Today, we begin a sermon series called
“License Plate Sightings.” We’re going to spend the next several weeks through
Labor Day Weekend focusing on Jesus’ teachings from the Gospel of Luke. Each
Sunday, we’ll focus on a vanity license plate that will correspond with a
particular teaching of Jesus.
Last summer, the Columbus Dispatch had an article about religious vanity
license plates. The article said that
over the past six years, a Bloom Township couple has identified 275 religious
vanity license plates while out driving.
These include O GLORY, 1 FAITH, & JC FREAK and some that are a
little more difficult to decipher. Some
of the plates include scripture references like LUKE 6 31. That’s the Golden
Rule in which Jesus says, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”
So let’s get started. Our vanity plate for today is KISS. KISS is a shorthand way of saying, “Keep it
simple…saint.” You thought I was going to use a different word,didn’t you?
Jesus wants us to remember to keep things simple. I like this K.I.S.S. reminder
from Jesus because it’s so easy for us to complicate things end get our focus
off of what is vitally important.
The Gospel writer, Luke, introduces us to Mary and Martha who provide a
place for Jesus to stay during his journey.
Mary kept things simple. She
simply sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to Jesus, something that I hope we do
during this entire sermon series and beyond this series for our daily living -
listening to Jesus. The implication in
this story is that Martha also wanted to listen to Jesus but felt that she
couldn’t listen to Jesus because of all of the things that needed to get
done. Martha was distracted.
Whenever I read this story, I can always relate to Martha. I know that we should be more like Mary and
listen to Jesus, but do you want your guest to see dishes in the sink, shoes in
front of the couch, an unmade bed, an unclean bathroom, and dirty windows?
And when you know that you’re going to be entertaining a guest at your
house, it’s always good to have a little extra help to clean things up like
maybe your sister, Mary…hint, hint, someone like Mary, to come and lend a hand
or two to get things ready for your guests. Mary didn’t even bother to ask
Martha if she could help her.
You got to feel for Martha in all of this. She wants things to be nice and she wants to
be a good host.
So
let me ask us this question. Was Mary
lazy? Was she unaware of the dishes in
the sink, the shoes in front of the couch, the unmade bed, the unclean
bathroom, and the dirty windows?
I
don’t think that Mary was unaware of these things. I just think that she was more aware of
Jesus.
I
mean, how often are you given the opportunity to host the Son of God in your
home and listen to Him face to face?
Martha, on the other hand, was more aware of the tasks that had to be
completed, than she was with the physical presence of Jesus Christ.
And so Martha allows her distraction to interrupt this holy moment.
Martha tells Jesus, “Lord, do you not
care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her to help me.”
And Jesus tells Martha, “You are
distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will
not be taken away from her.”
Do
you know what Jesus was telling Martha?
Simplify your life. Stay focused
on me. Don’t let anything get in the way
of our relationship. Arrange your life
in such a way that nothing gets between us. Keep your life simple.
What kind of distractions do we allow to get in the way of our
relationship with Jesus Christ? I think
it all boils down to external distractions and internal distractions.
What are some external distractions that can get in the way of us having
a vital and growing relationship with Jesus Christ?
External factors are distractions that are beyond our control.
If
you are ever preparing for a ministry event that will touch lives for Jesus
Christ, expect there to be lots and lots of external distractions getting in
your way. The devil will throw
distractions in our path just so that we will take our eyes off of Jesus.
Just think about the Book of Acts in the New Testament. There were a lot of external distractions
that the apostles had to face. It’s
amazing. They were thrown in prison,
beaten, & often misunderstood by the crowds they were trying to reach for
Christ.
Whenever you try to do something good in the name of Christ, expect
external distractions to come your way.
But in the midst of those external distractions that are beyond our
control, let us also keep in mind that Jesus promises to see us through those
distractions.
Oswald Chambers the great Christian writer from the last century and who
has written the great devotional book, My Utmost for His Highest, says
this about the trials and external problems that we face as Christians. “If you
are going to be used by God, he will take you through a multitude of
experiences that are not meant for you at all; they are meant to make you
useful in God’s hands.”
God allows us to encounter external distractions so that we can be more
useful in His hands.
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism once commented during a period of
time in his ministry that he must have been doing something wrong because
things were going so smoothly for him.
Churches that aren’t experiencing problems and frustrations are probably
not being faithful in their mission.
Christians that aren’t experiencing problems and frustrations are
probably not being faithful in their mission.
Jesus himself said, “You will
experience tribulations in this world.
Count on it.”
The keys to handling these external distractions are for us to number
one, 1) Expect distractions to happen, and 2) Stay focused on what God wants
you to do. If what we are doing is what
God wants us to do, then we don’t need to worry about the external
distractions.
Cicero once said, “The greater the
difficulty, the greater the glory.”
William Shakespeare said, “The
course of true love never did run smooth.”
In
our scripture from Luke’s Gospel, Martha allowed an external distraction, the
need to get the house ready for Jesus, to get in the way of her main mission
which was to be with Jesus and grow in a personal relationship with Jesus. She allowed an external distraction, the need
to provide hospitality, to get in the way of her relationship with Jesus
Christ.
But in addition to external distractions, we also have to deal with internal
distractions. Unlike external
distractions, internal distractions are things that we can control more or
less. For example, even though Martha
was dealing with the external distraction of needing to get the house ready for
Jesus, she didn’t need to interrupt Jesus and Martha when she did. In trying to avoid a social faux pa, Martha
actually committed one when she interrupted them.
A
good friend of mine served on staff at a large church and he was telling me
that his church bought over a hundred devotional books for people in the church
who wanted to intentionally read scripture throughout the year. When I talked
to my friend a few months later, I asked him how things were going with the
devotional books. And he said, “Most people had let the discipline of
reading the scriptures every day go by the wayside. Most of the people were not even reading the
devotional book anymore.”
Sometimes, it’s just a matter that we don’t follow through with our
commitments. We allow internal distractions
to get in the way of our walk with Jesus Christ. Why did people in my friend’s church stop
reading the devotional book? They found
other things that they wanted to do with their time.
It
takes a real commitment for us to keep things simple in our Christian faith.
John Wesley had three simple rules for the early Methodists. Three simple rules. 1) Do no harm. 2) Do
good. 3) Stay in love with God.
That sounds simple enough. But
it’s not always easy is it? We have to
deal with internal distractions all the time. Martha, let her own internal
distractions get in the way of that sacred moment.
Twenty-three years ago, as the sun was setting, I was standing with
Penny, our two kids, my mother, my brother, and my two sisters in a cemetery in
southeastern Pennsylvania. We were all
standing at the grave of my father one year after he had passed away.
It
was the first time that all of us were together at the grave following the
funeral. We got out of our cars and we
talked with each other as we walked across that cemetery until we reached the
grave where my father was buried.
When we arrived around the tombstone, it was an awkward moment for us as
we looked at his name on that marker.
There was silence. Nobody knew
what to say. By the way, silence is
sometimes very appropriate, isn’t it? In
our noisy world, we don’t know what to do with silence, but it is a gift when
we finally spend some time in silence.
And so, we stood there for a few minutes without saying a word. Sometimes we would look toward the west at
the beautiful sunset and at other times we would look down the valley at the
rolling farmland and housing development that was just beyond those fields.
And then, just at the right time, just at the right time, my brother
broke the silence, by inviting us to pray, and he led us in a beautiful prayer
giving thanks to God for dad and for the many good memories of how he shaped
and molded our lives, and then he prayed that God would comfort us in our
grief.
It
was the perfect prayer at the perfect time.
And that became a very sacred space for us in that moment.
I
needed that prayer. As a family, we
needed to not only stand at the grave, but we needed to experience that sacred
moment.
We
hugged each other, we talked for a little bit, and we returned to our cars
sensing that we had once again received God’s healing touch in the midst of our
grief and loss.
Jesus is always ready to meet us right where we are, even during the
most awkward of times, to bring healing, to bring a word of comfort, to offer
His teachings, or to simply surround us with His divine embrace.
And this brings me to a final thought about Mary and Martha’s encounter
with Jesus – in the midst of distractions both external and internal, we are
never separated from the eternal.
After Martha interrupted Jesus and Mary, Jesus said, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and
distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will
not be taken away from her.”
Jesus wants us to choose the better part – that is to be always aware of
the eternal, to be always conscious of the presence of Jesus Christ in our
lives, to not lose our focus on what is really important in our lives.
This
is what Jesus wants to tell us today. As
we go through each day, and face countless numbers of distractions, both
external and internal, remember that Jesus is with you and he is the better
portion by far.
And so throughout each day, take some time to be with Jesus. Invite Jesus to be at the center of what
you’re doing that day. Invite Jesus to
put the things of your life into their proper perspective. Keep a bible handy and focus on a verse or
two. Let Jesus be your focus for the
day. Not the distractions of life.
Sometimes, if things are feeling a little crazy for me, I just get on my
knees and say a simple prayer to help me to keep my focus on Jesus. It’s a simple prayer from the Russian
Orthodox Church that continues to provide inspiration for countless numbers of
Christians throughout the world. Here’s
the simple prayer:
Lord
Jesus Christ,
Son of the living God:
Have mercy on me, a sinner.
That’s a great prayer to help you and me to keep things simple when
things get a little crazy. Just three
lines that are easy to remember. “Lord
Jesus Christ, Son of the living God: Have mercy on me, a sinner.”
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