Rhythms: Luke 10:38-42
Rhythms | Work
Chad Melton
Now as they went on their way, Jesus
entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him
into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at
the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was
distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said,
“Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?
Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her,
“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many
things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good
portion, which will not be taken away from her.”—Luke 10:38–42 (ESV)
Our sermon today is the fifth and final installment of “Rhythms.”
In this series, we examined the impossible challenge of using our
limited time, energy, and resources to meet the demands of our
busy lives. We saw the folly of making major categories like
money or marriage and family the Operating Principle around
which we bring everything into rhythm. We learned that only
Jesus could do that.
Many people think they can build their lives around their work,
but in today’s lesson, we learn that our occupation is not the same
as our calling.
WATCH—This clip from today’s message:
Chad Melton
Now as they went on their way, Jesus
entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him
into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at
the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was
distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said,
“Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?
Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her,
“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many
things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good
portion, which will not be taken away from her.”—Luke 10:38–42 (ESV)
Our sermon today is the fifth and final installment of “Rhythms.”
In this series, we examined the impossible challenge of using our
limited time, energy, and resources to meet the demands of our
busy lives. We saw the folly of making major categories like
money or marriage and family the Operating Principle around
which we bring everything into rhythm. We learned that only
Jesus could do that.
Many people think they can build their lives around their work,
but in today’s lesson, we learn that our occupation is not the same
as our calling.
WATCH—This clip from today’s message:
QUESTION— Tell the group about your work. How many
hours per week do you work?
QUESTION— If you won the lottery and became vastly wealthy,
would you quit or change your work?
READ— Luke 10:38
QUESTION— Imagine you are Martha, and Jesus has just
arrived for a visit. How are you feeling right now?
READ— Luke 10:39
QUESTION— We also learn that Martha’s sister Mary was not
helping but rather sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to Him.
What do you think Martha was feeling about that?
READ— Luke 10:40 and John 11:39
QUESTION— What do you notice about the way Martha speaks
to Jesus? What do you think her tone was?
READ— Luke 10:41
QUESTION— How does Jesus answer Martha? What do you
think His tone was?
READ— Luke 10:42
QUESTION— What do you think Jesus meant?
QUESTION— Jesus didn’t give Martha what she asked for (help
with her work.) What did He give her instead?
DIG DEEPER: Anxious and Troubled
In Luke 10:41, Jesus told Martha she was “anxious and troubled
about many things.” He warned against this frequently.
READ— Matthew 6:25-34 and Luke 12:11-26
The word ‘anxious’ μεριμνᾳς [merimnāis]) is a common verb for
worry, which also includes being divided or distracted.
The word ‘troubled’ (from θορυβαζομαι [thorubazomai]) is a
verb found nowhere else in the New Testament, meaning
‘tumult.’
Martha had both inward anxiety and outward agitation. As Luke
Timothy Johnson translates it, “you are putting yourself in an
uproar.”
QUESTION— Does your work cause you to be anxious and
troubled? How does that affect the rest of your life? How does
that affect your relationships with God and other people?
READ— this by Ken Kovacs from his book Out of the Depths:
“And what does Jesus do? “Martha, Martha”—did he take her by
the arms, I wonder, crossing her path, holding her shoulders,
speaking directly into her eyes? “Martha, Martha, stop. Look at
me. Let me look at you”—as if to break the spell of the complex,
discharging its energy—“Martha, Martha, you are worried and
distracted by many things. This isn’t about all the work and the
chores. You are worried, concerned, anxious.” The Greek here
suggests that her mind was agitated. “You’re freighted with care,
Martha.”
“There is only one thing needed,” Jesus said. When we’re
worried and distracted, we’re pulled in ten thousand directions
and pulled away from the one thing needed: to dwell lovingly in
the presence of God, to sit at Jesus’ feet, to be attentive to him, to
God, to the movement of the Spirit within our hearts. Or, to put
it differently, this is a life grounded and centered in God. This is
what matters most. This is what our souls hunger for. When
distracted and worried, we get pulled away from the One who
holds and sustains us.”
MEMORIZE— Psalm 46:10 (ESV) “Be still and know that I am
God. I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the
earth!”
hours per week do you work?
QUESTION— If you won the lottery and became vastly wealthy,
would you quit or change your work?
READ— Luke 10:38
QUESTION— Imagine you are Martha, and Jesus has just
arrived for a visit. How are you feeling right now?
READ— Luke 10:39
QUESTION— We also learn that Martha’s sister Mary was not
helping but rather sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to Him.
What do you think Martha was feeling about that?
READ— Luke 10:40 and John 11:39
QUESTION— What do you notice about the way Martha speaks
to Jesus? What do you think her tone was?
READ— Luke 10:41
QUESTION— How does Jesus answer Martha? What do you
think His tone was?
READ— Luke 10:42
QUESTION— What do you think Jesus meant?
QUESTION— Jesus didn’t give Martha what she asked for (help
with her work.) What did He give her instead?
DIG DEEPER: Anxious and Troubled
In Luke 10:41, Jesus told Martha she was “anxious and troubled
about many things.” He warned against this frequently.
READ— Matthew 6:25-34 and Luke 12:11-26
The word ‘anxious’ μεριμνᾳς [merimnāis]) is a common verb for
worry, which also includes being divided or distracted.
The word ‘troubled’ (from θορυβαζομαι [thorubazomai]) is a
verb found nowhere else in the New Testament, meaning
‘tumult.’
Martha had both inward anxiety and outward agitation. As Luke
Timothy Johnson translates it, “you are putting yourself in an
uproar.”
QUESTION— Does your work cause you to be anxious and
troubled? How does that affect the rest of your life? How does
that affect your relationships with God and other people?
READ— this by Ken Kovacs from his book Out of the Depths:
“And what does Jesus do? “Martha, Martha”—did he take her by
the arms, I wonder, crossing her path, holding her shoulders,
speaking directly into her eyes? “Martha, Martha, stop. Look at
me. Let me look at you”—as if to break the spell of the complex,
discharging its energy—“Martha, Martha, you are worried and
distracted by many things. This isn’t about all the work and the
chores. You are worried, concerned, anxious.” The Greek here
suggests that her mind was agitated. “You’re freighted with care,
Martha.”
“There is only one thing needed,” Jesus said. When we’re
worried and distracted, we’re pulled in ten thousand directions
and pulled away from the one thing needed: to dwell lovingly in
the presence of God, to sit at Jesus’ feet, to be attentive to him, to
God, to the movement of the Spirit within our hearts. Or, to put
it differently, this is a life grounded and centered in God. This is
what matters most. This is what our souls hunger for. When
distracted and worried, we get pulled away from the One who
holds and sustains us.”
MEMORIZE— Psalm 46:10 (ESV) “Be still and know that I am
God. I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the
earth!”
Posted in Sermon Notes