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Luke 10:38-42 Key Verse: 10:42 "but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." Only One Thing is Needed We live in the world of information. The all look important. We are challenged to be conscious of our health, study, future directions, relationships, friends and community, the economy, and the environment. Furthermore, we christians have one more responsibility of carrying out God's mission. In this kind of environment, how can we balance our families, study, work, and ministry? Jesus teaches us that only one thing is needed. I. Martha Opened Her Home to Jesus (38-40) Luke at verse 38. "As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him." Jesus came to a village with his twelve disciples. Martha opened her home to him, ready to care for him and his disciples. Of course, it is not easy to open her home to others. At that time, Martha's only helper was Mary. To these two women, Jesus and his company might have felt like the invasion of hungry "À帷¡° brothers. Still, Martha willingly opened her home to Jesus. Then, Jesus began to teach the word of God. As soon as Jesus began to speak, Mary's heart was drawn to him. She sat at his feet with all attention, and listened to every word he was saying. She wanted to remember all of them in her mind. She wanted to live by them in daily life. Though there were many people around, to Mary it felt that she was having a one-to-one Bible study with Jesus. She forgot everything else and gave herself fully to Jesus' teaching. Then how about Martha who opened her home to Jesus? Look at verse 40. "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 could not concentrate on Jesus' words. Rather, they became like background noise. She kept on thinking of the practical work that needed to be done. She calculated the number of people, and how much each one needed to eat to be satisfied. She considered which kind of food might be best: fish, or lamb, or beef, or all three. She might have needed some emergency shopping. Did she have a proper dessert? Did she have enough wine? Soon, she had a whole list of things with her own time schedule. Then she began dividing the labor. There were just two workers, herself and Mary. So Mary's help was essential. She tried to get Mary's attention, but Mary only kept on listening to Jesus. Martha felt irritated and a sense of injustice rose inside her. Mary was leaving her alone to do the work by herself! Then Martha looked at Jesus. Jesus was teaching the word of God with all his heart as though nothing else mattered. Martha felt that Jesus was ignoring her. She also felt that Jesus was enabling Mary to avoid her responsibility to serve others. Martha felt that she was left all alone with an impossible task. She could not keep quiet anymore. So she went to Jesus and said, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" She wanted Jesus to sympathize with her situation. She wanted him to order Mary to help her. Martha must have felt strongly that she was right. We can understand her. Martha was the oldest sister. She bore the responsibility of managing a home in that male dominant culture. She had to be diligent and work hard, as a matter of survival. She might have shed many tears in secret as she protected Mary from the hard world. She must have expected Mary to be grateful, loyal, and available to help. Many of us would agree with Martha. Of course, people should work hard, and this should be valued. However, hard work is not the most important thing. Let's see how Jesus helped Martha. II. Only One Thing Is Needed (41-42) Look at verses 41. ""Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things."" Now Jesus paid full attention to Martha and helped her to find the problem in herself. Jesus did not agree with Martha that Mary had a problem. Jesus found the problem in Martha. Jesus said about Martha that she "worried and upset about many things." Worry displeases Jesus. Worry makes people desperate and disgraceful. Jesus had often warned his disciples not to worry. Worry is practical unbelief. It comes from trying to manage life and situations in our own way without acknowledging God and his love. How did Martha become so worried? It began when she allowed herself to be distracted from Jesus' words. She welcomed Jesus into her home, but she did not welcome him into her heart as Lord. She did not give first priority to his words and come to understand his mind and heart. Instead, she proceeded with her own plan of her home and Mary. She even tried to use Jesus to rebuke Mary. Martha's problem was not that she worked hard. Her problem was that she did not accept Jesus as Lord of her heart. Then she could not be a blessing, even though she worked hard. She made herself miserable and made others around her miserable. We can learn here that when we feel worried and upset, we should try to find the problem in ourselves before blaming others. Look at verse 42. "but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." Now Jesus taught Martha that only one thing was needed. What was that? It was Jesus himself. It was to receive Jesus as Lord from her heart. It was to have a right relationship with him. When Jesus reigns in our hearts, he fills us with love, joy, peace, and strength. He gives us spiritual direction so that we can set right priorities. He gives us access to endless resources and practical wisdom. Through Jesus, we can manage all that needs to be done. Work for Jesus is not a burden, but a precious privilege. If Martha had this attitude, her work for Jesus would have been a joy. Only one thing is needed: Jesus as Lord in our hearts. When he said, "only one thing is needed," Jesus emphasized that he wants a relationship with us more than our work for him. By our own work we could never make a right relationship with Jesus. This can happen only when we first accept his grace of forgiveness through his death on the cross. Therefore, our day should not begin with work, but with prayer and Daily Bread. We should maintain our relationship with Jesus as of first importance. When we feel burdened, we should come to Jesus in prayer. Then he will give us everything we need to serve him joyfully. Let's hold on to this truth: "only one thing is needed: Jesus." For many of us, it is easy to feel that we have too many things to do. But Jesus said, "only one thing is needed." As I prepared this message, I thought of my current spiritual status. These days, I felt my busy work life distracted me from doing mission. I felt responsible for English ministry. At the same time, I felt I had many things to do for my family and also should prepare for my future. I complained that my busy life made me vulnerable. I wanted to do something meaningful and joyful to me. Then, worries and complaints filled my heart. But I learned today that rather than doing many things, only one thing is needed. It is to have Jesus in my heart. I realized that I was full of Martha's mentally and became frustrated. I pray that I focus on one thing which is to have Jesus. I pray that I accept Jesus through daily prayers and repentance. Then, he will take away all my burdens. He will fill my heart with love and joy toward Jesus. We may have many things to do, but only one thing is needed. Let's accept Jesus in our hearts who suffered and died for us and rose again. Let's open our hearts and accept him, then he will come to us. Then Jesus will bless us, and our work, to be most fruitful. |