Title: We only need Jesus!
Text: Luke 10:38-42
Text: Luke 10:38-42
Facebook live: We only need Jesus!
Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
38 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.
We can only imagine the knock at the door.
Martha welcomes Jesus to her home. “How wonderful it is to see you, Lord!” She might have exclaimed.
“It is wonderful to be here!” Jesus might have responded to this welcome greeting from Martha
Martha had heard from her sister Mary that Jesus had come to Jerusalem and she asked him to be their guest. Not so different a situation then we might have with a guest coming into our house.
Come over and have dinner with us and rest a while.
Not because Martha and Mary had some problem that they wanted Jesus to solve, but because there was gladness and joy that she wanted him to share t with them so Martha reached out to Jesus in an time of happiness, she had called for him to come to their house when she didn't have a hundred or a thousand needs to bear.
We need to check as well our motivation for fellowship with the Lord. At what times do we call on him? Are they times of joy and celebration or can most of them be considered an emergency need or simply a time to dial 911?
When we're in the depths of despair.
There is the Lord and his divine ear that we reach out to.
When it's a cry for immediate assistance.
It is God's telephone number that we dial and run to.
And it is good to remember him in these times of need.
Life can bring those times of need. Fire truck, police car and ambulance are needed and called upon. We reach out and lament to God.
“Lord, help me!”
Is it though, only in times of great need that we call on the Lord or invite him into our lives?
“Hear me, help me, save me, spare me! Or even - Why me!”
Is that how we use Jesus? Is it the only time we call?
How often do you call God, remember and think of him or send him a prayer of thanks for the many blessings you have received? I need to do it more and so do you.
Lord it is so good to be your child? Thank you for always being with me and promising to never leave.
How often do you connect with Christ?
Do you begin and end you day with him?
The Lord’s prayer, The Apostles Creed, Luther’s morning and evening Prayer? Great places to begin and to connect with Christ.
Not because you want to say listen to me, be attentive to me, I have needs and you need to listen now, but to just say:
“Come Lord, Jesus, be my guest. Come, sit with me and rest.
Show me in your word. Bring your comfort, peace, and joys to me this day.
Do we only talk to God when we are crushed?
Do we only reach for the Spirit when we have some cross to bear?
Do we only pray when we're forced by the trials we face?
Do we ever knock at the saviors’ door so we might sit in the father's Lap as His child letting him comfort us by his words that bring peace?
40 … Martha was distracted with much serving …
Had the master come early when things weren't ready?
She was working very hard. She had to excuse herself, graciously, because she had things to do.
You know the feeling. Mary sits. Frustration abounds!
“Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”
No longer is Jesus the guess but now he is the enforcer. Tell her to get up and do something. The look in the Lord's eyes couldn’t have been one of approval but of sorrow. What had begun joyfully in greeting was now consumed in the temporal. Here today and gone tomorrow.
“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things,
Jesus may have thought:
I didn’t come to cause you stress and a busy moment.
I didn’t come so that you would use your hands to wait on to me, but that my hands, presence and peace would come to administer to you.
All things seemed important to Martha.
At times, many things seem important to us.
We need to cast our cares on Jesus and we need to elevate to the highest place, and rest in the presence of Christ.
You need to do some clear and straight thinking.
What we do for the redeemer and the ministry of him is surely import and as James in his epistle reminds us, faith without works is dead.
So we do serve and help
That Christ has given us his Spirit into a beating heart is true. It is given so that we can shine “this little light of mine” as Christ has given to us, to those who need to hear about Jesus and see hope in this dark world.
Our witness needs to do that.
Christ is the one thing needful.
I will serve Jesus and I will serve - as we learned last week - my neighbor as myself.
Jesus doesn’t need my service - but my neighbor does.
When you and I stand before God's throne in paradise. This is what will really matter.
Not that I have taught for him in a Sunday school or Bible class, or sung for him in the choir, or hand Bells or pushed the buttons for CD or played the organ or even made evangelism calls. These are all but a fruit of what he has given us in him as his dear children. We can’t but help, and serve.
Through his love for us and through the work of his Spirit we know all that Jesus has given us by his life, death, and resurrection - so that we might have an eternity with him forever and the peace that passes all understanding.
Our deep love for him is that we remain focused on him in the good times and in the bad ones as well.
As Paul reminds the Philippians:
12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
But my neighbor might need me.
Some received miracles in this temporal world and we rejoice with them in these blessings.
A miracle of the Lord can save a life.
But the word of the Lord can save a soul.
A miracle of the Lord can give health for today.
But the word of the Lord can preserve faith for eternity.
How I prayed and hoped that the Lord would give are friend and member, Mark Bunarek the successful healing he needed in his surgery.
Unfortunately for us all he didn’t even get to the operating table. But I know that Mark held to Christ in good times and bad - sharing this wonderful verse from Job 19 at the committal for his dear mother only a few short years ago through tears at her committal service.
Job 19:24-26
24 Oh that with an iron pen and lead
they were engraved in the rock forever!
25 For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
26 And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
yet in my flesh I shall see God,
This eternity promised in Christ is the one thing needful.
“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.”
Luther views Martha's busyness as a representation of the distractions and worries of daily life. He acknowledges her good intentions but emphasizes that her focus on service can lead to anxiety.
Mary, sitting at Jesus' feet, symbolizes the ideal response to Christ's presence. Luther highlights her choice to listen and learn as the "better part," which he believes is essential for spiritual growth.
Luther concludes in this way his thoughts:
Christ himself says, “One thing is needful,” i.e., that Mary sits at the feet of Christ and hear his word daily. This is the best part to choose and it shall not be taken away forever. It is an eternal word. Everything else must pass away, no matter how much care and trouble it may give Martha. LW Vol. 53 pg. 14
Jesus, is the one thing needful!
God help us to see and desire this!
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
Based and Modified Concordia pulpit 1977 Rev Lester A Wolf
Life can bring those times of need. Fire truck, police car and ambulance are needed and called upon. We reach out and lament to God.
“Lord, help me!”
Is it though, only in times of great need that we call on the Lord or invite him into our lives?
“Hear me, help me, save me, spare me! Or even - Why me!”
Is that how we use Jesus? Is it the only time we call?
How often do you call God, remember and think of him or send him a prayer of thanks for the many blessings you have received? I need to do it more and so do you.
Lord it is so good to be your child? Thank you for always being with me and promising to never leave.
How often do you connect with Christ?
Do you begin and end you day with him?
The Lord’s prayer, The Apostles Creed, Luther’s morning and evening Prayer? Great places to begin and to connect with Christ.
Not because you want to say listen to me, be attentive to me, I have needs and you need to listen now, but to just say:
“Come Lord, Jesus, be my guest. Come, sit with me and rest.
Show me in your word. Bring your comfort, peace, and joys to me this day.
Do we only talk to God when we are crushed?
Do we only reach for the Spirit when we have some cross to bear?
Do we only pray when we're forced by the trials we face?
Do we ever knock at the saviors’ door so we might sit in the father's Lap as His child letting him comfort us by his words that bring peace?
40 … Martha was distracted with much serving …
Had the master come early when things weren't ready?
She was working very hard. She had to excuse herself, graciously, because she had things to do.
You know the feeling. Mary sits. Frustration abounds!
“Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”
No longer is Jesus the guess but now he is the enforcer. Tell her to get up and do something. The look in the Lord's eyes couldn’t have been one of approval but of sorrow. What had begun joyfully in greeting was now consumed in the temporal. Here today and gone tomorrow.
“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things,
Jesus may have thought:
I didn’t come to cause you stress and a busy moment.
I didn’t come so that you would use your hands to wait on to me, but that my hands, presence and peace would come to administer to you.
All things seemed important to Martha.
At times, many things seem important to us.
We need to cast our cares on Jesus and we need to elevate to the highest place, and rest in the presence of Christ.
You need to do some clear and straight thinking.
What we do for the redeemer and the ministry of him is surely import and as James in his epistle reminds us, faith without works is dead.
So we do serve and help
That Christ has given us his Spirit into a beating heart is true. It is given so that we can shine “this little light of mine” as Christ has given to us, to those who need to hear about Jesus and see hope in this dark world.
Our witness needs to do that.
Christ is the one thing needful.
I will serve Jesus and I will serve - as we learned last week - my neighbor as myself.
Jesus doesn’t need my service - but my neighbor does.
When you and I stand before God's throne in paradise. This is what will really matter.
Not that I have taught for him in a Sunday school or Bible class, or sung for him in the choir, or hand Bells or pushed the buttons for CD or played the organ or even made evangelism calls. These are all but a fruit of what he has given us in him as his dear children. We can’t but help, and serve.
Through his love for us and through the work of his Spirit we know all that Jesus has given us by his life, death, and resurrection - so that we might have an eternity with him forever and the peace that passes all understanding.
Our deep love for him is that we remain focused on him in the good times and in the bad ones as well.
As Paul reminds the Philippians:
12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
But my neighbor might need me.
Some received miracles in this temporal world and we rejoice with them in these blessings.
A miracle of the Lord can save a life.
But the word of the Lord can save a soul.
A miracle of the Lord can give health for today.
But the word of the Lord can preserve faith for eternity.
How I prayed and hoped that the Lord would give are friend and member, Mark Bunarek the successful healing he needed in his surgery.
Unfortunately for us all he didn’t even get to the operating table. But I know that Mark held to Christ in good times and bad - sharing this wonderful verse from Job 19 at the committal for his dear mother only a few short years ago through tears at her committal service.
Job 19:24-26
24 Oh that with an iron pen and lead
they were engraved in the rock forever!
25 For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
26 And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
yet in my flesh I shall see God,
This eternity promised in Christ is the one thing needful.
“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.”
Luther views Martha's busyness as a representation of the distractions and worries of daily life. He acknowledges her good intentions but emphasizes that her focus on service can lead to anxiety.
Mary, sitting at Jesus' feet, symbolizes the ideal response to Christ's presence. Luther highlights her choice to listen and learn as the "better part," which he believes is essential for spiritual growth.
Luther concludes in this way his thoughts:
Christ himself says, “One thing is needful,” i.e., that Mary sits at the feet of Christ and hear his word daily. This is the best part to choose and it shall not be taken away forever. It is an eternal word. Everything else must pass away, no matter how much care and trouble it may give Martha. LW Vol. 53 pg. 14
Jesus, is the one thing needful!
God help us to see and desire this!
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
Based and Modified Concordia pulpit 1977 Rev Lester A Wolf