Series: For Better or For Worse Pt. 4
"Desperate Housewives"
Luke 10:38-42
Luke 10:41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
INTRODUCTION: You might be wondering why I chose this title today and at first glance I'll have to admit it does seem a bit unusual but there is a "method to my madness," that I trust you will see when I get to the end of the message.
I. THE DESPARATION OF MARTHA
a. The distraction
The word "...cumbered..." in verse 40 is an interested translation. It means "to draw off" and suggests that Martha was drawn away from where Jesus was teaching and preaching by thoughts of the things that needed to be done to get a meal ready for the guests. It means to be distracted! I believe that it is a perfect word to describe the situation that most women find themselves in today. Jesus hits the nail on the head when He says that Martha is careful and troubled "...about many things." I am sure that most of the women in this sanctuary today can relate to Martha's circumstances. To be quite honest most of us guys have no idea about how many things you ladies have to "juggle" each day. The problem with this juggling act is that you can only handle so many things at one time no matter how organized you are or how good a multi-tasker you are, eventually you will drop something either intentionally or un-intentionally. Now let me ask you a question? How many of you feel like you have more than you can handle? Do you feel like you are forced to let some things slide while at other times things just get out of control? Probably most of you feel that way more than we would care to admit. All this stress brings us to the next issue for Martha.
b. The disquiet
The word Jesus uses to describe Martha's state of mind is used quite often in the NT. As a matter of fact the Lord uses it in His teaching and preaching. In verse 41 He says "...Martha, thou art careful..."anxious (merimnāis). An old verb for worry and anxiety from merizō (meris, part) to be divided, distracted. Jesus had warned against this in the Sermon on the Mount (Mat_6:25, Mat_6:28, Mat_6:31, Mat_6:34. See also Luk_12:11, Luk_12:22, Luk_12:26). Gill
Do you feel guilty when you worry? Make no mistake worry is a serious matter. Jesus had a great deal to say about it. Let's read a few verses:
Matthew 6:25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
That brings us to the next word Jesus uses:
c. The disturbance
And "...troubled..." (kai thorubazēi). From thorubazomai, a verb found nowhere else so far. Many MSS. here have the usual form turbazēi, from turbazō. Apparently from thorubos, a common enough word for tumult. Martha had both inward anxiety and outward agitation. Gill
Not only is Martha distracted and disquieted, she is also disturbed! Her anxiety leads to agitation. Now let me tell you something; if you don't already know this you need to learn this; if you are disturbed you will created a disturbance in your home, on the job, in your relationships etc! How many of have seen the sign that say, "If mama ain't happen, nobody is happy!" I can tell you that is not just true of mama. It's that way for all of us. When we are distracted, disquieted and disturbed it will boil over and something negative is going to happen.
This brings me to the last thing that I want to say about Martha.
d. The discourse verse 41
I want to try and help you visualize what happens next. I can almost see the scene unfold! Martha is in another part of the house busily preparing a large meal (the language suggests a banquet/feast) for Jesus and the other guests, she is up to her eyebrows in work (we call it multi-tasking) and her stress level is going up by the minute. Finally, she reaches the boiling point, (pulls off her apron and throws down her dishtowel) and she marches to the room where Jesus is teaching and we have the statement from verse 40 to get some idea of what happens next: Let's read the narrative together.
Luke 10:40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
II. THE DEVOTION OF MARY
Let's analyze the Lord's language in verse 42:
Luke 10:41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
a. The challenge
The repetition of Martha's name in verse 41 indicates that Jesus is going to use this incident as a teaching moment. Our Lord starts with the admonition that "...one thing is needful..." as opposed to the "...many things..." of verse 41! Let me tell you what I believe Jesus is not saying. He is not saying that what Martha was doing was unimportant. He was not saying that she was not a good person for doing what she was doing. He was not saying that there are not times when we need to do what Martha was doing but he is saying that as long as we live that there will always be the tension between the temporal and the eternal. We will always be faced with this challenge.
ILL - AIMING AT THE RIGHT TARGET
Some of our deeds are of great value, especially those done in dependence upon God for His glory and honor. Some of our deeds are worthless. They accomplish nothing of eternal value and will be quickly forgotten after we are gone.
Matt Emmons had the gold medal in sight. He was one shot away from claiming victory in the 2004 Olympic 50-meter three-position rifle event. He didn't even need a bull's-eye to win. His final shot merely needed to be on target.
Normally, the shot he made would have received a score of 8.1, more than enough for a gold medal. But in what was described as "an extremely rare mistake in elite competition," Emmons fired at the wrong target. Standing in lane two, he fired at the target in lane three. His score for a good shot at the wrong target? --0. Instead of a medal, Emmons ended up in eighth place. (David Mordkoff, American Emmons Misses Out on Gold by Firing at Wrong Target, www.Sports.Yahoo.com, 8-22-04)
It doesn't matter how accurate you are if you are aiming at the wrong goal...
(From a sermon by C. Philip Green, The Holiness of Grace, 4/29/2011)
b. The choice
Although Jesus said that "...Mary hath chosen..." in reality they both made a choice did they not? Life is filled with choices and the consequences that go with them. I want to suggest that there was a difference in three things between the two sisters and their choices. First, there is the difference of perspective which is a particular evaluation of a situation or facts, especially from one person's point of view. What is your focus in life my friend? Second, it is a matter of priority. Your perspective will determine your priorities but priorities have to be set. They don't just happen naturally. We have to order our lives and then discipline ourselves to keep them in their proper place or order. Third, it is a matter of passion. What are you passion about?
ILL - Billy Graham said, "The strongest principle of life and blessings lies in our choice. Our life is the sum result of all the choices we make, both consciously and unconsciously..."
c. The commendation
Mary chose "...that good part..." Have you ever heard someone say something about sacrificing the "best for the good?" That's what we do sometimes. I submit that Martha is guilty of sacrificing the best for the good!
"The best use of life is love. The best expression of love is time. The best time to love is now."
Rick Warren
There would be other times for the things that Martha felt like were important but now Jesus was near and for Mary everything else seemed unimportant by comparison.
d. The commemoration
Finally, the Lord said, "...which shall not be taken away from her." What Jesus is saying is that the things that Martha thought were important would die with her but the things Mary valued were eternal and would live on after she was gone. Later on in John 12 we see the devotion of Mary again in one of the most beautiful acts of worship and reverence found anywhere in the Bible. Jesus has made his way to Bethany again just prior to his passion and has entered the house of Simon the leper and Mary hears that Jesus is there and we have this final act of worship before our Lord goes the Calvary way.
John 12:1 Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.
2 There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.
3 Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.
Matthew records this same incident but adds this saying from Jesus:
Matthew 26:13 Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.
Now I wish to close this message by making several observations about Mary:
(1) Whatever we are going to do of lasting eternal value must be done in this life. Jesus said of Mary that "...she had done a good work..." and "...she hath done what she could..." Have we done all the good we can for Jesus? Whatever we do for Him must be done while we have life and breath.
"Only one life
Twill soon be past
Only what's done for Christ will last"
(2) What she did cost her something. John says it was "...very costly..." and that according to Judas Iscariot it had a value of "...300 pence..." or almost a year's wages for a working man. She gave everything she had for the one who would give everything He had for her! If she could have given more she would have. As it was the whole house was filled with the fragrance of her gift.
(3) Notice what Jesus says about her gift, that it was "...against the day of my burying..." She had heard Jesus speak of His death, burial and resurrection so her alabaster box had been treasured up for the anointing of his dead body but now she brings it out and uses it to dedicate the Lamb of God to the sacrifice He was about to make. The perfume of the ointment would have been lost on His corpse but He appreciated the fragrance while He was still alive!
ILL - In Herbert Lockyer's book "The Women of the Bible" he writes the following, "Mary gave to the limit of her love and ointment. Will the Lord say of us when we see Him face to face--you have done what you could? Do we constantly anoint Him as the chosen of our hearts? Are His feet perfumed with our richest gifts? The world may count a life wholly consecrated to Him as a life wasted, but only the life abandoned to His sway is the one richly reproductive in the saint's own life and also in the sinful world in which he lives."
Selfishness seeks a gift,
Love loves to give;
Love gives itself away
Love loves to live
Love's grand munificence
Counts not the cost;
Feeling, tho' nought is left,
Nothing is lost.
