Letting Go - Distractions
December 8, 2019
Act like I am texting . . .
OH . . . sorry about that. I got a text from a friend about the Bears game. Then we got caught up in other talking about baseball.
That made me think about summer - and I need some new shorts, so I was checking for Black Friday sales. Then I realized Black Friday was over, but thought I needed to check my bank account to see if I had the money, but then I thought about retirement, and started looking at retirement destinations . . . and then Debbie texted me wondering what I was doing.
Has that ever happened to you? Have you ever gotten distracted?! What you started out doing - you know, you walk into a room to get something, you never get that something because something else catches your attention.
Well - - that’s kind of what we’re going to be looking at today. We’re taking an advent look at things we need to let go of. Last week we looked at STUFF. How can we let go of the stuff we think we need and then accumulate. Today, we’re looking at our distractions. The things that get in the way from serving and worshiping; from adoring, thanking and praising God.
Have you ever noticed that when it comes to my messages, it can be hard to focus? Does that happen? Really! Some of you are actually shaking your heads yes! But you must be talking about your neighbors.
It’s easy to let your mind wander, isn’t it? We think about what we’re going to eat. We get caught up on that cute baby 6 rows in front of us. We think about that outfit someone’s wearing. We think about the ball game or the week ahead. Sometimes we have to fight to just to focus. But it’s absolutely and completely worth the fight.
The word distraction comes from a Latin word, from the late 1500's. It means a pulling apart; separating; it’s a pulling of the mind in different directions.
I know it’s the Christmas season, and I’m supposed to talk about fun things, but and this is really important, and it’s a precursor to what we’re going to talk about on January 5, 2020. That’s my commercial to be here on the first Sunday of 2020.
This is something we don’t think about too often. We have an enemy and one of his weapons is the weapon of distraction. I really believe it. Every demonic force wants to pull apart, divide your mind, discourage your soul, disengage your faith, and distract you from what matters most.
If he can distract you, eventually, he’ll neutralize you or worse - - you’ll end up destroying yourself.
There’s a story in Luke 10 which is the only verse in the Bible which uses the word distraction. Luke tells us - -
38 Jesus entered a village and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house.
39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching.
40 But Martha was DISTRACTED with much serving. 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.”
Mary and Martha are hosting a dinner party. Jesus is the guest of honor. Mary spent most of the time sitting at Jesus’ feet listening, while Martha was distracted by all of the preparation and serving of the meal. And I don’t blame Martha for being distracted.
If Jesus came to my house, I would be distracted trying to make sure everything was right. That the meal is perfect, the temperature is just right in the house, the lighting is good. Wouldn’t we be that way? We’d write it off as being a good host and servant, making sure everyone else is well taken care of.
Can’t you just imagine Martha fussing in the kitchen, yelling at Lazarus to get the dishes and silverware in the right places. Get the drinks right. Make sure the hot dishes are hot and the cold dishes are cold and the rolls are warm. She wants to be a great host. I don’t blame her. She’s distracted by all the preparations.
So Martha comes to Jesus and says, Lord, don’t you care that my lazy no good sister? She’s literally sitting on her sorry butt, doing nothing as usual. Mary’s oblivious to it all. She’s just sitting at the Lord’s feet enjoying while Martha is not enjoying.
Now, I also want to defend Martha. We need the Martha’s of the world. It’s because of the Martha’s that we eat meals, get our bills paid, that Christmas decorations are up and presents are wrapped.
Yet, she came to Jesus and said, Lord, don’t you care that Mary’s left me to do all the work by myself? Command her to help me! Then in verse 41, Jesus looks at Martha and tells her -
41 “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things,
42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” – Luke 10:38-42
Jesus never condemned Martha. He was lovingly telling her, she was focused on the wrongs things. He tells her, Mary has chosen that which is better. And He wants Martha to understand that what Mary has chosen will not be taken away.
It’s like Jesus was telling Martha, ‘Martha, you’ve got a great heart. You have great intentions, but you’re distracted. You’re focusing on the wrong things at this moment.
Isn’t it easy for us to get distracted? How many times a day do you think you get distracted? How often do you check email? Do you really need email notifications on your phone? Are they that important?
How often do we check our social media? We have to keep up with all the latest news. We need to make sure so and so commented on my picture or post.
We get distracted with whether we fit in - - am I popular enough? Am I wearing the right clothes? Do I have enough stuff? What do others think of what I do?
Martha was distracted. It’s the only time that word is used and it means - to draw away, to be driven about mentally, to be over-occupied. It’s a compound word and literally means to drag all around.
Ever feel like you’re being dragged all around? Your mind is over-occupied with all the unnecessary things of life?
Martha wasn’t doing something bad or wrong. She was doing something good, but she wasn’t doing what was best. And that’s the key! We have to recognize that so often the most difficult choices aren’t necessarily between good and evil -- but between good and best.
If your enemy can’t make you bad, he’ll distract you from using your life from doing the things that honor God and make an eternal difference.
So, how do we - - with God’s help, choose what’s best? Every evil force wants to distract you from what matters and what’s eternal. How do we allow God to help us choose what’s best? Too often we want to choose what’s best for us, but not what’s best for the whole. It happens all of the time, and it’s easy to do, but that is choosing what is good but not best.
How do we avoid the distractions? How can we even distance ourselves from the temptations which lead to distractions?
As Paul’s talking about marriage in 1 Corinthians 7:35 - he wrote -
35 I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.
He’s giving this advice to couples, but it goes beyond that as well. He said this not to put restraints or restrictions on people, but look at that last part. He wants to secure our undivided devotion to the Lord.
He wants to help us do whatever’s best, whatever will help us to have hearts which are undivided. I remember when teachers would say, “I need your undivided attention.” In other words you really need to focus now!
One of the things I’ve come to realize, and it’s from business leader and author Jim Collins in his book, GOOD TO GREAT!
He tells us the enemy of being great is being good. To make it shorter,
GOOD IS THE ENEMY OF GREAT!
Isn’t that the truth! I see that all the time in coaching. We’ve got lots of kids who are good and that’s great . . . but the sad thing is 98% of these kids are content with good. They have the potential to hit great, but they’re satisfied with good.
And that’s true for so many of us as well. Many of us are at a point in life where we’ve been told we’re good at what we do, so we tend to take it easy and get comfy in our goodness, when the Lord is calling for us to attain greatness.
I don’t want us to accept being average or normal. I want us to do what helps us serve the Lord the best with as few of distractions as possible. It’s true in everything we do. Whether you’re a mechanic, sales rep, factory worker, truck driver, accountant, a teacher, beautician, nurse, pastor, volunteer, whatever it is.
I’m serious - satan wants to distract you from that which matters most. God wants you focused on the ways He’s gifted you so that you could serve Him in the best possible ways. So that you could also find amazing fulfillment in this life time, as you serve God.
When we’re satisfied with being good, we become complacent - and I believe distracted in our walk with Christ! We say and think, ‘Well, I know Jesus, so I’m good, I’ve got heaven.’ And that’s great, but is that all you really want in this lifetime, just to get by. That’s really one way I believe satan distracts us from growing and maturing in our relationship with God.
It’s been written that the average person spends more than 2 hours a day on social media. If you’re 16 years old and spend only 2 hours per day on social media, are you ready for this? You will spend 5 1/3 years of your life scrolling through social media. Five years - over 1,900 days of your life spent on social media! WOW!
Our lives are too valuable. God created you. He gave you passion. He gave you gifts and callings. He created you at this time in history because right now you can honor and serve and glorify God. Oh, and hold onto that, because next year, that’s a huge focus.
We need to treat distractions the same way we treat temptation. We need to distance ourselves from anything that would distract us from that which matters most. When working I try not to look at emails for an extended time. I really do, because every time I’m distracted I tend to look at email. Then I get lost in some wild goose chase that really doesn’t matter.
That’s why I try to get out of the office every week to write my sermons. It’s not for the donuts or food. I put in ear buds, listen to music and try to focus. No distractions, except for coffee refills.
In Proverbs 4:25-27, Solomon tells us -
25 Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you.
26 Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure.
27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.
Do you see that? Let your eyes look directly forward. Let your gaze be straight before you. Don’t swerve to the left or the right. Turn your foot away from evil.
That’s part of avoiding distractions. It’s moving away from that which tempts you. When you know what tempts you, don’t go there. If donuts are your downfall, don’t go to Jack’s for a meeting. If alcohol tempts you, don’t go to the bar with friends. If it’s social media, put your phone away. Keep your gaze straight in front of you. Fix your eyes on Jesus. That’s your focus and He will not let you slip.
Know what those temptations are, can you call upon the power of God to help you resist? God wants to help! Really, He does! God doesn’t want you to be distracted. He doesn’t want you to fall. He doesn’t want you to justify your sin. He wants you to draw closer to Him . . . and the really cool thing is this . . . as you draw closer to God, He will draw closer to you.
God tells us to call on Him. Paul told the Corinthians - -
13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability,
but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. - 1 Corinthians 10:13
God is faithful to you and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, AND - God will also provide a way of escape! But will we trust God for the escape plan?
As the writer of Hebrews tells us in chapter 12,
1 ... let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith...
We need to keep our eyes focused on Jesus. He’s the founder, author and perfecter of our faith. As we run the race of life look straight forward, not swerving off the path, making sure we’re moving towards Jesus, because He’s our focus.
As we get ready to close, I want to share one more scripture. It’s from Matthew 14. As Jesus was walking on water during a storm, Peter boldly asked Jesus --
28 “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”
29 Jesus said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.
30 But when Peter saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” - Matthew 14:28-30
We tend to think Peter got out of the boat and immediately sank. But he didn’t! He started to walk on water like Jesus. That’s what Matthew said in verse 29, Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water to Jesus. How cool is that. How did he walk on water?
Because he was focused on the prize. Peter was fully focused on Jesus. His eyes were on Jesus, walking a straight path to Him. It’s only when he looked away, and became distracted, focusing on the wind and waves - on something other than Jesus. Then he started sinking.
Are you that way right now? Are you sinking? Distracted? Not focused on Jesus? Maybe you’re thinking there has to be something more. You’re allowing the distractions of life to get in the way. You’re allowing the temptations of satan to pull you away from the true focus. Are you focused on the winds and the waves?
In the sermon on the mount, Jesus said, we need to seek the kingdom of God. It’s a daily prayer. It’s a moment by moment refocusing of what pulls us away from Jesus.
Turn it around. Stop the distractions. Martha was doing good, but Mary was doing what was best. . . can you do the same?
Seek first the kingdom of God. Seek first! Not second, not third, not after you’ve checked your phone . . . seek first the kingdom of God. Turn your eyes and your heart and your spirit to God. Allow God to transform your heart.
Practice this everyday. You might not get it perfect the first day! But don’t give up! Everyday, spend time focusing on God - talking to Him, worshiping Him, praising Him, drawing closer to Him and very simply enjoying being in His presence.
