Meeting Jesus - Worship and Serving

As we will discover in our message today from Luke 10, leading people to a life-changing relationship with Jesus requires worship and service.

Mary, Martha, and Lazarus with siblings and friends of Jesus.  When Martha heard that Jesus was in town, she invited him into her home and planned a massive banquet for him as a guest of honor.

Anytime a person had a banquet, the entire town could attend and celebrate.  

This required much work from Martha.

Luke 10:38-42

38  As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed them into her home. 39  Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. 40  But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.” 41  But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! 42  There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” 

Since many of you have served or volunteered in some capacity in the church world, you may be able to relate to how Martha felt in this passage. Martha invited Jesus into her home to celebrate him as the guest of honor, but she could not spend any time with him because of all the work she had to do to have a big feast. During Thanksgiving, when the family comes into town, I love preparing the feast. I often get so caught up in making sure the food is cooked close to perfection that I often fail to connect with the family that has driven hours to spend time with us. I spend more time with the deep-fried turkey than the turkeys running around in my living room.

Well, that is precisely what happened with Martha. From this passage, it is essential for us to understand:

SERVING WITHOUT WORSHIP RISKS RESENTMENT

Luke 10:40 

Martha said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.” 

Can you see Martha working hard?  Running back and forth. Checking the temperature of the food. Tasting it to make sure the right amount of seasoning is in each dish. Making sure they had enough clean utensils and dishes. Getting the table set right for the guest of honor. Filling the wine glasses repeatedly. I am willing to bet she began preparing this feast with a happy heart…humming a song and feeling honored that she could have her friend and the great miracle worker Jesus in her home. 

Then...as she hustles around the home, her eye falls on her sister.  Sitting on her butt. Talking to Jesus. Laughing with him. Listening to him. Not helping.  Not serving.  Just sitting.

So, Martha begins to show signs of resentment.

Working as a construction worker, I would get so aggravated when a co-worker was lazy! Maybe you have experienced that frustration before as well.  When somebody does not pull their weight, when somebody is not working alongside you.  

Martha must have kept one eye on her work and the other on her sister. Growing more and more angry and steamed with every second that passed, until she couldn't take it any longer and blurted out:  It's not fair! Have you been there?

Maybe initially, serving others sounded like a good idea…but you felt like you have to do everything and nobody was helping you. It could be at church. It could be at home. It could be at work.

SO REST TO SERVE SELFLESSLY

As a follower of Jesus, when we serve others and fail to rest in the presence of Jesus on a regular basis, our attitude becomes stale and crusty. Look how quickly it happened to Martha. One moment she extended an invitation to Jesus and welcomed Jesus into her home.  The next moment - she wants to yank her sister up by the hair and make her help.  

If you are serving inside the walls of Beach Church or outside the walls of Beach Church and you feel frustrated with others, remember to rest in the presence of Jesus and cling to the promise of this verse:

1 Corinthians 15:58 (NLT2) 

58  So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.

Nothing you have done or ever will do for the Lord is useless.  Be encouraged. Rest in his presence in worship, and keep on going. Another truth we can draw out from this passage of scripture is this:

NEGLECTING JESUS STRAINS OUR RELATIONSHIPS

As a follower of Jesus, we want to live for him. We get in the word; we understand how he wants us to live, whom he wants us to become, and what he wants us to do…but if we stay focused on the “becoming” and neglect spending time with Jesus, our relationships with other people will become strained. Without resting in the presence of Jesus, acts of service and kindness become a religion. Without spending time with Jesus, we attempt to “love our neighbor as ourselves’ without loving God with all our heart. We get caught up in the doing, and we neglect worship.

When we neglect spending time in worship with Jesus, our relationships get strained, and we may blurt out something that we regret later. We may understand what Martha was thinking about because - we have all been there.

Please remember this:

SERVING IS GREAT, BUT WORSHIP IS GREATER

Martha must have been stunned by the gentle rebuke of Jesus and the words,

Luke 10:42

42  There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”

The story of Mary and Martha illustrates what it looks like to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And love your neighbor as yourself.” In the passage of scripture that we looked at last week, Jesus taught that the Good Samaritan showed us what it was like to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Luke 10:25-28 

25  One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?” 26  Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?” 27  The man answered, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 28  “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!” 

When we love our neighbor as we love ourselves, we are serving them. Serving is GREAT! Martha is serving others in this passage. She is going above and beyond. She is going the extra mile. She is treating others how she would want to be treated. But, she was missing the mark when it came to “loving God with all her heart, soul, mind, and strength.”

Serving others walks hand in hand with loving God with all our heart soul, mind and strength. 

It is impossible to love God and NOT serve others truly, and we can’t love our neighbor as ourselves for long without becoming resentful and straining our relationship if we are not worshiping and loving God first. That is the lesson for all of us from the story of Mary and Martha. Jesus is not telling Martha that she should not be serving. He is telling Martha that as she serves, she must do it from the source of the only thing greater than serving.

Worship

The only thing that is greater than serving is worship. Worshiping Jesus is the most important, thrilling, extraordinary thing a human can experience…I love experiencing life-changing worship with hands lifted high, tears flowing from thankful hearts, and being joined together as followers of Christ as we pursue a more meaningful relationship with God. Serving others is almost equally as amazing of an experience! When you choose to bless other people, it is a fantastic feeling. You will feel good. You will be humbled. You will enjoy going the extra mile. If you serve out of the overflow of your relationship with God.

So keep following Jesus. Keep loving others. And make sure you do all you can to do BOTH together.