and there is part of you that is. I don't mean this negatively, but burdened by them because you love them. And so you bring that with you to church. And I think Martha brought that with her into her living room with Jesus. It's so much more than just a presenting issues. I saw this reminds me of a comic I saw where someone tries to tear off the paper towel thing in the bathroom, and it just tears a corner and she got. The little person goes, oh, this setback is amusing. And then the next scene is them just bursting into tears because that's how it happens. Sometimes it just takes one little thing that's actually not very important. And then all those burdens just come out at once. Oh, not one more thing I can handle. One more thing. Why? If it's just got to quit piling on. I'm so glad Jesus is here. But gosh, he's creating a lot of work for me. It's. I wonder what burdens you have brought here to church, what burdens we are imagining you have in Martha's living room as you're sitting next to Mary, running around with Martha, or sitting with the dog, watching the whole thing unfold. What burdens are you carrying today? And that's not rhetorical. You can write that down in your in your bulletin. There are places you can write these things down, and I hope you will. What burdens did you carry to church today? And the problem is sometimes our burdens are church related. I don't pray enough. I don't know that I've ever fasted in my life or gosh, I want to read my Bible, but with what time? Have you seen my kids schedule? Have you seen my schedule? Have you seen us try to work them all together? With what time? What does God want me to do here? There's just not enough time in the day. It's just not enough time. And I'll tell you those feelings of I should be doing more. I ought to be doing more. Those are a demonstration first mindset. God wants you to consecrate yourself. He wants you to bring yourself to him, and he'll show you how to do the demonstrating. Martha was demonstration first. Mary was consecration first. One of them is from Martha's own efforts. Mary was leaning on Jesus. But what is the fruit? Okay, if we do the demonstration first life, which is our instinct, and we're just like, that's easy, because I understand it and we keep going, what are the fruits? And again, Martha just beautifully demonstrates this for us. You notice she kind of yells at Jesus, Mary, Mary sitting in here not doing anything, and you're just letting her tell her to come help me. This should be if you've ever been praying and you say something truly honest to God, and then you're like, I should not have said that to the God of the universe. It's okay. God wants you. He wants you. He wants you to be honest. You don't have to demonstrate how good you are. First, just come as you are. This was actually Martha's first good step. Even though she was frustrated with Jesus and her sister and just everything. This was the first smart step Martha took when she came to him and said, you don't even care, because what she did right was that she was talking to Jesus. But the fruit of being a demonstration first person is, um, you get mad at other people. She's mad at Jesus because he's not making Mary help her. She's mad at Mary because she's just sitting there like a bum. And I wonder if maybe she's a little mad at herself too, because she already has a lot going on in her world, just like everybody has in their world. And now pile on top of that, her sister and Jesus, two of the people she loves most in this world, don't even seem to care about her. And so she's now that this isn't working, she's trying so hard, but it's not working. I wonder if you have ever felt that way. I'm trying so hard. Why is this not working? I was once, um. Worked in, uh, actually, audio video production for another church before my call to pastoral ministry. And it was during Covid. And we had, we had all this fancy, this fancy setup for a modern worship service. And we had a slider. I had a camera and it slid. It looked really cool, but trying to set it up by myself for the first time, I just could not figure it out. And this thing was just not working. I called Phil because I was so mad it wasn't working and, um, complained to him and I kept trying, I kept trying, I kept trying, and then I cut myself and I bled on it. I called Phil again and I was like saying all kinds of things. And he goes, it's okay. You bled on it now. Now it's gonna work. Gosh, it worked five minutes later. It's like, that's ridiculous. But it's not about us bleeding on it. That's that's the blood of Jesus. He's the one that's bled to make things work for us. But we're a lot more comfortable sometimes thinking that I need to be the one bleeding on it. I need to be busy. I need to be doing things. I need to be showing God how much I love him. I need to be showing other people what a good Christian I am, even though I don't really feel like a good Christian all the time. But I need to try because I want to set a good example to other people so that they want to be a Christian too. That's exhausting. Oh my gosh, that's exhausting. And yet we continue in this demonstration for life because it's comfortable, even though it's uncomfortable, we're used to it. And so in a way, it's easy, despite the fact that it's just draining us. Now, as we move to talking about Mary as a consecration, first person, I want you to know this sermon is not about quitting your job. So you have time to pray twenty four hours a day. By the way, I'm a pastor and I don't pray twenty four hours a day. Sleep is good. God made you for sleep. This is not a sermon about cutting out the extra things in your life that are keeping you so busy that you're not coming to the feet of Jesus. This is not about even trying to make you less like a honey bee. This sermon is about changing your relationship to Jesus, and that's what we're going to see with Mary. Mary sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. It's so simple. She sat at the Lord's feet. She chose Jesus over the expectations. She chose Jesus, even though I'm sure she felt Martha's laser eye baring into her. She chose Jesus over that judgement. She chose Jesus. This is a good example for any of us who think that in order to be a good Christian, we must be liked and that if we're not liked and not being a good Christian. Safe to say, you're going to see both Mary and Martha in heaven. And Martha was judging Mary for how she was being a Christian for following Jesus. So sometimes when we're doing things right, people aren't going to like it. That doesn't mean it's wrong. And we can know that because we're sitting at the feet of Jesus and looking at him. He's the priority. And that's really what this is here. We're watching Martha run around like the like the the honeybee. Mary is sitting, taking it all in. You and I were watching this come together because this happened. And the difference between Mary and Martha was that Martha prepared her home. But Mary had prepared her heart. Martha prepared her home, and she did. She worked hard. Mary prepared her heart. And so, because she had prepared her heart, I'm sure she had many things that she was worried about, too. She brought them all to the feet of Jesus. And yet Martha wants to take that away. She needs Mary to be in the chaos with her. We kind of like it when people suffer with us a little bit. And so Martha says, Make Mary come to my side. And Jesus says, no, you're going to come to Mary's side. What many things are you carrying? I get the phrase many things from this. Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things and she was, I'm sure, and I'm sure she was a very - There are always many things. Even Jesus, who didn't get overly worried or upset because he handled things perfectly. He also had many things. He was fully aware that he was heading to the cross. That's got a way on your spirit. And the truth is that many things aren't going to go away. This sermon is not about how you know how to cut down things in your life. There could be. Maybe that is something you need to do, but that's not what this is about. This is about changing your relationship to Jesus versus the many things. There's truly only one thing is necessary, or the version we read, or indeed only one. But few things are needed. Or indeed only one. There's only one necessary thing. And we maybe we're all on Martha's side now. We're like, no, there's many necessary things, Jesus things, you know, we gotta. Have you seen my pile of laundry? I think that has to get done. Um, have you seen my to do list at work? I'm behind. Have you seen my finances? Have you seen my relationship to my family? It's not very good. Have you seen. We have this list and we're like, no, Jesus. There's actually plenty of things that matter a lot. Not only - , but Jesus isn't saying that stuff doesn't matter. He's encouraging us to change our relationship. It's not Jesus and a bunch of things on our to do list. It's just Jesus and the things. It's two things. There's always going to be things. There's always going to be things in our life that are keeping us busy and distracted if we let them. But when we put Jesus above that, above the many things. When we consecrate ourselves to him, actually believe, that makes the many things more manageable. And here's why. If you are running around trying to figure out what the best thing to do is on your to do list. How to start. Where to start. It's, you know, you might have a pretty good order about it. That's good. But if you're sitting at the feet of Jesus, he can go. That is what's more important right now. And you're like, that is at the bottom of my list. Yes, that, but you're sitting at the feet of Jesus. You're consecrating yourself. You've given yourself to him. And so you say, okay, well, I'm gonna obey. That's the demonstration. Okay. If Jesus says so. And actually, I have a story about this. I was preparing this sermon and y'all know, I was sick earlier this week, so I was a little behind. It was Thursday afternoon. I was really feeling the pressure. I'm like, okay, let's, let's, you know, let's it's time to work on the sermon. We gotta do this. It's Thursday. And I sense very strongly God saying, no, you need to go read this book that has nothing, dear Lord, that has nothing to do with the sermon. That is, it's it's it's got something I care about and it is on my list, but it's, it's pretty low on the list. That's why it's gone on my shelf for a few months. Just know you need to you need to go read this book. So I'm like, okay, well, I'm preaching a sermon about consecration and listening to what Jesus has to say, so I guess I should do that. So I go and I read this book and there it was addressing the many things that were burdening my heart. All I had to do was listen to Jesus. And you know what? When I did get around to the sermon, my heart felt lighter. I was ready to preach this text because I had given myself to Jesus and said yes. Once again, we're imagining we're in Mary and Martha's living room. And Jesus says two main statements, one to one to Martha and one about Mary. Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is necessary. I want you to imagine Jesus saying that to you, especially if you're like me and you relate pretty hard to Martha. Leah. Leah, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is necessary. How might you react if you if you hear that. Would you be like, oh yeah, you're right. Or will you be a little bit like Martha and be like. Have you seen my list? He's saying, It's Leah. It's okay, it's okay. You are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is necessary. I love how gentle he is. Like, Martha just kind of chewed him out and tried to boss around the Messiah. And he's so. He's so gentle. And then he says this. Mary has chosen what is best, and it will not be taken away from her. And I want you to say that to yourself too. Imagine Jesus saying it about you. Leah has chosen what is best and it will not be taken away from her. Charlotte has chosen what is best and it will not be taken away from her. Crystal's chosen what is best and it will not be taken away from her. Ron is chosen with his best and it would not be taken away from him. Put your name in there again and your bullets. There's a place for you to do that. Imagine Jesus saying this to you, and I want you to think about which of these statements do you think you need to hear in this moment? Because the truth is, we're in that living room, and I'm now imagining Jesus turning to us and directing those statements to us. Are we worried and distracted because we're doing a demonstration First life, or have we chosen what is best? And despite the expectations, despite the judgements, it will not be taken away from us. It's not about getting rid of the many things. In fact, the study that I used, Jesus asking. He points out that when you put yourself close to Jesus, sometimes the many things actually increase. He says that, uh, Jesus has enormous gravity and it pulls others in. But it's not about the many things. It's about sitting at the feet of Jesus and turning to him and saying, where do you want me? Where do we go? Where are we going now? And listening to him, even if it doesn't make sense, even if he tells you to read a book instead of work on your sermon or whatever your version is. It's about changing our proximity from the many things that I was running around like a honeybee, to sitting at Jesus feet and listening to him. I think what we'll find as we go through this is you might be at work and you're just doing normal work things. But because you started your day going, Jesus, I give myself to you. I'm a living Can sacrifice. I'm ready for your transformation. Even if that's all you say. That's all you have time for. You can do that in the car, and you might be at work, and you're having an interaction with somebody, and you just sense God kind of tapping you on the shoulder, like you need to check on them. Like, I have a long list of things to do. Dear Lord, no, you need to. This is Kingdom work. You need to go check on them. You might even feel prompted to pray for someone, which I know depending on what kind of work you're doing, that could be complicated. But you can always pray in your own heart. It life might look a little different doing the same things, the same many things that keep us busy. And yet Jesus tapping us on the shoulder and said, hey, go do that. And it's not demonstration first. This is this is the transformation because it's Jesus work in us. So we're in Martha's living room. Are you sitting at the feet of Jesus? Are you scurrying around? Are you watching things unfold? Where are you? And are you ready to move next to Mary and sit with her and see? Jesus is the only thing that matters. Not because the other things don't matter, but because Jesus is the priority. He. He tops it all and he can tell you what matters next. But it all starts with Jesus. And here's the thing. We've been imagining ourselves in Martha's living room. But I know that's imagination. But Jesus is living in you, which is even more intimate than a living room. Are you ready to to present yourself to him and let him be the necessary thing and direct you and transform you through him through Jesus? Jesus is blood on it. It's going to work. But we gotta we gotta trust him.