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 29, 2014

Wednesday - Change It - Reset Time

Reset

We’re going to look at a second story from the Bible this week, this one about Jesus in Luke 9:57-60 57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” 59 He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Just like yesterday’s story, this is a tough one to interpret, since we probably didn’t expect this kind of response from Jesus. It sounds to us like the man’s father just died, and Jesus says he can’t mourn. He comes across as cold and even cruel, but mostly because we lack cultural understanding. There are again two possibilities for why he responds this way: One option: The man’s father is actually dead, sometime in the recent past. He’s been put in a very hot middle eastern tomb. The son wants to wait up to a year, so he can go and place his father’s bones in a bone box, an ossuary, for secondary burial in a family tomb. This would have been a very important duty for a Jewish son, but Jesus says it’s not as important as God’s kingdom. Another option: This is a stall tactic. The man’s father is not dead. The son wants to wait until his father dies and leaves him the inheritance. He only wants to follow Jesus when there will be no financial risk. Following Jesus looks different today – it’s not as simple as joining his entourage on a dusty road. It changes us in many other ways, and we’re going to explore lots of those changes in the next few weeks. Either way, we’ll be tempted to delay. We’ll want to put off financial changes until we retire, service changes until we have more time, and so on. But Jesus’ response to this man should inform us that Jesus needs to be first in our daytimer. Question: What aspect of following Jesus are you tempted to put off? Remember to read the Bible in sync 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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