There is definitely more than one thing in our lives. Each of us have many stressors, lots of responsibilities, varied interests, multiple desires, but only one NEED.
This message is the first in a 5-part series called “One Thing”. The goal of this series is to focus our lives on what matters. This message is from Luke 10:38-42. It was preached by Ryan Rogers at the Palmer SDA Church on September 5, 2020.
My family has a reunion each August. We all get together on the property where my dad and his siblings were raised. It’s where my grandma was raise too. We set up tents and RV’s on the lawn and camp out for a long weekend. We were just there a month ago. And my sister and her family were there and they were shopping for a freezer. They had ordered one but it was months out and they had some things that needed to be frozen right away. As we all sat around the campfire my brother-in-law was diligently calling every store that could possibly have a freezer in stock. But when the world gets shut down a lot of our production does too. Nobody had a freezer.
Just then someone around that campfire had an idea. There were a couple of freezers right there, in the basement of my grandparent’s home. And one of them wasn’t being used. So we all went down there. We didn’t all need to go, but we did. We went for one thing, a freezer. But there was more than just one thing sitting there in the basement not being used. When we walked into the basement we found ourselves in a family reunion rummage sale. Nobody wanted the couch but the rocking chair was claimed. The old dresser that belonged to my grandma would work well for my niece but we weren’t quite sure if my uncle was done using it. We were pretty sure the old wooden Nortic Ski exercise machine should just be donated to the Goodwill but there was a possibility that my aunt wanted it, or was it her brother? Nobody really knew for sure.
I wasn’t shopping. So I just started moving things around to clear a path to the freezer. But we weren’t ready for the freezer. We were waiting for decisions to be made about what would be taken, where it would go and when and how. There were more people there than is helpful for making decisions. The room was a buzz with distractions, family heirlooms, multiple conversations at one time, the scraping sound that an old treadmill makes when it is pushed across a cement floor(watch your toes everyone!). Imagine your family reunion crowded into the family basement.
And you know how kids have a way of saying what needs said? I have a niece who just turned 7 years old this week. She can make really loud noises. Above all of our discussion and movement she yelled out, “What are we doing?”. She wanted some clarity. There was a bunch of talk and a bunch of motion, but she couldn’t figure out what it was all about. It was the perfect question. And the honest answer was, “We’re not really sure yet”.
Whenever any group gets together to do something, someone needs to ask that question. We get so caught up in the process that we lose clarity about the purpose.
So, what are we doing church? We are in a time of transition. It feels a bit like moving furniture around in a basement at family reunion. There is a lot of motion and a lot of talk but we need clarity, individually and as a church.
This search for clarity is our focus for the next 5 weeks as we go through a sermon series called “one thing”.
We will hear the man who was born blind say to the Jewish leaders, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” John 9:25
We will hear Jesus say to the rich young man “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Mark 10:21
We will read a Psalm of David that cries out, “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after”. Psalm 27:4
We will read what Paul wrote to the believers in Philippi, “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.” Philippians 3:13
And we will begin today with the words of Jesus, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Luke 10 :41-42
How many things are on your to do list this week? How about your wish list?
There is definitely more than one thing in our lives. Each of us have many stressors, lots of responsibilities, varied interests, multiple desires, but only one NEED.
HERE IS THE STORY…
VERSE 38 NOW AS THEY WENT ON THEIR WAY, JESUS ENTERED A VILLAGE. AND A WOMAN NAMED MARTHA WELCOMED HIM INTO HER HOUSE.
It starts with “Now as they went..”. Jesus was on the move. There is a transition in the story of Jesus that is noted in Luke 9:51. I say, “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.” His ministry in Galilee was over. He was beginning his slow ascent to Jerusalem for the Passover where He would be crucified. In Luke 9-18 there are a whole bunch of stories that are only told in Luke. These are the final 6 months of His life. And it is a time reserved for teaching. Luke is not concerned with details of location and chronology. He doesn’t even bother to give us the name of the village, but we know it was Bethany (John 1:1), a village two miles from Jerusalem (John 11:18). Luke gives his attention to the lessons Jesus was teaching. And this story describes the posture that can hear these teachings.
Martha welcomed him. We know the family. Mary is her sister. Lazarus was the brother that would later be resurrected from the dead (John 11). We know that they were close to Jesus. But this is the first mention of them in the Gospels. Perhaps this was the first time them met. But they made a deep connection. And it was because of Martha’s hospitality that He joined them.
VERSE 39 AND SHE HAD A SISTER CALLED MARY, WHO SAT AT THE LORD’S FEET AND LISTENED TO HIS TEACHING.
We see a bit more of their different personalities in John 11:20, after Lazarus died. It says, “So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house.”. Martha was a really active person. Mary was ok sitting.
AND SHE SAT AT JESUS FEET.
Acts 22:3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day.
Luke 8:35 Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid.
It’s the position of a disciples and we keep finding Mary there!
She was at the feet of Jesus in her pain. When she was mourning her brother’s death “Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” (John 11:32).
She was at the feet of Jesus for worship, “Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. (John 12:3)
She was at the feet of Jesus to listen. There is something so right about that. Speak Lord, you’re servant is listening! Jesus said in Luke 8:21, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”. I hope that this is happening for you right now. I hope you are hearing God speak to you. I hope that there is some part of your day that you listen to God.
The time she spent listening at His feet made it a natural place to go with her pain and her worship.
It is easy to miss those opportunities. That’s what happened to Martha.
VERSE 40 BUT MARTHA WAS DISTRACTED WITH MUCH SERVING. 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.”
You know what it is like when you have company over. I’ll speak for myself. I am a messy person. My preparation for guests is often a frantic clean up just before they show up. Then I apologize for the mess, as if that is the worst is ever gets. And I don’t tell them what it looked like a ½ an hour earlier. Hosting takes a bit of effort. Now imagine that your guest is Jesus. It might require us to take some trash out. We might feel the need to put a few things in the closet. It is a big deal to host Jesus and Martha is distracted.
That Greek word (perispaó) literally means “to be pulled away”. What is pulling you away? How many emails are in your inbox? What hobbies and entertainment are taking your attention?
NOT EVERYTHING THAT DISTRACTS US IS A BAD THING. BUT IT IS ALWAYS A BAD THING TO BE DISTRACTED FROM JESUS.
Martha was not distracted with sinful stuff. It wasn’t pronography or materialism. It was service. The Bible commands us to show hospitality(1 Peter 4:9). Good things can distract us from Jesus. Service is not the one thing. It is something that grows out of the one thing.
WHEN WE GET STRESSED, WE GET STUPID.
Martha questioned if Jesus cared. How ridiculous is that? Has your stress ever made you question? This is the opposite of how it should be. We should cast our cares on Jesus because He cares(1 Peter 5:7), not let our care lead us to question if He cares.
Martha starts telling God what to do, “tell her to help me”. Our stress leads us to pray things like, “God you need to give me this job”, or “make this pain stop”. When you are stressed, what you need is to sit at His feet and listen to Him, not to walk in the room and tell Him what to do.
This only happens when we have listened to our stress and have not been listening at the feet of Jesus.
41 BUT THE LORD ANSWERED HER, “MARTHA, MARTHA, YOU ARE ANXIOUS AND TROUBLED ABOUT MANY THINGS…
The worry sermons was a few weeks ago, but it is still bad!
In the Review and Herald on April 7, 1904, Ellen White summarized this verse with these words, “He tells her not to allow the cares of the household to disturb the peace of the soul.”
Being “anxious” and “troubled” is connected to the “many things” not the “one thing”.
Imagine a pitchfork. There is a side that has one thing(a handle) and a side that has many things(sharp prongs). Which side makes you more anxious? More on the pitchfork later!
VERSE 42 …BUT ONE THING IS NECESSARY. MARY HAS CHOSEN THE GOOD PORTION, WHICH WILL NOT BE TAKEN AWAY FROM HER.”
It is better to be with Jesus than to do things for Jesus.
He doesn’t tell her it is not important, just not necessary. Consider your whole list of important things. If there is anything on that list other than “being with Jesus” tell yourself, “that’s important, but it is not needed”. Not that we should disregard the important, but we should never let it keep us from the necessary. I have often heard of the need to differentiate the urgent from the important. Go one step further. Differentiate the important from the necessary. And guard that one thing that is needed.
What is the one things needed for? There are other needed things. Fuel is needed for your car. Sleep is needed for health. But this one thing is needed for spiritual life.
So what is it? There are many different Biblical descriptions of purpose. They don’t all used the same words.
- Matthew 28:19, “go ye therefore and makes disciples”.
- Micah 6:8, “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”
- Galatians 5:6, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.”
- Ecclesiastes 12:13, “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”
- Galatians 6:15, “For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor circumcision, but a new creation.”
Hey! There is more than just one thing. What about the 3 angels message? What about service? All these fit under the one necessary thing, being with Jesus. They are expressions of it.
Well, we can see what Mary did. She sat at the feet of Jesus and listened. So we could say it is discipleship, or prayer, or quiet time. I am articulating the “one thing” as “being with Jesus”. That is the answer to the questions, “what are we doing?”. It is not just good, it is essential!
That one thing needs to be understood the in framework of glory and love.
Glory: This is ultimate purpose (1 Corinthians 10:31, Colossians 3:17).
Love: This is the greatest command (Matthew 22:34-40; 1 Corinthians 13:13).
The one thing is a glory thing and a love thing. It is never going to be not that. Being with Jesus is for His glory and by his love. If is not love it is not right.
The “one thing” that Martha needed was a calm, devotional spirit, a deeper anxiety for knowledge concerning the future, immortal life, and the graces necessary for spiritual advancement. She needed less anxiety for the things which pass away, and more for those things which endure forever. Jesus would teach His children to seize every opportunity of gaining that knowledge which will make them wise unto salvation. The cause of Christ needs careful, energetic workers. There is a wide field for the Martha’s, with their zeal in active religious work. But let them first sit with Mary at the feet of Jesus. Let diligence, promptness, and energy be sanctified by the grace of Christ; then the life will be an unconquerable power for good.
Desire of Ages 525
It’s a choice! Mary chose the better part. We have some choices we need to make.
Can we get a bit spiritual about a pitchfork for a moment? If we hold onto the “one thing” side, the many things become tools that are controlled by the one thing. If we hold onto the “many things” side we find ourselves under the pressure of all those sharp but important many things. With a fork, if we hold onto the one side we are fed. The things on the other side get eaten!
If we choose to be one thing people and a one thing church we will see the many things of obedience, service, outreach… flow out of the one thing. If we choose to neglect the one thing and hold onto the many we will be in a vulnerable situation. We will get hurt, we will feel attacked, we will be under pressure, we will have anxiety, and distraction, and we won’t get much good done. And here’s the deal, you cannot become a one thing person by just choosing to hold onto the one thing. You also have to choose to let go of the many things!
What decision will you make today to become more of a one thing person and to influence our church to become more of a one thing church?
“it will not be taken away from her”
Every decision we make for the one thing will not be taken away. The building might be taken, the finance, the health, the programs, but our time with Jesus cannot be wiped away. The dishes will get dirty again, the food will get eaten up, our stomachs will get hungry again, but that time with Jesus will have eternal value.
What are we doing? Lot’s of things! But the one thing needed for all of it is being with Jesus.
LET’S MAKE THIS A CONVERSATION!
How do you get distracted, even with good things? What things in life make it difficult for you to sit at Jesus’ feet? What are the many things you need to let go of in order to hold onto the one thing?
How does stress make you act in stupid ways? Have you also questioned if God cares? Have you also told God what to do? What have you done that helps you to get out of that mindset?
How will sitting at Jesus’ feet more often change your life? How will it change our church?