Sermons About The-better-choice
Mother's Day 2008 - A Heart Like Mary
SCREEN OUTLINE THE BETTER CHOICE Luke 10:38-42 [play ANITA RENFRO video] As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42 Six unrealistic expectations that can throw us into a meltdown. • There should not be any limits to what I can do. • I have the capacity to help everyone. • I am the only person available to help. • I just never make a mistake. • I have the ability to change another person. • I can do it on my own. “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things!” (v41) “…only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better…” (v42) “One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.” Psalm 27:4 [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope] Philippians 3:10 AMP The one thing Martha was missing was intimacy with Jesus. THE BETTER CHOICE Choose to be still before God. Choose to listen. Choose to cast your cares on Jesus. Choose to worship. PRINT OUTLINE THE BETTER CHOICE Luke 10:38-42 MARTHA’S MELTDOWN Carol Travilla, in her book “Caring without Wearing”, lists six unrealistic expectations that can throw us into a meltdown. There should not be any _______________to what I can do. I have the capacity to help ___________________. I am the ________________ person available to help. I just never make a ___________________________. I have the ability to ____________________ another person. I can do it on my ______________________. THE ONE THING The one thing that Paul had, David had, Mary had, but Martha was missing was ________________with Jesus! THE BETTER CHOICE Let me suggest four things to build into your day, before the day gets going. Before your family rises, before you feel the pace pick up, make a better choice. Make these four choices. Choose to be _________________before God. Choose to _________________________. Choose to _______________________________on Jesus. Choose to ______________________________. CRAIG’S MSS THE BETTER CHOICE Luke 10.38-42 Happy Mother’s Day to everyone. It’s a day we also honor the godly women in our lives and say “Thank you” to them. You know, mom’s are busy people. I mean, they accomplish more than more in a morning than most guy do in a week! It’s amazing. And no one understands this better than Anita Renfro. Anita is a 44 year old mom that lives with her husband John and her two kids in the suburbs of Atlanta. Many of you have heard of her. She is a Christian comedian, and she made a list of the things that a mom says to her kids in any given day and put those phrases into a song. She performed the song at the Dozier Center for the Performing Arts in Kennesaw, Georgia. And last year before Mother’s Day, at the request of her kids, she put the clip of that song on You Tube and didn’t think any more about that. Over Mother’s Day weekend last year, the clip got about 500 hits. By Labor Day, it had past 800,000 mark. Then it was picked up by a website, “Mommyneedscoffee.com” and it shot through the roof. By October 1, of last year over 1.5 million people had seen it and two weeks later it rose to 8 million! She has now been featured in the New York Times and Good Morning America. She is also a speaker for the Women of Faith Conference that travels across the country. But since we are honoring mothers and all the things that you do – I wanted you to get a chance to see this song for yourself. So here is Anita Renfro – the William Tell Mom! [play video] TWO SISTERS Like I said, moms are busy people! I want to show you another woman that was pretty busy, so take you Bible and open it up to Luke 10.38. This story is really about two sisters. These ladies were not mothers. These ladies weren’t married. To the best of our knowledge they were both grown single women living with their brother Lazarus in a small, obscure village called Bethany not far from Jerusalem. But this family was special to Jesus. These two sisters and their brother had become some of Jesus’ closest friends. In John’s gospel we read “Jesus loved Martha, and her sister and Lazarus.” (John 11.5). He loved them. And it was a place that he liked to stay while he was traveling. It was a place where he could be himself, decompress for the ministry, let his hair down, not be on display and he could relax. Growing up in the ministry, I was very aware early on that I lived in a fishbowl. People were always watching to see what you did, where you went, how you reacted, what you said. But there have always been a few people that I could just be myself with. I didn’t have to counsel or be prepared to lead out, I could just rest. Well, this was Jesus place to rest. And I’m sure when Jesus came with his guys, they stayed up late into the night –telling stories, his disciples crowded into the small house and people laughing. But this encounter we are about to read is the first encounter we have in the Bible. I don’t know if this was the first time Jesus came to visit – or just the first account we read about – but it was an encounter that changed one of these ladies lives forever. [read Luke 10.38-42] Underline the phrase “one thing is needful”. Jesus said that there was one thing that Martha needed. One thing. One thing that was the most important thing in her life. I have a book that on my self in the office– it’s a business book and its simply titled, “The One Thing you need to Know”. I bought the book at a conference because the title caught my attention. I thought, “This book is going to give me the one most important thing about leadership I need to know!” Unfortunately when I opened it up, it didn’t just have one thing – as advertised. It had lost of things to do- lists, not just one thing. Life is complicated. But Jesus boils our relationship with God down to just one thing. He calls is the “better choice”. “Mary has chosen what is better” (v42b) What is the one thing that busy moms need to know. What is the one thing that overloaded students need to know. What is the one thing that fast paced executives need to know? What is the one thing that stressed out singles need to know? What is the one thing that a retired couple needs to know? What is the one thing –the best choice we can make? Jesus is going to tell us. But he tells us in the most unusual circumstances. PARTY AT MARTH’S HOUSE It all started when Jesus was coming to visit. Most likely Jesus didn’t give much notice that he was coming to visit. His appearance with his gang of 12 was probably one of those “surprise visits” that we all love. “Hey, Martha, yeah…we were just in the neighborhood…thought we would just come over for dinner..is that ok?” And the story tells us that Martha, opened her home to them. She obviously had a knack for hospitality. In fact, every time you see Martha in the Bible, she has a crowd at her house. She loved to have people over. She was the “hostess with the mostess”. You know people like this don’t you? Liz and I have a friend and she is like Martha Stewart (except for the prison sentence). She always has a crowd at their house. It’s a group of teenagers one night, followed by a baby shower the next afternoon, followed by a cook out for her husbands business, followed by dinner for four or five couples. That would be a normal weekend! And the more the merrier! And what is so amazing is that she doesn’t just serve stuff out of a can. Everything has to be made from scratch! She makes her own bread. She creates her own deserts. She decorates each place setting individually! It’s a production. And that is how she is wired! She loves it! We were all great friends because her spiritual gift is cooking and my spiritual gift is eating! Well, that’s what Martha was like. I can see her now barking out the orders to the servants. The kitchen, a flurry of activity. One is going to the market to buy food, the other is cleaning the dishes the other is preparing the drinks, another is decorating the table. And Martha is in the middle of it making it all happen! After all, this was a big deal – at least 16 to feed, and one of them is the Messiah! No pressure! And in the middle of the frenzy she asks someone, “Where’s Mary?” Martha starts looking around and finds Mary sitting in the living room, on the floor with her legs cross, hanging on every word that Jesus says. She’s just sitting there, right in the middle of all the men, listening to their stories. Have you noticed how two siblings are often extremely different? Sometimes you wonder how these two people had the same parents? If there were any two sisters that were different, it was Martha and Mary. When I first started preparing for today I took a piece of paper, drew a vertical line down the middle of the page. At the top of one side I wrote, “Martha”, the on the other side I wrote “Mary” and I started writing down their differences. Mary was contemplative – Martha was assertive Mary liked to stop and smell the roses – Martha like to cut the roses and arrange them with babies breath for a table centerpiece Mary was emotional – Martha was more practical Mary wasn’t too concerned with time – Martha scheduled If Mary was a daydreamer, Martha was driven If Mary was easy going – Martha was fast paced and busy Mary liked to listen, Martha like a list Mary loved to absorb the moment, Martha enjoyed accomplishing the task They just couldn’t have been any more different! It’s not that one was better than the other, or one was right and the other was wrong. It’s just that they were completely different people! And because of that difference, I’m sure there was a regular diet of conflict between the two even growing up. I can hear it now, “Mom, Mary’s not helping me fold the clothes!” “Mom, Martha’s bossing me!” And on it goes. I’m sure Martha thought that Mary lived in another world and was lazy. She was most likely the baby of the family. I’m sure Mary thought her older sister was controlling and too up tight. It happens with siblings doesn’t it? Conflict. And that conflict was certainly boiling up in the story. When Martha saw Mary sitting down, while she and everyone else was a work, she lost it. She was shouldering the load all by herself and it just wasn’t right for Mary to get to sit there and let Martha do it all. So she had a meltdown! MARTHA MELTDOWN By this time all self restraint had gone out the window! She burst into the living room and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” (v40). It’s interesting that she doesn’t speak to Mary directly. Maybe she had already tried to get her attention, or given her the “evil eye” as only a big sister could do, and Mary had just ignored her! Whatever the case, Martha was upset! She felt like everything was on her shoulders. She was doing it all by herself and it wasn’t fair. All she could see was the list of things that “had” to be done! By the way, let me just stop here and say that some of you can relate to Martha. And you don’t have to be a woman to relate. Listen to those descriptors again: busy, assertive, driven, scheduled, practical, accomplishing. Does that sound like you? I was helping one of my girls with chemistry homework a while back. One of the key descriptors of an element is it’s melting point. Every one of us has a melting point. And sometimes the pressures and demands of life can push us to our melting point. Carol Travilla, in her book “Caring without Wearing” lists six unrealistic expectations that can throw us into a meltdown. There should not be any limits to what I can do I have the capacity to help everyone I am the only person available to help I just never make a mistake I have the ability to change another person I can do it on my own When you think that you can do it all – that every problem is for you to solve – that every need is for your to meet – when you don’t allow yourself to be human, or to make mistakes and you continually heap pressure on yourself to perform (whether that’s in your family or in your company) and when you ignore healthy boundaries in your life – you are headed for a meltdown! That is where some of you are right now. There is a mountain of expectations people have put on you, and you have put on yourself – and you are suffocating. You lay in bed worrying how you will get it all done and all the people you are letting down. And you are at the breaking point! That’s where Martha was – meltdown! And so she blew up at Jesus. But I want you to listen to Jesus’ word to Martha. Now remember, Jesus loved Martha! And Jesus knew her better than she knew herself! He could read the frustration all over her face! “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things!” (v41) Jesus didn’t say, “Martha, why can’t you be like your sister?” Jesus didn’t try to change her personality or chastise her for being busy. After all, she was making the meal! He just stated the obvious. The word “upset” means to be distracted or pulled in several directions! Jesus said, “Martha – you are pulled in so many directions! You are so stress out!” Let me ask you, could Jesus be saying that to you? Are you feeling pulled in different directions? Do you fee like everyone wants a piece of you? Everyone is making demands on your time? Are you stressed? Are you at meltdown? If so, then listen to the next sentence Jesus said. You are stressed out and pulled but “only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better…” (v42) Martha was stressed out because she was missing one thing in her life. And without this one thing, life had become unbearable. The same thing happened to a young man that came to Jesus. He had it all – living good, looking good, and he had the goods! Everything was great, except something wasn’t right in his soul. On the inside, he was restless. He asked Jesus what he needed to do? Jesus told him to follow the Ten Commandments, but he said, “I’ve been doing that since I was a kid”. Then the Bible says that Jesus looked at him – looked deep in his soul and he said - “You still lack one thing…then come, follow me." LK 18.22 This young man had it all, but what he didn’t have was one most important thing. The same things Martha was missing. THE ONE THING What is the one thing? King David knew the one thing. He wrote - “One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.” Psalm 27.4 The Apostle Paul also wrote about the one thing. [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope] Philippians 3.10 AMP The one thing that Paul had, David had, Mary had but Martha was missing was intimacy with Jesus! She had allowed the busyness of life to crowd out the meaning of life. She had allowed the pace of life to keep her from Jesus. Her work had high jacked her worship. And if you are stressed – melting down – under pressure –then what you need is to know and be close to Jesus. When I first started looking at the contrast of these two women, it was easy to look at the list and ask myself - which one are you? Are you a Martha or a Mary? People will tell me this…I’m a Martha, or I’m a Mary. We tend to want to identify with one or the other – and divide into camps. But if you are choosing sides in this story, your missing the point. The issues isn’t deciphering which one you are most like, or which one you identify with the most –the issue is that there is some of Martha and Mary in all of us. And the tension between them is felt inside of us every day. There is this pressure to DO – to perform, to check the list, to accomplish all the demands of life. But there is equally a desires to BE – to be still, to know God intimately, to walk with God closely. And this tension between the demands of life and the desire of our hearts causes frustration. We live in the cross hairs of what we want to do and what must be done. And intimacy always seems to come out on the short side! It’s like we like Martha – stuck in the kitchen, when what we really want is to be sitting in the living room! Chuck Swindoll wrote about a pastor that confided in him – “Nobody knows this, but I’m operating on fumes. I am lonely, hollow, shallow, enslaved to a schedule that never lets up.” He fell into Chucks arms and began to sob. Can you related. Are you operating on fumes? Is there a longing for more? There is a way to move to intimacy with Jesus. THE BETTER CHOICE Let me suggest four things to build into your day, before the day gets going. Before your family rises, before you feel the pace pick up, make a better choice. Make these four choices. Choose to be still before God. Choose to listen Choose to cast your cares on Jesus Choose to worship - salvation
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