Be still and Know that I am God
sermon by
Manfred Schreyer
Luke 10:38 [NIV] As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. :39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. :40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" :41 "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, :42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
On the one hand we understand Martha wanting to be close to her Jesus, but on the other hand we do not understand Jesus’ harsh words to Mary (Martha’s sister) defending Mary’s action of being ‘lazy’, especially when it was and is still custom in that part of the world to show great hospitality to those who come to your house.
Frustration lies in the air! Martha who is consumed by bringing her "Doing" to the Lord, and the receiving the answer of not doing the right thing. Martha in her mind was giving everything she had to Jesus.
In a way Martha is involved in life and is clinging to life as it is set up for us to be and act and to respond to . . . when guests arrive we have to clean house, we have to prepare meals, we have to show off, we have to present . . .
Martha’s complaint about Mary is a complaint that Mary does not meet the standards this society has set up. To be hospitable, to be gracious, to present . . .
And Jesus answers her with a small sentence . . . "you are worried and upset about many things . . . but only one thing is needed"
I grant you this is very difficult to understand. You may say . . . OK, from now on I will only come to worship and not attend every committee meeting or event at this church.
You may say: Maybe it is not so important that I do things, but rather that I listen to God.
Well, if you approach it from that angle I believe you are wrong. The story really deals with coming to God with our ‘doing’.
Nothing in our doing will convince God that we are worthy. We become worthy only through the Grace of God.
Nothing but nothing should come between us and our God.
And if . . . even our busy doing or our busy life for God creates an obstacle for us to ‘be’, then we cannot have a relationship with God.
And it creates something else: We create an atmosphere where we do not speak to our neighbors in the next room anymore.
We do not know about our friends the ways it is . . . imagine what we know of God if we just focus our life on ‘doing things’.
You may reply: Will the system not break down if we do not do things? Yes and No!
First of all we have lost all sense of being with God. In fact we can’t even tell anymore that God is with us. We cry out to God when we are in need for Him to visit our house and then we are willing to DO ANYTHING . . . but in our daily lives we follow routines that are mostly monotonous and self-serving.
In fact our daily "doing" is about tomorrow, it is filled with preparations for moments that have not even arrived in our life, it is filled with tasks that are prepared to be executed in the near future, our doing is filled so full that we are unable to leave any room for Jesus to sit down and talk to us.
In banking they call this betting on derivatives. Derivatives are a possible value in the future. . . .
(often derivatives) an arrangement or instrument (such as a future, option, or warrant) whose value derives from and is dependent on the value of an underlying asset: [as MODIFIER] the derivatives market. (Oxford Dictionary)
It seems strange to me that God would intend to create a life for us, where the future consumes us and by tomorrow.
What actually happened to the moment. What happened to the gift God gave us NOW.
I tell you why we act the way of business and work and concern for tomorrow . . . because we want to stand out. Because we want to be known that we carry the world on our shoulder.
Look at me . . . poor me.
You know what? When Martha called on Jesus to tell Mary to be helpful . . . I guarantee you no matter how she would have helped, what she would have done . . . she could have not done it right for Martha. This is not about Mary . . . it is about Martha.
The busy life you (we) live is about you (us), not for others.
Jesus told us again and again . . . not to worry about tomorrow! Those who are older know that planning life is NOT possible, because life depends on the choices of other and influence our life, planning is not possible because disease or death can strike us without warning.
The very best meal, the very best preparation for a moment with Jesus can impede you from being with Him . . . with Jesus who came to be with you . . . just with you and me!
Yes, this sermon is also about pastors. Often Pastor’s have the reputation of only preparing the sermon and delivering it. Nevertheless, Pastors are busy and often too busy. Too busy for their own good. Yes, my name is often Martha! I am no different then you . . . and sometimes I do not know that Jesus has entered the room and wants to speak to me.
I tell you, all the things that we will DO in our busy life will be long forgotten. Even by us. Everything will eventually fall apart, rot away, be forgotten. . . .but the one thing that will always be there is our relationship with our God.
Through our relationship with God we can take ACTIONS! Actions of proclaiming that nothing matters but a life with Jesus. Nothing matters, but a life at Jesus’ feet. Nothing matters but His will for us. And no bet on a better future will work then the knowledge of God of an eternal life.
However, you have to give God a chance to be with you.
Some time ago we talked about the footprint of God in our soul. The secular world calls it telepathy, some call it intuition, others call it 6th sense . . . but it is the voice of God talking to you. And my question is this: Can you hear God?
Be still and listen. If you cannot hear Him in you, you are too busy in your life and you are consumed by the things of this world . . .
More Sermons by Pastor Manfred Schreyer >>
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