Choosing
the best part– Sunday January 27th
2013.
38 Now as they were traveling along, He entered a
village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. 39 She
had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His
word. 40 But Martha was distracted with all her preparations;
and she came up to Him and
said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving
alone? Then tell her to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered and
said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many
things; 42 but only
one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be
taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42
Beloved in the Lord,
Life presents us with many choices. Every choice we make comes with its
own consequences and outcomes. Many of the choices we make daily have little or
no lasting consequence, but some have eternal significance.
As we begin this new calendar year in our congregation I would like to
delve a little into today’s Gospel reading, which tells us about a day when
Jesus dropped in on his friends Martha and Mary. We have looked at this event
before but the great thing about God’s Word is that every time we read it with
an open heart we receive some new insight from God.
I have given today’s sermon the title “Choosing the best part”. Many
people go through life and never receive the best part. They miss out because
of the poor choices that they make along the way. These people generally have a
very negative outlook on life and seek to blame someone or something, when in
reality the problem usually lies within themselves. Poor choices lead to a poor
life.
The very first Psalm gives us a very clear comparison between two
possible paths we can take in life. Contrasted are those who walk with God and
those who do not.
The Righteous and the Wicked Contrasted.
1 How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the
wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of
water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so,
But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked will perish.
This is so clearly and beautifully stated. We all have the choice to
make in life as to which path we shall follow. We can walk the way of the
righteous sticking close to God and His Word, or we can walk the worldly carnal
path. Each path has consequences. The righteous path leads to a blessed life
here and in eternity, the worldly path leads to an unfulfilled life here and
eternal misery and condemnation for ever in hell.
It is of vital importance that we understand that God does not force any
one to walk the way of the righteous. God being a righteous God, does however
make clear to us the consequences of the choice that we make. He clearly tells
us what is right and what is wrong. He spells out for us the consequences of
righteous living and evil living.
This has always been the way. Back in the garden of Eden God gave very
clear instructions to Adam and Eve regarding what was allowed and what was
forbidden. He also warned that disobedience would lead to death. Satan
appearing in the form of a serpent deceived Eve. He put a doubt in her mind as
to whether God would really do as He said. He said to Eve: “You surely will not
die.” Eve pondered this thought and lost the right perspective. She did the
unthinkable and took from the fruit of the forbidden tree, ate of it and gave
it to Adam who also ate of it. We know only too well the consequences of their
disobedience. The whole of mankind was plunged into sin and death.
It is so important to maintain a right perspective at all times and to
never doubt God’s Word. It is so important that we obey God at all times, that
we keep our focus fairly and squarely upon Him.
When we divert out attention off God and His Word, we are in big
trouble.
It is important to understand that this diverting of attention is not
always temptation to sin. Martha is a good example of that. Jesus has dropped
in for a visit. Martha being a houseproud person and a good host went into
overdrive immediately. She was concerned about how to cater for Jesus. That in
itself was not a bad thing, in fact a good thing, but the problem was that she
lost her perspective, and in her fluster she even had a go at Jesus: “But
Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not
care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to
help me.”
I can relate to Martha and I am sure that most of you can too. She has
the kettle on, the piragi are in the oven, she hasn’t had a chance to do her
hair or makeup, the house is in a mess. No warning – Jesus just suddenly knocks
on the door. So much to do, only two hands, where do I start? Where is that
sister of mine? Oh, sitting at Jesus feet!! Great! She loses the plot. I can
understand and you can too. We have all been there when things overwhelm and we
lose perspective.
I love Jesus gentle rebuke: “Martha, Martha, you are worried and
bothered about so many things; 42 but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part,
which shall not be taken away from her.”
What a great blessing it would be to each one of us if we got the
meaning of Jesus words. If this truth would be imbedded in our hearts. Only one
thing is necessary. What is that one thing? Jesus gives us a clear answer in
the Sermon on the Mount. “But seek first His kingdom and His
righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew
6:33)
If we accepted this truth as our guiding life principle, how blessed and
free our lives would be. We would live life on a completely different level.
“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things
will be added to you.”
Put God, His Kingdom, His Word as number one in your life, and
everything else will be taken care of. God has promised it! This is what it
means to choose the best part for yourself. Putting God above all else is the
best thing you can do.
When you are faced with a choice God or something else – choose God.
When you have to choose whether to walk God’s path or the world – Choose
God’s path.
This is spelled out for us in Psalm 1 as I already mentioned to you.
The choice is ours and very often we must make the choice multiple times
a day.
Life very often ends up at a fork in the road, and we are presented with
options. We need to ask for God’s guidance and direction every time. That is
why I have always loved the Hymn: “Take Thou my hand and lead, O’er life’s
rough way, With Heavenly manna feed me from day to day. Without Thy grace and
favour I go astray, Take Thou my hand O Saviour, Choose Thou my way.”
Every time we are faced with a choice, we need to ask God first. Ask Him
is this Your will for me?
This pleases God, when we live in such a way. It pleases Him, when we
train ourselves to walk in His guidance, by His Spirit. He desires for us to
live daily with this child like faith and dependence upon Him. When we do we
are confessing our faith and trust in Him. We are confessing that He know what
is best and that we believe that He has our best interests at heart. In essence we pray this in the Lord’s prayer
when we pray for God’s Kingdom to come, for His will to be done, for Him to
supply our daily bread.
God knows better than we do what we need and what is best for us. If we daily trust in Him, then all will be
well. There is a song in Latvian that says that the safest place to be at all
times is in God’s Hands under His care and provision. When we stay close to
Him, then we are secure. When we don’t we are in trouble.
As you know we have a young pup at home called Zac. Being a Westie and
young he is very curious and active. When he obeys me and stays close he is
secure, when he goes on his own way he gets into strife. For example, despite
many warnings, and a pool fence, he broke through and fell into the pool. Sure
I got him out, but his experience was traumatic. Hopefully a lesson learnt.
God has placed boundaries because He loves us. He will save us when we
fall, but we must never ever presume upon His grace.
Our salvation comes at a tremendous cost. It cost Jesus His blood. God
freely and lovingly gave us His Son to save us.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16
Let us thank Him every single day for His love and grace. May we choose
the best part every day.
Someone put is so well: “God’s Word is daily bread and not cake for
special occasions.Amen.
Pastor Colvin S. MacPherson Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Sydney.
All Bible quotations taken from New American Standard Bible.