uh so my family just got back from whin<\/p>\n
on Wednesday night uh about once a year<\/p>\n
we take a kind of a big vacation like a<\/p>\n
week long<\/p>\n
vacation and we love huan because it's<\/p>\n
quiet and the beaches especially like<\/p>\n
South huan are nice and there's nobody<\/p>\n
there sometimes and yeah we love it we<\/p>\n
just love there um and we were there and<\/p>\n
we were at this little restaurant and it<\/p>\n
was on the beach it was beautiful um the<\/p>\n
food was amazing it was perfect um and<\/p>\n
we were just sitting there watching this<\/p>\n
amazing you know the the ocean and the<\/p>\n
sun's going down and so the colors are<\/p>\n
just right and and everything's<\/p>\n
everything's perfect you know and um<\/p>\n
we're talking about because vacation is<\/p>\n
like where we read books together and so<\/p>\n
we're reading books to our kids and<\/p>\n
hanging out and so we're talking about<\/p>\n
all these books we're reading and we're<\/p>\n
just having a great time it's one of<\/p>\n
those like those those Hallmark family<\/p>\n
moments you know where you're like this<\/p>\n
is this should be a this is a lifetime<\/p>\n
movie if you know what lifetime is um<\/p>\n
and then I look over at a table next to<\/p>\n
me and it's like it's a family with two<\/p>\n
older kids and it's you know the mom and<\/p>\n
the dad and two a brother and a sister<\/p>\n
and they're all on their screens you you<\/p>\n
see you see the flickering there and<\/p>\n
their food is sitting there and it's<\/p>\n
like it's getting cold and I'm thinking<\/p>\n
I could probably get some of their food<\/p>\n
they wouldn't notice um and my first<\/p>\n
thought all right this is this is<\/p>\n
confession of sin okay um was what a<\/p>\n
waste what jerks they are they're just<\/p>\n
sitting there on their phones and you<\/p>\n
know just wasting this amazing view and<\/p>\n
their food's getting cold and then my<\/p>\n
second thought okay was much more humble<\/p>\n
and much more true was like oh wait wait<\/p>\n
wait that's us too like we do that as<\/p>\n
well we're just like that even if it's<\/p>\n
not right this minute and and I just it<\/p>\n
made me think there are times when we<\/p>\n
just<\/p>\n
miss we miss the present we miss what's<\/p>\n
important animportant because we're on<\/p>\n
our phones or because our minds are<\/p>\n
somewhere else I'm thinking about work<\/p>\n
whatever and it struck me and the<\/p>\n
passage we're talking about today is<\/p>\n
just this it's not hard it's not<\/p>\n
complicated it's we're so easily<\/p>\n
distracted from important things from<\/p>\n
Ultimate things and so today we're going<\/p>\n
to look at Jesus call to all his<\/p>\n
disciples to fix our hearts upon<\/p>\n
him above all other things in our lives<\/p>\n
to fix our hearts upon him and so we're<\/p>\n
going to we're going to do this by<\/p>\n
looking at three things one the<\/p>\n
disciples<\/p>\n
posture two the disciples distraction<\/p>\n
and three the disciples portion so I'm<\/p>\n
going to read the passage and then we're<\/p>\n
g to then we'll pray but it's short and<\/p>\n
I'll read in<\/p>\n
English so if you will and you can just<\/p>\n
keep this in your hands if you have a<\/p>\n
Bible or or open your phone uh don't get<\/p>\n
distracted though look at Point number<\/p>\n
two this is God's<\/p>\n
word now as they went on their way Jesus<\/p>\n
entered a village and a woman named<\/p>\n
Martha welcomed him into her house and<\/p>\n
she had a sister called Mary who sat at<\/p>\n
the Lord's feet and listen to his<\/p>\n
teaching but Martha was distracted with<\/p>\n
much serving and she went up to him and<\/p>\n
said<\/p>\n
Lord do you not care that my sister has<\/p>\n
left me to serve alone tell her then to<\/p>\n
help me but the Lord answered her Martha<\/p>\n
Martha you're anxious and troubled about<\/p>\n
many things but one thing is necessary<\/p>\n
Mary has chosen the good portion and it<\/p>\n
will not be taken away from her let's<\/p>\n
pray<\/p>\n
father we have prayed and sung and read<\/p>\n
from your word this morning that<\/p>\n
you you are the one who is worthy to<\/p>\n
gaze upon in your<\/p>\n
temple it should be our highest prayer<\/p>\n
that we would gaze upon the beauty of<\/p>\n
the Lord in your<\/p>\n
temple but we know that we fill our<\/p>\n
lives and our hearts and our minds with<\/p>\n
broken sisters things that cannot<\/p>\n
satisfy<\/p>\n
us Lord we pray pray that you would<\/p>\n
challenge us through the example of Mary<\/p>\n
in this particular<\/p>\n
instance um ongoing example of Martha in<\/p>\n
this particular instance and from the<\/p>\n
Eternal ongoing constant call to amen<\/p>\n
you and we ask all this in your name<\/p>\n
amen so we're going to start with the<\/p>\n
disciples posture the disciples posture<\/p>\n
so I don't know if you know this I'm was<\/p>\n
actually a Spanish teacher for about 5<\/p>\n
years after I graduated from<\/p>\n
University um and in in my time as a<\/p>\n
teacher I taught everything from sixth<\/p>\n
graders to seniors in high school uh<\/p>\n
don't ask me to speak in Spanish Pono<\/p>\n
this is 20 years ago many years ago I<\/p>\n
cannot teach anyone now um I can<\/p>\n
actually I can teach you the bad<\/p>\n
words but most and most of my time<\/p>\n
teaching I I mean I loved it I really L<\/p>\n
teaching was you know the process of<\/p>\n
helping students to learn and to grow<\/p>\n
and to grasp new Concepts and to be<\/p>\n
interested in other cultures which I<\/p>\n
think is a lot of Education really<\/p>\n
really is you know when you're teaching<\/p>\n
language to speak the Spanish language<\/p>\n
some it wasn't only it wasn't just<\/p>\n
fulfilling for me but it was fun it was<\/p>\n
like a it was one of the most fun times<\/p>\n
in my life but if you've ever been a<\/p>\n
teacher uh or a pastor or anyone in<\/p>\n
charge of having anyone learn anything<\/p>\n
you'll know that no matter how well you<\/p>\n
teach no matter how well you prepare no<\/p>\n
matter what you do no matter how much<\/p>\n
you love your subject you cannot make<\/p>\n
everyone learn you cannot make everyone<\/p>\n
grow so in each of my classes every time<\/p>\n
I taught a class every day every time<\/p>\n
and it was always different people you'd<\/p>\n
always have people who would come in<\/p>\n
ready like they were excited and ready<\/p>\n
to learn and whatever they just wanted<\/p>\n
to be there they even you know these<\/p>\n
little redneck kids in South Carolina<\/p>\n
wanted to speak Spanish crazy and you<\/p>\n
also had every day all the time people<\/p>\n
who were just disinterested they had a<\/p>\n
posture of disinterest a posture of even<\/p>\n
hostility towards me even towards the<\/p>\n
subject matter towards just being in<\/p>\n
school see the reality is that no matter<\/p>\n
how much I want to teach something no<\/p>\n
matter how much I want to impart<\/p>\n
knowledge to<\/p>\n
someone if the learner doesn't want the<\/p>\n
knowledge if the learner doesn't want to<\/p>\n
learn I can't do anything can't do<\/p>\n
anything our posture or the way that we<\/p>\n
approach or yeah the way we approach<\/p>\n
anything in life largely dictates how we<\/p>\n
experience that<\/p>\n
thing and so this principle actually<\/p>\n
holds true in pretty much every area of<\/p>\n
life you know um in every job you have<\/p>\n
in every occupation and and as<\/p>\n
especially in our walk with Jesus in our<\/p>\n
faith when we come to this passage today<\/p>\n
Jesus I mean it's kind of like a flyby<\/p>\n
you know Jesus is just stopping through<\/p>\n
he's come to the house of one of his<\/p>\n
dear friends or two of his dear friends<\/p>\n
Mary and Martha this may be the same one<\/p>\n
in John that we meet in John 11 that<\/p>\n
they had uh the brother Lazarus that<\/p>\n
Jesus raised from the dead we don't Luke<\/p>\n
doesn't tell us this and In this passage<\/p>\n
we see two different postures In this<\/p>\n
passage two different postures towards<\/p>\n
Jesus Jesus himself and and and to his<\/p>\n
teaching and he points us Jesus points<\/p>\n
us to the importance of our posture<\/p>\n
towards himself and towards his kingdom<\/p>\n
so in verse<\/p>\n
39 we<\/p>\n
read about<\/p>\n
Mary and she had a sister called Mary<\/p>\n
this is Martha had a sister called Mary<\/p>\n
who sat at the Lord's feet and listened<\/p>\n
listen to his<\/p>\n
teaching he she she sat at the Lord's<\/p>\n
feet and listened to his what so what is<\/p>\n
that communica it's it's not hard it's<\/p>\n
re there's no you don't have to go to<\/p>\n
the Greek here it's really<\/p>\n
easy it's it's it's the language of love<\/p>\n
of devotion of I am here for you like<\/p>\n
aanti sits at the feet of PB daily or<\/p>\n
should but it's that it's devotion it's<\/p>\n
I am committed to soaking up your<\/p>\n
presence it's a physical posture that<\/p>\n
that reflects love and respect and<\/p>\n
reverence and humility it says you are<\/p>\n
my<\/p>\n
authority and it says that Mary is just<\/p>\n
there to listen to learn to grow to hear<\/p>\n
whatever the rabbi the teacher has to<\/p>\n
say to her but Luke's also given us a<\/p>\n
clear<\/p>\n
contrast to Mary's posture of adoration<\/p>\n
so In this passage we mainly see Martha<\/p>\n
and we we we you know the the we don't<\/p>\n
even really talk to Mary here we just we<\/p>\n
just see what she's doing from a<\/p>\n
distance almost but we talk about or M<\/p>\n
Martha talks Martha is the one who we<\/p>\n
kind of focus on the most<\/p>\n
and now we're going to talk more about<\/p>\n
Martha's distractedness in a minute but<\/p>\n
I want to focus right now on her posture<\/p>\n
towards the Lord towards Christ so in<\/p>\n
verse 40 we read but Martha was<\/p>\n
distracted with much serving and she<\/p>\n
went up to him and said Lord do you not<\/p>\n
care that my sister has left me to serve<\/p>\n
alone tell her then to help me so think<\/p>\n
about what's Happening<\/p>\n
Here Martha a woman is going to the<\/p>\n
rabbi she just rebuked the creator of<\/p>\n
the universe and then she gave him an<\/p>\n
order she's communicating to her Creator<\/p>\n
Savior and King now she doesn't know all<\/p>\n
that quite yet her her knowledge of<\/p>\n
these things but this is someone<\/p>\n
important this isn't just anybody this<\/p>\n
is Jesus the rabbi her<\/p>\n
friend she's communicating that her<\/p>\n
plans her agenda her vision for how this<\/p>\n
Gathering goes even her idea of what's<\/p>\n
good and proper for a follow of Jesus is<\/p>\n
what matters her posture towards Jesus<\/p>\n
is almost one of a scolding teacher you<\/p>\n
ever had a scolding teacher you know<\/p>\n
teacher who's just there to scold you<\/p>\n
you know some teachers are nice and kind<\/p>\n
I think I was one of those I don't know<\/p>\n
but some teachers are just they're just<\/p>\n
kind of mean and that's kind of the way<\/p>\n
she comes across she wants to be the<\/p>\n
teacher the one who corrects the one who<\/p>\n
scolds<\/p>\n
here what is our posture before<\/p>\n
Jesus how do you and I sit under God's<\/p>\n
word because this this is how we sit at<\/p>\n
the feet of the J of Jesus these days by<\/p>\n
the way just just so you know you know<\/p>\n
this<\/p>\n
but how do you and I how do we approach<\/p>\n
Jesus I mean these are basic diagnostic<\/p>\n
questions for the health of our souls<\/p>\n
really it it tells us it tells us about<\/p>\n
our relationship with him and are we<\/p>\n
growing in Christ and so Believers what<\/p>\n
is our posture before Jesus are you<\/p>\n
sitting at the feet of of Jesus<\/p>\n
listening to his word are you sitting<\/p>\n
under the word or do you come to it as<\/p>\n
as the<\/p>\n
teacher now some of us have the role of<\/p>\n
teacher that's okay but we still have to<\/p>\n
sit under<\/p>\n
it are you bowing before the teacher in<\/p>\n
reverence and humility and submission<\/p>\n
and<\/p>\n
adoration or are you setting the agenda<\/p>\n
for Jesus and his church are you telling<\/p>\n
him what he's supposed to be like what<\/p>\n
he's supposed to act like what he's<\/p>\n
supposed to do like Martha<\/p>\n
are you picking and<\/p>\n
choosing what of the which part of the<\/p>\n
teacher's uh uh words you're going to<\/p>\n
you're going to<\/p>\n
accept do you knowingly or unknowingly<\/p>\n
come to Jesus to his word to his church<\/p>\n
to his people as a shopper as someone<\/p>\n
who's just shopping around I'll take a<\/p>\n
little bit of this and a little bit of<\/p>\n
that the posture of a disciple should be<\/p>\n
one of reverence one of adoration one of<\/p>\n
I am ready to listen and that's the<\/p>\n
posture we see in Mary today now she<\/p>\n
she's there are no Marys in the Bible by<\/p>\n
the way who are sinless just so you know<\/p>\n
that as we seek though to be Disciples<\/p>\n
of Jesus may we approach him with a<\/p>\n
posture of reverence and of adoration<\/p>\n
ready to sit at his feet and learn<\/p>\n
that's what Sunday's about by the<\/p>\n
way<\/p>\n
two the disciples<\/p>\n
distraction so I don't want to be too<\/p>\n
hard on Martha here um because I suspect<\/p>\n
that her posture towards the Lord in<\/p>\n
this situation is actually pretty common<\/p>\n
among the people in this room I know<\/p>\n
it's I know it is in my own life I want<\/p>\n
to suggest that but I do want to suggest<\/p>\n
that<\/p>\n
her lack of right posture towards<\/p>\n
Jesus towards his presence towards his<\/p>\n
teaching um probably flows directly from<\/p>\n
her distractedness so two times in this<\/p>\n
passage that's important two times here<\/p>\n
in this very short passage we hear that<\/p>\n
Martha is distracted and anxious and<\/p>\n
troubled verse 40 and 41 but Martha was<\/p>\n
went up to him and she said<\/p>\n
Martha you are anxious and troubled<\/p>\n
about many things so Luke really wants<\/p>\n
us to know that Martha is distracted and<\/p>\n
anxious and busy and again let's not be<\/p>\n
too hard on Martha I I mean I can't be<\/p>\n
um so I'm going to confess a little more<\/p>\n
sin here to you um so about every four<\/p>\n
to six weeks at our new Church<\/p>\n
Plant um we throw this big neighborhood<\/p>\n
party you know and it's huge like we<\/p>\n
have La last time and during Christmas<\/p>\n
we cooked a pig like a whole pig um<\/p>\n
we'll do these big barbecues and we just<\/p>\n
invite everyone and the goal of these<\/p>\n
parties is just to have fun to in like<\/p>\n
to engage our neighbors to get to know<\/p>\n
all of our neighbors and um and and to<\/p>\n
share a meal together and to talk and to<\/p>\n
give our members of Grace Fellowship<\/p>\n
just an opportunity an organic way to<\/p>\n
have fun with to talk with their<\/p>\n
neighbors um with people who aren't<\/p>\n
believers<\/p>\n
and these are these are really fun<\/p>\n
parties um I mean they're really fun um<\/p>\n
every single time we host one of these<\/p>\n
and we've done it like six or seven<\/p>\n
times in a row now you'll see tons of<\/p>\n
Thai kids and farang kids jumping on the<\/p>\n
trampoline and running around and<\/p>\n
laughing and getting bloody NOS just all<\/p>\n
these kind of things it's just it's<\/p>\n
amazing and then you'll see these thae<\/p>\n
ladies and the occasional farang sitting<\/p>\n
in the kitchen making some and laughing<\/p>\n
and they're probably laughing at the<\/p>\n
Fang you know and um and you'll see<\/p>\n
students and Baristas and missionaries<\/p>\n
and families and moping vendors and<\/p>\n
stock Traders and all these<\/p>\n
people standing around eating together<\/p>\n
and talking and just just getting to<\/p>\n
know each other um and it's it's it's<\/p>\n
really amazing and as a church ministry<\/p>\n
team we've really enjoyed these times<\/p>\n
we're seeing that they are very special<\/p>\n
times and we're seeing actually we're<\/p>\n
seeing people want to know more about<\/p>\n
about Jesus because of these times in<\/p>\n
fact we're actually seeing people come<\/p>\n
to know Jesus through these times we<\/p>\n
just baptized a young lady who who uh<\/p>\n
she came to these parties that's how she<\/p>\n
came to Faith was being around the body<\/p>\n
of<\/p>\n
Christ and that was the design by the<\/p>\n
way that was the design for these<\/p>\n
parties we wanted to have this so that<\/p>\n
we can build relationships so that we<\/p>\n
can talk to them so that we can show<\/p>\n
them graciousness and hospitality so let<\/p>\n
me tell you about Martha real quick all<\/p>\n
right many of you also know that I love<\/p>\n
to cook you know I I mean I love cooking<\/p>\n
um actually grew up in a family of cooks<\/p>\n
Great Cooks like not just decent Cooks<\/p>\n
but Great Cooks and we would cook these<\/p>\n
big meals and our our family even even<\/p>\n
though they weren't Believers we're all<\/p>\n
about hospitality and fish fries and<\/p>\n
Whole Hog roast all you just crazy<\/p>\n
amount of food and um obviously you know<\/p>\n
I like food uh and then I worked in a<\/p>\n
restaurant for a long time and<\/p>\n
throughout College I was I was working<\/p>\n
in restaurants and and even after<\/p>\n
college I worked in restaurants and<\/p>\n
taught Spanish and ever since I've been<\/p>\n
able to cook I've Loved inviting people<\/p>\n
over for for meals to show them love and<\/p>\n
to show them Hospitality I just just<\/p>\n
love<\/p>\n
it but just a few months ago as we were<\/p>\n
doing one of these parties and I was<\/p>\n
cooking all the food you know um because<\/p>\n
I don't know how to delegate very well<\/p>\n
and these parties that were by the way<\/p>\n
for the purpose of welcoming people so<\/p>\n
nothing's going right the food that I<\/p>\n
needed to find I couldn't find it the<\/p>\n
ingredients I needed to find I couldn't<\/p>\n
find it the charcoal that I was using in<\/p>\n
the grill wasn't working right the<\/p>\n
propane ran out everything was going<\/p>\n
wrong the food wasn't cooking fast<\/p>\n
enough everybody was hungry my kids<\/p>\n
diapers needed change all that kind of<\/p>\n
stuff and as all of this was happening I<\/p>\n
didn't want to talk to anyone like I<\/p>\n
didn't want to welcome newcomers I<\/p>\n
didn't and I'm sure that everyone around<\/p>\n
me could could see that very clearly<\/p>\n
because unlike Thai people fangs cannot<\/p>\n
hold like can't we can't hide anything<\/p>\n
you know Thai people are they'll hit hit<\/p>\n
you with their car and smile about it<\/p>\n
farangs cannot hide emotions you<\/p>\n
know and I'm I'm I'm seething I am<\/p>\n
stressed I am completely anxious and<\/p>\n
stressed<\/p>\n
out I am<\/p>\n
Martha I'm Ian I can identify with<\/p>\n
Martha this story hits me hard because<\/p>\n
this is who I am I'm here I'm the leader<\/p>\n
of these parties throwing these parties<\/p>\n
to welcome people to Jesus and none of<\/p>\n
them want to talk to me because I will<\/p>\n
bite their heads<\/p>\n
off but this is the point this is who we<\/p>\n
are we are all Martha we are all<\/p>\n
struggling with busyness in our<\/p>\n
day-to-day lives we're struggling with<\/p>\n
anxiety and stress we're feeling the<\/p>\n
pressure of work and of school and<\/p>\n
raising our kids of our country's<\/p>\n
politics<\/p>\n
of personal finances whatever whatever<\/p>\n
is stressing you out whatever is making<\/p>\n
you busy and anxious and<\/p>\n
distracted and so and by the way I just<\/p>\n
want to be very clear here Martha is not<\/p>\n
doing bad things Martha isn't doing<\/p>\n
anything wrong here I mean she's she's<\/p>\n
she's not struggling with anything bad<\/p>\n
she's actually doing what's expected of<\/p>\n
every single woman in her day at this<\/p>\n
time she's being a great host she is<\/p>\n
probably doing a wonderful job of<\/p>\n
Hosting this party so is Jesus just<\/p>\n
picking on Martha here no he's picking<\/p>\n
on you and I he's picking on all of us<\/p>\n
Jesus gets to the<\/p>\n
heart of the matter for Martha and for<\/p>\n
us for all who would be his disciples<\/p>\n
he's speaking to her heart to her to the<\/p>\n
idols that keep her from being with him<\/p>\n
so remember there's two times in this<\/p>\n
passage that Martha that Luke tells us<\/p>\n
Martha is anxious and distracted and as<\/p>\n
Martha comes to Jesus kind of in a huff<\/p>\n
probably feeling<\/p>\n
self-righteous about how hard she's<\/p>\n
working and how lazy her sister is and<\/p>\n
how inappropriate it is that she's<\/p>\n
sitting with the rabbi with the men and<\/p>\n
then she's saying get on to my sister<\/p>\n
you tell her to come and help me Jesus<\/p>\n
gently yet firmly says Martha Martha you<\/p>\n
were anxious but<\/p>\n
stop there's one thing that's necessary<\/p>\n
NE<\/p>\n
AR so Martha we know had plenty to<\/p>\n
distract her here if we look at this<\/p>\n
passage there's plenty to distract her<\/p>\n
here but we have more right we have more<\/p>\n
distractions available I mean that not<\/p>\n
only are we human so that we are prone<\/p>\n
to distraction but we've like invented<\/p>\n
ways to be more distracted we've<\/p>\n
invented efficient ways to be distracted<\/p>\n
emails and messages and phone alerts<\/p>\n
that uh that that tell us about the news<\/p>\n
all the time stock market prices uh<\/p>\n
social media reactions how many of you<\/p>\n
chase likes you know constant requests<\/p>\n
from bosses co-workers kids families<\/p>\n
friends<\/p>\n
whoever I just think this age is<\/p>\n
objectively more distracting than that<\/p>\n
age mostly because of this but on top of<\/p>\n
that we kind of have a knack for getting<\/p>\n
distracted right like we we we Chase<\/p>\n
those<\/p>\n
distractions we kind of fill our we have<\/p>\n
a a talent for filling our time with<\/p>\n
unimportant things or less important<\/p>\n
things you know like the only time if by<\/p>\n
the way if you want to email me and so<\/p>\n
that I'll respond email me on the week<\/p>\n
that I'm supposed to preach the only<\/p>\n
time I check emails is when I'm supposed<\/p>\n
to be prepping a<\/p>\n
sermon the only time I ever organized<\/p>\n
that my documents and pictures on my<\/p>\n
phone is when I'm supposed to be<\/p>\n
responding to<\/p>\n
emails and<\/p>\n
honestly when I have set aside time to<\/p>\n
be with the Lord whether that's reading<\/p>\n
his word prayer meditation ation a day<\/p>\n
of prayer to get away I get I look for<\/p>\n
distractions I'm like checking college<\/p>\n
football scores or whatever you know I'm<\/p>\n
we Chase<\/p>\n
distractions do you feel this do you<\/p>\n
feel anxious do you feel busy too busy<\/p>\n
do you feel<\/p>\n
distracted do you feel like you're doing<\/p>\n
so much and accomplishing so much and<\/p>\n
giving so much but you're not meeting<\/p>\n
with or growing in your<\/p>\n
faith you're not meeting with Jesus or<\/p>\n
growing in your faith or love for him<\/p>\n
this is<\/p>\n
normal so how do we focus our<\/p>\n
hearts and our lives on the one thing<\/p>\n
that Jesus just<\/p>\n
mentioned and uh let's the disciples<\/p>\n
portion so Jesus responds to uh Martha's<\/p>\n
frustration here and he tells us the<\/p>\n
answer to the question how do we focus<\/p>\n
how do we get rid of the distractions<\/p>\n
how do we move past those things and he<\/p>\n
looks at his busy frustrated harried<\/p>\n
disciple and he says to her you're<\/p>\n
anxious and TR no no I'm G to say it<\/p>\n
this way Martha<\/p>\n
Martha notice that he says he says her<\/p>\n
name twice this is this is tender you're<\/p>\n
anxious and troubled about many things<\/p>\n
but one thing is necessary Mary has<\/p>\n
chosen the good portion which will not<\/p>\n
be taken away from her and so in this<\/p>\n
gentle answer to his dear friend's<\/p>\n
question and and frustration Jesus helps<\/p>\n
us in our anxiety in our own trouble and<\/p>\n
our own distractedness so first of all<\/p>\n
he acknowledges hers and our situation<\/p>\n
and he responds with gentleness you know<\/p>\n
he doesn't berate Martha he's the god of<\/p>\n
the universe he has the right to be<\/p>\n
angry here but he tenderly from what we<\/p>\n
can tell in the text he tenderly<\/p>\n
corrects her he calls her and says come<\/p>\n
back come back Martha he doesn't respond<\/p>\n
in Anger he he shows Martha and he shows<\/p>\n
the rest of us that he knows our<\/p>\n
troubles he knows our frustrations he<\/p>\n
knows the busyness of Life he's our<\/p>\n
great high priest as Hebrew says when<\/p>\n
Martha then comes to him in anger and<\/p>\n
frustration and by the way it's it it<\/p>\n
seems like it's in front of everyone she<\/p>\n
not only scolds her little sister in the<\/p>\n
third person she scolds Jesus himself<\/p>\n
you not are you not seeing this Jesus<\/p>\n
tell her to tell her to help me she's<\/p>\n
scolding towards his sons tenderly<\/p>\n
graciously with understanding towards<\/p>\n
his distracted disciple secondly while<\/p>\n
he acknowledges her frustration he also<\/p>\n
speaks truth to<\/p>\n
her he speaks truth to her heart and our<\/p>\n
heart so though Martha is doing<\/p>\n
something very important and she is you<\/p>\n
know Necessary Things uh she's<\/p>\n
misordered her priorities and Jesus<\/p>\n
doesn't let that pass again Jesus is not<\/p>\n
rebuking Martha for busyness for hard<\/p>\n
work for doing her<\/p>\n
Duty um I mean somebody had to do it<\/p>\n
this was expected for guests in this<\/p>\n
culture particularly we have to do our<\/p>\n
duty<\/p>\n
the guest especially in that culture had<\/p>\n
to be fed but what he's rebuking her for<\/p>\n
here is the fear of man the<\/p>\n
self-righteousness and the critical<\/p>\n
spirit and the need to be in control and<\/p>\n
he's rebuking how all of these things<\/p>\n
combine in her heart and in her words<\/p>\n
and in her actions to cause her to<\/p>\n
forget that he alone he himself can<\/p>\n
satisfy her every need and desire and<\/p>\n
third what he does here is he calls her<\/p>\n
and us to the old old truth that the<\/p>\n
Lord is our portion so he's using kind<\/p>\n
of a strange phrase here he says Mary<\/p>\n
has chosen the good portion and some<\/p>\n
some English uh translations say Mary<\/p>\n
has chosen the good part or Mary has<\/p>\n
chosen what is better but either way<\/p>\n
whatever you say there it's not<\/p>\n
necessarily a way that we would always<\/p>\n
say that especially the the good portion<\/p>\n
thing um but it's a pretty common and<\/p>\n
well understood way to talk about God in<\/p>\n
the Old Testament and in the scriptures<\/p>\n
and it probably comes from the Old<\/p>\n
Testament idea of going into the<\/p>\n
promised land and parceling out the land<\/p>\n
and your inheritance but regardless of<\/p>\n
where where it comes from it's a very<\/p>\n
biblical idea and a common refrain that<\/p>\n
you that you'll see in particularly in<\/p>\n
the Psalms or Lamentations the Lord is<\/p>\n
portion that's that's worth a study<\/p>\n
that's worth four or five sermons by the<\/p>\n
way in that context the the way he's the<\/p>\n
way that that it's used in the Old<\/p>\n
Testament your portion is your<\/p>\n
inheritance it's it's your treasure it's<\/p>\n
your hope it's your it's your present<\/p>\n
and it's your future it's really<\/p>\n
everything to you your portion and he's<\/p>\n
saying Mary has chosen the good portion<\/p>\n
now one of my favorite Psalms just to<\/p>\n
kind of illustrate this a little bit is<\/p>\n
uh psalm<\/p>\n
16 love this Psalm and it speaks<\/p>\n
beautifully to this truth about the Lord<\/p>\n
being our portion it says in verse 5 the<\/p>\n
Lord is My Chosen portion and my cup you<\/p>\n
hold my<\/p>\n
lot and then he ends the psalm like this<\/p>\n
he said you have made known to me the<\/p>\n
path of life in your presence there is<\/p>\n
fullness of joy and at your right hand<\/p>\n
are Pleasures forever more so psalm 16<\/p>\n
much like many of these Psalms that use<\/p>\n
that phrase the Lord is my portion and<\/p>\n
it's it's a prayer for help and trouble<\/p>\n
um it's it's it's but it's also an<\/p>\n
assurance that God will help and then<\/p>\n
it's a celebration of the fact that God<\/p>\n
is worthy of Praise because he is our<\/p>\n
portion he is our treasure he is our<\/p>\n
hope he is our everything he is our<\/p>\n
inheritance and so what we see in this<\/p>\n
passage here in kind of in that context<\/p>\n
is that Martha has chosen her anxiety<\/p>\n
her<\/p>\n
troubles as her<\/p>\n
portion she's chosen her the idols of<\/p>\n
her heart as her portion she's been<\/p>\n
distracted from the presence of Jesus so<\/p>\n
that so do you understand that like she<\/p>\n
she's decided that she needs to focus on<\/p>\n
making sure she doesn't get a bad Google<\/p>\n
review basically it's like stop by<\/p>\n
Mary's house it's like a three star<\/p>\n
review and there's bad reviews bad host<\/p>\n
you know what she's doing is she's<\/p>\n
choosing her duty to be her portion to<\/p>\n
be the center of why she's living in<\/p>\n
that moment what feeds her what gives<\/p>\n
her meaning what gives her<\/p>\n
purpose her chosen portion is the<\/p>\n
opinion of others and her misordered<\/p>\n
priorities and her chosen portion is<\/p>\n
making her bitter and angry and<\/p>\n
frustrated and unhappy because it cannot<\/p>\n
sustain her it cannot satisfy her her<\/p>\n
treasure her hope her present her future<\/p>\n
her righteousness her everything in that<\/p>\n
moment is not Jesus and the presence of<\/p>\n
the of the teacher but it's her<\/p>\n
duty but and and so I know this is a bit<\/p>\n
of speculation on this part but it's<\/p>\n
almost like Mary is meditating on the<\/p>\n
Lord is my<\/p>\n
portion that you know maybe not but but<\/p>\n
I like to think so uh we'll go there<\/p>\n
today anyway it's almost like Jesus also<\/p>\n
is showing Martha how psalm 16 works so<\/p>\n
Mary's chosen portion is to sit at the<\/p>\n
feet of Jesus to sit under his authority<\/p>\n
to listen as he teaches the path of<\/p>\n
life in his presence she finds fullness<\/p>\n
joy and she knows that in him in his<\/p>\n
words in his<\/p>\n
presence there are Pleasures forever<\/p>\n
more so friends what is your portion<\/p>\n
this morning<\/p>\n
today what have you chosen as your<\/p>\n
treasure your hope your present your<\/p>\n
future your<\/p>\n
everything and will it satisfy you or<\/p>\n
will it leave you empty will it fulfill<\/p>\n
you or will it Rob you of your<\/p>\n
joy so many things in life and some of<\/p>\n
them are very good things by the way<\/p>\n
family<\/p>\n
ministry<\/p>\n
careers they compete to be our portion<\/p>\n
they compete to be our lot<\/p>\n
our one necessary thing<\/p>\n
and we love distractions we get<\/p>\n
distracted so easily but one thing is<\/p>\n
necessary and that's the presence of<\/p>\n
Jesus so if you're not a Christian you<\/p>\n
may be wondering how do I make Jesus my<\/p>\n
portion because first of all that's a<\/p>\n
weird way to put it but second of all<\/p>\n
like like what does it mean that Jesus<\/p>\n
would be my portion and so when when<\/p>\n
when Jesus says Mary has chosen the good<\/p>\n
portion it's really an invitation for us<\/p>\n
to choose the good portion<\/p>\n
Jesus here is calling himself the good<\/p>\n
portion the one thing that's<\/p>\n
necessary he's saying come and sit at my<\/p>\n
feet come and be with me sit under my<\/p>\n
authority I am your king I am your lord<\/p>\n
and also come to him knowing that he<\/p>\n
welcomes you he says come come here come<\/p>\n
to me all you who are weary no matter<\/p>\n
your background no matter your sin no<\/p>\n
matter your situation Jesus invites you<\/p>\n
to come and you may not realize this<\/p>\n
but what we read just read about Mary<\/p>\n
sitting at the feet of Jesus would have<\/p>\n
been absolutely shocking in that day you<\/p>\n
know it was the place of men to sit with<\/p>\n
the rabbi it was the place of women to<\/p>\n
go in the kitchen and make food to<\/p>\n
prepare food for the guest for the<\/p>\n
Gathering and so Mary was already being<\/p>\n
very very upfront uh very what's the I<\/p>\n
can't I can't think in English or she<\/p>\n
was being really Brave and courageous<\/p>\n
probably too much actually but I think<\/p>\n
it's part of that what Luke is doing<\/p>\n
he's showing us this is not like it used<\/p>\n
to be this is the New<\/p>\n
Kingdom and<\/p>\n
Jesus says to her says to<\/p>\n
Martha Mary's chosen the good portion<\/p>\n
and it won't be taken<\/p>\n
away come this is the invitation come<\/p>\n
and sit with him he will not take it<\/p>\n
away and then Christians What About Us<\/p>\n
how do we make sure that Jesus is our<\/p>\n
chosen<\/p>\n
portion because Mary and Martha were<\/p>\n
both followers of Jesus like they were<\/p>\n
both Christians they were both his<\/p>\n
people uh Jesus loves Martha he loved<\/p>\n
her here he loves her still Jesus still<\/p>\n
loves distracted troubled anxious<\/p>\n
disciples like you and me so what do we<\/p>\n
do and I think one of the things we do<\/p>\n
is we check our posture how do we enter<\/p>\n
into these<\/p>\n
Gatherings because this is how we sit at<\/p>\n
the feet of Jesus not that aanti is<\/p>\n
Jesus he's a great guy though I like him<\/p>\n
a lot but<\/p>\n
like Jesus is here when we meet together<\/p>\n
in a way that he's not just there in<\/p>\n
your Bible study but he's there too<\/p>\n
Jesus is there when you're reading this<\/p>\n
Jesus is there when you're memorizing<\/p>\n
the word Jesus is here when we're<\/p>\n
singing the songs to together and Jesus<\/p>\n
is here under the preached<\/p>\n
word how do we enter this space how do<\/p>\n
we enter this time what is our<\/p>\n
posture is it reverence is it all are we<\/p>\n
praying just like what we read in our um<\/p>\n
call to worship<\/p>\n
um one thing I have asked of the Lord<\/p>\n
that I will seek after that I may dwell<\/p>\n
in the house of the Lord all the days of<\/p>\n
my life why to gaze upon the beauty of<\/p>\n
the Lord and to inquire in his Temple<\/p>\n
we come not to argue not to judge not to<\/p>\n
debate him but to sit at his feet let's<\/p>\n
check our posture secondly we renew our<\/p>\n
Focus this is a busy world you have busy<\/p>\n
lives none of us are immune from that<\/p>\n
whether you're in Ministry or a mom or a<\/p>\n
businessman or just living in<\/p>\n
Bangkok just living here is busy and<\/p>\n
distracting do you take time to be still<\/p>\n
and know that he has God<\/p>\n
in your troubles do you take time to be<\/p>\n
still and reflect on the fact that he is<\/p>\n
God do you take time just to be still<\/p>\n
before him and then third we rest in<\/p>\n
that good portion so this is worth a<\/p>\n
search by the way this is worth a a a<\/p>\n
good bit of your time to search out<\/p>\n
where does the Lord where does the bible<\/p>\n
say the Lord is my portion and what does<\/p>\n
it mean and how does it apply to our<\/p>\n
lives do a search on it and if you do<\/p>\n
you'll notice that this phrase is for<\/p>\n
good times but really mostly for Hard<\/p>\n
Times distracting times busy times it's<\/p>\n
for when we're celebrating and<\/p>\n
especially for when Trouble Comes it's<\/p>\n
for um it's for people like us who are<\/p>\n
going through busy Hard Times doing hard<\/p>\n
things and Jesus tells Martha this<\/p>\n
really amazing promise Mary has chosen<\/p>\n
the good<\/p>\n
portion which will not be taken away<\/p>\n
away from her so when we have chosen<\/p>\n
Jesus as our good portion we can rest<\/p>\n
rest secure in the fact that the peace<\/p>\n
the fullness of joy the pleasures<\/p>\n
forever more that he promises in psalm<\/p>\n
16 the promises that we see in the<\/p>\n
scriptures cannot be taken away because<\/p>\n
he is our treasure he is our portion and<\/p>\n
he will never fail us he will never<\/p>\n
leave us or forsake us he is the one<\/p>\n
necessary thing sitting at his feet is<\/p>\n
the one necessary thing in your life<\/p>\n
let's<\/p>\n
pray father it is so easy to<\/p>\n
forget<\/p>\n
um when our bank accounts are low or<\/p>\n
when our job demands so much from us or<\/p>\n
when our schedules are full and we're<\/p>\n
stressed it's so easy to forget forget<\/p>\n
at your right hand are Pleasures forever<\/p>\n
more and in your presence there is<\/p>\n
fullness of<\/p>\n
joy but it's something that we really<\/p>\n
long to<\/p>\n
remember uh to to um celebrate and also<\/p>\n
just to believe on a day-to-day<\/p>\n
basis um Lord we we pray that we would<\/p>\n
be<\/p>\n
with you often and with you<\/p>\n
deeply we pray that you would be with us<\/p>\n
that you would protect us and guide us<\/p>\n
and we pray that this one necessary<\/p>\n
thing would help us would help our<\/p>\n
hearts to set priorities for life that<\/p>\n
everything else everything else we would<\/p>\n
lay at your feet so that we can love<\/p>\n
them the way we<\/p>\n
should God be our<\/p>\n
portion be our satisfaction and we ask<\/p>\n
this in your name amen<\/p>","english_search_text":"","":"","original_publish_date":"20250311","video_url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=teew23gsn7w","video_id":"teew23gsn7w","video_duration":"38:34","channel_name":"Grace City Bangkok"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=253"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":254,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253\/revisions\/254"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}