The One Non-Negotiable

Sermon Transcript

Have you ever had the experience where you’re mid conversation with someone, they’re clearly talking to you, but you realize you don’t have any idea what they’re saying? You heard all the words, the person was speaking your language, but your mind was elsewhere. Or have you ever had some people over for a meal, and the evening goes fine, but then when it’s all over, you realize you didn’t actually know your guests any more deeply, because you spent the evening cleaning the house, preparing the meal, taking care of the dishes, and apologizing that the house isn’t cleaner, the food isn’t better, and the chairs aren’t more comfortable? You had the people over the sake of the people, but you got distracted by the logistics of the evening.

 

As we get back into the Gospel of Luke today, we come to the story of two sisters named Martha and Mary. Martha and Mary were both sincere disciples of Jesus, but in this story, Martha missed the opportunity to listen to the words of Jesus because she was distracted with much serving. Distraction was a struggle for her, and she lived in a world without the television, the internet, or the smart phone. Might distraction also be a struggle for us, then? Might we also be anxious and troubled by many things that seem important in the moment, but really aren’t necessary when we zoom out from them? Don’t let anything distract you from the words of Jesus, because distractions are many, but only one thing is necessary.

 

Distractions are many

 

Our passage today begins with Jesus entering a village. Recall that we’re in the part of Luke’s Gospel in which Jesus is journeying from Galilee, where he’d been preaching the gospel, healing disease, and performing various signs that revealed who he was, to Jerusalem, where he said he must suffer, be rejected, and be killed. That was a multi-day journey, though, and so along the way Jesus would stop in villages seeking food and shelter. Earlier in chapter 10 we saw him send seventy-two of his disciples ahead of him into these villages to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal disease, and he told them they could expect both acceptance and rejection from the people in those towns. They could expect acceptance from some because Jesus said in those towns there were certain “sons of peace” (Luke 10:6), people waiting for the promised savior, who would then accept his disciples into their homes and support them out of their means.

 

So here, Jesus enters this village, and he encounters acceptance from a woman named Martha, who welcomed Jesus into her home. By welcoming her into his home, Martha showed herself to be one of those “children of peace” Jesus said would be in the towns. She also had a sister named Mary, who we read sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. To sit at someone’s feet and listen to their teaching is standard language for a disciple sitting at the feet of a rabbi. Rabbis were teachers of the Jewish law, and rather than holding a weekly lecture for a hundred people, rabbis would typically have a small group of devoted disciples who would follow the rabbi as he taught. When the apostle Paul described his training in Judaism, he said that he was “educated at the feet of Gamaliel” (Acts 22:3), the rabbi under whom he trained.

 

Teachers of the time would typically teach sitting down, so you can almost picture this like story time at the local library. The reader is sitting in a chair, while the children are gathered on the floor to listen to the reading. What does that posture indicate in the kids? It indicates their eagerness to hear the words of the story. I love preaching the word to you all because when I look out at you while preaching I see so many of you looking back at me, nodding your heads, or looking down at your Bibles, or looking down to write notes, all indications that you are listening attentively to the word as it’s preached. We’ve had guest preachers come here and comment on that to me afterwards–”Your people seemed attentive to the word.” This is the posture of a disciple: Not standing up with arms crossed saying, “we’ll see what I think of what you have to say,” but sitting at the feet, eager to listen and learn. On one level; Mary’s posture is not surprising, then. Jesus has been called “teacher” throughout Luke’s Gospel, and Mary is sitting in the typical position of a disciple relative to her teacher.

 

However, in typical rabbinic training, the disciples were always men. So it is significant that Mary is assuming that position relative to Jesus, and he commends her for it, rather than rebuking her. Of course, this also is not a surprise if you’ve been paying attention to Luke’s Gospel thus far, for we already read that even among the group of disciples that traveled with Jesus, there was another Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means (Luke 8:2-3). But I want you to see especially here what this disciple of Jesus, Mary, is doing: She is learning the words of Jesus.

 

Sometimes in churches the assumption can take root that deep Bible study and theology are the sort of thing the men do, but I want you to know sisters that learning the words of Jesus deeply is not just for the men; it’s for you too, and I say that again mostly to encourage you sisters in this church, because I see you getting together to engage in serious Bible study, I saw a group of you this past year read over 500 pages of systematic theology together, and I see in you a zeal for sound doctrine; that’s exactly as it should be.

 

But it’s not automatic, and it’s not what we see in Martha. We read in verse 40 that while Mary sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to his teaching, Martha was distracted with much serving. Martha received Jesus into her home, by all appearances she received Jesus by faith, but what she shows us is how easy it is for even a sincere disciple of Jesus to get distracted from Jesus. She seems to have even been distracted by good things! We read that she was distracted with much serving. Probably the serving there is specifically serving tables, which would mean preparing a meal to serve Jesus. A standard part of hospitality and what Jesus even taught those he sent out before him to expect from a person of peace who welcomed them into their home was that they would feed them.

 

Serving Jesus is a good thing, but did you know that doing good things for Jesus can distract you from listening to Jesus’ words? I know some of you over the years have struggled with this. You can get here early on the Sundays you’re scheduled for set-up, and you can haul those signs out to Broad and Spring Garden, set up the sound system, or play the right chords during the song, but when it comes time to just sit down and listen to the reading and preaching of Jesus’ words, you’re distracted. A Christian could serve in the kids’ ministry on Sunday, share the gospel with unbelievers on Monday, lead a Bible study on Tuesday, serve at the rescue mission on Wednesday, counsel another member on Thursday, host people at their home Friday and Saturday, and never set aside time to sit still and meditate on Jesus’ word. Distractions are so many that even service to Jesus can become a distraction, and do you know what tends to result from that? You tend to forget for whom you’re doing those acts of service, and so they slowly become more duty than delight, until the day comes when you feel like you have to just give them up entirely. The fuel for the Christian life is knowledge of what a wondrous Master we serve, but if we’re too busy serving him to sit at his feet and listen to him, we’ll quickly lose sight of him.

 

Look at what that does to Martha here. Verse 40 goes on to tell us that she went up to Jesus and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” She’s bitter. She feels like she’s the one doing the right thing; after all, you’re supposed to be hospitable, right? So she looks at Jesus letting Mary just sit there at his feet while her hair’s on fire trying to get dinner on the table, and she starts accusing Jesus: “Lord, do you not care?”

 

And “do you not care?” quickly becomes, “You ought to do something different.” That’s where Martha goes next. Look at the end of verse 40: “Tell her then to help me.” Notice the contrast: Mary is sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to his teaching. In this whole story, she doesn’t speak once. Martha, on the other hand, is not only too distracted to listen to Jesus’ teaching; she’s trying to teach Jesus! She begins her sentence by calling him Lord, and she ends it by trying to tell him what to do! Oh let us each of us be quick to listen, and slow to speak (James 1:19). Take care, brothers and sisters, lest there be in any of you a bitter, demanding heart like this toward Jesus. Jesus never told Martha she had to do all that serving. He never told her to get everything together while he gave Mary a free pass. She did all that, and then she blamed Jesus like he was an uncaring, unfair master.

 

If you constantly feel like you’re doing too much, or that you should be doing more than you are, could it be because you feel bound to do things Jesus hasn’t told you you need to do? Here’s a biblical principle summarized in the Westminster Larger Catechism that I would just commend to you: “That what God forbids, is at no time to be done; what he commands, is always our duty; and yet every particular duty is not to be done at all times” (WLC 99). If God forbids you from doing something, like lying or theft or murder or adultery, there’s never a good reason to do it. If God commands you to do something, like feed the poor or share the gospel or show hospitality, those things are your duty, and yet every particular duty is not to be done at all times, because not every particular duty can be done at all times! Martha couldn’t sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to his words while at the same time making the food, setting the table, and cleaning the house. There will always be more good works available to do than you have time to do, and that’s not because you’re a sinner; it’s because you’re a human. As Pastor Zach Eswine has said, you don’t need to repent for not being omnipresent; you need to repent for trying to be. We live in a world that deceives us into thinking we can do everything all the time, and then we make the mistake of thinking Jesus demands that we do everything all the time, but that’s never been true, and no amount of technology will ever make it true. People may put all kinds of unrealistic demands on you, but Jesus is a gracious master.

 

And we see that he’s a gracious master in how he responds to Martha. Mind you that when we come to verse 41 and we see the Lord’s answer, it’s still not entirely clear who’s in the right, and you might not know if you didn’t already know the ending. If Jesus were the kind of guy who could be swayed by arguments, Martha’s got a case to make: Hospitality is commanded in scripture (e.g., Heb 13:2), the food isn’t going to cook itself, and look at what she says about her sister in verse 40: She has left me to serve alone. Martha clearly thinks Mary has done something wrong. But what does the Lord say?

 

“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” In other words, of the two of you, Mary made the right choice. He doesn’t affirm or validate Martha’s distress, but look at how gentle he is toward her: “Martha, Martha.” She’s one of his, and he’s patient with her weakness; do you know he’s patient with yours as well if you are one of his? He’s patient with the weaknesses of his saints, he does recognize them as weaknesses, and here he diagnoses the root of Martha’s: You are anxious and troubled about many things. He sees that this concern to serve him on that day wasn’t just because Martha so loves Jesus that she wanted to make sure she served him with excellence. Rather, it was an overflow of an anxious heart. Remember she wasn’t just distracted with serving; she was distracted with much serving, verse 40 tells us. And she wasn’t just anxious and troubled about serving Jesus; she was anxious and troubled about many things.

 

It’s one thing to be busy; those who love the Lord generally are busy. Scripture describes Jesus’ people as people who are zealous for good works (Titus 2:14). We must work the works of him who is light while it is still day; night cometh, when no man can work (John 9:4). But it is quite another thing, scripture tells us, to rise up early, and go to bed late, eating the bread of anxious toil (Psalm 127:2). We do that, typically, not because we love the Lord, but because we are anxious and troubled about many things that have nothing to do with him. Recall Jesus’ parable of the soils, and the third soil in which the seed was sown among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked the word. When Jesus explained it, he said that soil represented those who received the word, but cares and riches and pleasures of life rose up and choked the word, like thorns, so that its fruit did not mature (Luke 8:14). Martha’s lacking in the fruit of the Spirit here; why? Because the cares of life are rising up and choking the word, so much so that she’s not even taking the time to listen to it. Even the things she’s concerned about providing for Jesus are things he’ll tell us in a couple chapters not to worry about: He says do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on (Luke 12:22). 

 

Of course, these things matter to a point; in that same passage in Luke 12 that Jesus tells us not to worry about food or clothing, he says your Father knows that you need them. But God is never ok with people neglecting their relationship with him in order to attend to their material needs. There’s a whole book of the Bible, Haggai, written to rebuke that approach. It’s only two chapters long; you might read it this afternoon if you want to think more about this. The story just before this one also showed us that things like food and clothing matter to a point: The good samaritan loved his neighbor by binding up his wounds, giving him shelter, and giving him money, and Jesus told us to go and do likewise. But this story comes right after it to guard us from thinking that we can busy ourselves with material needs, even our neighbors’, or that we can busy ourselves with the second great commandment, to love your neighbor as yourself, while neglecting the first: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind (Luke 10:27). 

 

So how do you know when you are too busy? Martin Luther reportedly said if you’re too busy to pray, you’re too busy. More to the point of this passage, if you’re too busy to attend the preaching of the word in your church, if you’re too busy to set aside time to sit still and meditate on scripture, you’re too busy. I get it; I can hear the exceptions now: What about residency, what about when you have a newborn, or what about whatever your situation is? No doubt different seasons may limit the amount of time you have available to listen to the words of Jesus, but no season really eliminates such time, nor should we let exceptional seasons become the norm. I feel busy, but I still seem to find time to play a tennis match, get to the gym, and watch the World Cup. What do you still seem to find time to do? What did you find time to do last night that made it so hard to wake up this morning to meditate on scripture? That’s the stuff you’re anxious and troubled about. Somehow you still find time to do your work, get your kids to six different things each week, and prep your meals for the week. It will take intentionality to not let anything distract you from the words of Jesus, because there are just so many things to distract you. Add family, friends, spouse, or kids, and it only multiplies, because now you can be anxious and troubled not only about all the cares of your life, but about all the cares of their lives too (cf. 1 Cor 7:34).

 

Yet here’s the surprising and liberating truth about all of it: None of it is necessary! Because right after Jesus tells Martha that she is anxious and troubled about many things, he says, “but one thing is necessary.” So let’s talk about that now. Don’t let yourself get distracted from the words of Jesus because distractions are many, but only one thing is necessary.

 

But only one thing is necessary

 

What is the one necessary thing to which Jesus refers in verse 42? Obviously it’s what Mary has chosen; it’s the words of Jesus. Remember the verse Jesus quoted when he was being tempted by Satan? “Man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deut 8:3). Remember what God said from heaven when Jesus’ glory was revealed on the mount of transfiguration in chapter 9? “This is my Son, my Chosen One; serve him!” Nope; that’s not what he said. He said, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him” (Luke 9:35). The first responsibility of a disciple of Jesus is to simply listen to him.

 

In fact, Jesus goes so far as to say it’s the only thing necessary. That’s a stunning statement when you think about it. How can Jesus say only one thing is necessary? I mean, I know the Bible says man doesn’t live on bread alone, but man does need some bread, right? I’ve already mentioned how Jesus says two chapters later that your Father knows you need food and shelter (Luke 12:30). And what about good works? Don’t we also need to do them at some point? Yes; you may recall if you were with us back in Luke 6 that Jesus warned us there of the dangers of hearing his word and not doing what he says (Luke 6:46-49). So it is necessary not only to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to his words, but to then do what he says. So how can he say here that only one thing is necessary?

 

Well, for starters, if you sit at his feet and listen to his words, but then don’t do what he says, you haven’t really received the one thing that is necessary. You’d be like someone sitting down for a meal, who looks at the food, but then walks away without eating it. Of course they won’t get any nourishment from it, but that’s not a deficiency in the food. The one who truly eats the words of Jesus will also do what he says. And furthermore, whoever receives the words of Jesus also receives the one who sent him (cf. Luke 10:16). In other words, if you receive the words of Jesus, you also receive a Father in heaven who promises to supply your need for food and shelter (Luke 12:30-31). So, no surprise, Jesus wasn’t lying when he said that one thing is necessary. If you really listen to Jesus, if you really receive his words with a good and honest heart, you have all you need.

 

So I know when you start thinking about listening to the preaching of the word in a church gathering or devoting time to meditating on the words of Jesus privately, you think about all the things you wouldn’t then get to do. “But then I wouldn’t get as much sleep.” Well ok; maybe not, but only one thing is necessary. Of course, you could also just cut something else out of your day besides sleep so you have time for sleep and biblical meditation. “But then I wouldn’t get to watch the show I like.” Ok; maybe not, but only one thing is necessary. “But then I wouldn’t get to exercise.” Ok; maybe not, but only one thing is necessary. Parents, if you find you don’t have time to open the word with your kids, but you can get them to sports practice, music lessons, and get their homework done, what are you teaching them about what is really necessary? Take it straight from the lips of Jesus: The list of absolute necessities in life is one item long, and it’s his word. There may be more you wish you could provide for your kids, but if you teach your kids the word of Christ, you are giving them the one thing they need. Kids, do you believe the one thing you really need is God’s Word?

 

Brock Garrigan’s one of the assistant ministers at Tenth Presbyterian here in Philly and he preached for us here back in June. One thing he mentioned during his sermon was his concern when people visit Tenth and they’re looking for the beautiful building or the pipe organ or the youth ministry, because Brock knows what Jesus said here: Only one thing is really necessary, and that’s true for a church too. You may notice that when we gather, we spend the bulk of our time listening to the reading and preaching of God’s word. This is why. It’s the one thing that’s necessary, and to take time to simply sit still and listen to it is a great use of our time.

 

Imagine all you wouldn’t know if you didn’t have God’s word. You would know God existed; God has revealed that in the things that have been made (Rom 1:18-20). You would know something of what God required of you; God has revealed that in your conscience, and so most cultures even without the Bible recognize we ought not to murder, lie, or steal (Rom 1:32). But you would know nothing of Jesus. You wouldn’t know that he is an eternal person, the very Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, one in being with the Father. You wouldn’t know that he was born of a virgin and became man. You wouldn’t know that though he was tempted in every way as we are, he remained without sin his entire life, and offered to God the personal, perfect, and perpetual obedience God requires of humanity. You wouldn’t know that he died on the cross, and that when he did, his death wasn’t just the execution of yet another criminal, but an utterly unique, one-of-a-kind death, in which a sinless substitute offered himself to God to suffer the judgment for the sins of others, so that those others could be forgiven. You wouldn’t know that God accepted his sacrifice and proved it by raising him from the dead. You wouldn’t know that he is now ascended into heaven, where he is interceding for his people. You wouldn’t know that the way you personally can be saved by what he did is by repenting and believing in him. You wouldn’t know that even repentance and faith are gifts of God’s Spirit. You wouldn’t know how to give him glory for this salvation, you wouldn’t know how to love him with the new love he’s implanted in you, you wouldn’t know his precious promises for you, and you wouldn’t know what future he has planned for you, among many other things.

 

You do know at least some of those things now, even if you just heard them for the first time, but if you get distracted with much serving, if you let the cares and anxieties of life fill your mind, these words will fade into the background until you forget them entirely. In 1536, William Tyndale was executed in England after spending a year in a freezing dungeon for translating the Bible into English, so convinced was he of the necessity of these words for salvation and for spiritual life. In the century that followed, ministers would remind their congregants of what a privilege it was to have the words of God preserved for us in scripture and translated into their language. May we also recognize just how necessary the words of Jesus are for our happiness now and forever.

 

And if these words are the one thing that is necessary, how much more should we also want to see them translated into more languages, and spread to more people who have not heard them. Think about the roughly thousand language groups in the world that still don’t have the Bible in their language or a Christian to proclaim it. Perhaps the Lord would call some of you to go to such people groups; we would love to support that. More than even clean water and better laws, this one thing is necessary if the nations of the world will be saved. 

 

And these words are not only necessary; they are sufficient. Jesus doesn’t just say they’re necessary; he says they are the one thing that is necessary. There was a long-standing tradition of rabbinical teaching by Jesus’ day; he doesn’t say that’s necessary. In the 2000 years since Jesus many more traditions have developed under Jesus’ name; Jesus doesn’t say they’re necessary. There is nothing you must do or believe to be saved that isn’t written down in scripture. There is nothing you must do or believe to live a life fully pleasing to God that isn’t written down in scripture. The word of God is necessary, and it is the one thing that is necessary.

 

And so it is that of the two sisters in this story, Jesus says it was Mary who chose the good portion. While Martha was preparing portions of food to feed Jesus, Mary was eating the best portion. Think again about the scene: Jesus himself, the incarnate Lord, is in their house, and what’s Martha doing? She’s running around doing other stuff. 

 

Don’t let anything distract you from the words of Jesus because it’s through the words of Jesus that we get Jesus! In parenting I know my relationship with my kids has only deepened as they’ve gained the ability to speak more and more words. Personal relationships are mediated through words. Even though lamentably people sometimes lose their powers of speech or hearing, we are never ok with that. Instead we look for ways to still communicate with words, even if those words have to be signed with our hands, because personal relationships are mediated through words. That’s true of any personal relationship, but it’s especially true of Jesus, whose very office it is to preach and teach, and therefore we have no way of getting to know him without sitting at his feet and listening to his words. Next week, Lord willing, we’ll look at how he teaches us to speak in response.

 

The words of Jesus are all we need because Jesus is all we need, and it’s through listening to his words that we get him. He is the good portion, because to have him is to have all we need. Earlier we already reflected on how through him we are adopted by our heavenly Father, who promises to supply our need for food and clothing. We also reflected on how his word, when we really receive it, also gives us the power to do good works. But we need more than just some good works to inherit eternal life. What about the good works that we have left undone, or the sinful works we have done? How can we even just sit and listen to Jesus, the one thing that is necessary, when there are so many other good works we leave undone in order to do so? Isn’t this another reason why many Christians are so busy? Isn’t it one of the many things they are anxious and troubled about? Deep down, they still think for God to love and accept them, they need to do more. Or they’re subtly looking for someone else to love and accept them–a boss, a parent, a love interest, and so they need to do more for them. But here again, the rule holds good: One thing is necessary. Jesus has offered to God all the righteousness we need to be loved and accepted by him. We can rest from our works and listen to him because he’s already done all the work to accomplish our salvation. If you are here today and you are not a Christian, the one thing you need, the only thing you need, is to receive Christ. In him, you will have all you need. As the great theologian Herman Bavinck said, “Religion is not merely a doing. Christian works, however good and necessary, cannot by themselves satisfy the human heart, or give peace and rest to the conscience…Love cannot supplant faith. Martha will not be able to deprive Mary of the praise of her Lord. The righteous shall live by faith alone.”And so, there is a choice presented to us here. Did you catch that in verse 42? Jesus says Mary has chosen the good portion, while Martha chose to be busy with much serving. Which will you choose?

 

For those who choose Christ as their good portion, he will never be taken away from them. So our passage concludes with Jesus saying to Martha that Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her. In other words, he’s not going to send her away to go busy herself with much serving. Jesus remained with her, and even when he departed from the earth, and ascended into heaven, he sent his Spirit to be with her always, and promises to come again, that we might forever be with him. All the things of this life about which we are anxious and troubled will one day be taken from us–the money, the health, the family, the job; all of it. Even our labors for Christ will one day end, but the one thing from which not even death can part us is Jesus himself. The best thing we could ever have is the one thing we can never lose. So don’t let anything distract you from the words of Jesus.