July 24, 2016
Luke 10:38-42
Dr. Ricky Smith

Sermon Notes

When friends are coming over to your house does this cause stress and anxiety in your life? Do you panic and freak out a little bit at that last moment when they’re about to walk in the door? Does a little bit of stress swell up in your heart? I see some of you laughing and smiling because that is absolutely you. There’s something about being in the home of friends or friends being in your home where you truly experience community and live life. There’s something about just breaking down the barriers in the living room and kitchen where we really build relationships with one another.

I can remember growing up in our home where we spent a lot of evenings in the home with friends or friends would be over at our home. There was one family in particular that had kids the same age as my brother and I. We were really good friends. We would spend a lot of time in their homes on the evenings. The kids would go downstairs in the basement and play. I remember vividly they had boxing gloves and so we would just punch each other in the face with them. From time to time we would draw blood. Our parents would quietly sit at the kitchen table and play Uno while they discussed religion, politics, and whatever else, probably the crazy kids downstairs. Without fail every time we were standing at the door saying our goodbyes the dad would say, “Why don’t you spend the night?” It was his hospitable, courteous way of saying see you later.  We went to their house all of the time. I remember well one time my dad saying, “Okay guys we’re going over to the Martin’s house tonight. I need everybody to pack a bag, put it in the trunk, and don’t say a word.” We knew this was going to be awesome. We went through our typical routine with the kids playing downstairs punching each other in the face and parents are in the kitchen playing Uno. At the end of the night we were at the door saying our customary goodbyes and just as if on cue the father says, “Why don’t you guys spend the night?” My dad responds, “That’s a great idea! Kids go get the bags out of the car. We’re sleeping over!” The father’s jaw dropped open in shock but we had a great time.

It’s fun to have people in your homes. In the recent months we’ve had some friends from China that have been in our home several times. The collision of cultures has been absolutely amazing. They have been teaching us how to make Chinese dumplings and we’re teaching them how to make southern blueberry cobbler. It’s been a wonderful experience this exchange of cultures as we’ve been in each other’s home. Let’s just be honest though. I’ve done it and you’ve done it. When friends are coming over you want everything to be perfect and you’ve taken those last remaining things in the living room, thrown them in the closet, shut the door, and pretended that everything was perfect. Can you imagine though how much more intense you might be in preparation if you learned that Jesus was coming to your house? Today that’s exactly what happens as we look in God’s word together in Luke chapter 10.

If you’ve been with us for a while or this is your first time here, we have been walking through the book of Luke intentionally verse by verse. We are trying to understand what God is doing through the life of Christ and how we can be more like Jesus in the world. Last week we looked at the familiar parable of the Good Samaritan. This started when a lawyer tried to pin Jesus on some difficult questions going all the back to the law. We learned from that story how important it is we love God with all our heart, soul, and mind and love our neighbor as ourselves. In scholarly terms there is a phrase called pericope. This word literally means if you take a natural break of Scripture all those verses are communicating one continuous thought and make up a pericope of Scripture. Today, although we’re in a different story, a different scene, and new characters are introduced, this is actually the same pericope the same idea and thought that Jesus left us with last week with this idea of loving our neighbors and loving God. Now we see an example of where Jesus seeks to live this out himself.

1. We should welcome Jesus into our home

This passage today is filled with practical application. I’m confident that everyone of us in this room will be able to walk away today with something that we can hang on to and apply to our life. The first principle that we are going to look at is that we should welcome Jesus into our home.

Luke 10:38
Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house.

We’ll talk more about Martha specifically in just a minute but let’s follow the time line of where we are. Jesus has intentionally moved from the northern region of Galilee making his way toward Jerusalem. Why? Luke chapter 9 tells us that he was resolute, intent, some translations say he had his eyes like a flint to the cross. Jesus was about his Father’s business. God had sent him to this earth so that he could live the perfect life to pay the perfect sacrifice for our sins so that our relationship with God could be restored and our sin debt be paid. That encapsulates the story of the Gospel. It is that message that gives us hope, peace, and purpose.

Before we can talk about welcoming Jesus into our home, I think we have to pause and understand why Jesus was going to Jerusalem in the first place. You need to ask this critical question. Have you welcomed Jesus into your heart? Have you acknowledged that Jesus went on this mission to pay the price for your sins that you can be made right with God? I challenge you, I urge you, and I beg of you to consider that critical question this morning. Is Jesus welcome in your heart? Then I think we can better answer this question, are we welcoming into our homes? We contrast the poor treatment of the good Samaritan traveler that he had to the welcome and inviting treatment that Jesus has now that he is the traveler. He experiences love when he intentionally goes to the home of some close friends. Jesus chose his friends. He didn’t necessarily choose his enemies, they chose him. Some followers chose to hang out with Jesus but Jesus was very intentional choosing some close friends. Here we see some friends that Jesus chose to intentionally spend time with.

I really want you to seek to answer this question honestly. Is Jesus welcome in your home? Reflect on what I’m asking. I am not asking if you are a Christian home. I’m not asking if you identify with Christians in America. Here is a sad truth but reality. The 2014 Pew Research study said that 70.6% of Americans identify themselves as Christian. That sounds encouraging doesn’t it. Well not when you look at the flipside. The Hartford Research study says that 40% of Americans say they go to church regularly but less than 20% actually attend church on a regular basis. Do you see that disconnect? If we have 71% of Americans professing or identifying themselves as Christian yet less than 20% of Americans regularly attending church, there is a tremendous gap between what we say and what we do. This is nothing new. Please don’t make any implications. I am not necessarily saying just because you go to church you’re a Christian. I think we can infer from that statistic that there is a disconnect between what we profess and what we do. I’m convinced, if more people truly lived their life in Christian conduct or more importantly if more people welcomed Jesus into their home, we would have a different state of affairs in our country. Would you agree? What would that look like? I think Deuteronomy 4:6-8 gives us some insight into what it could look like for Jesus to be welcome in our home. I want you to pay close attention because ironically the first verse we read is exactly what Jesus addressed to this lawyer as we studied last week.

Deuteronomy 6:4-8

⁴Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one. ⁵Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.

When I read this passage and I think about the connection of welcoming Jesus into your home, the tone that I get from this is that Jesus is a part of the everyday conversation in our home. Here at Calvary we unapologetically teach, profess, and challenge that men in the home should step up and be the spiritual leaders and pastors in their home. It is their God-given responsibility and roll. Step up and do it. What does that look like? I think it looks like as parents as we’re engaging with our children we need to bring God up in conversations all the time. We need to help our kids see that their life experiences are opportunities to either tell other people about Jesus or opportunities for them to be Jesus even in their world. Is God part of conversation in your home every day? Do you willingly bring Jesus up? Do you willingly try to take circumstances and try to draw opportunities in that moment of how you can please Jesus and share him to the world around you? I’m not saying this with any arrogance or pride because I am a fallen man in a fallen home. However, religiously every night we sit down together before we go to bed, we open God’s word, we discuss it, and we pray together. It’s been an incredible opportunity to teach my kids how to study the Bible, go through catechism, to go through studying women of the Bible, or all sorts of intentionality that we can have in that moment when we’re living life and shepherding each other together. I’m not in any way trying to put myself on a pedestal. I’m just trying to give you an example of a way that you can be intentional in welcoming Jesus into your home. Perhaps you could consider that, if there’s not some regular routine part of your day where your family worships together. Five or ten minutes is all it takes but it’s an intentional time and the conversations that can flow out of that can be extremely meaningful, purposeful, and God honoring.

2. We are wired the way God made us

Once we’ve settled that Jesus truly is welcome in our heart and in our home, we can move on in this passage and realize that for some of us there’s a challenge in the way God made us. Sometimes that presents its own set of obstacles because we’re wired a certain way. We’re wired the way God made us.

Luke 10:39
And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40a But Martha was distracted with much serving…

Perhaps in these two sisters you may see yourself today. I am blessed to be the father of two beautiful daughters who take after the mother a lot. Here’s one thing that’s amazing, two people from the same gene pool can be so incredibly different. It’s amazing how God made us all uniquely different with our own personality and even in the same family we can be so different from each other. You how this is because your home is the same way, if you have siblings. Or, if you’re a parent with more than one child, you know how quickly in their life that personality starts to come out. You realize that this one is different than the last one. It’s absolutely beautiful because it’s a reminder of God’s creativity in Psalm 139 where it says he has woven us together in our mother’s womb through his miraculous power and intentionality to make us for a unique purpose and plan. So, this family is no different.

Not mentioned in this passage is their brother named Lazarus. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus are seen popping up in the synoptic Gospels over and over and over again. We learn more and more details because these are extremely close friends of Jesus. He spent a lot of time and multiple encounters with this family. In fact, this is the same family that’s mentioned in John 11 when Jesus came to raise Lazarus from the dead. It was Mary and Martha who had that exchange with Jesus where they said, “If you had just come, our brother would have not died.” This is the same family. This is the same Mary and Martha.

Martha is an Aramaic name likely meaning ‘lady’. Some scholars believe 2 John was actually written to her. Mary is who we read of in John chapter 12 when the lady comes in and pours expensive oil on the feet of Jesus. It is the same Mary. Deep love, commitment, and devotion they had toward one another. In this verse I think it’s important that we pause and we notice the posture of Mary. Where do we find her? She is seated at the Lord’s feet listening to his teaching. This posture is the position of a disciple, follower, or student. We see it elsewhere in Scripture in Luke chapter 9 when Jesus had healed the demoniac in the Garasene region. We read that this man was clothed in his right mind sitting at the feet of Jesus in the posture of a student wanting to learn. We read in Acts chapter 22 where Paul is trying to defend his position as apostle. He describes where Gamileel taught him and he sat at the feet of this great teacher. Why? It is the position and posture of a student. Mary had the same attitude. She wanted to soak it in to learn all she could and take full advantage of this opportunity that Jesus the Son of God, the Master Teacher, was in their home.

We can learn a lot from these two ladies in the way that God wired them by picking up what we learn from this verse but also from things that we learned elsewhere in Scripture about them. Mary was very contemplative. She was words based. She was a type B personality. She would wait and bask in the presence of God focused on relationships and a full heart. Martha however was active, works based, type A personality, with a full schedule and determined to check everything off her list. She was dedicated to prepare a presence for God. Perhaps you can identify yourself with one of these two. Ironically it wouldn’t be surprising if we look at your spouse and you’re punching each other because one of you is more of a Martha and the other’s probably more of a Mary. God made all of us different. Some of us in this room are extroverts and some are introverts. Some of us are right brain and some are left brain. Some are controlling and some are very passive and submissive. We’re all wired uniquely. I would encourage you, if you’ve not done it, to take a test like Myers-Briggs, Right Path or String Finder 2.0. They are great ways that you can learn more of the way that you are hardwired. Here’s what you’ll find. In those moments you will learn that you have some areas that you are naturally strong and some areas that you are naturally weak. While we can’t change our personality, our character and our integrity can help us become stronger in those areas where we’re naturally weak. Here’s the danger point. We have to be careful not to allow our weaknesses to become an excuse when we actually step into sin. You’ve seen this happen before. Someone will go off on somebody and be rude and obnoxious. They’ll say, “I can’t help it. That’s just the way I’m made.”  Or they may say, “You’re going to have to forgive me but this is how I was brought up.” Then they will step into a moment of the flesh and sin. Shame on us when we use our hardwiring as an excuse for actually not exercising self-control. That is sin.

3. Weariness can lead to regret

What we see in Mary when we move to this next verse is while we can appreciate our uniqueness maybe she slips into sin when her hardwiring becomes an excuse. She is obviously Type A, high strung personality but her weariness can lead to some regret. We see that perhaps Martha has a little bit of a temper.

Luke 10:40b
And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”

This is courageous don’t you think! The language here is describing her not as though she walked over but as though she suddenly jumps up in his face. Maybe that she standing over him with a confrontational posture. This is pretty aggressive. It’s as if she’s saying, “Why is Mary sitting here doing nothing and my fingers are working to the bone.” You can almost read into this tone that maybe as a sister she’s tried to correct Mary on this before. Now she thinks, “Jesus, I’ve had no luck. Why don’t you give it a shot and see if you can get her in line?” Here she comes in an aggressive, temperamental, and demanding way to Jesus. Do you ever allow your emotions or personal drive to get the best of you and maybe lead you to regret? Here’s a reality. Stress, overwork, and anxiety can be demanding. It can cause us to react or respond in a way that we regret. Just the other day I was guilty of this in my life. My wife had to calmly say, “Dear, I think you’ve probably reached your limit haven’t you.” The reality was that the stress and anxiety of my work and my pace had caused me to be ill tempered, short, and frankly rude. Have you ever done that or am I the only guilty one? We’ve all done that before.

What we learn here is that Martha was distracted. She was pulled away for something. I’m sure she was pulled away for some important reasons like they wanted to eat. It was important that somebody did those things. So what Martha was doing isn’t all bad. Essentially what she was saying was, “If you cared, Jesus, you would do something about this.” Paul reminds us in Galatians chapter 6 to not become weary in doing good. Even in doing good we can become weary and that weariness can lead to regret. The reality is our labor to overextend ourselves with good things can cause us to miss the one great thing.

4. Worship like Mary, and work like Martha

Perhaps the lesson that we need to learn today is that we should live our life in a way where we worship like Mary and work like Martha. Both are good examples. Both are good things to do.

Luke 10:41-42
But 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.”

We know that Martha was anxious, troubled, and distracted. The Lord so calmly deals in response to that worry. Let’s just be honest. Anxiety and stress is real and affects each of us differently. There’s no doubt about it. For some of us it is all consuming to a point that we may be diagnosed with a disorder. For others it may just be the stress and pace of life. It comes and goes at different times. Here are some things I do know. Statistically speaking, over the past 50 years there is 500% increase in diagnosed anxiety disorders among children. That’s crazy! Our principals will tell you that in our school more and more every year we work with children who are overwhelmed with anxiety in their life. It’s a real problem. Martha’s temperament I think made her have that bent toward anxiety. Here’s the deal though. Whether or not you have a diagnosis or disorder, everyone in the room wrestles with anxiety, stress, and being overburdened. Do you ever wake up in the middle the night with your stomach in knots and your mind racing? You can’t turn it off and rest because there’s so much going on and so much you have to do. In fact, let’s just have a little personal confession time. How many of you had one of those nights at least once this week? Why is that? Maybe it’s because there’s so much we’re trying to consume, trying to manage on our own, or so much we have to do it’s overwhelming at times. It’s the job, the children, the finances, the infertility treatment, the pressure, the weight, the disease, the future the uncertainty, and the unknowns. It bears on us. It weighs on us. It’s heavy and we all feel it. George Washington said, “Worry is the interest paid by those who borrow trouble.” We get so consumed with our lists and we think, “If I could just get the first four things checked off, I’ll feel better.” Immediately as we check those four things off six more things come on to the list. It is like the email inbox that never gets completely empty. It constantly regenerates itself. You know what you call that? Life! It’s difficult, painful, and without Jesus it’s absolutely miserable.

Notice how Jesus calms her down. He says, “Martha, Martha”. He repeats her name twice. This is interesting because Jesus does this elsewhere in Scripture. it was when in Luke chapter 22 when he says, “Simon, Simon”. He repeats his name twice. It’s when Saul is on the road to Damascus in Acts chapter 9. Jesus appears in front of him and he says, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Every time we see Jesus referencing a name twice repeatedly there’s almost this tone of pitying love. Here’s what I get from that. He cares too deeply to allow me to stay in that place. He calls my name and gets my attention. He interjects himself because he cares. It’s almost as if he’s saying in verse 42, “Hey you’re so consumed with doing so many things it’s all unnecessary just one thing will do.” Let’s look at what is happening. Yes, she’s welcoming Jesus into her home. Yes, Jesus wasn’t alone. Yes, there were a lot of mouths to feed. Yes, she had this hospitable nature and wanted to do a good job. Yes, she had to be in control. Yes, I’m sure she was frustrated that she was working and her sister was not.

In the big picture of the day the Son of God was present. This was one of those divine moments. It’s as if Jesus is saying, “That can wait. The dishes can wait. The list can wait. Right now this is the most important moment. Let’s just be together.” Mary for herself chose the good singular part. Martha for herself chose the many and was missing the one. You and I can let life control us or we can accept Jesus’s invitation to sit down and rest at his feet. What does that look like? Of this passage Mark Driscoll said this, “Mary’s heart is needed and Martha’s hands are needed.” Over work can lead to stress, anxiety, anger, and disease. We live in a fallen Martha world. God intended us to be in a Mary world with Martha moments. In our fallen world it’s as if we live in a Martha world and fight every day for those Mary moments. It takes time. Intentional investment of time for us to recalibrate ourselves, to recalibrate our world, to recalibrate our schedule and our routine to welcome Jesus into our homes. We need to recognize the way that we are wired and what our default mode may be that instead of using that as an excuse to not spend time with Jesus we have to intentionally work to recalibrate and focus ourselves. We have to take time to sit down at his feet. To love God is to sit at his feet. To love God is to know that I must rest, I must wait, and I must linger in his presence. To love God is to find time to read and meditate on his word allowing it to soak in.

Here’s the reality. We have a lot of work to do. All of us are overwhelmed but it will also be there tomorrow and the next day and the next day. When those moments and opportunities present themselves we have to have the awareness to see that God moment and let that wait and focus on the presence and the opportunity to sit at his feet. I think it’s healthy for us to recognize the rhythm of day the God created the world with to begin with. If you read Genesis when God created the world, how does he describe it? The evening and the morning was the first day. The evening and the morning was the second day. Perhaps we can derive from that that there should be some intentionality on how we are spending our evening. Maybe some intentionality on how we’re spending our evening will have a positive impact on how we spend our day. This perhaps could be refreshing. Are your evenings planned out well? The evening provides an opportunity for you to prioritize the good portion of the day. Spending time with family, spending time in Bible study, spending time in prayer, and sleeping. Think for a minute, if we could flip the switch, prioritize our evenings to be more reflective perhaps our day to be more affective. If we’re more intentional to have those Mary moments while we’re living in a Martha world, perhaps that is the greatest challenge.

Are we capable of worshiping like Mary and then working like Martha? The big question for you and myself today is then how do we respond? We believe unapologetically that when God’s Word is presented it demands a response. We have suggested some ways you may respond but ultimately God may be pricking your heart in a specific area. You need to listen to what he’s telling you and respond obediently to his command. We can’t escape the reality that in our fallen world we have to live counterculture. In the rat race of life, if we could pause, reflect, and sit at the feet of Jesus, imagine the perspective that we can have as we strive to be Jesus in the world.

Next Steps

Commit to make Jesus the Lord of your life, and of your home.

– Stop allowing your personality to be an excuse for sinful conduct

+ Choose to worship like Mary, and work like Martha

Discussion Questions

1. Describe a household where Jesus is clearly welcome? Is your home an environment where Christ would be welcomed?
2. Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus, to suggest a formal mentorship in Jewish culture. What is the value of godly mentorship in today’s culture, and what does that look like in your life?
3. We live in a fallen world that prioritizes a Martha mindset. How do we practically fight against this and prioritize worship and godly rest?
4. How can you better plan your routine so that you prioritize that matters most? And, how does accountability play a role to keep you on track with this spiritual discipline?