Supplemental Lesson 7
by
Steve Bryant
(Read Luke Chapter 10:38-42)
At least in that moment, Martha certainly doesn’t make a pretty picture,
does she? I’m sure Martha was a wonderful dear soul. There is so much about
her that we could commend:
· She truly does have a servant’s heart.
· She believes Jesus is worth every effort.
· She believes that people who live under the same roof share the burden
of responsibility
· equally.
· She speaks her mind. She’s bold and strong and assertive.
· And I bet she was a master of the culinary arts.
And yet, when she storms into the livingroom to give Mary a piece of her
mind, she doesn’t look very lovely. Looks to me like Martha is strung out,
stretched too thin, and stressed to the max!
Let me tell you what this story is not about: It is not about women. Years
ago, I heard a radio preacher say that if Martha had just stayed in the
kitchen where she belonged, everything would have been okay. Which goes to
show you that just because your voice is on the radio doesn’t mean you have
something intelligent to say! This story is about people; men and women,
boys and girls. It’s about people and the kind of choices we people make.
It’s about a certain feeling of emptiness and a desire to fill that
emptiness with meaning and satisfaction. And it’s about hunger.
Martha was a hungry soul but in that moment of time, she chose a lesser
means of filling that hunger. Mary was hungry too, and she chose the best
part.
Jesus was hungry. That’s why He came to their little home. He knew He’d be
welcomed. He knew He would be well taken care of. And I’ll tell something
more; Jesus was hungry not only for supper, but for a deeper relationship
with His friends. Let there be no doubt, Jesus still has that hunger for you
and me; and He still knows full well that His hunger, and ours will be
filled by the daily choices you and I make.
Stand with me in the kitchen. But be sure to stand back in the corner. Don’t
you dare get in her way! Pots and pans are flying. She flips her long hair,
wet with the sweat of her labor, behind her ear for the hundredth time. A
pot boils over but not nearly as hot as she. It is as if you can literally
see the steam boiling out of her ears. She stands there amidst the chaos of
her preparation. She hears Mary – out there. Why is she the one who talks
with Him and laughs with Him, while I slave away over the heat of this
blasted oven?’ She can take it no more. In a moment of reckless frustration,
you watch her throw the door wide open. She storms into the livingroom. She
interrupts Jesus in mid sentence. What gem of divine wisdom did she shatter?
With her hands on her hips, she blurts out, ‘Jesus, do you not care that
MARY sits in here while I slave away in that kitchen? You tell her to get
her self up and get in that kitchen and help!”
I don’t know this for sure, it’s just a preacher’s hypothesis, but I bet
there was a long pause. Martha stands there waiting for an answer. Mary sits
there wondering if she’s about to get in trouble with Jesus too. Jesus lets
the moment linger so that finally, Martha, Steve Bryant, and you, could
learn a lesson of a lifetime. You see, I know you. I know myself. And I know
lots of ‘Marthas.” I know that every single one of us experiences spiritual
hunger. You know it too.
· We know first hand that emptiness gives birth to angry outbursts.
· We know that empty people, soon become stressed out people.
· We know that some of the most wonderful, self-giving people in the world
can give until there is nothing left to give.
· We know that we who have become empty try in many inadequate ways to
fill the void and satisfy the hunger.
· And we know that there is really only one means of nourishing the soul..
One my majors was anthropology. I’ve never done anything with anthropology
until now. Listen carefully to this illustration because my parents paid an
arm and a leg for it:
I remember hearing about an anthropologist in the Australian outback who
encountered a tribe of terribly malnourished aborigines. They had plenty
to eat, a certain fruit. They could eat their fill of it every single
day, and yet they were showing the terrible signs of long term
malnutrition. So the anthropologist began analyzing the strange fruit
and discovered that it had absolutely no nutritional value at all. They
were engorged on worthless fruit and literally starving to death.
How do you satisfy your hunger? We make choices every single day of our
lives about how we will feed the hunger in our souls. And friends, it is
entirely possible to feed the hunger without nurturing the soul. But not
Mary. Mary chose the best part. Or in other words, Mary discovered a very
precious secret of life. Very precious. Very critical. Very simple.
Martha did for others. She was a servant and that makes her a wonderful,
commendable person. But Martha’s fault was in doing so much, giving so much,
stretching herself out so thin, that there was no more time or energy left
to feed herself. And the danger for servants like Martha is to believe that
we can fill all our spiritual needs by doing good deeds for others.
Servanthood – doing Christlike deeds unto others – is a most satisfying
activity. But it is not enough in and of itself to satisfy the soul. This is
the secret that Mary knew: There must be a balance, a balance between
serving others and caring for your own soul.
You didn’t hear Jesus speak a single solitary word of condemnation to
Martha, did you? He didn’t! Because He appreciated what Martha was doing.
His reaction is not to put her down or make her feel like an idiot, but to
show only the deepest concern and love for her. _’Martha, Martha, you are
worried and bothered about so many things;”_ Did you hear what He said?
Jesus affirms His love for Martha, as well as her desire to serve Him with
such energy. *’But only a few things are necessary, really only one.”*
Here, Jesus expresses His deep desire to help Martha discover true
fulfillment in her life; nourishment for her soul.
How do you find nourishment for your soul? Look at Mary. At the beginning of
the text, Luke says she was _’sitting at His feet, listening to His word.”_
Listening to His Word. The Word. Spiritual nourishment begins when you stop
and sit and listen to the Word of God. And when your soul is re-nourished by
the Word of God, then you are so much more able to do for others, to give to
others, to serve, and to serve with less frustration and more passion. Are
you hungry? Are you tired? Do you want to satisfy your soul? Sit at the feet
of Jesus and listen to His Word. Why the Bible and not some other great work
of literature?
· Because the Bible is the living Word of the only living God.
· The Bible is God’s revelation of Himself in the person of Jesus Christ.
· The Bible is the only place we can really get to know the Savior of our
souls.
· And the _’Bible supplies the only answer which can completely satisfy a
man when he stands face to face with the question about his destiny,
about his responsibility before God and about the living of his life
here and now.”_ (Alan J. Richardson. Preface to Bible Study, p. 9)
· The Bible is God’s Word directly to you and me.
It absolutely thrills me when a member of our church family says, _’I’ve
decided to read through the Bible, got any ideas on how to go about it,”_
or _’You know, I’ve never really been a student of the Bible; where do I
start?” _ Every Christian home needs a few good study Bibles, and a few
classic commentaries, and a few good Bible dictionaries. Ask your pastor for
suggested resources. Every Christian ought to use tools like these on a
regular basis. Mary would tell us, today, that the study of the Word
nourishes the soul. A nourished soul has life, energy, vitality, strength
and wisdom. A nourished soul is one which doesn’t wither in the heat of
crisis, conflict, and loss. A soul satisfied by the Word of God is a soul
that knows genuine peace and true joy.
So, read your Bibles. Take advantage of every opportunity your church offers
you. Go to Bible study. Be like Mary; sit at His feet and listen to His
Word.
Did you notice what comes next in the story?
(Read Luke 11:1-4)
It is no accident. The Gospel is not a shuffled deck of stories. Prayer
comes next. Someone who has a spiritual hunger to fill asks a very important
question of Jesus. _’Lord, please teach us how to pray.” _
You will find that hunger being satisfied through being with Christ in the
fellowship of prayer.
Jesus teaches us to pray, not so some vague notion of a deity. _’Oh Higher
Power, Oh Great Otherworldly Holiness of the Universal Consciousness…Bla,
Bla Bla.”_ That’s all that is: bla, bla, bla. Jesus says, _’Pray like I do.
Pray to your Father.”_ _’Our Father…” _ A father is someone who knows
you and someone you can know. A real person. And more importantly, a person
who loves you more than you can imagine.
Pray with reverence and awe. _’Hallowed by Thy name.”_ Our Father is worth
more than flippant, careless prayer language. You can pray intimately to
your Father, and at the same time remember that your Father is THE ALMIGHTY
GOD. Don’t lose your sense of reverence before God.
Pray with confident hope and in a spirit of submission. _’Thy Kingdom
come.”_
Pray for your daily needs. _’Give us each day our daily bread.”_ Pray for
the help you need, and don’t be afraid to pray in concrete down to earth
terms. ‘Lord, today, I need bread.” Or, ‘today, Father, I have a situation
to face and I’m not sure I can go it alone. Please help.”
Pray about forgiveness. Not just about the forgiveness you need from the
Father, but the forgiveness you need to offer to others. _’Forgive us our
sins as we also forgive…”_
And pray about your weaknesses. _’And lead us not into temptation.”_
_’Lord, you know how hard it is for me to handle those kind of
situations.”_ Pray about your own particular temptations. It could be
anything from lust to chocolate cake. But the point is – we can and should
pray about matters such as these, especially if we want help that really
works.
How can we find nourishment for the hungry soul? Jesus said, _’Only a few
things are necessary, really only one…” _ And for us, it means to draw
close to the Lord. The two best ways I know? Read the Word and pray;
heavenly food for the soul.
Closing Prayer (A Prayer of Erasmus)
_O Lord, Jesus Christ, who art the Way, the Truth, and the Life; we pray
Thee suffer us not to stray from Thee, who art the Way; nor to distrust
Thee, who art the Truth; nor to rest in any other thing than Thee, who
art the Life. Teach us by thy Holy Spirit, what to believe, what to do,
and wherein to take our rest. Amen_