Sunday, July 21, 2013

Sermon for 7/21/13 Luke 10



Busy life, busy people, multi-tasking young and old, shifting attention frenetically
scattered
unfocused?
focused “like a hummingbird on cocaine”
Sometimes we take pride, excessive and sinful pride, in being too busy.
“Martha, Martha...” We say this in our household a lot.


Didn’t have time? Didn’t take time? What kind of a fix are we in?
 neglect family
 neglect home
 neglect community
 neglect friends
 no time to smell the roses
 didn’t notice seasons passing
Wait - isn’t there something more?
 What about our Lord?
     Bible reading - nonexistent, occasional, hasty, matter of form
     Contemplate God’s Word and the world he has created
     Join with others for Bible study, worship, prayer
     Do we really think we can lead others in the community of faith when we are not actively engaged in it ourselves?
 Outside of the weekly divine service, the most important thing our congregation can do is join in the weekly Bible studies where we dig deeply into God’s Word to ask and answer questions about how we live before God in our culture.
 Do we want the church to grow? The most important factor in growth is involvement in weekly Bible study. Churches in which most of the adults attend weekly Bible classes, including Sunday school, are almost always thriving and growing churches. When we take God’s Word seriously it shows.


What does this have to do with Martha?
 There’s always plenty to do. But Jesus says there’s always plenty to BE. As we sit at Jesus’ feet, soaking up His word, learning from him, we take the time to reflect on his goodness, his grace, his love for us, our state without him. We learn to bring that good news to others. We find ourselves telling our neighbor that Jesus sees us in our troubles and has given himself for us. We find that the message of the cross is powerful. We find that our Lord’s care for life, for learning, for families, for the whole world becomes specific to us. We deliver, we show in ourselves, the good news that Jesus loves us and has given himself for us.



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