Hi Church Family,
I’m honored and happy to give Dustin a small, well-deserved break from his very busy weekly routine.
Dustin has led us in looking at the Gospel of Luke and stories of “Breaking Bread with Jesus”. It seems that Luke wants us to see what Jesus was about, what he is doing, the kind of people he attracted. It is critically important that we see God’s character as it is revealed in Jesus.
Today we are in Chapter 10 and the well-known story of Jesus visiting the house of his friend Martha in Bethany which he seemed to do often:
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 few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
We have all heard sermons on this text that usually amount to “don’t be like Martha”, but I don’t have much interest in comparing Martha versus Mary. From this short narrative, we can see that they both have wonderful qualities that we should emulate and maybe some short-comings we may see in ourselves upon inspection.
I will focus on how busyness in our lives can lead to self-centerness and how our culture perpetuates our addiction to busyness, distraction, and consumerism.
On the flip side, living with a sense of awe in your life can make you healthier, more content and awe will change the sense of our importance or at least the importance of the things that get under our skin.
So, questions to ponder as we head towards Sunday:
1. Does being perpetually busy decay your desire to serve others or to spend time with God?
2. What has brought a sense of awe into your life (e.g. a star-filled sky, a worship service, a walk in a forest)?
3. Bonus question: Have you ever considered how women like Martha (and Joanna) supported Jesus and his disciples?
May you have a peaceful week,
Rod Tissue