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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