Sermon Text: Luke 10:38-42
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“Let the words of my mouth and the
meditation of (our) heart(s) be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, (our) rock
and (our) redeemer” (Psalm 19:14).
In the name of T Jesus.
Too much
of a good thing, can be a bad thing. You
want to be a good husband and father, so you work to provide for your wife and
your kids. Out of love for your wife and
children you work hard, and you are dedicated, and your boss is pleased, and
you are being considered for that promotion, and you will likely be able to
provide even more to your wife and children.
And so you work, and you work, and you work, until the good thing called
work, has started to become a bad thing, and has begun to keep you from the one
thing that you’ve forgotten was the necessary thing. The ushers and greeters welcome your family,
and are glad to see them coming for the Divine Service, but it’s been a while
since they’ve seen you. You’ve been
working. Too much of a good thing, can
be a bad thing.
Of course
Martha wasn’t a father, but she was working hard to impress her Lord. Like Mary, and her brother Lazarus, who
didn’t make it in to this story, Martha had a deep friendship with Jesus, and
loved him very much. Like many women,
Martha knew that the keeping of her house, and the giving of a warm welcome was
a way that she could show Jesus how much she thought of him. If it was good to give a hearty welcome to
the seventy-two disciples Jesus had sent out to preach in his name, how much
more important would it be to warmly welcome the Lord Jesus Himself, and to
give him a feast that would show him how much you think of him.
Like a father whose absence from
the family when they attend the Divine Service is the result of a desire to do
good by his wife and children, Martha’s absence from the presence of the Christ
was not the result of her despising God’s Word, or refusing to believe, or
desiring to be elsewhere. Martha loved
the Lord Jesus. She was working so hard
in order to show him that love. Like a
father who is consumed by his work and doesn’t realize that his noble pursuits
are the very thing that is keeping him from joining his family on the Lord’s
Day to come to the Lord’s House, and to be fed with the Lord’s Word—which are
the only words that have the power to bring life—Martha’s absence from the
presence of the Christ was caused by too much of a good thing, becoming a bad
thing.
All week, you work, and you work,
and your work. You work to be a good
husband or wife. You work to be good
parents, or an obedient child. You work
to be successful in your job, or to get good grades. You work to keep up your home. You work to improve in your sport, or on your
instrument. You work to make a
difference in the community. You work at
volunteering and serving in the congregation.
You work, and you work, and you work.
And much of this work is done in love and service to your neighbor. And all of this work is good, right, and
salutary. But it’s while you’re working
that you anxious and troubled about many things because of your work.
Despite your best efforts, your
haven’t loved your spouse as well as you want.
Though you love your children dearly, you know how easily you can think
of them as a burden. And while you
children honestly do try to honor your parents, it can be difficult to show
them respect when you can’t seem to understand why they have the rules they
do. And then you go to work, or you go
to school, and the demands on your time and your energy are relentless. And your congregation keeps asking you to
become more involved in their work. And,
like Martha, you begin to believe that the solution to your anxiety, and the
answer to your many troubles is to rededicate yourself so that this will be the
week you start to do the things you want, until finally, the anxiety, and
pressure of trying to impress even God Himself by how hard you work has worn
you down, and beaten you down, and left you fatigued, and angry, and wondering
when it will ever end.
If I had a nickel for every time
I’ve seen this happen, I’d be rich—and I’ve only been a pastor for six
years. We work, and we work, and we
work. And we do it with good
intentions—with our hearts in the right place, so they say. But what happens, time and time again, is
that our good work begins to keep us from the one thing which Jesus says is
actually needful. Whether it be as a
father, working hard to provide for your family, or as a wife and mother who
compares herself to every blogging woman who appears to be able to do
everything, or a college student who will not take a break from his studies, or
a young athlete or musician whose practicing, and games, and concerts require
him to be absent from the Lord’s house on the Lord’s Day; or even if it is the
greeters, ushers, Acolytes, Altar Guild, the musicians, or any other form of
service that is good, right, and salutary on its own: when it begins to keep
you from the one thing that Jesus says is needful, then too much of a good
thing, has become a bad thing, and we need to hear the voice of Jesus.
Martha, Martha, he says. And
you can almost hear the tender affection he speaks with. He’s not scolding her. He has pity on her. For she thinks that the cleanliness of her
home, or the quality of the food, or even the amount of work she has done in
order to give him a proper welcome could somehow make Him love her more.
“Martha, Martha, he says to her.
You are anxious and troubled
about many things. You’re worried about pleasing me, and impressing me, and
you think that if you can just do more work, I will see how much you love
me. But
one thing is necessary, Martha. There
is one thing that is necessary. There is
one thing that will calm your anxiety.
There is one thing that will give you peace. There is one thing that will feed you with
everlasting food. There is one thing
that will lead you to paths of righteousness.
There is one thing that will assure you, that nothing can separate you
from the love of God. There is one thing
that is necessary, Martha, and it’s not your work. It’s my Word.”
Luther said, “Any observance or
work that is practiced without God’s Word is unholy before God.” He added, “This is true no matter how
brilliantly a work may shine….For other works and occupations are not properly
called holy exercises, unless the person is holy first. …This is done only
through God’s Word. For this reason,
particular places, times, persons, and the entire outward order of worship have
been created and appointed” (LC, Part 1, 93-94). Jesus says it like this, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest.”
When Jesus says, “Martha, Martha,”
he could be speaking your name or mine.
And he speaks it out of love for you, who have been laboring in your
work, and are heavy laden by your anxieties and troubles. He knows the pressure that you feel at your
job. He knows that you’re trying to be
the best you can be. He knows that you
just want to work hard, and please him. But
he knows how easily your work can keep you from the one thing that you do need. And he knows that too much work can keep you
from Him, and that, you see, is a very bad thing. For if your work is keeping you from coming
to hear the Word of Jesus, then it will be your work that will work you to death.
It is good to work. And it is good to give. But when Jesus desires to give, and when
Jesus is there to give, it is always better to receive. The Sabbath was made for man, not the other
way around. The Day of the Lord is a
gift given by the Lord for us to set aside our work, so that Jesus might get to
work and we would be fed, and nourished, and forgiven, and encouraged, and
strengthened, by the Word of Jesus given to us on the Lord’s Day, in the Lord’s
House, through the Lord’s Word.
It is good to work, but the highest
work you do, is the work you do in faith to receive the gifts that Jesus freely
gives you. This is what Martha needed to
be reminded of, and in a world where you are rewarded in every aspect of your
life because of the work you do, sometimes you need to be reminded, that in the
Kingdom of God, you will be rewarded, not for what you do, but because of what
you receive.
You see, the highest form of
worship is to receive what it is that Jesus comes to give. From the cross down to you. And that’s why Jesus tells Martha, that Mary
has chosen the good portion. Both of
them love Jesus. Both of them want to
welcome Jesus. But only Mary was willing
to set aside her work, to sit at His feet, and receive whatever it was that
Jesus came to give. By doing that—by
sitting and receiving Jesus’ Word—Mary gave Jesus the greatest welcome
possible.
Brothers and sisters in Christ,
the Lord has called you to serve your neighbors in a many and various ways
through the holy vocations He has given you.
And the work you do in the context of these vocations is good, right,
and salutary. It is pleasing in His
sight when you strive to love your spouse, and to serve your children, and be
obedient to your parents, and to work hard at your job, and to help out in the
work of the church. But too much of a
good thing, can be a bad thing. And when
any of your work, begins to keep you from coming, and hearing the preaching of
Jesus, then your work must be set aside, so that you might join the faithful,
who will be gathered on the Lord’s Day, in the Lord’s House, to hear the Lord’s
Word. For in that Word, Jesus will be
giving you rest. And you who are weary
and heavy laden, will be blessed to receive it, so that when you return to your
work, you might actually have something to give. In the name of T
Jesus. Amen.
