Sermon: Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, 2010
July 18, 2010
Text: Luke 10:38-42
The title for today’s message is: “Don’t Just Do Something! Sit There!”
I was standing in the Detroit airport a couple of years ago when a man came up to me and asked me if I had the time. I
read my watch and said, “It’s 3:42.” And the other pastor who was my traveling companion, chuckled and remarked
that it used to be that when someone asked you the time, a person would say, “Oh, it’s a quarter till blank or a half past
such and so.” But now, we say, “It is 3:42” or “8:51.” With the advent of the digital watch, our measurement of time has
become so precise. We ration out our minutes one by one.
In Africa, I heard a saying. They say that Africans have time, but they have no watches, while Americans have watches,
but have no time.
Do you ever feel that way, like you have no time? Or like you’re short on time? Or there’s never enough time? Of
course, that’s not really true, is it? You have exactly the same amount of time today as you had yesterday. You have
exactly the same amount of time as I do or anyone else. In fact, you have all the time there is. No one could possibly
have more time than you have. My point is that the problem really is not that there’s not enough time in the day. The
problem is what we choose to do with the time we have.
When most people complain that they never have enough time, the real problem is that they are probably trying to do too
many things with their time. Then we get stretched and pulled in every direction so that we feel like we are slaves to our
day-planners and refrigerator calendars. For most of us, most of the time, if the clock is your taskmaster, it’s only because
you allow it to be. And I’m as guilty as the next guy.
In the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, manufacturers used to boast that with the new household appliances they were coming up
with, the modern family was going to have tons of extra free time. With the invention of washing machines and vacuum
sweepers and electric can openers, the claim was made that you were going to save all kinds of time that you used to
spend scrubbing clothes by hand and cleaning floors and opening cans. And certainly modern electric appliances have
made housework comparatively easier and less time-consuming, but then for most families something else expanded to
fill the gaps.
It’s like those goldfish that grow to fit the size of their environment. When they’re in a small tank, they remain small.
But put them in a large pond and they grow much larger. The odds and ends which place demands upon your time will
grow and expand to fit the amount of time available, if you let them.
Most American people today are very busy. Or at least they feel very busy. And this busy-ness can have a serious
downside because when you feel crunched for time, which are you more likely to short-change, your evening prayers or
your evening entertainment, time to read the Bible or time to read the paper? Why is that when we are under pressure, we
neglect the very things which could help us the most?
I read an article once that said that most American adults and teenagers are sleep-deprived. The reason being that when
you have a lot going on, you figure sleep is the one area you can cheat. People look at their faith that way too. Or they
figure a little bit of God will go a long way. But I can speak to you from my own personal experience that when I am
feeling like I’m running on empty, it’s usually because of one of two things: I’m either not getting enough sleep or I’m not
really spending enough time in daily prayer and devotion, usually both.
It can be very hard for some people to actually sit still. There is a pressure on us to always produce something, make
things and rack up accomplishments.
Of course, I’m not opposed to working hard and being productive. Laziness is equally damaging. Sloth is one of the
seven deadly sins. The saying goes that idle hands are the tools of the devil. That’s all true. But busy hands can also
be tools of the devil when they keep us from the Word of God, when we find ourselves too busy or too distracted or too
preoccupied to spend time listening to our Creator.
Mary and Martha were sisters who lived in Bethany with their brother Lazarus. When the Lord was passing through
town, He stopped over to their house for a visit.
One of women, Martha, figures that she needed to prepare a nice dinner and clean the house and do things up right. So
she shampoos the carpet, washes the windows, polishes the silverware, lights the candles, and spends the rest of the
afternoon cooking and baking in the kitchen. Maybe Martha’s last name was Stewart.
And it’s hard to really blame her because Middle Eastern culture is well known for its emphasis upon hospitality. The
social customs and norms required her to offer Him something to eat, at the very minimum. It’s like visiting my great
aunt Mildred in Concordia, Missouri. You could come over straight from having a 9-course dinner and she would insist
on making you a sandwich with a glass of milk. The virtue of hospitality was very important to the people at the time of Christ. So it would be easy to sort of excuse Martha for wanting to serve Jesus in this manner, but look at what happens to her.
The Scripture says that Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. And the Greek word that is
used there for “distracted” means: “to be pulled apart in different directions.” Does that sound at all familiar? To be
pulled apart in different directions.
And while Martha is fussing around the house, her sister, Mary, is doing nothing – well, not exactly nothing. She is
sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to Him talk.
In her busy-ness, Martha was distracted and worried and upset about many things. And the stuff she was doing was good
stuff. She wasn’t doing anything particularly wrong or sinful here. In fact, she thought she was doing what would please
Jesus. Unfortunately, she was so busy and distracted doing this good stuff that she was not able to enjoy being in the
presence of Jesus Christ. You see, the fact of the matter is that sometimes doing the good stuff robs us of the best stuff.
In her busy-ness, Martha completely lost sight of why she was working so hard. Her busy-ness robbed her of the joy of
Jesus' company. Martha made the mistake of thinking she was the host and Jesus the guest. But our Lord did not come
into this world to be waited on by us. He came as our servant, to give his life for us, to ransom us from death.
There’s a popular book called The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. I use it when I do pre-marital counseling.
It’s a terrific little book and every married person should read it. He’s written several follow up books like The Five
Love Languages of Teenagers and so forth. The premise of the original book is that people express their love differently.
Chapman identifies five basic ways that people express their love. Everyone has one primary love language and if
your language is different from your spouses, the two of you might be talking past each other, or expressing your love,
essentially, in a foreign language. The five love languages are: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Giving Gifts, Acts
of Service and Physical Touch. I’m not going to go into all of this in today’s sermon, but if you want to learn more, go to
www.5lovelanguages.com.
What is Martha’s primary love language? Acts of Service. What about Mary? Quality Time. At the risk of sounding a
little bit corny, what would you say is the primary love language of Jesus?
God gives us His everything. His greatest act of service was in offering His own blood in payment for the sins of the
world.
Martha’s work wasn’t wrong. Her timing was off. When Jesus is in your dining room is not the time to be in the kitchen.
When the guest of honor is present, you need to be there, whether the hors d’oeuvres are ready or not. Martin Luther once
wrote: “A person becomes a Christian not by working, but by listening… He must exert himself first by listening to the
gospel,” (Martin Luther, Lectures on Galatians 3.2).
Faith comes through the ear. By hearing the good news…. Over and over again and applied to our lives in meaningful
ways. The most important activity as a disciple of Jesus is really a non-activity - to hear the Word of God, to receive
absolution the forgiveness of our sins, and to eat and drink your Savior's Body and Blood. There is nothing more
important, more central, for your life than that. So, don't just do something; sit there.
In the name of Jesus, Amen.