SISTER ACT

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Luke 10:38-42

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Discipleship is a balance between inward growth and outward service.

A sermon preached by

Dr. William O. (Bud) R= eeves

First United Methodist Church

Hot= Springs, Arkansas

October 5, 2008

Many years ago there w= as a famous tightrope walker named The Great Blondin. He became famous by walking a tigh= trope stretched across Niagara Falls= . He crossed from shore to shore on = that slender thread of safety numerous times—once with his manager on his back!—and he never faltered or failed. But Blondin had a secret. As he made his way across the fall= s, he would keep his eyes fixed on a large silver star on the opposite shore. Ignoring the rushing water underne= ath his feet, he centered his attention on that goal, and it guided him to the other side.= [1]

Effectively Christian = living depends on focus. We made that point last week with Peter walking on water. Today’s Scripture is also a m= arvelous lesson on getting a proper focus in your life. Jesus taught Mary and Martha what = it means to have your life grounded on the solid foundation of faith. When your life is grounded and foc= used and centered in this way, then you can face the challenges and decisions of life from a position of confidence and strength. Your outlook can be positive, and = your efforts can be effective. This little passage of Scripture has a lot to teach us today!<= /p>

Losing focus can have disastrous consequences. One = of the other great tight-rope walkers of all time was Karl Wallenda, the patriarch= of the Flying Wallendas, the famous circus acrobats. The world was shocked in 1978 when= Karl Wallenda, at the age of 73, fell to his death attempting to walk a tightrope between two buildings in Puerto Rico. Later, Wallenda’s wife said = that just prior to his death, Wallenda had been concentrating on not falling, ra= ther than on walking the tightrope. He had personally supervised the attachment of the guy-wires, something he had never done before. He was beg= inning to get anxious and fearful. H= e lost his focus, then he lost his footing and fell to his death.

In disciple-walking as= well as tightrope-walking, you have to keep your goal in focus and your prioriti= es in perspective if you want to be effective. How are we supposed to do that, in= the kind of world we live in?

This was Martha’s problem in our Scripture today. She had become bogged down in the details of running her household, and she fai= led to attend to the real business at hand, which was Jesus in her home. Luke says she was “distracte= d by many tasks.” Her distra= ction, her lack of focus, shows in her anger and frustration at her sister. She finally got so exasperated tha= t she complained to Jesus himself: “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Te= ll her then to help me.”[2] Does this sound familiar? Can you blame her? Have you ever tried to take care o= f a houseful of guests with no help in the kitchen? Can I get a witness?

If Martha was that distracted in ancient Israel, how much more can we get easily distracted today? Today with the demands of family a= nd career and community, it’s tough.&nb= sp; Technology can keep us in touch with the world, but it can also keep= us at work 24/7, and we never get to slow down and shut it off. A recent study by the American Management Association showed that multi-tasking could actually squeeze 31 hours of activity in a 24-hour day. But why? We may be more productive than we have ever been, but at what price? More anxiety, more fatigue, less balance, and less focus. Ed R= eilly, CEO of the AMA, says that through technology, people are accomplishing more= in less time, but they are feeling overwhelmed by the multiplicity of their li= ves: "There's a sense of fatigue that comes from multitasking. You can force yourself to keep doi= ng things, but you may not be as effective."[3]

We live in a Martha world. But let’s look at Mary. She is the antidote to = her sister’s distraction. S= omehow she found the one thing that was necessary. She sat at the feet of Jesus, list= ening to his words, basking in his spirit. She had her focus fixed, her priority set. She was there to be with Jesus.

I believe the ultimate priority for a life lived effectively is a relationship with God. Faith grounds us to the Heart of a= ll creation. Without God, whatev= er other important things there are—family, friends, career, home—= will ultimately be meaningless and unsatisfying. We find our focus by centering on = Jesus.

Did you ever ride the merry-go-round on the playground at your elementary school? I think every school had one, or at least every city park. (They probably don’t meet OSHA requirements any more.) But we had a big time = as kids taking turns pushing the platform and riding. The smaller and more cautious kids= would stay near the center of the merry-go-round, because the centrifugal force w= as not as strong. The bigger and braver you got, the closer to the edge you would ride. The ultimate daredevils would lie = on their backs, hold the rails, and drop their heads backwards into thin air.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> That was scary!<= /p>

Safety and stability o= n the merry-go-round is found near the center.&n= bsp; If your life is spinning out of control and you are feeling overwhel= med by it all, the place to find security is in the center of your life. Where is that? Your family, your career, your recreation, your favorite team? Let me suggest that the only center that will truly anchor your life is a relationship with Jesus Christ. He’s the one thing that matters most.

Sir James Simpson was a pioneer in the art of surgery. He discovered chloroform, one of the first modern anesthetics. Someone once asked Sir James, “What do you regard as your greatest discovery?” The questioner expected the answer= to be “chloroform.” Ins= tead, Sir James replied, “My greatest discovery was that Jesus Christ is my Savior.” This is the one thing necessary. This is the priority: to discover Jesus Christ, to know him, not just to know about him, but to know him in a personal relationship.

This is not to say tha= t all those other things—family, career, community, and so forth—are = not important. This is not to say= we should live our faith from a sitting position. Not at all. The Christian life is a balance of inward growth and outward service.

I don’t know abo= ut you, but I rebelled a little bit at Jesus’ words to Martha. After all, she has all these guest= s in her house; she’s trying to be a good hostess and get some supper on t= he table, and Mary is sitting on her fanny listening to stories—with the men, for goodness’ sake! It just wasn’t done. Martha is doing some important stu= ff here, too. What if nobody fix= ed supper? Could Jesus and the r= est of them go without food? DonR= 17;t you think Jesus is being a little unfair, telling Martha she’s got her priorities all wrong?

Maybe so, but the point Jesus is making is so true it deserves to be stated with the greatest force possible. Service is important; what Martha is doing= is good. But without attending t= o the needs of the spirit as well, without nurturing the inner relationship of fa= ith, then all that service is just empty and draining. It takes a balance.

I think one of the rea= l keys to understanding this story of Mary and Martha is to look at its context in= the Gospel of Luke. Just prior to= this passage, a lawyer asked Jesus what to do to gain eternal life. The answer: to love God and neighbor. Then, to define the neighbor, Jesus tells the story we call the Good Samaritan. A man is attacked by robbers on th= e road to Jericho and left for dead. A priest comes= along and passes by without helping. So does a Levite, who was also a religious person. But a Samaritan, widely regarded a= s a worthless race of people, saw the man, knelt down, and took care of him. The last word of Jesus to the lawy= er was, “Go and do likewise.R= 21;= = [4] With the lawyer, Jesus was making t= he point that to love your neighbor, you have to help those in need, regardles= s of their racial or religious background. But if you’re not careful, you might get the idea from the par= able that eternal life lies not in our faith, but in how we treat other people.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> And that is not true. <= /span>

So in the very next ve= rse, Jesus enters the house of Mary and Martha.= This incident provides a necessary counterpoint to the Good Samaritan. In one instance, J= esus tells the lawyer to get out and starting helping people. In the next moment he is praising = Mary for sitting at his feet and letting the serving fall to others.<= /span>

Effective Christian li= ving is a balance between Mary and Martha. We need to be like both sisters!&nb= sp; Discipleship is a balance between inward growth and outward service.= A spiritual relationship with God = is expressed through works of service. But before your service can become meaningful, you have to sit at the feet of the Master. In fact, you have to come kneel at= the foot of the cross.

Some years ago, there = was a student in Denmark who was trying to put some balance back in his life. He was skeptical about religion an= d very turned off by the Church. But= one rainy and dreary day, when he was feeling kind of low, he went into the cathedral in Copenhagen and just sat in one of the pews for a long time. No one else was in the cathedral a= t that moment. As his eyes adjusted = to the dim light, he began to see a large statue down at the front of the church.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> It was Bertel Thorvaldsen’s = famous sculpture of the resurrected Christ with his arms outstretched and the words “Come Unto Me” inscribed on the base. The young man walked closer and cl= oser, looking intently at the statue. He noticed that the face of Jesus was turned toward the ground; he couldn̵= 7;t see the Lord’s face or eyes. This was puzzling at first, but then it dawned on the young man why = the sculpture had been crafted this way. He realized that the only way he could look into the face of Christ = was to kneel down and then look up. So he did, ever so gently and ever so quietly and reverently. And when he did, he felt his heart= move, his attitude change, and a turning point take place. Kneeling before Christ, he found a= new perspective that changed his whole life.&n= bsp;

Discipleship, following Jesus, is a balance, and you can achieve that balance by both kneeling down= to help someone in need and kneeling down at the foot of the cross. Then your life will have a peaceful center that most people cannot even imagine. When the hard times and tragedies = break in on your life, this balance will stay your course and keep you on an even keel and see you through the storm. Balanced discipleship will keep you foc= used.

As you come to the Lord’s Table today, I want you to feel the loving presence of Jesus renewing your life through these elements of bread and juice. For just a moment, forget the distractions of your many tasks and just sit at the feet of Jesus. Kneel down, look into his face and= feel his invitation, “Come unto me.”&nb= sp; This is the one thing that is necessary—to know that whatever happens, Jesus loves us. Know= this love, and you can share it with others.&nb= sp; Feel this love, and you will be strengthened for service. Experience this love, and you will= find a balanced life. Amen!