Sermon (July 21) - License Plate Sightings: KISS

     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.”