Martha, Mary and the Main Ministry

If you have your Bible, turn with me to Luke chapter 10. Luke chapter 10. Today we're going to look at a story that's recorded nowhere else in scripture but in Luke's gospel.

A lot like the parable of the Good Samaritan, not recorded anywhere else but in Luke's gospel, so is the story we're going to read today. And this story is a unique story because it talks to us about priorities. It talks to us about that one thing that is preeminent or should be preeminent in your life and in mine. It talks to us about the important thing. It talks to us about the main thing. When you speak about something that's preeminent, you speak about that which is above everything else and anything else.

Or it's above everyone else and anyone else. It is that which is preeminent. And so when you talk about priorities, you are asking yourself, what is life's ultimate priority? What is the main thing? When in my life I understand what the most important thing is, what the priority is, then everything else in life will fall into place. But if I misunderstand what that priority is, I will limp through life. I will struggle through life not understanding what God is doing and how God is working. So the Lord reduces everything down to just one thing.

That's good because if He said, okay, there are 101 things you need to do that are absolutes, we would get lost in all of those absolutes. But there's just one. And the Lord is so good to us to say look, there's just one thing that's needful. There's just one thing that's necessary. And if you grasp the one thing, if you understand the one thing, then everything else will fall into place. But if you miss the one thing, it will be difficult for you in life. You'll have a hard time. And so Christ explains to us what that one thing truly is.

Let me read it to you. Verse 38, Luke chapter 10. Now as they were traveling along, he entered a certain village and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. And she had a sister called Mary who moreover was listening to the Lord's word seated at his feet. 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. But the Lord answered and said to her, Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things.

But only a few things are necessary, really only one. For Mary has chosen the good part which shall not be taken away from her. Now the question comes, why is it that Luke drops this story here? Is it chronological? We don't know that. We know that Luke is the only one who records the story. What we do know is that there's just about six months till the death of Jesus Christ our Lord. We know that from chapter 10 verse number 38 all the way to chapter 19 is just about a six month period. And when you come to chapter 19 you come through that last week of our Lord's life and then of course his death and resurrection.

And we know that during this time miracles tend to take a back seat to his teaching, to his preaching. It's not that he doesn't do miracles, he will do them. But just not the number that he has done up to this point in the gospel. Because the priority will be on what the Lord has to say. And he will travel as you will notice from certain village to certain town to a certain place.

And there are no names given until you come to chapter 19 and you end up in Jericho. So we don't know where the villages are, what cities he's speaking in until we get to chapter 19 and he tells us where he is. Now we can deduce where this city is because it's the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. And we know that that home is located in Bethany, two miles east of Jerusalem on the backside of the Mount of Olives. We know where this home is, it doesn't tell us it's in Bethany but we know because we know what John 11 says.

It just says in this text, now as they were traveling along he entered a certain village. In verse 1 of chapter 11 it says, and it came about that while he was praying in a certain place. So Luke doesn't give us any particulars about the cities and the places because that's not the emphasis. The emphasis is on what Jesus says in those places, what Jesus says in those cities and villages.

Now we know what it means to be a disciple, a Christian, a follower of Christ. We know that because we have studied Luke's Gospel. We know that Jesus said that if any man come after me he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me. If you want to save your life you're going to lose it. But if you're willing to lose your life today you'll save it for eternity. And so we know what it means to be a follower of Christ. Jesus has made that very clear as he has preached the message of salvation from village to city to certain places, on the sea, off the sea, wherever he was.

But this portion of Scripture tells us what a disciple thinks, or how a disciple thinks. What's happening on the inside of a disciple. And here we begin to understand as we look at the life of Mary, that she sits at his feet and begins to listen to all that he has to say.

Now it's important because this section sets the tone from what was just said in the parable about the Good Samaritan and what will take place in the succeeding verses and chapters that follow. Because Jesus is going to be in teaching mode. Remember now, the miracles take a back seat. Teaching takes preeminence. And as Jesus begins to teach he needs people who are willing to listen.

And so the gesture of Mary is very symbolic to the posture we are to take when it comes to understanding what Jesus is going to say from here on out. Because we will go right to chapter 11, he's going to teach us about how to pray. That's important because as you will see in our study about prayer, very few people know how to pray. Oh, we say prayer, but we don't know how to pray. And we will see that in Luke chapter 11 verses 1 and following as the disciples come to him and say, Lord, teach us how to pray.

Isn't it unique that the disciples never asked Jesus to teach them how to do a miracle? How did you do that water walking thing? Teach us how to walk on the water. Teach us how to turn the stone into bread. Teach us how to, how to, how to do what it is you do, Lord, because we can't do that. Never ask him that. But they did say, Lord, teach us how to pray because they always saw him praying. Wouldn't it be good if your children asked you, teach me how to pray, because they always saw you praying.

But because they very rarely see us praying or studying, they don't ask those questions. But the disciples were enamored with the fact that Jesus always prayed. So they said, Lord, teach us how to pray. So he teaches them how to pray. And as we go through Luke 10 and following, we will see what Christ has to say about Satan, demons, divine judgment, hypocrisy, persecution, suffering, the Holy Spirit, greed, how to give, unity, stewardship, contentment, divine justice, humility, pride, the kingdom of God, and how to enter the kingdom of God, divorce, hell, forgiveness, faith.

And it keeps going on and on and on, because the emphasis now is what Jesus has to say. And so the symbolism of Luke chapter 10 verses 38 and following is crucial for us to grasp. In divine inspiration, Luke throws it here to show us we need to be like Mary, sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to all that he has to say. It's important. Luke began in chapter 1 by telling Theophilus that he wanted to give him the exact truth about Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the exact truth. He didn't want Theophilus to be confused about who the Messiah was, what the Messiah did, or what the Messiah had to say about everything he spoke on.

He wanted Theophilus to know the exact truth. Luke didn't know that this gospel would be put out for all the world to see. He didn't know that. He wrote to one man. He was concerned about one man, that that one man know the exact truth. And we need to be concerned that we know the exact truth on everything that Jesus has to say. Now this is a very familiar story for those of us who have been in the church. We know about Martha. And Martha wasn't an enemy of God. Not at all. She loved the Lord. She became distracted.

She was a friend of God. She was a friend of God. She was a friend of God. And Mary and Martha had no prominent place of ministry in the life of our Lord or in the synagogue or any other place. They were just two women. But they give us the main ministry we are to have in our lives, the preeminent ministry, the most important ministry in our lives. They become a model for us to follow. And that model is simply to hear what God has to say. Divine truth is the most crucial element in all the world.

Divine truth is the priority. And Mary wanted to know what that divine truth was. The main priority for your life and mine is to hear what the revealed truth of God is. Every spiritual duty is motivated and defined by what God has said. Every spiritual duty is defined and motivated by what God has already said. Everything about your life, everything about your job, everything about marriage, everything about anything you do is defined by what God has said. And if you don't listen to Him, you won't know how to have a good marriage.

You won't know how to have the kind of life God wants you to have. You won't know how to work. You won't know how to be an employer or an employee. Everything stems from what God has said. It is the priority. And if you don't know what He has said about your job or what He has said about your life or what He has said about your marriage or what He has said about your children or what He has said about anything at all, then you will limp along in life. You will struggle getting through life frustrated, agitated because there's something else more important to you than what God has said.

And that's the emphasis of this story, so that we understand exactly what God has to say on every issue in life. The Bible says that Jesus was traveling, traveling long.

He's going to Jerusalem. We know that because Luke 9, 51 says that He had set His face to go to Jerusalem. So He's on His way. He's done with the ministry in Galilee. He is now in Judea and Perea. And He's on His way to Jerusalem. He's going to die. He knows that. Time is short. And so because time is short, the things that He has to say are absolutely crucial. If you had six months to live and you gathered your family around you or your friends around you and you were going to speak to them about things concerning the kingdom and things that were true, they would be very important times.

Our Lord is about to die. So what He's going to say over the next six months is crucial for His men to understand. And so they would travel along and they would end up in Bethany here in Luke chapter 10. And the text says that there was a woman named Martha. Now Martha's mentioned first, so we would gather that Martha was the older one because they would always mention the oldest first.

So Martha's probably older than Mary. And the text says that she welcomed the Lord. The word for Lord is kurios, which means that they understood and embraced Him as the Lord of their lives. So we don't know when Mary and Martha gave their life to the Lord Jesus Christ, but we can surmise that it was during the time where the 70 were sent out and they went from village to village, from place to place preaching the kingdom of God. And two individuals, whoever they may be, were welcomed into their home and they would preach the gospel to Mary and Martha and Lazarus and they would give their lives to the Messiah.

This is probably the first time that Jesus has met Martha. And she welcomes Him into her home. Now you can imagine, they know that Jesus is coming. Two men have come and preached the gospel. They have embraced the Messiah. And now He comes to their certain village. He comes to Bethany. And they know that they're going to have an opportunity to have Jesus in their home. If Jesus was coming to your house today, what would you be doing? I know some of you would be home preparing dinner. You wouldn't be here.

Because you want to make sure the food is just right. Your husband might be here. Your children might be here. But you'd be home preparing your house, preparing the meal for the arrival of Jesus the Messiah. That would be a good thing. It would not be the best thing. And we'll see that here in just a moment. But she welcomed Him. She received Him. But Mary her sister, in verse number 39, was moreover listening to the Lord's word seated at His feet. We know nothing about Mary. This is all we know up to this point.

She is seated at the feet of the Lord. Listening, hanging on every word, riveted to the Word, the divine truth given to her by the incarnate God. She's listening at His feet. Jesus had come to teach the truth. She wanted to know what the truth was. So she sat down and listened. You know, rabbis didn't allow that to happen. Women couldn't sit at the feet of a rabbi and be taught. They had to sit in the back part of the room. But Jesus welcomed Mary and she would sit at His feet hanging on every word.

She demonstrated the attitude of a believer. She wanted to hear what God had to say. Remember back in Luke chapter 6, it said these words back when Jesus was preaching that sermon on the plain. It says in verse 46, And why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and acts upon them, I will show you whom he is like. He is like a man building a house who dug deep and laid a foundation upon the rock. And when a flood rose, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it because it had been well built.

But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly is like a man who built a house upon the ground without any foundation. And the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed. And the ruin of that house was great. Jesus said, There are a lot of people who call me Lord, but are unwilling to do what I've said. They've heard, but they've disobeyed. Yet there are those who hear, who listen and follow. Luke chapter 8, verse number 21, says this, verse 19, And his mother and brothers came to him, and they were unable to get to him because of the crowd.

And it was reported to him, Your mother and your brothers are standing outside wishing to see you. But he answered and said to them, My mother and my brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it. These are my children. These are my mother. These are the ones who hear, who are willing to listen and obey. Then over in Luke chapter 11, Luke chapter 11, in Luke 11, verse number 27, And it came about that while he said these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts at which you were nursed.

But he said, On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it. So Mary is the perfect model for us to emulate, to look at and realize that she was one who was sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening.

She grasped the opportunity. She wasn't about to pass it up. Jesus was in her home and her priority was to listen to him. Her priority was to hear what he had to say and to act upon the truth that he was given. Let me ask you a question.

Is that your priority? Is it your priority to listen and to hear everything that Jesus has to say in scripture? Because it's so easy, it's so easy to be distracted. Martha was. Christians can be pulled away from that priority. Let's know what the Bible says in verse number 40.

But Martha. Remember we talked about the butologies of scripture. They become so crucial in understanding points that Jesus wants to make. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations. In other words, she was pulled away. She was literally dragged away because of all of her duties. She was concerned about having everything just right for when Jesus arrived. Everything had to be perfect. The house had to be clean. The table had to be set. The food had to be prepared just right for the arrival of the Messiah.

So she had a desire to listen, but it wasn't her priority. For Mary it was her priority. For Martha it was secondary. There was something in Martha's life that took precedence over hearing what God had to say. It was making sure that Jesus had something to eat. That Jesus liked what he ate in her house. She was pulled away. She was distracted. Now we know the Bible says that hospitality is crucial.

You can read about it in 1 Peter 4, verse number 10. Romans chapter 12, verse number 13. So we know that hospitality is crucial in the life of the church. We know that there's absolutely nothing wrong with keeping house. I guess Titus would be told by Paul about the woman's responsibility to make sure that she is a keeper of her home. So there's nothing wrong with what Martha was doing. It wasn't sin that Martha was doing. And the Bible says in 1 Timothy 5, it's not wrong to entertain guests.

In fact, it's the right thing to do. Yet, as good as these things were, and as good as it was to do it for the Lord, her priorities became twisted. God speaking divine truth and she lost sight of the rare privilege to hear him speak. Now the Bible says in the book of Romans chapter 12, verse number 11, it says, and we know that sin keeps us from running the race before us.

And so we want to discard sinful attitudes and sinful practices. But sometimes we forget about the encumbrances or the weights. We forget about the weight that keep us from running the race with endurance. The encumbrances, the weights are not sinful things. So the right of Hebrews makes the distinction between that which is sin and that which is an encumbrance. That which trips you up on the way. That which keeps you from running vigorously. That which keeps you from running with endurance. It's not a sin necessarily.

It's just a weight. It's something that distracts you. It's something that keeps you from running the race properly. And I'm convinced that that becomes Satan's best attack on you and me. It's not so much the temptation to sin. It's just the things that are encumbrances. It's those things that are good and are good to do, but those good things keep you from the best thing. The most important thing. The priority thing. The preeminent thing. And Satan knows that if he can keep you from listening to what God has to say, then you will limp along in life and you will struggle in life and you will fall in life.

And he kind of likes that. A.W. Tozer in his book on leadership said this, failing in his frontal attacks upon the child of God, Satan often turns to more subtle means of achieving his evil purpose. He resorts to devious methods in his attempt to divert the Christian from carrying out the task God has committed to him. He often succeeds by involving the saint in some other lesser occupation and so distracting him. Satan's distracting words often come from the most unexpected quarters. Martha would call Mary away from sitting at the feet of the master.

Sometimes if we are not careful, our best friend will distract us. Or it might be some very legitimate activity that distracts us. This day's bustle and hurly-burly would too often and too soon call us away from Jesus' feet. These distractions must be immediately dismissed or we shall know only, listen to this, only the barrenness of the Lord. The barrenness of busyness. Boy, that is so good, man. I tell you, that's just a bang. We got people that are so busy but they are barren. They're dry. They are shallow.

They are withering up on the inside. Oh, they're busy. And know what they're busy doing? The work of the Lord. They're busy serving the Lord. Martha was busy serving the Lord. She was busy preparing for the Lord. She was busy making sure everything was right. And she wanted to make sure that everything was just perfect for the Lord. Yet she was barren on the inside. Mary on the other hand, boy, she was fruitful on the inside. She wasn't distracted but Martha was. Beware, beware of the barrenness of busyness.

Doing all kinds of things. Even in the name of God but dry and shallow on the inside because you've neglected just the only one thing that Jesus makes a priority. Just one. Not two. Not three. Not four. Not five. Just one. Just one thing you need to do. Listen to the words of Jesus. Notice this.

That once your priority is messed up your attitude changes. Do you ever notice that? Martha had lost her joy in the barrenness of busyness. She not only had lost her joy but she had become irritated, agitated in the busyness of barrenness. She had become irritated, agitated in the busyness of barrenness. She became so frustrated she was mad. At the same time of her frustration she thinks she has the right to tell God what to do. People are like that all the time. That actually they think they can tell God what to do or why He has made a mistake.

That's a result of the barrenness of your busyness because you're unwilling to listen to what the Lord has to say. At the apex of her exasperation she goes to the Lord and says, Lord don't you care? Now here's the one who says cast all your cares upon Him for He cares for you. But she goes and begins to question how much the Lord even cares about her. Listen to this. Martha begins with what is good but because she didn't understand what was best, even that which was good created a selfish attitude.

She didn't understand what was good. She didn't understand what was bad. She didn't understand what was good. She came up to the Lord. Instead of coming up to the Lord and kneeling beside her sister Mary, which would have been very beneficial for her, she wanted to tell the Lord what to do. Do you really think the Lord cared about a meal? I mean come on. He came to teach. He has an opportunity to teach divine truth. What do you think is more important to Jesus? Teaching divine truth or having some bread and some fish and whatever else she had prepared?

She says very simply, Lord do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? What a sad attack on the Messiah of all people. She is completely out of control. She's lost it. This is what she's saying. Listen carefully to what one author said. Lord don't you care? Are you just going to sit there and keep talking about divine life changing soul transforming, sin shattering, heavenly blessing producing joy, giving truth and ignore that the table is not set? That's what she's doing.

Are you really going to keep transforming the soul of my sister without being caring enough to know that the bread is burning in the kitchen? The Lord doesn't care necessarily about that. It wasn't that what she did was bad. It wasn't that what she did was sinful. It was good. It just wasn't the best. And how many times do we busy ourselves with things that are not the best and our souls are barren on the inside because we've neglected the only thing that matters. What Jesus has to say. That's it.

Lord she's lazy. She needs to get up off her feet, away from your feet and go to work. She needs to be more disciplined Lord to help us get things prepared for the meal. Martha just didn't get it. She didn't get it. She didn't get it. Yet before you condemn Martha answer this question. What is so important in your life that it keeps you from coming on Sundays and Wednesdays from hearing the truth? Before you rag on Martha ask yourself this question. What is the priority in my life? What you do on Sundays might be good.

What you do on Wednesdays might be good. Nobody's saying that staying home and watching the Lakers game is sin. Well maybe watching the Lakers is sin. I don't know. I haven't figured that one out yet. But you know staying home, that's not sin. Staying home and going to bed early. That's not sin. Staying home and doing your homework. That's not sin. That's good. Right? But is it the best? See? What keeps you from listening to the words of divine truth? That's what you have to ask yourself. That's where you have to examine yourself.

And on top of that what's worse than that is somebody who wants to hear the truth and they go to a place called the house of God or a church of God and the truth's not open. They don't hear it. That's even worse, right? I was reading an article this past week about the emergent church and how the emergent church has decided to use secular music in their worship services because they want to identify with the secular people who come to the church. And so special music is secular music. The soul music is secular.

The songs they sing are secular songs because they want to identify with the secular people who come. Some of them even go so far as to have special artist week. And so the whole week will be, well this Sunday we're doing Pink Floyd and the following Sunday we're doing Grand Funk Railroad and the following Sunday we're doing Kiss and the following Sunday we're doing the Doobie Brothers. Maybe I'm dating myself here. I don't know. But these were on the internet by the way. And so we're going to sing their songs.

So we use secular, the secular to reach the secular instead of the sacred to transform the secular. What has happened in the church? Somebody wants to come and listen to the divine truth and what do they get? Same songs they hear on their radio. Same songs they have on their CD player or their iPod or whatever it is they listen to. All in the name of identifying with the unbeliever. All in the name of making sure the unbeliever understands what we are and who we're about and identifying with the unbeliever.

All under a verse that says we have become all things to all men that we might win some which is a total misappropriation of the text. And what they do is they blaspheme the name of God thinking that they are honoring God. And people who have come to listen to the truth never receive it. That's sad. But you need to ask yourself what is more important to you than listening to what God has to say? Listen, if we're not going to tell you what God says, by all means don't come.

Please don't come. Go someplace else. I beg you. If we're not going to tell you what God says, please go someplace else so that your soul can be saved and your soul can be satisfied by the truth of God's holy word.

But if we're going to tell you what God's word says by taking you verse by verse by verse through the text so you understand divine truth, then you must ask yourself what is more important to me that will keep me from hearing what I need to hear from God? That's the question. Jesus is so good. I could have said, you know, shut up woman. Jesus doesn't do that. Jesus is tender. He's sympathetic. Martha, Martha. Oh Martha. You missed it. You didn't get it. You're worried and bothered about so many things.

Oh Martha, you know it's good. It's good to do what you're doing. It's just that what you were doing has pulled you away from the one thing you need to be doing. But only a few things are necessary. Really only one. Mary has chosen the good part which shall not be taken away from her. You know our lives, our lives are so full of what is unnecessary. They really are. And those things that are unnecessary really begin to distract us from divine truth and hearing what God has to say. Yesterday during the marriage ceremony of Drew and Teresa, I shared with them a verse and it's so crucial because 2 Timothy 2 verse 4 says that no good soldier entangles himself in the affairs of this world in order that he may please his commanding officer.

You want to be a good soldier of Jesus Christ? You don't get involved, entangled. Those are not simple things, the entangling in the affairs of the world. Those are the encumbrances of the world. They might be good things. It might be good on Tuesday, not just good on Wednesday. See? It might be good on Saturday, but it's not the best thing on Sunday. Is it wrong to spend alone time with your wife? No. Is it good to spend alone time with your wife? Yes. Is it good to spend alone time with your wife when you should be in church on Sunday leading your wife?

Answer, no. See? What's best versus what is good? See we miss that which is best. That one thing that is so essential. What does God say? But if we're honest with ourselves, a lot of us just don't care what God says.

Do we? There's something else more important to us than what God really truly has to say. That's why in Luke 9 on the Mount of Transfiguration you hear the voice out of the cloud, this is my chosen one. What's the next phrase? Listen to him. If you're not listening to the divine truth, let me tell you something.

You're listening to somebody else or something else. And so many times because we're unwilling to listen to divine truth, we get lost in the sea of secularism. And it moves us further away from divine truth. This is my beloved son. Listen to him. Remember what it says way back in the book of Deuteronomy? Deuteronomy chapter 11 verse 26. See I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse. This is what Moses says to the nation of Israel. Here's the blessing and here's the curse. First of all the blessing.

The blessing if you listen to the commands of the Lord your God which I am commanding you today. There's the blessing. If you listen to the commandments, blessing. Here's the curse. If you do not listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today. There's the curse. You want a blessing or do you want a cursing? If you listen and obey the commands of God, the result is blessing. If you listen and turn away, the result is cursing. Isn't it interesting that just a few chapters over in the book of Deuteronomy, the 18th chapter, it says this.

Verse 15. The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen. You shall listen to him. Now we know that's a prophecy about the coming Messiah. There's going to be one prophet greater than Moses. It's the Messiah. You should listen to him. One more verse. Deuteronomy Ecclesiastes chapter 5. As I was going through what I wanted to say last night and early this morning, I was reminded of these words in Ecclesiastes chapter 5. Listen to this. Guard your steps as you go to the house of God.

Stop right there for a second. Guard your steps. Be careful how you walk into the house of God. I think it would be good if this was placed on the outside of our building. Guard your steps as you go to the house of God. Solomon is warning us about people wanting to attend a worship service. Walk gingerly. Walk carefully. Walk rightly. Stay alert. In other words, guard your steps. Because you're going to the house of God. You may be familiar with the surroundings. You may hear what you have heard a hundred times before.

But you guard your steps as you go to the house of God. And then he says, and draw near to listen. Isn't that good? Why do you come to the house of God? To listen.

To hear what God has to say. I mean why else would you come other than to hear what God has to say? God is speaking. And God is about to do spiritual surgery on your heart. It's a great risk to come into the house of God. Because you're going to hear him speak. And his word is sharper than a two edged knife. It pierces deeply to the heart and soul of a man and a woman. So guard your steps as you go to the house of God. And draw near to listen.

Listen to this. Rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools. What is the sacrifice of fools? For they do not know what, or do not know they are doing evil. For they do not know. Listen.

The fool is someone who makes a commitment to God without ever intending to keep that commitment. You go to the house of God to listen.

But don't for one moment think that you can offer a sacrifice of fools. In other words you can come and you can sing a song because we know Hebrews 13 and 15 says that we can offer a sacrifice of praise to our God. Don't come in here thinking that you can sing songs about my life is God's. And then live as if your life is your own when you leave. That's a sacrifice of fools. That's coming to the house of God and saying I surrender all. But leave saying or during the service surrendering one-tenth to God.

See? Don't offer the sacrifice of fools. Don't do that. Solomon says. For they do not know that they are doing evil. Then it says in verse 2, it gets even better. Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. Now we're told just the opposite. Pour your heart out to God. Just lay it all out there so God can hear you. And Solomon says guard your steps when you go into the house of God. Draw near for one purpose to listen.

You need to hear. Be careful not to offer a sacrifice of fools. Don't go in there and sing in all these songs about what it is you intend to do and leave and do the direct opposite. Don't do that. And when you get there be quiet. Don't be hasty to speak. You know we're going to learn about this in Luke 11. We are so quick to go to prayer to talk to God about things we have no idea about that if we were to listen to what he said our whole prayer life would be changed. It would be. But we're so busy talking.

We so desperately want somebody to hear what we have to say because we think we matter. We do. Solomon says, Habakkuk says it this way. The Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth just be quiet. God is in his holy temple. Shh. Be quiet. Listen to what he has to say. You've gone to receive divine truth so that you can respond to divine truth. But if you don't listen to what the truth is you will offer a sacrifice of fools. You will say that which you don't mean and end up leaving a hypocrite instead of truthfully following what it is you intend to do.

For God is in heaven and you are on the earth. Therefore let your words be few. Boy you know most churches I know boy they just can't wait. They'll go there and they'll sing. They'll sing for 45, 50 minutes to an hour. Just sing and praise to God. And the preacher will preach for 10 minutes. They're so busy wanting to be hasty in offering a sacrifice of fools without ever listening to what God has to say about what they should be doing. And it goes directly against what the Bible says.

Let your words be few. Guard your steps when you go into the house of God. Draw near to listen. Let me ask you a question.

Did you come here today to listen to what God has to say? Or did you come here to tell God about what He should be doing? Did you come to listen to what God has to say about your own personal life? You walked with Him? Were you standing with Him? Why did you come? Why don't people listen? I can give you several reasons why people don't listen.

But I think it would be better for me to read to you what Jesus says about why people don't want to listen to what He has to say.

This is what Jesus says. Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear my word. Why can't they hear His word? Verse 44. Because you are of your father the devil. And you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie he speaks from his own nature. For he is a liar and the father of lives. But because I speak the truth you do not believe me. Now Jesus isn't talking to some normal guy at the street.

He is talking to the religious people. The religious elite of His day. Verse 46 of John 8 says, Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I speak truth why do you not believe me? Here it is. Verse 47. He who is of God hears the words of God. For this reason you do not hear them because you are not of God. Can it be any more clear than that? Jesus said you don't listen.

You know why you don't listen? Because you are of your father the devil. You don't believe me. I speak to you the truth. You don't believe it. So you don't hear because you are not of God. You don't listen because you are not one of mine. Jesus said my sheep hear my voice and they listen to me. There is a qualifier. How do you know if you are a sheep? You listen to what Jesus has to say. This is a great, great story. I am so grateful to the Lord that Luke put it here. Because we need to listen to what God has to say.

Remember, beware of the barrenness of busyness. You can do a lot of good things but if it's not the primary thing, if it's not the best thing. You know what Jesus says?

He says, Oh Betty, Betty. Oh Martha, Martha. Oh Sue, Sue. Oh Bill, Bill. You are so busy doing things that are really good. But there is only one thing you need to be doing and you ain't doing it. And you wonder why you are so agitated. And you wonder why you are so frustrated. And you wonder why you just limp along through life and things just aren't falling into place. The Lord says there is only one thing you need to be doing and you ain't doing it. You just need to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to everything He has to say.

And then once you've heard it, obey. That's how simple life is. We make it so complicated. Jesus is so good. He says just one thing. Just one. If you do this, everything else will fall into place. Because you'll know what I say about every question you have. But if you don't do this, you will constantly struggle through life. Your choice. Martha or Mary. Let's pray. Father, thank You for today and the greatness of Your Word. We are so blessed to be able to hear the words of God. To realize that the truth of God are the divine inspired words of our Lord.

That when Your Word is open and preached, it's Your Spirit that uses that Word to convict us. We pray Lord that we would be listeners. You've exhorted us over and over again. This is my Son. Listen to Him. These are the ones who are my disciples. They listen to me. They hear my voice. They follow. May we be that way. May we not be like Martha, doing lots of good things, but just missing out on the main thing. That we might be listeners and followers of our God. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.