These illustrations are based on Luke 10:38-42
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Sermon Opener - What Jesus Saw In Martha - Luke 10:38-42
Some years ago, The Archbishop of Canterbury was rushing to catch a train in London. In his haste, he accidentally jumped on the wrong passenger car and found himself on a car full of inmates from a mental hospital. They were all dressed in mental hospital clothing.
Just as the train pulled out of the station, an orderly came in and began to count the inmates, “1-2-3-4…” when suddenly he saw this distinguished looking gentleman there wearing a business suit and a clerical collar and he said:
“Who are you?” The answer came back: “I am the Archbishop of Canterbury!” And the orderly said: “5-6-7-8.”
The point of that story is this: It is so important to know who we are and who other people are. If we know what makes us tick and what makes other people tick, we get along better. If we understand where we are coming from and where other people are coming from, we relate better. There is more compassion, more empathy and more kindness. When Jesus looked at Martha that day in that emotional scene, he saw some red flags, some warning signals, some danger signs, some destructive attitudes within her which were more harmful to Martha herself than to anyone else. Jesus loved Martha. They were good friends and that day, he saw in her some hurtful attitudes that were working in her like spiritual poisons, petty attitudes, which can devastate and destroy the soul.
Let’s look at these dangerous attitudes which were in Martha. We may find ourselves or someone we know somewhere between the lines. When Jesus looked at Martha that day, he saw deep down inside of her the dangerous attitude of….
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Pay Attention! - Luke 10:38-42
Many people are troubled by today’s gospel. Good Christian folk are disturbed that hard-working Martha got criticized for trying to serve Jesus and wanting Mary to do her fair share. What a blow this passage is to the “Protestant” work ethic! Those who favor gender-specific roles for men and women are disturbed because the one who didn’t seem to know that her place was in the kitchen was commended while the “good housewife” was condemned. Oddly enough, some feminists are also disturbed: Martha seemed to be rebuked for her sharp tongue while Mary was praised for kneeling down at a man’s feet and keeping her mouth shut.
If you find yourself disturbed by this story, then you’re not alone. In fact, generally, if you’re not disturbed by Jesus’ actions and parables, you’re not paying attention. Jesus wanted to get people to look at life differently, and the only way to get people out of their old ways of thinking and begin viewing life from the perspective of the kingdom was to shock them.
Martha was a good and faithful servant. When Jesus stopped in during his journeys, she knew what he needed: he needed to be cleaned up from the dusty road, and he needed to be fed. He also needed a clean place to rest. So like the good Samaritan in last week’s gospel, Martha set to work to care for the person in need.
But this week’s story isn’t about showing love horizontally by caring for one’s neighbor. This time, we’re to be told how to express love vertically (between us and God). We show our love for God in the way Mary did: by kneeling at the feet of our Lord and listening.
Let's think for a moment about the first readers of this story...
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Don’t Forget the Best
There is an ancient Scottish legend that tells the story of a shepherd boy tending a few straggling sheep on the side of a mountain. One day as he cared for his sheep he saw at his feet a beautiful flower -- one that was more beautiful than any he had ever seen in his life. He knelt down upon his knees and scooped the flower in his hands and held it close to his eyes, drinking in its beauty. As he held the flower close to his face, suddenly he heard a noise and looked up before him.
There he saw a great stone mountain opening up right before his eyes. And as the sun began to shine on the inside of the mountain, he saw the sprinkling of the beautiful gems and precious metals that it contained.
With the flower in his hands, he walked inside. Laying the flower down, he began to gather all the gold and silver and precious gems in his arms. Finally with all that his arms could carry, he turned and began to walk out of that great cavern, and suddenly a voice said to him, "Don't forget the best."
Thinking that perhaps he had overlooked some choice piece of treasure, he turned around again and picked up additional pieces of priceless treasure. And with his arms literally overflowing with wealth, he turned to walk back out of the great mountainous vault. And again the voice said, "Don't forget the best."
But by this time his arms were filled and he walked on outside, and all of a sudden, the precious metals and stones turned to dust. And he looked around in time to see the great stone mountain closing its doors again. A third time he heard the voice, and this time the voice said, "You forgot the best. For the beautiful flower is the key to the vault of the mountain."
In our Scripture passage we have someone who also forgot the best. Her name was Martha.
Adrian Dieleman, Hosts and Guests
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Will the Grass Ever Come Back?
Erma Bombeck, the author who wrote "If Life Is A Bowl Of Cherries, What Am I Doing Here In The Pits", tells of two moments in her husband's life:
There was a time when the children were growing up that her husband used to go and look at the back yard. Surveying the muddy patches where the lawn should be, he would wonder -- Will the grass ever come back?
And then there was the time when the children were grown and gone that her husband went and looked over the beautiful green lawn, immaculate from lack of use and wondered -- Will the children ever come back?
Some parts of life are temporary - some are eternal. Wisdom knows the difference. This is the fundamental issue at stake in the story of Mary and Martha.
Richard J. Fairchild, The Better Part
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Responding with Humor
By the way, don't you think Luke also included this incident in his gospel account because he found it irresistible, or perhaps more accurately, because he found a touch of humor in it? There is humor here, isn't there? We smile at the story because we see ourselves in it, or we detect someone we know who is similar to Martha. Sometimes our priorities, or frustrations, are so far off the beam that they are laughable. And along with this was Martha's own lack of humor, which might have finally saved her. "The Lord's coming to my house? You mean he did accept my reckless invitation?" Martha might have asked. "Well, then, he's going to have to settle for potluck!" Such an attitude could have made Martha a relaxed, delightful hostess.
A friend of mine likes to tell stories about how his teenage children would call him at home on the telephone on Friday nights after the high school basketball games. It was usually about 10 o'clock and they wanted to know whether they could bring a few friends over for a little get together. When the parents asked how many friends were coming, they were usually told, "Oh, about seventeen." Instead of slamming down the phone, the guy said he always smiled at his wife, and the two of them hightailed it over to the supermarket to get enough supplies to feed and water down the two dozen teenagers who showed up. The slight ridiculousness of the situation and the parents' humorous response to it preserved a loving relationship between them and their children.
Richard W. Patt, All Stirred Up, CSS Publishing Company, Inc.
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Being Present
How many of us have been to a party where our host or hosts are so busy with all of the little details that the guests leave the party thinking, “That was a lovely party, but I wish I had more time to speak with our host!” I imagine this Martha from over 2,000 years ago to have something in common with a certain ‘Martha’ from our present. Fussing over the perfect table setting, the most delicious and perhaps elaborate meal, adjusting every little detail until it is just so…and only when everything is perfectly in place, turning to the guests to enjoy their company. There is a lot of joy to be taken in being a host and doing something gracious your guests, but it should never compromise the time we have to really enjoy our contact with them, especially when it starts to feel like ‘work’ as Martha clearly expresses.
I think that one of the things Jesus is praising in Mary’s behavior in this text is her careful listening and just being present with her guest and her God. Jesus is telling us that there is great wisdom in letting the dishes soak in the sink so we can listen to and relax with others in fellowship.
Staff, www.esermons.com
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The Highest Priority
Have you ever been in a hurry and buttoned up a long overcoat with lots of buttons and when you were done, found out that the coat was uneven? What went wrong? I'll tell you what went wrong. When you don't get the first button in the right hole, all the rest are out of sequence too, right?! That's a parable about life. Jesus said it this way in the Sermon on the Mount: "Seek first God's kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well." (Matthew 6:33) If the Lord is not the high priority in your life, then, like the overcoat, so many other things in life will be out of whack as well.
Arthur E. Dean Windhorn
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A Priorities
A time management guru, a professor in the business school at Harvard, speaks about A, B, and C priorities, and then he notes that too many people spend too much of their time on the C priorities! And then he asks, "Why do you think that is?" The answer is that the C priorities are, first, much easier to accomplish, and, second, give you the impression that you are actually getting something done. In other words you can keep busy with the C priorities all day and never get to the more important things. The lesson from Mary and Martha is "Don't let the good (the C priorities) get in the way of the best (the A priorities). Sound like anyone you know?
David E. Leininger, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com
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There Is Always a Load Limit
Dr. John Anderson tells about a cartoon that appeared in the NEW YORKER magazine. Approaching a small bridge plainly marked, "Load Limit 8 tons" was a truck, also marked on its side, "8 tons." When the 8 ton truck was about in the middle of the bridge with the 8 ton limit, a bluebird lighted on the top girder. At that point the bridge gave way and crashed with the truck into the river below, to the obvious surprise of the bluebird.
The bridge was built as indicated for 8 tons; the truck weighed exactly that. The bridge could hold up under its load limit, but not under 8 tons and one bluebird.
Of course, this story is wonderfully ridiculous. Most bridges could stand up under their load limit and several thousand bluebirds extra. But, to be sure, all bridges have a breaking point somewhere "that point at which the bluebird would be just much too much. But, friends, it really isn't the bluebird that breaks it down. It is the fact that 8 tons are already present.
We all have bluebird troubles, don't we? We are all burdened by the facts of our lives which load us to the point of "load limit." We let little things get the best of us, little bluebirds of nothingness, tiny bluebirds of no importance, but just the thing to bring us down. Every person has a limit and we would do well to watch for the warning signs of one bluebird too many. There is always a load limit.
Arthur E. Dean Windhorn, Sermons.com
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Humor: When Anxieties Finally Come True
For several years a woman had been having trouble getting to sleep at night because she feared burglars. One night her husband heard a noise in the house, so he went downstairs to investigate. When he got there, he did find a burglar. "Good evening," said the man of the house. "I am pleased to see you. Come upstairs and meet my wife. She has been waiting 10 years to meet you."
William Marshall, Eternity Shut in a Span
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A Worry Table
A Worry Table: Some of us would do well to emulate the woman who realized that her fears were ruining her life, so she made for herself a "worry table." On tabulating her worries she discovered that 40 percent will never happen; 30 percent were all about decisions that cannot be altered; 12 percent were about others' criticism, most untrue; 10 percent were about my health, which gets worse as I worry; 8 percent were legitimate since life has some real problems to meet.
Thomas Kepler from James Cox, The Ministers Manuel For 1996.
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Tell Me About The Spitfires!
During World War II the Royal Air Force flew Danny's favorite plane of all time: the Spitfire. Watching those things fly all over the RKO newsreels the young boy came to believe they were dauntless. If a pilot flew a Spitfire, Danny thought, he would always hit his target, and he would always return home.
One day the British Consul from Minneapolis came to Danny's town to visit. Danny's dad was chairman of the County War Bond drive so that gave him the honor of entertaining the British Consul in his home. His mother, Suzanne, went crazy with preparations. She brought in all her friends; she hired a German woman to clean the house; she went downtown to buy a new dress.
The day the Consul arrived 40 people crammed into three rooms to welcome this man. Each one of those people couldn't wait to tell this tall, thin diplomat from England about the town, about how patriotic it was, about how he or she had a great-aunt in London, about how well the war was going. They all had plenty to say.
Suzanne was running around fractiously trying to serve everybody and greet everybody, and make sure everybody had a place to sit, and did they want more of this -- in general, were they having a good time.
Finally the British Consul sat down. For a split second he was actually by himself. The hostess had left to get him a drink; all the other guests momentarily turned away. Danny saw his chance. He ran to him. Even though the Consul was sitting, the boy still had to stand to whisper into his ear: "Tell me about Spitfires!"
The tall man looked at the eight-year-old. He smiled, he relaxed, and he said, "Spitfires? I'll tell you a story about Spitfires. I flew one early in the war. It was splendid. I shot down a Messerschmidt and I came home alive. The next time I wasn't so lucky. That's why I'm not flying anymore. What is your name? I'll send you some pictures of Spitfires."
About a month later a letter came from Minneapolis. Inside was a folder about Spitfires and a note from the Consul: "Dear Danny. I enjoyed talking with you. Good luck." He signed his name.
Danny was the only person who didn't barrage the Consul's ears with information about the town and American patriotism. This small boy was the only one who said, "Tell me about Spitfires." He was the only one who actually listened to him -- even if it was just for a few minutes!
In today's gospel lesson Jesus needs somebody to listen. He has just begun his journey to Jerusalem where he knows he will travel the bitter road of the cross and he will experience the loneliness of being denied, abandoned, and betrayed by his disciples. Martha may think her tasks have a high level of importance and at another time she would be right but not now. Now, it is time to sit and listen.
John G. Lynch, Troubled Journey, The Better Part, CSS Publishing Company.
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ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS NOT IN OUR EMAIL
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Sermon Opener – Mary, Martha, and the Martha Stewart Church – Luke 10:38-42
In the classic Billy Crystal movie “City Slickers,” three longtime friends face middle age. In their middle-age crisis they find themselves losing their focus and in danger of losing their families.
To reignite the fire in their lives the guys sign up as “cowboys,” helping a dude ranch move its herd of cattle from high in the hills down to the lower valley. “Curly,” the grizzled old cowboy who leads them, seems to be the toughest, canniest, wisest person they have ever met. Billy Crystal asks the usually tight-lipped cowpoke what his secret is. What makes his life so strong and centered and sure. Curly smiles, raises his grubby, gloved index finger and proclaims, “It is just one thing,” then he rides away.
Billy’s character spends the rest of the movie frantically trying to figure out what Curly meant. What IS that “just one thing?”
Psychologists, marriage counselors, relationship gurus of all stripes, warn us not to expect one person to provide for all our emotional, intellectual, and relational needs. We need a variety of relationships, a network of spouses, friends, colleagues from work, basketball buddies, quilting club comrades, children, elders, and peers, to meet all our relational needs.
But what might be true for our human connections does not hold true for our spiritual needs. Our soul needs only “one thing.” No matter what your denomination. No matter if your spiritual temperament is exuberant, reserved, flamboyant, or meditative. Whether your soul craves cathedrals, or soars under the blue dome, it is all the same as long as we have that “one thing.”
That “one thing” is Jesus.
In today’s gospel text Martha, the mistress of the house, rushes around trying to make sure everything is perfect. Martha is like some first century Martha Stewart. She is focused on the food, the house, the drink. Martha seems to be doing for others. At first reading Martha is just being a conscientious hostess. But a deeper reading of the story reveals Martha is really only concerned with herself.
How does HER house look?
How does HER food taste?
How are HER wines being served?
Martha is so busy “serving” she completely forgets whom she truly serves…
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Faithful to my Lord's commands
I still would choose the better part;
Serve with careful Martha's hands
And loving Mary's heart.
Charles Wesley
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Inviting Us Out to Worship
There is a chapel somewhere in Wisconsin that has a stained glass window over the entrance, showing the figure of Jesus with open arms. Some, seeing it for the first time, remarked, "How meaningful! He seems to be inviting us in to worship."
"That's true," the pastor said. "He is indeed inviting us in to worship."
When the service was over and the same person was going out the door, he looked up at the window again. There was the figure of Jesus, with the same invitingly open arms. "Look!" he said. "Now he seems to be inviting us out."
"Right," the pastor replied. "The Jesus who invited you to worship now invites you out into the world to serve other people in his name."
Our Lord is greatly interested not only in what goes on in the church, but in what goes on in the office, the home and the factory. That's where people spend most of their time. That's where the Christian life is to be lived.
Carveth Mitchell, The Sign in the Subway, CSS Publishing Company
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Worry has been defined as "a small trickle of fear that meanders through the mind until it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained."
Unknown
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Humor: When to Worry
Now, I'm your pastor and I am going to give you permission to worry. But, you can only worry if one of these 7 things happens to you:
Your birthday cake collapses from the weight of the candles.
You turn on the news and they're showing emergency routes out of the city.
Your twin sister forgot your birthday.
Your car horn goes off accidentally and remains stuck as you follow a group of Hell's Angels on the freeway.
The bird singing outside your window is a buzzard.
Your income tax check bounces.
Your wife says, "Good morning, Bill", and your name is George.
Other than that you don't have anything to worry about.
Unknown
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Slow Me Down Lord
The Genesis creation narrative tells us that God created the world, and all that is in it, in six short days, a remarkable burst of energy even for God. Understandably, God was tired - an idea which has eluded learned theologians - but the author of the story insists that, "... on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done and he rested on the seventh day from all his work ... So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all his work which he had done in creation (Genesis 2:2, 3)." Written on the first page of our Bibles and woven into the fabric of the universe is the divine provision for leisure time.
Our prayer should be:
"Slow me down, Lord. I'm goin' too fast.
I can't see my brother when he's walking past.
I miss a lot of things day by day when it comes my way.
Slow me down, Lord, I'm goin' too fast."
W. Robert McClelland, Fire in the Hole, CSS Publishing Company
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Leave the Trouble in God's Hands
The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety. George Muller Massena, one of Napoleon's generals, suddenly appeared with 18,000 soldiers before an Austrian town which had no means of defending itself. The town council met, certain that capitulation was the only answer. The old dean of the church reminded the council that it was Easter, and begged them to hold services as usual and to leave the trouble in God's hands. They followed his advice. The dean went to the church and rang the bells to announce the service. The French soldiers heard the church bells ring and concluded that the Austrian army had come to rescue the town. They broke camp, and before the bells had ceased ringing, vanished.
Source Unknown
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The Virtuous Castle of Work
Brazilian theologian, Rubem Alves, suggests that we imagine ourselves locked in a room with no windows or doors. No matter how nice the room is furnished we will very quickly become bored and suffer claustrophobia. Inevitably we will begin to probe the walls and floor, looking for a way of escape. Then, Alves suggests, that we imagine ourselves in a castle with a thousand and one luxurious rooms, filled with surprises and pleasures. As we tire of one room we can move to the next, and the next, indefinitely exploring the castle. So absorbed are we in our search that we never notice that the castle, like the other room, has neither windows nor doors. We are equally a prisoner but it never occurs to us to escape.
Enslavement is the issue. And Martha was trapped in her virtuous castle of work fixing dinner for Jesus. Yet, it is Jesus who says the idle Mary has chosen the better part.
W. Robert McClelland, Fire in the Hole, CSS Publishing Company
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The reason worry kills more people than work is that more people worry than work.
Robert Frost
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Workaholism
In the familiar story of Mary and Martha, I think that most of us relate to the hard working Martha. In an article I read this week in the paper, it was reported that Americans work more hours per year than any other major industrial nation. The Germans work an annual average of 1,421 hours per year, the French 1,564, the Japanese 1,784, and Americans 1,804. All of these nations have cut their annual hours by 16 to 20 percent over the last 40 years. The exception is the United States, which has remained more or less static. This is not a recent phenomenon. As long ago as 1840, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote of the “feverish ardor” with which “Americans pursue their own welfare,” and “this strange unrest of so many happy men, restless in the midst of abundance” (Bk 2, chp. 13). A recent academic paper from professors from the University of Texas and the University of Michigan argues that working long hours for many may be “an addiction, akin to alcoholism and smoking.” The paper is titled “The Economics of Workaholism.” The guilty subtitle is “We should not Have Worked on this Paper.”
Michael Parker, One Thing Is Necessary
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Ain't No Sense Worrying
Mickey Rivers, a onetime outfielder for the Texas Rangers professional baseball team, stated his philosophy of life: "Ain't no sense worrying about things you got control over, because if you got control over them, ain't no sense worrying. And there ain't no sense worrying about things you got no control over either, because if you got no control them, ain't no sense worrying."
Reported in Dallas Morning News, May 20, 1984.
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Listen Slowly
Writer Charles Swindoll once found himself with too many commitments in too few days. He got nervous and tense about it. "I was snapping at my wife and our children, choking down my food at mealtimes, and feeling irritated at those unexpected interruptions through the day," he recalled in his book Stress Fractures. "Before long, things around our home started reflecting the pattern of my hurry-up style. It was becoming unbearable.
"I distinctly remember after supper one evening, the words of our younger daughter, Colleen. She wanted to tell me something important that had happened to her at school that day. She began hurriedly, 'Daddy, I wanna tell you somethin' and I'll tell you really fast.'
"Suddenly realizing her frustration, I answered, 'Honey, you can tell me -- and you don't have to tell me really fast. Say it slowly." "I'll never forget her answer: 'Then listen slowly.'"
Bits & Pieces, June 24, 1993, Page 13-14
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Created for Faith not Fear
I am inwardly fashioned for faith, not for fear. Fear is not my native land; faith is. I am so made that worry and anxiety are sand in the machinery of life; faith is the oil. I live better by faith and confidence than by fear, doubt and anxiety. In anxiety and worry, my being is gasping for breath--these are not my native air. But in faith and confidence, I breathe freely--these are my native air. A John Hopkins University doctor says, "We do not know why it is that worriers die sooner than the non- worriers, but that is a fact." But I, who am simple of mind, think I know; We are inwardly constructed in nerve and tissue, brain cell and soul, for faith and not for fear. God made us that way. To live by worry is to live against reality.
E. Stanley Jones, Transformed by Thorns, p. 95.
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There are two great days in a person's life -- the day we are born and the day we discover why.
William Barclay
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Encapsulated and Unavailable
We live in an age when just about all human contact has to be scheduled. Why? Because more and more we force ourselves into situations where we are encapsuled and, therefore, unavailable. Our homes are electronically gated. In apartments and condominiums our entrances are unapproachable. Our air-controlled cars mean windows up; even our telephones are equipped with screening that implies, "You may call me if you want, but I'll have to get back to you."
There are few front porches left. We allow limited access into most parts of our lives. Is it allowable to pop in on anyone anymore? Hurray for Martha! She was accessible; she thereby provided for the Lord's human need.
Richard W. Patt, All Stirred Up, CSS Publishing Company, Inc.
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Investing Our Time
As important as your obligation as a doctor, a lawyer or a business leader may be, your human connections with your spouse, your children and your friends are the most important investment you will ever make. At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict or not closing one more deal, but you will regret time not spent with your spouse, your children or your friends.
Barbara Bush, 1994 Commencement Address, Wellesley College, quoted in Current Thoughts and Trends, January 1995, p. 12.
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We Need Martha and Mary
Max Lucado is right on target when he writes: "Every church needs a Martha. Change that. Every church needs a hundred Marthas. Sleeves rolled up and ready, they keep the pace for the church. Because of Marthas the church budgets get balanced church buildings get repaired and cleaned babies get bounced on loving knees in the nursery. You don't appreciate Marthas until a Martha is missing and all the Marys of the church start scrambling to find the keys to lock doors, turn off the lights and turn off the fans. Yes, the Marthas are the Energizer Bunnies of the church. They keep going and going and going."
Martha was a live wire to be sure. However, even live wires need a time out for recharging. Work without worship will soon burn you out. Even in church we can lose our sense of perspective.
Max Lucado, A Gentle Thunder, Word Publishing, 1995, page 127.
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Forget What Is Behind
Martin Luther said that those who listen are those who are truly wise, because they always begin anew so that they may forget the things that are behind and stretch themselves to what is ahead. But the lukewarm and the hypocrites, he said, think they have already chosen what is best. "They forget what is before them and fall back into what is behind them, and there they rest and snore."
John G. Lynch, Troubled Journey, CSS Publishing Company, Inc.
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The Sons of Martha
Rudyard Kipling felt that preachers were very hard on Martha, so he wrote a poem in defense of this poor woman. Here is part of the poem entitled The Sons of Martha:
The sons of Mary seldom bother,
for they have inherited that good part;
But the sons of Martha favor their mother
of the careful soul and the troubled heart.
And because she lost her temper once,
and because she was rude to the Lord her Guest,
Her sons must wait upon Mary's sons
world without end, reprieve, or rest.
And the sons of Mary smile and are blessed---
they know the angels are on their side.
They know in them is the grace confessed
and for them are the mercies multiplied.
They sit at the Feet-they hear the Word---
they see how truly the promise runs
They have cast their burden upon the Lord,
and-the Lord, he lays it on Martha's sons.
Rudyard Kipling
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Lord of All Pots and Pans
I have only the initials (M.K.H., quoted in the Salvation Army magazine) of the person who wrote this verse, but I suspect that a lot of other initials could be added to it in spirit:
Lord of all pots and pans, since I’ve no time to be
A saint by doing lovely things, or watching late with Thee
Or dreaming in dawnlight, or storming heaven's gates
Make me a saint by getting meals and washing up the plates.
Carveth Mitchell, The Sign in the Subway, CSS Publishing Company.
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A Glass Full of Worry
I have been told that a dense fog that covers a seven-city-block area one hundred feet deep is composed of less than one glass of water divided into sixty thousand million drops. Not much is there but it can cripple an entire city. Worry and anxiety are like that. Just a glass full can cripple your life. At the moment when Martha needed most to stop and put down her cares and concerns she did not. She missed the greatest moment of her life, and why? For the roast in the oven.
Brett Blair, www.Sermons.com
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Conversation of The Heart
A mother, listening to the bedtime prayers of her small daughter, heard the listing of requests for blessings that children often offer - Mommy and Daddy and Grandma and Grandpa and on and on. She was surprised, however, to hear the child conclude her prayer with these words: "Now, Jesus, what would you like for me to do for you?"
The little girl had grasped the relationships of the Christian life: conversation of the heart (worship) with Jesus issues in the desire to do something for Jesus.
One of my radio listeners was inspired to write and send to me the following verse:
Dear God,
Each day,
When I come to pray
I ask so much of Thee.
In supplication
I bow
But seldom stay to see
What you might ask of me.
Today
Dear God,
When I come to pray
Beseeching Thy love and care,
While I’m there
Give me courage
To stay and see
What you might ask of me!
To be doers of the Word and witnesses to the Word is not only the fulfillment of our faith, but the mandate of the Master. Our Lord needs his Marys and his Marthas too.
Carveth Mitchell, The Sign in the Subway, CSS Publishing Company.
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A Normal Part of Life?
Some time ago a friend of mine came to me with the exciting news that he had just received a job promotion. He said it would mean professional advancement and a sizable increase in salary. Unfortunately, it meant leaving the community. "My family doesn't want to leave," he lamented. "We simply hate to leave our friends here, and the church which has meant so much to us. The whole thing is tearing the children apart."
As his pastor, I found myself reassuring him by saying "The kids will get over that. Children adjust very well. After all, that's a normal part of life."
Later, when I had a chance to reflect on our conversation, I wondered why we both had assumed that a promotion should be accepted when it is offered, even though it means tearing up spiritual and social roots? Is such dislocation to be expected, and accepted, as a normal part of life? It is precisely that assumption which is called in question by Jesus' reply to Martha.
W. Robert McClelland, Fire in the Hole, CSS Publishing Company
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Humor: Worship
Urban legend has it [no this is not a true story but it is a good one] that in 1990 a woman entered a Haagen-Dazs in the Kansas City Plaza for an ice-cream cone. While she was ordering another customer entered the store. She placed her order, turned and found herself staring face to face with Paul Newman. He was in town filming Mr. and Mrs. Bridge. His blue eyes made her knees buckle. She finished paying and quickly walked out of the store with her heart still pounding. Gaining her composure she suddenly realized she didn't have her cone; she turned to go back in. At the door she met Paul Newman who was coming out. He said to her, "Are you looking for your ice-cream cone?" Unable to utter a word she nodded yes. "You put it in your purse with your change."
When was the last time the presence of God made you forget what was going on around you? Made you forget the dishes? Made you forget the ball game? Made you forget the bank account? Made you forget where...you put your ice cream cone?
Brett Blair, www.Sermons.com
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Investing Your Time
If you greet each new day as a treasure house to be invested wisely, the journey from Sunday to Saturday turns into an exciting and exhilarating experience. By the same token, if you do not use time, it will end up using you. No matter who you are, where you live or what you do, life is impacted most drastically by what you do with time and what it does with you. Will Rogers was once asked: "If you had only 48 hours to live, how would you spend them?" The Oklahoma cowboy philosopher replied: "One at a time." Such is the reality of time. Every day gives us 86,400 seconds and we must use every one of them as they come, for they will never be seen again.
But ironically, there is another side to this crucial issue for each of us. There is an altogether different dimension of time which only people of faith can ever know. There is a time which no wrist watch can measure, but which itself measures how much abundance people find in life. Beyond the world's time there is God's time. The basic issue is in learning how to tell one kind of time from the other. We must know when to wait and we must know when to move. Only when we are connected to God can we know the difference.
Eric S. Ritz, The Ritz Collection, www.Sermons.com
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The New Trend
For thousands of years, feng-shui practitioners have used the sound of running water to dissolve negative energy. Modern psychologists describe the constant gurgling [of desktop waterfalls] as "white noise" that drowns out distractions. On the basis of such notions, the same companies that ushered in aromatherapy are now cranking out Zen-inspired relaxation tools, dubbed "calming pools" and "serenity ponds." Over the past two years consumers have bought into the idea that burbling rock gardens are effective stress relievers. Americans purchased more than five million of this little rock fountains since 1999, and sales are expected to climb higher.
Julie Rawe, "Miniature fountains," Time, October 23, 2000, 20.
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Undivided Attention
Back when our daughter, Megan, was in high school, she was trying to write a paper for her English class. She was experiencing what is known as "writer's block." I watched her pace up and down the family room, working herself up into quite a frenzy. Finally, she came over to me and said, "Dad, I just can't think of anything to write. How do you do it week after week?" I looked at her and said, "Well, first of all, I've found that it's helpful to sit down in front of the typewriter." She replied, "Oh, Daddy, that's no help!" I said, "You asked me for my advice, and I gave you the best I had." Not too much time went by before I saw her sitting down at the typewriter working away on what turned out to be a prize-winning essay. It worked.
The only way Mary could learn what Jesus had to say was to sit down and give him her undivided attention.
David R. Cartwright, Sermons for Sundays after Pentecost (First Third): Guided by the Spirit, CSS Publishing Company, Inc.
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Coffee Room
When Charles Dickens was a little boy he was unhappy and neglected, for he was working in a factory. During his dinner break he would walk the streets of London looking at everything.
Sometimes he would go to the coffee house on St. Martin's Lane. Years later he would tell how on one occasion he was sitting in this coffee house and looked up to see two words written on the glass door. These words created a great fear and panic within him. They were the words "Moor Eeffoc." He did not understand what they could mean. With his imagination he speculated that they might have something to do with the Moors. He knew what a Moor was. Could it be that something cruel and dangerous was behind those doors? Could it be some evil person who wanted to kill him? He simply sat there with his food growing cold wondering what it all meant.
Then it was time to leave. He knew that he would have to go through those ominous doors. With all of his courage he went through those potentially evil doors and when he looked back he discovered that the words on the door now read, "Coffee Room."
Apparently he had been reading the words backward on a glass door. Perhaps Martha had it backward, too.
John R. Steward (Source: Stuart Robertson, Balanced Burdens, London: Hodder and Stoughton, Limited, p. 20.)
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My Back Yard
True happiness is not achieved it is received as in the case of two brothers Rich and Mike, who are complete opposites. Mike is a successful businessman. Rich, on the other hand, takes seasonal jobs at dude ranches, parks and resorts. Mike is always concerned for Rich’s welfare and tries to entice him with the "good life." He sends Rich photos labeled with messages like "My new sound system" or "My new car." But one day the campaign ended when Mike received a poster from his brother showing a breathtaking view of Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park. On the back was a message from Rich: "My back yard."
Unknown
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The Half-Read Page
This is the age
of the half-read page;
The quick hash
and the mad dash.
This is the age
of the bright night
with the nerves tight;
And the plane hop
with a brief stop.
This is the age
of the lamp tan
in a short span.
The brain strain
and the heart pain;
The catnaps till
the spring snaps
and the fun is done.
I know, that sounds kind of cynical. But there's lots of truth in that poem
Arthur E. Dean Windhorn
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The Dangerous Attitude of Narrowness
Some years ago in another church a party was given to recognize a married couple for their outstanding work in the church’s youth program. Let me tell you about this couple. I will call them Betty and Bill. They had very different personalities.
Betty was vivacious, out-going, gregarious, affectionate... a hugger. If you gave her a “bow ribbon,” she would jump up and down and squeal with delight and then run around and hug and kiss everybody in the room.
Bill, on the other hand, was the opposite. He was quiet, reserved, shy, stable, balanced. If you gave him a Mercedes and a trip to Hawaii, all he could do is say a quiet and sincere “Thank you.”
Now, on this particular night Betty and Bill were given a surprise party. The young people jumped out from their hiding places, shouted “Surprise!” and then gave Betty and Bill a present. It was a beautiful plaque.
Do you know what Betty did? She read the plaque out loud. She squealed with delight. She cried. She jumped up and down and then ran around the room hugging and kissing everybody in sight. Meanwhile, Bill waited… and when she was through he said quietly: “I want to thank you also!”
But that is not the end of the story. Betty turned on Bill. She got mad at him… and she made a scene:
“Look at you Bill. You don’t appreciate anything. If you did, you would act like it. You would do like I do!”
But, you see Bill can’t act that way. He just isn’t made that way. He is not wired up like Betty is. He can’t act like her, can’t respond that way. If he did, it would be fake, artificial, embarrassing.
You want to say: “Betty, Betty, leave him alone. Don’t force your way on him. Let him do it his way. Let him be Bill!” Now, I have to tell you hugs and kisses are great, but I also know that Bill’s quiet “thank you” is just as real, just as genuine, just as valid.
In this episode with Mary and Martha, Jesus is saying, beware of the dangerous attitude of narrowness. It can devastate your soul.
James W. Moore, Encounters with Christ