The Priorities of a Mary
Heart (Luke 10:38-42)
Introduction: A Mary Heart in a Martha World
“It’s almost 30 years since Pavel Poloz, who’d been exiled from
the Soviet Union, wrote, “In Russia, Christians are tested by hardship, but in
America you are tested by freedom. And testing by freedom is much harder” (Moody Monthly, April 1989).
Most of us here today aren’t tempted to reject the Lord or even
to become indifferent to him. We love
him and we want to live for him. Our
danger is far more likely to be distraction.
We’re very. Or as one book put
it, we’re crazy busy at school, at
work, with activities and responsibilities, our kids, our calendars, our Facebook
feeds. Our lives are crowded with very important
things.
But, when I talk to people about the spiritual danger of
this, I compare it to being a single parent.
You know most single parents have more to do than you, right? Just ask the single parents here. But in all those responsibilities, you always
remember that you have a child that you love and that loves you and needs you. And what are you doing all those things for,
if you forget that?
Now we fully intend to serve the Lord in all our busy things. But this is a little exchange that Luke
records for us to challenge whether we’ve really made it harder on ourselves
than we should have, and whether we couldn’t so much more enjoy the Lord and
everything he’s given us to do by realizing that he’s the priority. And that the only thing that’s better than
serving Christ is being served by Christ, sitting at his feet and being
ministered to by him. That’s the subject
before us today.
You were created to work, but were you created only to be a
machine? Were you created only to lay
brick or sit behind a computer or instruct a class in American history? No. Other
lesser creatures were made to work. You
were created to know and love God and be loved by him. It’s the richness of our lives. And we can’t let anything take that away.
Before we consider what this passage is teaching, let me
tell you briefly what it’s not teaching and clear the way in your mind.
1. Jesus is not teaching something only for women
Some of you husbands may have heard the passage about two
women and said, “O this will be a good sermon for my wife.” But that’s not the right way to read the
Bible, guys. It could just as easily
have been two men, one crazy busy and distracted with much work or chores or
something else.
And let me say this. Although
frankly many women’s books concentrate on women in the Bible, as though these
were the stories most relevant to you, that is not a good approach. What if we started reading the Bible like
that in other ways? Well, this part of
the Bible is about people in a city, and I’m not in a city so it’s not as
relevant to me. I’ll pay more attention
when it’s about Jesus teaching in the countryside because that’s more relevant
to me than when Jesus talks to the city-dwellers in Jerusalem. No, that’s an obviously ridiculous approach
to the Bible. Surely, the Bible does
address the difference between the sexes, but those differences, spiritually
speaking, are quite small. So Mary and
Martha have as much to teach every one of you here than if it had been Maxwell
and Myrick. This is as relevant to the
Christian homemaker as it is to the Christian businessman or businesswoman, as
relevant to the worker as to the retiree, as relevant to the Christian
politician as to the Christian missionary.
Jesus is not teaching something only for women. And kids, Jesus isn’t teaching you that you
don’t have to help your sister with the dishes.
2. Jesus is not exalting the contemplative life over the active life
Raise your hand if you have ever spent an hour preparing an
evening meal. I knew it, a bunch of
sinners you are! You should have all
been praying for an hour instead!
Of course, this is also a foolish way to read the passage. Surely coming away from the parable of the
Good Samaritan, we know that practical service is important. It is not wrong to serve.
Nevertheless, Roman Catholic writers through the ages have
often appealed to this text as a justification for the so-called higher calling
of the monastic life. Mary has a higher
calling like monks and nuns, while Martha represents you lesser Christians who
occupy yourselves with secular callings and responsibilities. That’s the wrong of the text on so many
levels, but I wanted at least to make you aware. But where this does come into protestant
thinking is my third introductory point:
3. Jesus is not exalting the contemplative personality over the active personality
Sometimes people read this and think that there’s something
wrong with them, that they’re more like Martha than like Mary. As Ryle described: “Martha was active, stirring, and impulsive,
feeling strongly, and speaking out all she felt. Mary was quiet, still, and contemplative,
feeling deeply, but saying less than she felt.”
I’m not like that.
Well, as Ryle says, there’s room for all personalities in
the Lord’s work. And again, whole books
on character studies are written from just a few lines. We don’t know what these women were like from
this brief exchange. But whatever they
were like, they both loved the Lord. And
it’s repeated in John’s gospel that the Lord loved them. God has made every one of us, as we are, in
order that we might all the better serve him.
No, the focus here on the difference is not some supposed difference in personality. It is a choice that was made that night, as
Jesus explains in verse 42: "One thing is needed [or necessary],
and Mary has chosen that good
part" (Luke 10:42). And since this
is a choice for each of us as well, a
choice we’re to make regardless of our personality type, let’s consider the
teaching of this passage together in a more positive light.
Exposition
The contrast here is between what’s good and necessary and
what’s called here being distracted. Verse
39, "Mary … sat at Jesus ' feet
and heard His word. But Martha was
distracted" (Luke 10:39-40). She
was distracted by serving of course, something that was useful and lawful and
perhaps important, and I’ll return to that in a few minutes. There’s no problem in serving. But the contrast here is choosing distraction
over devotion.
I just remembered
last night that Kevin DeYoung wrote a book called Crazy Busy. And I didn’t
have time to read it, but I did find read dozens of quotes online and I
selected a few that summarize what I’m saying to you today:
“We won’t say no to more craziness until we can say yes to
more Jesus.” “We have to believe that
hearing from God is our good portion. We have to believe that the most
significant opportunity before us every day is the opportunity to sit at the
feet of Jesus. We won’t rearrange our priorities unless we really believe this
is the best one.” And even if we’re busy
doing good things in ministry for Jesus, listen to this: “The only thing more important than ministry
is being ministered to [at the feet of Jesus].”
If we desire to grow in grace, and to enjoy our life that
God has given us, we must beware of the distractions which insensibly eat up
our spirituality and bring leanness on our souls. It’s not that we’re doing bad things. Most Christians are brought down to misery
and poverty of spirit by lawful things, too much of them. We don’t even realize it, but we’ve allowed
other things to have the first place in our hearts instead of God, and our
priorities and our time make it too clear.
Ryle says, “Health, and money, and lands, and [promotion],
and honors, and prosperity, are all [good] in their way. But they cannot be called needful. Without them thousands are happy in this
world, and reach glory in the world to come.
The "many things" which men and women are continually
struggling for, are not really necessaries.
The grace of God which brings salvation is the one thing needful. … If
Christ is ours, we have all and abound” (Expository
Thoughts on the Gospel of Luke, ad loc).
Let me encourage you with four reasons why you should make
sitting at the Lord’s feet this top priority in your life:
1. Instruction: Sitting at the Lord’s feet provides us with
the very wisdom of God that we need for all of life’s decisions and direction.
You may think, “It must have been wonderful to sit and hear
Jesus speak as Mary did. I wish I could
go back and join her.” But the fact is,
we all have his word available to us every day, and yet we often can’t find
even a minute for it! God, we read, has given
us “everything pertaining to life and godliness” in his word (2 Pet. 1:3, NIVO). “All Scripture is inspired by God and
profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in
righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good
work” (2 Tim. 3:15-17, NAU). Peter urges
us, like newborn babes, to “long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you
may grow in respect to salvation” (1 Peter 2:2). Jesus overcame Satan’s temptations by quoting
from Scripture that he knew by heart (Luke 4:1-12). As the psalmist declared, “Your Word I have
treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You” (Ps. 119:11). God’s Word gives us knowledge about how to
love God and to love one another (Luke 10:27).
And yet so many Christians are defeated by sin, their relationships are
strained, and they’re still too busy to sit at the feet of Jesus.
It’s as if we’re dying from tuberculosis and the prescribed
cure is sitting on the shelf, yet we’re too distracted to use it.
Sitting at the Lord’s feet gives us the perspective we need
to face life’s trials, even death itself. So is it any wonder that when Mary
sat listening to the word of the Lord, Jesus said that she was doing the one
thing necessary?
2. Communion: Sitting at the Lord’s feet puts us in
communion him, our beloved maker and redeemer.
Mary’s sitting at
Jesus’ feet and listening to his word is a picture of communion or fellowship
of her spirit with the Lord’s. The point
is to meet with him, to commune with Him as Mary did. Again, think of how absurd it would be for a
single parent to be so busy working for his kid that he doesn’t have even a
minute for his kid. What’s all that
business for?
3. Perspective: Sitting at the Lord’s feet puts all of life’s
pressures in proper perspective.
Martha was stressed out by the pressure of preparing a meal for
her honored guest. They needed to eat,
but she ended up worried about so many things, as Jesus puts it. She even blurts out an accusation against her
Lord and against her sister, thus violating the two great commandments! Hey, Lord, don’t you care? See how hard I’m working. Why don’t you rebuke Mary?” She lacks all perspective. Those are pressures she put on herself. What’s she missing?
This applies to us. It’s
so easy for us to allow the pressures of life to crowd in on us and get our
focus in the wrong place. A few minutes at
the Lord’s feet can bring great clarity to our lives, what’s really important. And while much work remains that’s necessary
to be done, the word and prayer can lift the burden and give us the Lord’s
calm, clear perspective—even though our circumstances haven’t changed.
1. Instruction: Sitting at the Lord’s feet provides us with
the very wisdom of God that we need for all of life’s decisions and direction.
2. Communion: Sitting at the Lord’s feet puts us in
communion him, our beloved maker and redeemer.
3. Perspective: Sitting at the Lord’s feet puts all of life’s
pressures in proper perspective.
4. Permanence: Sitting at the Lord’s feet is that good thing
which cannot be taken from you.
What was eaten that night?
We don’t know, it’s long been forgotten.
But long after what was eaten was forgotten, what was gained by that
time with the Lord remains, and remains forever. Mary was practicing the words of Deuteronomy
8:3, “Man does not live by bread alone, but … by [every word] that proceeds out
of the mouth of the Lord.” You can lose
your job, your money, your possessions, and even friendships. But as Paul says at the climax of Romans 8, nothing—tribulation,
distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword, not even death itself
or demonic powers—can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord! Invest in what is
necessary, good, and permanent.
Ryle again: “Kings
must one day leave their palaces. Rich
men must one day leave their money and lands.
They only hold them until they die.
But the poorest saint on earth has a treasure of which he will never be
deprived. The grace of God, and the
favor of Christ, are riches which no man can take from him. They will go with him to the grave when he
dies. They will rise with him in the
resurrection morning, and be his to all eternity. Instruction, communion, perspective, and permanence:
Sitting at the Lord’s feet is that good thing which cannot be taken from
you.
So let me conclude with two brief lessons:
Lesson #1: Choose what is good
and necessary and cannot be taken away.
We must work. Work is
not a sin. The lack of work is sin. But again I put it to you: you were created to work, but were you
created only to be a machine?
And if you’re not a Christian, I ask you especially, is
there not something deep inside you that says, “What’s the point of all this? What am I doing it all for? Am I living like a sheep, going out to the
pasture today, just doing what everyone else is doing? Is this the only purpose for my existence? Is this the only reason a person has such
faculties as I have live?” I wonder,
dear friend, has your life been robbed of any more purpose than to be a worker
bee in the hive? God didn’t make you a
worker bee, busy but ignorant of his maker.
God made you to know him, to love him, to be able to understand the
meaning for what he’s doing in the world and how you fit in. But many people just put off the question
indefinitely. When are you going to have
time to think about why you exist? When
are you going to have time to think about what’s filling up all your time? You’re forgetting the one thing that’s
necessary!
Jesus tells the people not to labor for the food that
perishes but for the food that endures to everlasting life, which he will give
them. But what’s it going to profit you,
he asks, if you gain the whole world and lose your soul? And why should people pack their days so full
of things that make that one thing necessary even more difficult to get.
Alexander Moody Stuart had a vivid picture of this in his
book, The Three Marys. “A man is
justly condemned to die, having been guilty of a crime deserving death, and for
which he has no hope of pardon; but otherwise he is not a reckless man, and he
tenderly loves his wife and children. The
day of execution approaches, and he is busy in his cell devising and doing all
in his power to lighten the heavy blow that is to fall upon his family. From morning till night he is earnestly
[writing] letters of consolation to all of them in the bitter prospect, writing
[on their behalf] to many friends who may help them in their desolation [after
he is gone], and bequeathing to each whatever of his effects may be most valued
or most [useful].
The king’s messenger enters the prison [holding a document
containing] the sovereign’s [complete pardon] on the simple condition of the
prisoner [admitting] the justice of his [punishment], and his grateful
acceptance of the pardon. [It’s laid on
the table right where the man is writing his letters so furiously]. But how sad the spectacle! The unhappy man is so occupied, that he will
not read the king’s message. It will
require all his time, every hour, every moment that remains, to accomplish the
many things he has to do, and after all he will have to leave them only
half-finished. He has not a minute to
spare.
O wretched man! One
thing is needful for you, and only one; the king’s favour, your pardon, your
life, and it is here. The rest are all
useless; your head and your hands are full of needless labours; this one grant
relieves you of them all. Wife, and son,
and daughter need no dying counsels, nor thoughtful bequests, nor helpful
friends; for by this one gift your own life is saved, and you are yourself
given back to them with all you have, and all you can think or do on their
behalf. The wretched man cannot take it
in; life is impossible for him; the one great good is hopeless, and he must
save every moment for the many little objects that are still within his power. O benighted, miserable man! One thing is needful, and nothing more; those
many things are destroying you; this one would save both you and yours” [167-168]. My first lesson: Choose what is good and necessary and cannot
be taken away.
2. Cut back on everything else.
We don’t so much as lack time as waste it. Locate the power off button on your TV. Apply thumb.
When the call comes, say no. Even
if you think you’re overdoing it for Jesus, you’re not, you’re just overdoing
it.
Sitting at Jesus’ feet is something Mary chose to do. It won’t happen accidentally, because there
are too many other things, too many other important things, to crowd it out. You can’t just choose once for life and it’s
settled. You have to keep choosing what
is good over and over again, day in and day out. And as my mom reminds me, the good is the
enemy of the excellent.
We’re often reminded that we have more leisure time now than
at any previous time in history. But we
don’t feel that way because we’re distracted with many things. You remember the illustration about the
business consultant who put in the big rocks, and asks, “Is it full?” And then puts in the little rocks, and then
the sand, and then the water, and asks what’s the point? And someone says, “You can always fit a
little more in.” But he says, “No, the
lesson is, if you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at
all.”
Now today is the Lord’s day.
Jesus, who taught on it twice as much as Moses, said it was created for
man, for you. A day to do good, to heal,
to bless and be blessed. Do you have
enough of those things? Isaiah says it’s
to be a delight. Do you have enough
delight in your life?
You say, “I’m too busy for all that delight.” No, you’re just too busy. You’re acting like a slave, when Christ has
set you free. Remember the Sabbath day,
it says in Deuteronomy, for you were slaves in the land of Egypt, and the Lord
brought you out with a mighty and an outstretched arm. Here’s one of the big ten.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. If you can’t get your work done in 6 days,
God often sees to it that you don’t get it done in 7. You simply can’t get ahead by slighting the
Lord. In the long run, you’ve got to
delight in the Lord.
Here’s Kevin DeYoung again, “The antidote [to crazy
busyness] is rest, rhythm, death to pride, acceptance of our own finitude, and
trust in the providence of God.” For
that reason, “God gives us Sabbath as a gift; it’s an island of get-to in a sea
of have-to.” “God does expect us to say
no to a whole lot of good things so that we can be freed up to say yes to the
most important things he has for us.”
You’re distracted, you think the Lord doesn’t care that
you’re working so hard, what’s wrong with the other person. The Lord says, you need to start choosing
blessing over busyness.” And today, God
blessed the Sabbath day. It’s not
blessed for him. It’s blessed for you,
silly. Now start choosing blessing over
busyness.