Sermon Central
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"mind Your Own Business" Series
Contributed by John Bright on Aug 4, 2022 (message contributor)
Summary: Working through the Gospel of Luke using consecutive expository preaching. Teaching sheet included at end of text.
"Mind Your Own Business"
A sermon for 6/12/22 – Trinity Sunday
Pastor John Bright
Luke 10 “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.”
Pause right there. Those words I just read; they were “Breathed by God”! God wants you to hear His Word right now! So, what is your response? Do you want to transformed by that Word or do you want to be informed about the words? You have to choose.
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I want to share a quote with you that sums up the account of Martha, Mary and Jesus:
"Look at others and be distressed.
Look at yourself and be depressed.
Look to God and you’ll be blessed."
Rev. Warren Wiersbe, 1929-2019
I am spending so much time in Luke because it is this Gospel we find the most direct teaching on Discipleship, as in these verses from the 10th chapter. Here we are presented with two women we know lived in Bethany. These two women – Martha and Mary – have been used to describe two kinds of women, two types of personalities. Actually, we see positive and negative actions in these folks that can be found in every Believer who wants to grow in Discipleship.
Look at others and be distressed – we all know folks who have what we want – Amen?
Look at yourself and be depressed – we all have too many things to do in a single day – Amen?
Look to God and you’ll be blessed – we all need to spend more time with God – Amen?
Looking at Others
“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.”
One the problems we have with applying God’s Word to our lives – moving from information to application – is the move from then to now. Nobody here is going to have the Son of God show up unexpectedly for a meal and the chance to teach in your living room. It just isn’t going to happen. From another angle – 99% of you folks have interaction with social media. You know, that place where everyone is funnier than you and wittier than you and goes on better vacations than you and has better hair-days than you and eats the prettiest food you ever saw in your whole life!
It is so easy to fall into the trap that Martha fell into way back then. You see, she really, really wanted to be doing what her sister was doing. Since that was not an option – all she could hope for was to get Mary to do what she was doing. She even fell into the trap of telling God what to do. Good thing we NEVER DO THAT.
Have you ever known someone who was miserable and could not stand it that others were happy and joyful? Those folks work really hard to bring everyone down to their level.
There are all kinds of consequences if you go down this path of comparing yourself to others – always sure they have it better than you. In 2016, Rachel Ramsey Cruz wrote the book “Love Your Life Not Theirs” in which she talked about the trap of discontent with your life if you are comparing it to others. She focused most of her attention on social media as the new trap of “keeping up with the Jones.” This leads to so much unnecessary spending and a pile of debt. Even if you don’t use social media very much, remember that every ad on tv is designed to make you want their product and become discontent with what you have right now.
Contentment is necessary for Discipleship – Philippians 4 “11 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
