Making Time for What Matters Most Luke 10:38-42; Genesis 18:1–10a; Colossians 1:21–29
Grace, mercy and peace to you, from God, our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who came to earth and into time, to give us what we need most, His grace and salvation.
We’re going to talk about having time for what matters most, based on our Gospel, Jesus’s words to Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
In this busy world, with us having a multitude of things to do, it’s easy to lose track of what’s truly important in life, what matters most.
Thanks be to God, He gives us His Word to remind us of, and direct us toward, the best and highest things in this world, the things that come from Heaven. They’re the things that matter most, that do the most and the best for us.
In our Introit, we said the words of Psalm 119:105, Your Word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.
The words of God show us light in the darkness; they show us the right and good way to walk and live, and most of all, to hope and believe.
In 2 Timothy chapter 3, Paul says to his friend, 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it…
Who did you first learn the Gospel from?
For many of us it was our parents, and that was supported by the Church, and the Sunday School, and the Christian Day School for some…
… and grandparents and sponsors and relatives, and all those who taught us the Word of God, who showed us the ways and the love of Jesus.
We’re eternally indebted to them, forever grateful, because they gave us that thing most needed, the Word of God in our lives.
Paul continues to his friend, Timothy, 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, (God’s Word) which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
The Word of God is so extremely powerful because through it, the Holy Spirit comes to us and works in us, with, as Paul says in our Epistle, all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
Paul says in Romans 1:16, 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.
What really matters, and matters most, and matters forever, is this truth that comes to us in the Gospel of Christ, accompanied by the Holy Spirit, and so with the power to believe it, and to better obey and practice it, to better and gladly live by it.
In our Old Testament, we hear God’s Word to Abraham, His promise, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.
Sarah let out a cynical chuckle when she heard that, she laughed at the promise because she thought that ship had sailed long ago, that she was decades too old to have a child.
But the Lord said she would, He had given His Word, which never fails, and so miraculously, she had a son.
God watched over her and the baby she was expecting.
He brought her through the great danger and risk of giving birth at her late age; mother and baby were kept safe and well.
What Sarah and Abraham wanted most, God gave them, a son.
And they named him Isaac, meaning laughter, because Sarah had laughed at God’s promise, which came true, and so the name they gave their baby was a reminder that God is never to be doubted or underestimated.
God gave them what they wanted most, but also what they needed most, because descended from Isaac, millennia later, would be their and our Messiah.
Sometimes what we want most isn’t the thing we need most. Jesus teaches us, and the Holy Spirit helps us, to want most what we need most: God and His Word in our lives.
God’s Word shows us what matters most, and knowing that, we’re better equipped to put all the necessities and priorities of life in their proper order.
A life with disordered priorities is a life poorly lived, with lots of wasted time and energy.
A life ordered after the Gospel, and guided by God’s Word, is life much better lived and made the most of, as Jesus teaches us in today’s Gospel.
Jesus and His disciples were at the home of Mary and Martha.
Martha was hard at work taking care of everyone, trying to be a good hostess. Mary was lounging at the feet of Jesus; but more than lounging, she was learning.
Hospitality was highly valued in ancient culture, and being a poor host was considered just about the rudest thing you could do or be.
By that thinking, Mary was being extremely rude and negligent as she relaxed at the feet of Jesus.
Martha was running herself ragged, trying to make up for Mary’s perceived laziness.
Finally she had had enough; she blew up at Mary in a sort of passive-aggressive way.
Instead of just confronting Mary, Martha tried to get Jesus on her side, to use his authority and influence against her sister.
It wasn’t right of Martha to do that to Jesus. God doesn’t exist, nor does His Word exist, to fortify us and take sides with us against others, so that we can get our way in things.
God’s Word corrects us when we err, but for our spiritual good, not so that we can be powerful over others, or vindicated.
So it was wrong for Martha to tell Jesus to intervene and get involved, but she was also mistaken in that Mary had chosen the more important thing to do, to sit at the feet of Jesus, and learn, and believe what she was hearing, and grow in spirit and mind.
And so Jesus said to her: Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
In the TV series “The Chosen”, it does a really good job of portraying this story.
After Martha explodes and tells Jesus make Mary help her, He tells Martha to just relax, and invites her to sit down by him.
And He assures Martha that serving others like she’s doing, is a good thing. But more important than feeding the body, is feeding the soul.
Your sister is doing the most important thing, so rather than her joining you in serving, why don’t you join her in listening, and feeding your soul, and enriching your mind, and then later on we’ll worry about feeding our bodies.
There are many things that matter in taking care of ourselves in this life, and taking care of others, and we need to do those things.
We need food to eat, and a place to live, a way to get around, and much more, but these things are all temporary.
On the other hand, what’s done for the soul is eternal, and most important, and most lasting, and most impacting.
May we always set the time aside in our daily lives, to sit at the feet of Jesus, to focus on Him and His Word for us…
… to come to His table, and receive His body and blood, for the health of our soul…
…to come to His house, to confess our sins and hear His words of Absolution for us… and to pray, worship and give God thanks and praise…
… and to enrich our minds and strengthen our hearts by God’s Word, and then to go and serve in Jesus’ name.
May what we want most, be what we need most, God, His Word, His Church, His grace, His love and salvation in our lives, and in the lives of all.
And finally, having been given what matters most, we have God’s peace, which passes understanding, and guards our hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus, at whose feet we sit, listen, learn and rejoice. Amen.