Feast or Famine?
Amos 8:1-12 Luke 10:38-42 Colossians 1:15-28
As is my usual preaching or teaching style…
I want us to take a look at each of the passages
from our readings today in Amos, Colossians and Luke to
see the complete teaching. So here we go, let’s dig in!
In Amos they couldn’t wait for the Sabbath to be over so
they could go back to their real passion: making money!
Worship was just a habit, an empty ritual, because in their
hearts they were plotting how to profit in deceitful ways,
cheating their customers with short weights and measures.
So the Lord said since they had no “appetite” for hearing the
word of the Lord (or heeding it), he would take away the
provision of it. There would be a famine of hearing the word.
Today we have the Bible on our bookshelves, on our laptops
and on our Ipads and smart phones. But do we reach for it
as often as we download bestsellers or play our game apps?
There are churches on practically every corner, but crime
and hunger are also around every corner.
You see, we have the bread of life but we are not sharing it.
We feast while others starve for the hope that is in the
gospel. Would we really miss the Bible or church services if
they were suddenly or gradually taken away?
Now let’s skip over to the reading in Luke.
We are familiar with this passage. It is always a hotly
debated topic which stirs up much argument and discussion.
It seems to present Martha as the “suffering servant “ and
Mary as the “sitting saint.” But let’s investigate some other
possible lessons from this story.
These are examples of different temperaments and different
talents or gifts of the Spirit. One is not right and the other
wrong. God needs His Marys and His Marthas.
(His Johns as well as His Pauls if you will.)
But when Jesus stopped by their house that day it was going
to be His last trip.
He was on his way to Jerusalem to die!
He just wanted to talk it all over with his friends.
Martha was anxious (worried) about “many things”…
(the menu, the table setting, the cleanup, etc) but Jesus had
“many things” to tell her.
Many things fill up our agendas just like many dishes fill up
our stomachs. We can get lost in a flurry of good activity,
but what about filling our souls?
Martha welcomed Jesus as a significant guest in her home
but failed to let His words into her heart at the moment.
First Martha was distracted. She probably sat down a few
minutes to chat but her mind was on the roast in the oven
or making sure the bread didn’t burn. She decided dinner
was more important and excused herself from the teacher.
But rather than whistling while she worked she became
depressed, feeling as if she had to do everything by
herself.
Loss of focus caused her to resort to self-pity instead of
enjoying her chance to serve Jesus.
Martha’s work and worry are wasteful now because she has
lost the satisfaction in it.
She was operating out of a sense of duty rather than
devotion. It has become all about her!
Charles Hummel in his book “Freedom From the Tyranny of the Urgent” notes, “Tension and frustration mount when we are performing the wrong tasks or trying to cram too many of the right activities into a given period…. A critical spirit develops and we begin to judge and condemn others for what they do or don’t do.
Duty perceives devotion as shirking responsibility
Now she becomes disapproving of both Mary and Jesus!
“Lord why don’t you make her help me, don’t you care?”
Whoa! Our Martha has become the poster child for
“ the good the bad and the ugly”!
It was good that she welcomed Jesus into her home and
wanted to provide a special meal for Him.
It was bad that she lost the spirit of it and began fussing
and fuming.
And it was ugly that she wanted to sic Jesus on Mary for not
being a gifted hostess also.
Can’t you just see her getting madder by the minute, trying
to get Mary’s attention with hand gestures and eyes rolling?
She has a tea towel on her shoulder a smudge of flour on
her face and her hands on her hips in exasperation!
Now what did Jesus do?
Did he tell Mary to go help her sister?
Did he tell Martha to come join Mary? Well, sort of…
But mostly he pointed to their individual CHOICES.
He knew Martha was a gifted cook and hostess and if
she chose to be busy instead of being blessed by resting
then she shouldn’t get all bent out of shape like this.
Sure they would need and appreciate a meal, but a simple
sandwich would be fine this time.
Jesus says “Martha, Martha, you are careful and troubled
about many things but one thing is needful and Mary has
chosen that good part which will not be taken away from
her.”
You see, the passage in Amos warning them that there
would be a “famine of hearing the word of the Lord” is the
same thing Jesus is trying to get across to Martha.
He is saying, “Look, Martha, you don’t know it, but I am
going to be scarcer than a five course meal around
here pretty soon.”
“Let me serve you.
Feed on my words.
I am the ONE THING you need.”
“The physical food we eat today will be gone quickly but the
spiritual food Mary is taking in will remain in her heart after I
am gone.”
You see, we think being busy means we are doing
something important and “downtime” is wasted time.
But God instituted the Sabbath for us to have restful times.
Are we like Martha and the people in Amos’ day…
too distracted by our busyness or business to hear God?
When offered the chance to hear a word from God we just
can’t spare the time?
Man’s frantic search for meaning in life and for acquiring
many luxuries and novelties are really efforts to find the
ONE THING for which we are created: to love God, and
others as ourselves.
“Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that
proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4)
There are values beyond bread that give meaning and
effectiveness to our lives.
John 6:48 tells us that Jesus is the bread of life and anyone
who eats living bread lives forever (John 6:51)
So that is the needful thing, ETERNAL LIFE, not just daily
life.
Jesus is saying, “I am the main course for today.”
Martha rushed and fussed and cooked trying to
impress Him, but physical food was not on his mind that
day, physical company was.
I was sort of that way when I was sick. Food didn’t appeal to
me but family and friends surely did!
Sometimes we need to quit being a “human doing” and just
be a “human being.”
Martha had missed her Sabbath rest and got burned out and
burned up!
(She was working like the devil trying to serve the Lord!)
Jesus used the story of the Good Samaritan to show how we
should love our neighbor and serve one another.
Then he used the story of Martha and Mary to show how we
should love God and serve Him.
You see, it is not a question of whether we should be
workers or worshippers but whether our motivation for
both is to love and to serve.
Martha lost her focus of Jesus while Mary couldn’t take her
eyes off Him!
He’s not just one thing among many which may clamor for
our time and attention.
He is EVERYTHING.
We must ask ourselves if Christ is just prominent in our
lives or is he preeminent?
He doesn’t want just a place in our lives, he must be in first
place.
He is not just important, but essential.
The people in Colosse didn’t believe that God created the
world, they didn’t believe that Christ came to earth in bodily
form, and they didn’t believe he was the unique Son of God.
So if you take all that away you are left with a pretty lame
personality rather than God himself.
Paul wrote the passage in our reading from Colossians 1:15-
23 to refute those beliefs. It describes who Jesus really is.
Jesus is Lord over all creatures and the creation.
He himself was not created but is from everlasting
to everlasting.
John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the
WORD and the WORD became flesh and dwelt among us.”
He laid aside His divinity position and became human for our
sakes.
He is the very image of God.
Hebrews 1:3 says, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory
and the exact representation of His being.”
This always reminds me of the teacher who asked the little
boy what he was drawing and he said he was drawing a
picture of God.
“But, the teacher argued, “No one has ever seen God so we
really don’t know what he looks like.”
Continuing to draw, the little boy replied, “They will when
I’m finished.”
In Him all things hold together. Isn’t that good to know?
Heaven is never in a crisis.
“And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the
beginning and the firstborn from the dead,
so that in EVERYTHING He might have the supremacy.
For God was pleased to have ALL His fullness dwell in Him,
and through Him to reconcile to Himself ALL THINGS,
whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making
peace through His blood, shed on the cross.”
We realize that even our country’s peace is bought with
someone else’s blood. And because Jesus died in your place
there is peace with God for you.
God is not mad at you or counting your sins against you.
Verse 21-22 says, “Once you were alienated from God and
were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.
But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body
through death to present you HOLY in His sight without
blemish or accusation.”
The ONE THING that is needful for you to hear Him say
is He has forgiven you and your guilt is taken away.
Right here in Colossians 1:22 the Bible says when you die
He is going to present you…
“As Holy and blameless to the Father.”
Now that’s really amazing because you know how you are!
And holy and blameless is NOT the way you would describe
yourself to anyone, much less to God.
But that is what the substitutionary death of Christ did for
you!
So now I want you to turn to whoever is sitting beside
you this morning and say, “I am Holy and blameless.”
(Go ahead, do it right now and say it like you know it.)
Please settle that in your heart and mind today.
I am continually saddened to hear Christians say, “I hope
I’m going to make it to heaven.”
You can KNOW you are.
This passage says God will hold nothing against you because
of Jesus! He is ALL you need.
The word ALL is used 7 times in this one passage and the
number 7 in the Bible always represents the idea of
completion.
This is GOOD NEWS worth hearing today.
Listen, Jesus can get a meal together on the spur of the
moment anytime. He fed the multitudes, He fed the
fishermen (when they had caught nothing all night.)
Physical food is needful for a physical life,
but ONE THING is needful for a spiritual life.
Jesus has prepared it.
It is His body, broken as bread for you.
It is His blood poured out like wine for you.
Take it, eat it, it is a FEAST for a famished heart.
AMEN
