In the story we’ll read in the Bible today, Jesus is visiting some friends, two sisters in fact, and challenges one sister on her use of time.

Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “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.”  (Luke 10:38-42 ESV)

This can be a frustrating story.  We can relate to Martha!  Think back to Christmas dinner, did you have a lot to get ready, and did some family member frustrate you by doing nothing?  That sounds like what happens here.

Jesus might have gone a different direction here, right?  He might have told Mary to be more sensitive to Martha’s needs, and go help.  Or, he might have gone to help her himself.  Both would be consistent with Jesus’ teaching and character.

But what he says is “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary.”

It comes down to the goal, the plan.  One thing is necessary, and it’s not what Martha is doing.  Two possibilities:

One option: Martha is concerned with gender roles.  In their culture, Mary should be in the kitchen serving, not learning like a rabbinical student. She’s assumed the posture of a learner, sitting at Jesus’ feet, which was an exclusively male pursuit.

Another option: Martha really is just concerned with a meal to honour the visiting rabbi, but Jesus says at this particular moment, there is a more important goal that should consume her time.

Either way, seems she’s missed the goal.  Jesus is here.  He’s establishing his kingdom, starting with teaching a few individuals, his disciples.  Martha and Mary are invited to be a part of that select group of learners while he’s in their own home.  Mary is sacrificing her place in society, and her time, to sit at his feet, learn and grow as his follower.  Martha is letting those same things get in the way.

The creator of time itself is sitting in Martha’s living room, and she doesn’t give him any.

He is the only one who can create time.  I act that way sometimes.  I leave no travel time between appointments, as if I’ll conjure time out of nowhere.

But, we only have so many hours in the day – time is a finite resource.  We have to choose how to spend them.  Sometimes it’s on life’s mundane tasks, preparing another meal or cleaning up, and sometimes it’s on great visionary stuff like sitting at Jesus’ feet.

One Christian, Martin Luther, said years ago: “Oh, faith is a living, busy, active, mighty thing, so that it is impossible for it not to be constantly doing what is good.“

The question is – what is good?

Question: What makes for a “good” use of time?

Read the Bible in Sync Today

Ryan Sim - January 21, 2014

Tuesday - Study It - Reset: Goals

Our series is on how Jesus resets our goals. We’re basing this on something Jesus taught in his sermon on the mount. “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:25-33 ESV) Jesus was saying that we can get so busy and consumed by the day to day concerns of life, we lose track of the point. What was the point? We were created for relationship with God, and one another. All humans gave that up by focusing on ourselves instead, and there is evidence in the world’s brokenness. We can see it in broken relationships with ourselves, one another, our natural world, and with God himself. But God offers his love to us all the same. He invites us to live in his kingdom – to be in a relationship with him as our Lord – thanks to what Jesus did on the cross. Last week, we learned how Jesus and his death on the cross give us the opportunity to reset life. His death and resurrection reset the world, since death was the most visible consequence of our sin and rebellion against God. He made it possible for us to live in Kingdom of God now, and for eternity. But we have lots to do. Jesus isn’t saying we should quit our jobs, run around naked and hungry. He’s not saying food, shelter, clothes are a bad thing. They are all part of his creation, like us, and he has plans for it all. He is just saying that we shouldn’t worry about such things. We shouldn’t be consumed by them. We shouldn’t let them distract us from our life’s true purpose of living in relationship with God, and one another. We shouldn’t let worrying about little goals get in the way of life’s big goal. Question: When does careful planning turn into worry and get in the way of life goals? Reminder: We are reading the Bible in sync as one community - so check out today's reading here. Reminder: The best way to grow spiritually this year is to join our Christianity 101 in the Cafe Course in Pickering starting tomorrow night, January 22nd. Register for you and a friend today!

From Series: "Reset"

When our computers get bogged down and unmanageable, we know to hit a reset button to simply start over. Wouldn't a reset button be great in life? We know it would be complicated, with all our responsibilities and routines to consider, but imagine the freedom and refreshment of a new start in life! What would you do differently? What would you pay more attention to, and what would you ignore? How would you avoid getting bogged down and broken again? The great news is, in coming to earth as Jesus Christ, God has begun to "reset" our universe, our world, and even us. We're invited to start over with him, in what he calls his kingdom. We're invited to start a new life with a clean slate. What gets wiped clean, and lived differently, when God resets our lives? We'll explore how God resets these key areas of our lives: Reset: Goals Reset: Time Reset: Money Reset: Work Reset: Body & Food Reset: Sex & Marriage Reset: Family Reset: Compassion Reset: Nature Reset: Society Reset: Death Join us for the next several weeks, and invite God to reset your life.

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