Distractions: Busyness
Title: Is your Busyness a help or a distraction?
Main Point: Use your busyness for what’s most important
Intro:
“Busyness makes us stop caring… about what we care about”
“It is not so much how busy you are, but why you’re busy… the bee is praised, but the mosquito and fly are swatted”
“Never get so busy making a living …that you forget to make a life”
“Busyness is the unrivaled archenemy of spiritual authenticity”
These are some of the many quotes about busyness…
If you were with us last week, Pastor Alex spoke about how our technology can be a distraction for what’s most important in life. Today, I want to talk about how we can use our busyness the same way. And just as Alex confessed that he gets distracted by his technology, I can easily get distracted in my busyness. There is a real reason why each of us chose our topics. My family says I‘m a workaholic, I don’t think so. If I am, my guess is that I’m not alone.
In the same way that we can use our technology as self-medication to help us avoid the hard things in life, we can also wrap ourselves up in busyness for the same reason. We can dive into the deep end of the pool of life’s commotions and get so busy that we don’t have time to deal with the things we really should be devoting our life and energy to. So, here’s my fist question, What important reality is your busyness enabling you to ignore?
We live in a busy culture…. most of us would say, “too busy!”
There is a saying that goes, “an idle mind (and in turn idle hands) are the devil’s playground” and as followers of Jesus we don’t want to give Satan a foothold, right? But today, most busy people (Christian & non-Christian alike) wear their busyness almost like a badge of honor. Here’s how it works; “Hey Tim, how was your week?” to which I reply, “Busy!” As if it wasn’t busy, I’d be labeling myself as lazy, or something. We even buy into the lie that our busyness is really helping us serve the Lord and others. We, busy Christians, know that the Bible says that God has designed us for work and work is a good thing, right? So, we convince ourselves that “overwork and lack of rest are attractive because they produce results” and we all want to produce results. The problem is that many of us have let our so called “busyness” become the master of our life rather than the Lord. And I believe this is a great tactic of Satan; he convinces us get so busy doing, that we get distracted from doing the right things.
Even the medical field has proven that we aren’t physically design to operate in a constant state of busyness. Studies are proving that when we’re in a chronic state of stress and busyness our bodies release adrenaline and a number of stress hormones which actually fight against each other. This constant state of busyness is causing problems for several of our body systems.
Last week Alex used a passage to introduce his topic. Today, want to use the parallel passage that is found just before our main text: Luke 10:25–28.
25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he (Jesus) said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
Like this lawyer, many people think their busyness can earn them favor with the Lord. But our distraction of busyness causes us to miss what the point is at the heart these commands… a personal and deep relationship with our Heavenly Father and others. We have to make that the focus of our busyness… loving the Lord first and others next.
When it come to being distracted by busyness, there’s probably no better passage in Scripture than the one we’re going to look at.
Biblical text:
READ: Luke 10:38–42
Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving (busyness). 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.” 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 (best) portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
General observations:
* I wonder was this a scheduled visit, or did Jesus and His entourage just pop in?
* Martha was apparently the mistress of the home (“…her house.”). She was likely the oldest of the three siblings.
* Her name in Aramaic is the feminine equivalent to “lord.” So, there is a little play on words.
* The text says she was “distracted” the word here means “to be pulled in two different directions”
* If you don’t already know, Jesus had a very personal relationship with this family. And this wouldn’t be His only visit to their home… later on…
Jn 11:1–5 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. … 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
When we think about our busyness:
We’re given the principle of the 6 day work week and the sabbath (both physical & spiritual Sabbath) back in Genesis, but do we feel we’re exempt today?
We also need to think at God’s busyness.
Throughout the Bible we see that God is at work, but He is NEVER too busy’. So why should we be?
When we read the gospels, we see that Jesus was very likely the busiest person to ever live, yet we never see him worried or anxious or too busy! So why should we be?
So, let’s take a little pop quiz. Don’t think about anyone else, just score yourself!
The 10 Question "Am I Too Busy?" Quiz
1. I often commit to things before I know how much time or energy it will require.
o Yes o No
2. I am always tired and never feel like I’ve accomplished enough at the end of the day.
o Yes o No
3. I rarely, if ever, schedule a day off or downtime on my calendar.
o Yes o No
4. If I do schedule a day off, I fill it with other activities.
o Yes o No
5. I have difficulty saying “No" (to things or people)
o Yes o No
6. I’m behind on my “to do list” or I put things on it afterwards just to cross them off.
o Yes o No
7. I find myself constantly wishing I had more time.
o Yes o No
8. I feel powerless over my time and commitments.
o Yes o No
9. Other’s complain that my schedule doesn’t allow enough time for them.
o Yes o No
10. I regularly feel like I’m doing things for everyone else, but never get to do what I want.
o Yes o No
8-10 “Yes”: Seriously? Did you really need to take the quiz?
5-7 “Yes”: You are on the ‘busy bubble’. maybe it’s time to "pop" it.
1-4 “Yes”: You’re amazing! But, how do you do it?
Let’s look at…
1. My Busy Attitudes
People who are distracted by busyness possess several attitudes.
A. The Text
Let’s look at the attitudes that Martha displayed. Some of them are good but most of them are not so good.
hospitality
responsibility
ownership
doing the right thing
sense of the urgent
anxiety & worry
frustration
jealousy
—-(Martha wanted to be sitting at the Lord’s feet too)
impatience
demanding
In fact, her question to Jesus, in Greek, indicated that she expected the Lord to give her a positive response. She knew the Lord cared, and Martha fully expected Him to tell her sister to get up and help her serve.
So her question was literally more like:
“Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? (I know you do, so…) Tell her then to help me!”
In spite of those attitudes, Jesus responded tenderly and instructed her with the double address of “Martha, Martha” which demonstrated that He did deeply care for her.
What about…
B. Our World of Busyness & Us
You too might be struggling with the distractions of busyness, and just like Martha, struggle with these common attitudes:
You feel no one else understands the weight of responsibility to get things done
Your motto is: “if it’s going to be, it’s up to me”
You demand that the right things are being done by yourself & others
You live with the constant sense of urgency
You see interruptions to your plans as a curse rather than a blessing
For you, Anxiety & Worry are common feelings
You find yourself frustrated because others aren’t doing as much as they should
You find yourself jealous of others because they aren’t as busy
You can’t sleep at night or wake up early, thinking about all the things you’ve got to get done
You’ve lived with busyness so long that you actually like it
I’ll bet Martha dealt with these same feelings. Yet the Lord is tenderly saying to each of us, “________, _________” I am still on my throne, the world will not fall apart without your busyness.”
—————————————————————————————
I think many of us need to work at …
2. Resetting My Priorities
People who are distracted by busyness regularly need to reset their priorities.
A. Text
The struggle that Martha had in her busyness was the difference between something that was good and something that was the best. By all means Jesus and His companions would have enjoyed a good meal and some refreshments. But what was best was to sit at the feet of the Master and take in His teachings.
What about…
B. Our World of Busyness & Us
For many people, priorities are the choice between something good vs something not good, but that’s not always the case. More often, setting priorities is about choosing between the best over what is good, like Martha… and that can be tricky. Then there is choosing between what is important vs what is urgent. When it comes down to it, life is full of tough choices, and for most people setting (and keeping) the right priorities is often one of the most difficult and anxiety-filled exercise they experience.
Try to use this little chart to help you set priorities: (the graphic won't transfer)
Urgent Not Urgent
Important “Crisis” “Productive”
Not Important “Distraction” “Waste”
Year’s ago my dad said, “son everyone makes time for what they think is important.” He was absolutely right. So, that means our priorities demonstrate what we think is important and what’s important will become our priority. We are the ones who set our own priorities, but soon they will determine who we are!
We all are given 24 hours in a day and168 hours every week. We all get the same amount. For some of us, that sounds like a lot of hours. But for the rest of us, we could still use a little more.
And when it comes to parenting, think about this: most of us will have our children 18 years before they go off to college or move out. 18 years equal about 157,680 hours, which sounds like a lot of time. But let me tell you, those hours go by much quicker than you’d ever think. The point is, we have to be intentional about those hours!
We tell ourselves “we’re busy,” but are we really? How much time to we spend on doing the things that are unnecessary? I’ve watched other (and sometimes myself) clutter our lives with things that literally “at the end of the day” really weren’t that important!
We watch too much TV, or spend too much time on facebook, or whatever…. and then don’t have time to read our Bible
We spend way too many hours at work … and then don’t have any time or energy left for our families
As parents we put our kids in every extra curricular activity possible.… and then they don’t have time for youth group or Awana
I wonder, are we really busy, or do we just tell ourself that? Is it a matter of time or is it more about priorities?
Are we really too busy to pray?
Are we really too busy to have a devotion time?
Are we really too busy to go to church?
Are we really too busy to go to a community group?
Are we really too busy to serve in our church?
Priority Illustration: Jar
So What?
If you thought I was advocating becoming lazy in this message, well… you missed the point. What I’d really like us to do is to be busy about loving the Lord and others better. What if you could go 20 years into the future (I think it takes about 20 years to get a better perspective) and speak to your older self…what would the ’older you’ tell the ‘current you’ about your busyness?
Here’s the real question, What if you just slowed down long enough to listen to Jesus, what would He say about your busyness?
The good new is, it’s never too late to get a handle on your busyness.
Prayer:
Small Group Q’s:
1. How does today’s culture suck us into a busy lifestyle?
* How was life different or the same in previous generations?
2. If you would rate your lifestyle on a “busyness scale” from 1-10, where would you place yourself?
* How would your family rate you?
3. What priorities need to be rearranged in you life (the Lord, others, yourself) because you’ve been distracted by busyness?
* What are your major busyness distractions?
* Do you find yourself excusing/justifying your busyness?
* What is the important thing that gets neglected in your life because of your busyness?
4. How hard is it for you to practice the principle of a weekly sabbath?
* Why is that hard for you? Why is it not hard for you?
5. What is one thing that God is asking you to stop doing, start doing, and/or continue doing?
6. How did God use this message to teach, train, challenge, equip, or encourage you?
