Whining Worker, Willing Worshiper, Walking Witness
TEXT: Please note with me three texts:
Luke 10:38-42 – “Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. 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. 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.”
John 12:1-9 – “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. 4 Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him, 5 Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? 6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. 7 Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this. 8 For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always. 9 Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there: and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead.”
Mark 14:3-9 – “And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head. 4 And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made? 5 For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her. 6 And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me. 7 For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always. 8 She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. 9 Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.”
INTRODUCTION
I love the various characters in the Gospels, and in all of the Bible. In the texts we just read, we meet three people whose lives I want to draw some lessons from this morning. I read all the texts at one time because these three Bible characters and these stories bleed over into one another.
Since we had such long texts, let’s skip the normal long intro and go straight to our study. The title of my message today is “Worker, Worshiper, Walking Witness.” Let’s look at three Bible characters and see what we can learn from their lives:
I. FIRST, NOTE WITH ME MARTHA THE WHINING WORKER.
In Luke 10, what we see is that Martha worked because out of sense of DUTY. She was working to prepare a meal for Jesus while Mary was at the feet of Jesus in worship and fellowship. After a while, Martha complained to Jesus and asked Him to tell Mary to help her.
Why was Martha complaining?—Because she was more concerned about her WORK FOR the Lord than she was about FELLOWSHIP WITH the Lord. Really, the two should go hand in hand. But she focused on just work FOR Jesus to the exclusion of fellowship WITH Jesus. She was serving out of a sense of duty rather than gratefulness—so she complained. But notice that she was ONLY COOKING FOR THREE!
What was Jesus’ response to her? – Luke 10:41-42 – “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.”
Now Martha is to be commended for serving. Jesus teaches all through the Gospels, and so do other New Testament writers, that God’s people should minister and serve. But when we serve merely out of duty, like Martha did, we become anxious and troubled about many things.
Why?—Because we have not spent the time necessary with the Lord to seek Him and to get peace to face the difficulties and responsibilities and challenges of ministry. In other words, when we serve out of duty, service becomes a chore and we lose the sweet fellowship that comes with time spent with the Lord.
How can we learn to serve out of love instead of duty? By doing what Jesus said was needful, that which Mary was doing. What was she doing?—She was spending time alone with Jesus. We need that too, along with our labor for the Lord. We need a time each day away from the hustle and bustle of life to get together with the Lord for prayer and Bible reading and worship.
Now note something in John 12:2: “There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.”
Here we see Martha serving again, but notice a something this time around: The passage in Mark 14 tells us that this time Martha served at Simon’s house. Who is Martha serving now? Earlier in the passage, we learn that she was serving Lazarus, Mary, Jesus, the Twelve, Simon, and probably his family (so at least 17 or more). So, she is serving AT LEAST SIXTEEN now—and we don’t hear so much as a peep of complaint or murmuring out of Martha.
What made the difference? I wonder if Martha learned that before SERVICE FOR the Lord must come FELLOWSHIP WITH the Lord. So, when she went to serve this time here in John 12, it was NOT out of duty, but out of DEVOTION.
In Colossians 3:17 Paul says, “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him” and in Philippians 2:14 he exhorts, “Do all things without murmurings and disputing.”
Listen—when you serve God out of love; out of a desire for fellowship with the Lord, our service becomes joyful and fulfilling, and we won’t be no murmuring.
II. THE SECOND CHARACTER IN OUR TEXTS IS MARY THE WILLING WORSHIPER.
Look at Luke 10:39 – “And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.” – Here we see Mary WORSHIPING Jesus.
But notice the second instance of Mary’s devotion to Jesus in John 12, and look with me again at verse 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 odor [fragrance] of the ointment.”
The Mark 14 passage tells us that Mary brought the ointment in an alabaster box, which she broke open and poured on Jesus’ head, and then, according to the John 12 passage, she poured it on Jesus’ feet. The ointment was spikenard, a fragrant oil prepared from the roots and stems of an aromatic herb from northern India. It was a very expensive perfume, imported in sealed alabaster boxes or flasks which were opened only on special occasions. In both passages it states that the value of the spikenard was three hundred pence, which represented more than a year’s wages for an average wage earner!
What can we learn from Mary’s extravagant display of love for Jesus?
First, notice that it cost something for Mary to worship and serve God.
You know what?—It’ll cost YOU to worship and serve God too. There’s no such thing as a costless Christianity. A costless Christianity is an oxymoron. Such a form of so-called Christianity is not worth having anyway.
This was the most valuable thing she owned, but she offered her gift of worship lovingly, willingly and unhesitatingly. True worship and heart service to God always a sacrifice.
a) It will mean a sacrifice of you TIME.
It takes time to read God’s Word every day. It takes time to be faithful to church and homegroup every week. It takes time to go out of your way and show love and kindness to others as Jesus did.It takes time to serve in a church ministry.
b) It will also mean a sacrifice of YOUR WEALTH to serve God.
God wants you to have a part in His work through the giving of tithes and offerings. David was appalled that Araunah offered to give him for free a threshing-floor to build an altar to God and also offered to give him the animals for David to sacrifice on that altar. David intended to buy the threshing-floor with his own money and to pay for the animals he would sacrifice himself.
He replied to Araunah’s offer in 2 Samuel 24:24 by saying this: “No; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.”
Paul said in 2 Corinthians 9:7 – “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”
c) And I’ll tell you something else, it may very well cost you ridicule and rejection to worship and serve God. – I’ll talk more of that in a moment.
Yes, it’ll cost you to serve and worship God, but the price is WORTH it! There’s no cost too great for our wonderful Savior!
The second truth I see in Mary’s extravagant display is that she humbled herself.
Did you know that if you’re proud, you set yourself against God, no matter how much you love the Lord?
Peter tells us, “…be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5) Now if I get into a showdown with God, guess who’s gonna win and guess who’s gonna lose! I’ll tell you one thing—I sure don’t want God to resist me! God resists me when I’m proud, but gives grace when I humble myself.
Now grace—THAT’S what I need!—I NEED God’s grace! Grace is getting God’s undeserved and unearned favor. I WANT the gifts of love He offers me that I don’t deserve.
But I cannot have God’s grace if I’m proud. God gives grace to the HUMBLE, but He resists the proud. May we, like Mary, humble ourselves so we can have God’s grace.
The final thing we can learn from Mary’s love for the Lord is that every time we see Mary, others criticized her.
Martha criticized her in Luke 10 and Judas criticized her in both the John 12 and Mark 14 passages. Listen—you probably won’t worship and serve the Lord without some criticism from somebody! The lost will say, “Why, you’re just going too far. You’re becoming a fanatic. You shouldn’t give so much of your time and gifts to God’s cause. It’s alright to be a Christian, but don’t let it consume you or affect the way you live.”
Even believers are sometimes critical and judgmental, and if you’re out to please PEOPLE, you’ll fail utterly, because you just can’t please everybody! You have to determine what GOD wants you to do and just follow the Lord’s leadership.
But here’s the precious truth to see in this: In both instances, when Mary was criticized SHE NEVER SAID A WORD IN HER DEFENSE. Instead, JESUS defended her!
When we face criticism, what do we tend to do?—We get upset and get defensive, sometimes in ways just as unseemly as the criticism of us was given. But when we become defensive, it’s because our pride is hurt, isn’t it?
And what did we say God’s response to pride was?—He RESISTS the proud. It’s at this point that we have a choice between two possible responses: We can follow the flesh, respond in our pride, and defend ourselves (and thereby have God resist us), or we can just listen first, be calm, remain humble and see if there’s any truth to the criticism we should change to please the Lord, and if not, let JESUS defend us.
This is probably the hardest thing to do in the Christian life, but that’s exactly what Mary did. She left the matter in the Lord’s hands and just did what was right and what she felt led to do in her heart, and JESUS DEFENDED HER. We ought to let Jesus defend us too.
III. THE FINAL CHARACTER WE SEE IN THESE TEXTS IS LAZARUS THE WALKING WITNESS.
Remember that Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead in the previous chapter. He had been in the grave three days and had already begun to stink because his body had begun to decompose.
Joke – Did you hear the one about how a few weeks after the great composer Beethoven died, someone noticed that there was a strange sound emanating from his grave? A team of experts was called in to figure out what was going on, and eventually they were able to determine that the strange sound was all the great composer’s musical masterpieces being played in reverse. The COMPOSER’S masterpieces were being played in reverse. In other words, he was de-composing.
Lazarus’s body had begun to decompose, but Jesus did what He always did at a funeral—He raised Lazarus from the dead!
Now look with me at John 12:9 – “Much people [Many] of the Jews therefore knew that he was there: and they came not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead.”
The people didn’t come just to see Jesus; they wanted to see Lazarus too! They came to see this fellow who came back from the grave. They wanted to see what a man who had risen from the dead looked like!
And when the people came to see Lazarus, where did they find him?—They found him SEATED NEXT TO JESUS! From that day forward, Lazarus was associated with Jesus and his life was never the same again. Every day of his life, Lazarus was a living witness to the power of God.
2 Corinthians 5:17 says “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
You and I ought to be like Lazarus—walking witnesses of the power of God to give new life to those who are dead in trespasses and sins. Every day we ought to show people what it’s like to be given new life in Christ. Our life, our lips, our testimony, our responses, our actions and our REactions—all ought to be evidences of the power of God for people to see what it’s like to be a follower of Jesus Christ, someone born again by the Spirit of God.
Paul said something remarkable about the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 3:3 – “Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle [an epistle was a letter] of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.”
Some people will never read the Bible, but they’ll watch your life. God help our lives to be so filled with goodness, sweetness, honesty, integrity and love for others that people are drawn to God just as the Bible draws the lost to God. Let’s be walking witnesses and walking letters, testifying both through our lives and through our lips of the power God in our lives.
CONCLUSION
Now let’s tie all this together:
a) Mary was THE WORSHIPER of the Lord.
It’ll cost you to worship and serve the Lord: Are you willing to pay the price? Mary humbled herself: Have you humbled yourself before the Lord?
James 4:10 says “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.”
When you face the fire of criticism, be humble and let Jesus lift you up!
b) Martha was THE WORKER who learned to spend time in fellowship with Jesus, which gave her service for the Lord meaning.
Are you spending time with God daily in a time in prayer and Bible-reading? And are you, like Martha, serving and working for Christ? Do you have a place of service and ministry in your local church? ALL of us should be serving Jesus somehow; EVERYONE is in God’s service. Find a way to get busy for God and serve the Lord today! But get time to fellowship WITH the Lord as you do service FOR the Lord.
c) Lazarus was the WALKING WITNESS.
Are your life and words and actions a testimony to the transforming power of Jesus? Do you testify with your lips for the Lord?
God help each of us become the worker, worshiper and witness God wants us to be.
