Mary, an intimate relationship
HHM Pastor Jim Parisi July 28, 2002
Luke 10:38-42 38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me." 41 And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."
We the church at large today have become institutions that possess a Martha mentality
We have become consumed with the burden and labors of the world
We are like the little wind up dolls of old, marching to the syncopated and calibrated clicks of a clock
Our conviction prayer and worship has become homogenized broken down into little palatable particles that we can accept
We have learned to blend all of Gods diverse elements… all the different peoples and ideas of God into one uniform substance.
We are so worried as a group that we do not become offensive..
It is causing the churches today to compromise the word of God
Pastors are sitting in pulpits trying to find the middle ground so that the people will not become offended.
Falling in the demonic trap of the new age understanding
They slowly are doing this without knowing most of the time,
the result is that their congregations are starving for a pure word from heaven….. Real food from the throne of God
They go into elaborate mind numbing dialogue to appease the angry mob that sits and wait upon the message as entertainment and amusement
Rater then direction and leading of the Lord through His Spirit
I can stand here today with a good heart and report
I just know one thing ….THE GOSPEL, the living word of Jesus Christ is simplicity personified
It was designed for all men to understand
It was designed for all men to comprehend
Not the intellectual or overachieving
But for the simple man
The man who realizes that he has sin
Moreover, the only way to see heaven is to surrender it all and accept Him Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior
Remember the rich young ruler… he could not give up what he thought was of worth in this earth.
He met and talked to Jesus; …he was face to face with the one true living God
He was asked to give up what was of this life, and turn away from it
He could not do it…why because the security of this world was greater then His relationship and understanding with the Lord
He had head knowledge.. he was educated…. He was rich and accomplished by the world standards …he had money and distinction
The One thing that he did not have was an intimate relationship with GOD
Because Church if he did.. He would have left everything to be with Jesus He would have gave it all up to walk with him
He would have forgotten about this world and focused his eyes on the riches of heaven
If you truly have an true intimate relationship with someone, you never want them to leave or have them out of your life…
You see church Pastors and Congregations are becoming ill and infested with disease
They are frustrated because they were called to preach the true, and uncompromised Gospel of Jesus Christ. But can’t
I will tell you this church… the TRUE Gospel of Jesus Christ will offend the people of this earth…
It will divide families and friends / it will start wars and separate nations.
When you start to live your life for Jesus Christ , start to consecrate your life unto the Lord every devil in hell will attack you
People will separate from you as fast as they politely can.
At First, they will start to become a little temperamental with you
Next, they will become angry with you,
Then they will think about it, and they will try to persuade you back to come back to the fold.
They do this for your own good, so you see the error of your ways
Back to compromise and the sin they live in. Doesn’t misery love company?
Back to the muck and the mire of this sphere of decay, we call the earth
That’s right church the world is dying not only spiritually but naturally look at our environment….
They start saying..Ohhhh brother it’s ok ohhh sister it’s ok to do that…
What could it hurt? It’s only a little sin its only a little deception.
Who on earth is every going to see you…
Church I’m not only talking about the unsaved here but the saved too church goers
We have many churches, that the pews are filled with souls, who are compromising the Gospel every day
It is a way of life for them
They come one day a week for an hour… to get their fill of Jesus
The church of the revolving door .. Drive up fast food Christianity
They live respectable on Sundays mornings all dressed in their Sunday best
Best clothes , best face, hair all done right… shoes shined.
and leave that building ready to sin
their hearts so filled with sin the rest of the week
they run back on a Sunday just for a breath of fresh air
Exposing themselves to ungodly things all week and not seeking the Spirit of God
If you are committed to this Gospel, then, they will hate you
I would not tell you such a thing if it were not true.
They will rise up like a mob shaking their fists and shout for you too to be hung on a cross. Just like Jesus
Didn’t the crowed scream, crucify him crucify him crucify him
My bible says in Mat 24:9 Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake.
Hated for His name sake……
I had a conversation this week with a gentleman, a leader from the a denominational church organization
They were looking for new pastors for their churches
I was curious of what they looked for, and how they found them nosy me.
He proceeded to explain to me that they could not keep a pastor for more then two to three years at one church in their organization
He was overwhelmed with searches never seeing an end to his load
The light at the end of the tunnel
I said to him that I had never heard of such a thing…..
Most pastors I knew stayed on for years on end
He said that The Leadership in the denominational churches are as frustrated as the pastors are today.
He attributed this to a few things
One that the pastors were preaching the wrong kind of message to the denominational churches
They were starting to compromise the integrity of the gospel to be popular with the people around them
to keep them in the pews in their church
Next, the congregation’s unwillingness to hear and accept the unadulterated truth of this Gospel,
Moreover, it’s willingness to change as a body.
First starting as individuals then as a group
We agreed that these were days that there would be no compromising this Gospel …. now more then ever.
I said we need to on fire for Jesus
IN Rev. 3:16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth
Church I don’t want to be just hot for God
I want to be red hot, White-tipped hot for The Lord
So hot, that anything that comes near me is charred and consumed for the Glory of God.
We agreed that the body has to become more intimate with the person of Jesus Christ
To become more intimate as churches, with each other to start crossing and breaking down the denominational lines of fear that where drawn long ago
I proceeded to discuss with him that my understanding is that not only have we failed to recognize the need for an intimate relationship with the Lord
But, we have forgotten what a great treasure it is to be saved and filled with the Spirit of God
What a blessing what an honor it is to just to serve Him
He said they forgot how blessed they were to have a pastor who loves and cares for them
This is because so many pulpits are empty today
He said it’s like it says in Ephesians 4 that they were given apostles; prophets; evangelists; pastors and teachers;
Vs 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Ephesians 4:11-13 11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:
These men are gifts from God
How could they appreciate the Gift of a pastor who loved and cared for them
When in their own hearts they didn’t have that intimate relationship with God
Therefore, like anything else they took them for granted and did not cherish the gift that was in their possession
it is taken away from you
In addition, this leaves them with this dilemma of continually filling these positions in their churches
I didn’t see this at first because my pastor was always there 30 years now almost.
Same church… sowing his life, same pulpit
I started to see the true meaning of giving your life to something
It’s like a 30 year marriage you work at it
You don’t give up and throw it away because it’s the rough times
You make it work because you are intimate with that other person ….your hearts are sewn together.
Church, We have become to busy scurrying around like Martha thinking we are doing our best, getting along, keeping our head above water,
Letting life’s precious things pass us by while we are being consumed with the problems of our lives
Church you will always have something to distract you it is up to you not to be distracted
What would you do if we met on the street and you were Doing something you didn’t want others to know about
What would you say to me then?
Ohhhh… Pastor you don’t know
I work and live in the real world you can’t conceive my burden
Folks let’s start here first
Let us start at the beginning and get this one thing straight first
They are not your burdens …they are not your problems
If you are living a proper relationship with the Lord, they are all His Burdens
If you are consumed life work or anything
You have believed a LIE
Can the word of God Lie? Run to him .Give all you burdens to Him
My bible says in Mat 11:28-30 28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
It is his rest …we are to seek; it is his rest we are to desire
Be like MARY who was sitting at the feet of Jesus breathing in all he had to give.
Breathing in pure the love and the closeness of Jesus Christ only a intimate relationship can produce
She was sitting at the Feet of our Lord and Savior being silver spoon fed
His relationship with us is an intimate one , her relationship was treasured
Hold that relationship close like fine jewels or treasures
She could say that…. that time in fellowship with Jesus was of great value / who could put a price on that experience
Church want an experience.. Experience Jesus
Want to be entertained. Entertain yourselves with the thoughts of a faithful God
Here are two main things we do to sustain life, one is breathing in and the other is breathing out
If you can breathe in you are alive, this is the important one because you will eventually breathe out
Martha was running and doing all the natural things of the day this is breathing OUT life is breathing out
This is good in due season. Natural things need to be done too.
But Mary found the blessing in breathing in…. breathing in a relationship with God
She found a treasure to keep right there in the living room
Church when you have Jesus sitting there ready to minister to you
It’s time to sit back and breathe in, breathe in deep for all you can
Forget the woes and worries of the day
Breathe each breath as if it is your last
Fill your lungs with the glory of the one true LIVING GOD
Build a relationship with Him so intimate that He is you purpose in life
That every breath you take in……….. is full of His LOVE
Amen
