Pastor Michael Harman,
St. Peter LCMS - Newell, IA
vacancies at ...
Immanuel, Pomeroy
First Evangelical, Fonda
Luke 10:38-42
Take these as "sermon starters"...
Originally first preached on July 29, 2007
A bit of a story: a chief executive officer (C.E.O.) was interrupted in a
multimillion dollar deal by a phone call from his wife. She had been in an
accident.
"Don't admit anything! Get the insurance card from the other driver!
I'll send a tow-truck!" He barked orders to her for nearly a minute; and said
goodbye.
She phoned back a few seconds later. "You forgot something," she said.
The C.E.O. replied that he couldn't think of anything. "You forgot to ask
which hospital I would be in for the broken arm and three ribs, and a punctured
lung." Then she hung up on him.
You and I often get hung up on a lot of things that we feel are important
at that moment. But they are just that: momentary feelings. Christ teaches
us about priorities in His Kingdom.
To the casual reader of history: Martha's role was what was expected, and
Mary's role was being neglected. And this Bible record often gets told with
the sisters front-and-center as the entire focus. That degenerates this
historical event into a first-century culture lesson or moral-tale.
But the Holy Spirit did not inspire writers for our own private
interpretation (2 Peter 1:20-21). God's Word was written so we would believe
in Jesus and have life in Him (John 20:31). Though the words were spoken in
the 1st century: what is Christ teaching His 21st century disciples?
Another story. Rev. Tim Heiney (FW83) had been a missionary in Guinea. He
was back in the States for a furlough some time ago, and I remember how he
commented on how busy / rushed folks are. He said we even rush vacations, and
even boast of how busy we are. Busy at what?
It is NOT a sin to be very active and accomplish great tasks, make lots of
friends, and enjoy life. But like the Gospel reading for two Sundays from now,
all the busy-ness in the world does not really matter if we have forgotten who
(and Whose) we are, and where we are going.
This illustration omitted for brevity in 2007.
In the senior high school class I was in, our football team lost only two
games in four years. But, not actually two "lost". I'll explain. The 2nd
game our school lost was the Missouri 3A State Final in 73 - a heart-breaker.
(But - I didn't play football my senior year; I ran cross country, and that's
another story). The 1st game we lost was the very first game we played as
freshmen; and I was just a backup guard who never even got in the game.
Our opponent wanted to defeat us and pulled out all the stops. As the
final gun sounded, the scoreboard proclaimed their victory by a very wide and
humiliating margin. It was a long, quiet bus ride home and we all felt
terrible. Our coach said nothing that day. We were all pretty miserable. The
locker room was silent. We each went home; I didn't say much there, either.
Classes next day were quiet, too. At the next day's practice, he told us we had
played our best; and if that was our best we would feel humiliated often. Not
exactly great coaching, but we became very motivated in practices. Many times
in life what a person does AFTER the loss is more important than the loss
itself. We never threw a game, but we did not run up the score either - I just
got more paying time when the margin got higher. Ahem.
But if you look in the records of the game you will see we won, 6 - 0!
When I saw that in the yearbook, I asked the coach how that could be. It turns
out the other team had at least one member (and he wouldn't say anything more)
who was ineligible to play. It meant they forfeited the game. Someone or
someones wanted to win so badly, they did win badly. I don't know who was
responsible for that player (and I don't blame the school, the coach, or the
team as a whole), but at least one person forgot what school sports are
supposed to be about. It's about teamwork, never humiliating an opponent,
obeying ALL the rules, and genuine honor. You and I can get so busy thinking
we are winning at life, we can forget about genuine Life and the true Victory -
eternal life in Christ which begins here and goes on forever.
I've seen worship get that way. People can get so busy, so focused on
emotions or ceremony that we forget who we are and why Jesus Christ is here.
They act as if using popular music, or fancy incense, or concentrating on
emotions, or being loud, or something else in worship makes our service to God
important. We can, too. Like Martha, we act as if it is OUR service to God
that really matters most, and all those other Marys better get to work, too!
When we try to serve Jesus without first realizing He must first serve us;
we are like Martha, forgetting the one thing needful. When we try to serve
Christ "our" way but we are not "seeking first the Kingdom of God and His
righteousness" (Matthew 6:33) of Christ crucified; we are like Martha. Even
your best attempts to do good will make you "worried and upset about many
things" as Jesus told her. If you are in worship today "out of duty to God" or
to Grandma, go home. If you are here to get a good feeling, go home. If you
are here for the sake of someone else, go home. Duty does not save. Feelings
do not save. Relationships do not save. ([And for the person who asked me
about that after church, "Jesus in my heart" doesn't save either.])
As from the Gospel two weeks ago, even when we ARE doing good like the 72
disciples who publicly told the Gospel and did miracles: if we boast about
that rather than boasting about what Christ did on the cross for us to write
our names in the Book of Life, and what He continues to do for us, we are not
focusing on the one thing needful.
Worship is not about what we do for God or how we feel. It is about what
God did and does for us. For creating our own distractions, focusing on our
own service, and missing the one thing needful, we do deserve God's damnation.
Forgive us, oh Lord! (+)
One of the marvelous things about the hymnal is the recovery of the title
of the ceremony of Holy Communion: the Divine Service. It declares to us the
one thing needful, the top priority, why you and I are here. The main point of
worship is God's service to us.
Going to church does not do God a favor. Worship is about what GOD has
done for us in Christ Jesus and the result or outcome of His work. You have
absolute forgiveness for all your sins. You have the certainty of heaven as a
child of God by grace thru faith. Worship is about what God has done and
continues to do for us. That is genuine Christianity. We want to gather in
God's House not out of duty, but out of a desire to be with Him always and hear
His Word. Yes, you SHOULD feel good as you leave God's house: God lifts our
burdens of sin and gives joy in His salvation. Worship is about God's service
to us as we hear His promises again and again in Bible verses which make up our
form of worship. Worship is in God's Promises in hymns which point us to His
work first of all for us and secondly in us. Worship is about the promises of
hope, strength, and peace in the decorations we see in church and the clothing
you and I wear, and in all other elements of every Sunday morning or whenever
we gather as God's church in His House..
Certainly, we respond to His calling us His own and sustaining us each day
as we give our offerings, serve on projects or committees, and work to build up
the body of Christ here at Saint Peter of Newell. But only after we have sat
at Christ's feet and listened. Only after He has washed away our sins in Holy
Absolution. Only after He puts His holy, precious Body and Blood into our
hands - for us and for our salvation.
Martha wanted to serve Jesus so badly that she wound up serving Him badly.
Martha was focused on her own service and she was distracted from the one
thing needful: the gift of life in our Savior Jesus Christ.
Any time anything tries to separate us from listening to Christ and His
Word (be it time, money, or even doing good) may the Holy Spirit come to us
with the Law, showing us our sin of distraction. May we then be turned to
choose to sit at Christ's feet and listen (Portals of Prayer, Monthly Bible
Study of Matthew, Lutheran Hour, or Sunday morning Divine Service) to the
Gospel. And like Mary, live in the joy of Christ's salvation. Amen.
