LUKE 10:38-42 CHOOSE ONE THING2012 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Luke 10:38-42 Choose One Thing

00:00
Well, this morning we're looking at Luke chapter 10, verses 38 through 42.

00:18
Looking at two examples, Mary and Martha. And from these two examples, we'll have two points to consider. But before we get into actually looking at the passage, I would ask you, I would wonder if you have a to-do list.

00:34
Do you have a to-do list? Some people do, some people don't. If you're like me, you have not just a to-do list, but you have an elaborate system of all kinds of different things that are patched together to manage all of the different things that are going on, the different responsibilities you have, and the things that you have to do.

00:57
I have a pretty technical to-do list, and it has repeating things. I have about 30 tasks every week that I do every week, so those are just...

01:07
automatically added to my to-do list. Then I have monthly and yearly and seasonal and all of that kind of thing. And then whatever happens on the fly and things I know I have coming up that I need to do. And so I have this massive to-do list. And it's the only way that I can keep track of the stuff that I need to do. And if I get anything done, well, it's usually because it's on my to-do list. And if I don't get things done,

01:31
It still might be on my to-do list, but if it's off my to-do list, for sure I don't get it done. It's the way that I manage everything. I look up in the to-do list in the morning. Throughout the day, I look at the to-do list. In the evening, I look at the to-do list and I move everything to the next day that I didn't accomplish that day. And I'm just constantly working on and managing my to-do list.

01:53
Now, I don't know about you. You might have one that's in your head. You might have one that's on paper. You might have one that's digital somewhere. But you know what it's like. We have these lists of things that we have to do. Things to be accomplished. And what I would challenge you with this morning is to consider that to-do list. If you had to choose one thing on your to-do list for this week to get done.

02:22
What would it be? If you had to choose one thing from that list, what would you choose? What would be that one thing that you would make sure gets done? Because that's really what we're seeing here in this example of Mary and Martha. This morning I want to encourage you to choose one thing. To pick one thing. To make it the priority. To make sure that it gets done.

02:52
Well, as we look at this account, we begin by looking at verse 38 and it says, Now it happened, as they went, that he entered a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha welcomed him into her house.

03:06
So this begins by setting up the backdrop of the story here. We've been following Jesus as he's on his way to Jerusalem. He's been stopping in different places along the way. And now he comes to this certain village where there's a woman named Martha. And she invites Jesus and whoever is along with him into her home.

03:32
And now she's hosting them. She's throwing a dinner party for them as Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. Now as we look at this account, we know Martha has a sister. Her name is Mary. Mary and Martha, we see them several times in the scriptures. But through these two sisters, we have two points to consider this morning. And the first one we'll look at is through Mary.

03:58
And through Mary, I want to encourage you, I want to remind you that one thing is needed. Through Mary's example here, we see that one thing is needed. Look at verse 42. It says, Jesus is talking, he says, but one thing is needed. And Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her. This is something that you and I need to seriously consider.

04:27
Jesus makes a profound statement here, a bold declaration. He tells Martha, one thing is needed. Now again, if you were to look at your to-do lists for this week, how many things would you say are needed?

04:47
How many of those are necessities? How many of those have to happen? You can look at your week and think, well, I have to go to work. That's not a choice. It's something I'm obligated to do. I have to do because, well, it goes along with the next thing. I have to put food on the table. I have to take care of the family. I have to... How many things would you say need to be done? How many things are needed? Well, Jesus declares...

05:17
That one thing is needed. This is quite different than you and I would come up with on our own. I like the simplicity of it. One thing is needed. I'm really glad Jesus didn't say 28 things are needed. How would you keep track of that? Another to-do list, right? Okay, I just got to make sure I do these 28 things every day. Then I'm good. Then I'm walking with the Lord.

05:49
Jesus says, look, there's one thing that's needed, one thing that's necessary. The word needed means that it's a necessity. You have to have it. It's not an option. But it can also mean a duty or a business. It's interesting to think about that in those terms. Jesus says, look, you have one duty, one business, one responsibility, one necessity. That's it.

06:18
Not a multitude of necessities. You have one necessity, one duty. As I was reflecting on this thought throughout this week, I was thinking about how we build our lives on a lot of things that aren't really needed. They're not necessities. Can you imagine your life without a cell phone? For many of us, I'd say for the majority of us,

06:53
We don't even remember life without a cell phone. I mean, how did we survive? I remember as a kid, you know, I would be all over the place on my bike. My parents sent me some large parameters all around Riverside and I could just go. I would leave in the morning. I'd be out and about all day. I would come back, you know, just before dark. My mom had no way to get a hold of me. No way to really know where I was.

07:17
except maybe what I told her before I left. All day long I'm gone. Parents would freak out today. I mean, that's just crazy for a 13, 14-year-old kid to just be gone and have no accessibility, no point of contact.

07:35
I was thinking about that this past week because we had those different earthquakes that went on. And I remember one of those times there was an earthquake while I was out and about all by myself. And I went home and my mom was thankful that I did because she had no way to know if I was okay. But today we can't imagine that happening. We can't imagine. It's so difficult. Think about this one. How would you survive without the internet? Now some of you say, well, I already do. That's no problem. But some of us are like,

08:06
I would have so much free time. What would I do? So others would say, my business, it depends upon internet connection. It depends upon that connection. I would have no business. I would have no way to support myself. Those are just a couple simple examples, but you get the point. We build our house or build our lives on these things that really are not necessities. I was thinking about it in the picture of a house of cards.

08:37
You know, you've got this elaborate house of cards that can crash down at any moment and on the top of that house of cards, that's what we've built our lives upon. Building our lives upon things that can just be gone in a minute. I don't know if you saw the articles over the past couple weeks, there's been a lot talking about EMP or electromagnetic pulse. And what would happen if we were attacked in some way with an electromagnetic pulse device.

09:06
Or a nuclear bomb, as you can also call it. But there's this danger, there's this vulnerability, and they've been looking at it because, you know, in India, there's been hundreds of millions of people that have been without power. And so that caused people to think, well, what would happen for us in the United States if that were to happen, if we were to have a massive power outage? And, man, if you go through some of the articles and some of the, you know, possibilities, it's quite scary.

09:33
Because we survive. We've based our lives upon this system of electricity, these electronics, and we don't know how to live without them. We don't know how to live differently. But it could be gone tomorrow. It's interesting and scary to think about. But you can also see it just by going to a different state. If you go from California to Idaho, and just stay in Idaho for a week, it's amazing how differently our lives are.

10:05
How much more simple things can be. Or if you don't want to do that, go to Samoa. Right, boys? Go to Samoa and you're like, you know, they don't even use gears 3, 4, and 5 in their vehicles. They just need 1 and 2. That's it. Maybe most of the time it's just first gear. Second gear is optional. Because it's just a slow pace. It's a whole different type of lifestyle. It's culture shock when we go there.

10:31
But the point is, when you're in those kinds of conditions, you're somewhere else, you're in a different environment, or calamity strikes and you don't have any electronics, it would be cause for you to reconsider your priorities and remember what is most important. What actually is essential? What is a necessity of life? A lot of times, I'm sure you've heard it said, we sacrifice the important things

11:00
For the immediate or the urgent. We have a lot of things on our to-do list and it's the urgent things that we take care of because they're urgent. It's an emergency. You got to take care of this right now. But because we're taking care of all those urgent things and putting out those fires, the important things don't get done. The urgent things aren't as important, but they get done because they are urgent. And this morning, God wants to challenge our hearts.

11:30
To reconsider what's urgent and what's important. To reevaluate our priorities. What is the one thing that is needed? Because Jesus says, one thing is needed. What is that one thing? Well, we find it in verse 39 as we see what Mary is actually doing as Jesus is saying that one thing is needed and she has chosen it. Verse 39 says,

11:57
And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His Word. What was Mary doing? What's the one thing that's needed? She was sitting at Jesus' feet and hearing from Him. She was hearing His Word. Jesus says, look, this is the one thing. This is the main thing. And so I would ask you this morning, do you sit at Jesus' feet?

12:27
It's the one thing that's needed, so do you do it? I don't just mean on Sunday mornings, but is that how you live your life? Do you regularly sit at Jesus' feet? Do you daily sit at Jesus' feet and hear from Him? Do you sit at His feet in worship? Do you sit at His feet and hear His word? Do you sit at His feet in prayer? Is that part of your life?

13:03
Is that an important part of your life? Is that the one thing that you would pick if you could only choose one thing from your to-do list this week? Jesus said, one thing is needed. Now, please understand, as I'm sharing these things with you, this is not God saying, hey, you're failing at this, get away from me, I don't want nothing to do with you. This is God saying, I want you close.

13:37
That's why I have this example for you. That's why I have this message for you. God's saying, I want you close. This is the opportunity for us to reevaluate and remember what's important and put it in its rightful place in our life. To sit at the feet of Jesus because it's the one thing that is needed. Now, how does that work out practically? Because, well, honestly, there are things that we have to do.

14:04
We are responsible to take care of our family. We are responsible for certain things. So how do those things get done if all we do all day is sit at the feet of Jesus? Well, the point here is not just that that's the only thing that you do all day. That's not the point. The point that is being made here is, again, it's about priority. It's not that nothing else gets done

14:39
It's that the most important thing gets done. The most important thing. It must be done. Because one thing is needed. And so we need to make sure that we do that one thing. We need to make sure that we fulfill the most important thing. Pastor Tom used to always tell us. I bet many of you probably remember.

15:11
He would say that when you've spent time with the Lord and His Word, you've already done the most important thing of your day. So even if you got nothing else done that day, you got the most important thing done. Meanwhile, you and I,

15:29
Our tendency is to think about all that we have to do today and think, well, when I have less to do, then I will spend more time in prayer and the Word. I really do want to dig in and, man, that passage looked interesting and I want to spend some time there. I'm going to do it when there's more time. And we're always kind of putting it off. It's that horizon that we never actually reach that I'm going to spend more time because we're so busy, because we have so much to do.

16:03
But we have it backwards. We need to make sure, first and foremost, that we do the one thing that is needed. I really like the quote from Martin Luther, where he's talking about his day and how he has a lot of extra things to do today. So he says, I need to spend extra time in prayer.

16:28
It's backwards in our minds because, well, if I have a lot to do today, I can't spend as much time in prayer because I need that time to do all the extra things I have to do today. But I think Martin Luther had the correct perspective. When we have so much to do is the very time that we need much more the time of sitting at Jesus' feet. You might remember that old illustration of the rocks in the jar.

16:59
You take a jar and you put some big rocks in it. You look at it and you say, is it full? Well, it looks full, but then you take some smaller rocks and then you pour the smaller rocks into it. Now is it full? Oh, it looks full, but then you can take even smaller pebbles and pour those into it. Is it full now? Well, then you can take some water and pour the water and then finally the jar is full, it's filled. What's the moral? What's the point?

17:29
Well, the point is, if you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in later. Because all the little rocks and then the pebbles and then the water will fill up. And those big rocks will not fit. And so you have to make sure you put those in first. That's the point here. This is about priority. First things first. When you have much to do...

17:57
That's all the more reason to make sure you sit at Jesus' feet first. That you give Him the priority. That you make Him first. Because otherwise you'll find like we all have. There's just too much to do. And it gets put off until another time. Once we've spent time with Jesus, then we can do all those other things.

18:29
In fact, all of those other things should flow from our time with Jesus. I always go back to, it's a verse that I refer to often in my life, Romans chapter 12 verse 11. The New International Version says it this way, Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor serving the Lord. And it's a verse that God has ministered to me over and over and over again because there's those times where, well, you lose your zeal.

19:00
Or your spiritual fervor. Even as you're serving the Lord, it can become a burden and you lose that passion, that zeal. And so how do you keep that passion and zeal? Well, as you look at the words in this verse, Romans 12, 11, it paints a picture of a pot of boiling water. And how do you keep a...

19:22
Pot of water boiling. Well, you keep it on the fire. When you take it off of the fire, it doesn't boil anymore. When you put it on the fire, and as long as it's connected to the fire, it will continue to boil. It's a picture of what's needed in our relationship with the Lord. When you're connected to Jesus, you'll have that zeal, that spiritual fervor. You'll be boiling. But when we're disconnected, we cool off.

19:52
And the things that we do, and specifically the service that we give unto the Lord, that's to be the result of our contact with the flame. In essence, we're boiling over because we're connected to the flame, because we're connected to Jesus. And so our serving the Lord, all things that we do are to be the result of our sitting at Jesus' feet.

20:25
Everything else in our life is to flow forth from that. Whether it be going to work, taking care of the kids, inviting people to Harvest America, serving at church, whatever it might be. It's to flow forth from that time with Jesus, sitting at His feet. Now, I want to be careful here. Because I'm not saying that if you read your Bible in the morning, that you'll get more done that day.

21:03
The reality is you might get less done, but you got the most important thing done. That's the point. This isn't like a, you know, here's a real good tip for efficiency or for managing your to-do list. You know, just read your Bible, read a couple of verses, and then you'll get everything done that day. No, no, no. That's not the point. Sit at Jesus' feet. Connect with Him. And you've done the most important thing. Whatever else you accomplish that day,

21:36
You do it from your relationship with Him. And whatever you don't get done, well, that's up to Him. That's His responsibility because you put Him first. We'll also notice here that Jesus says, Mary has chosen the good part. There in verse 42. He said, "...one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part."

22:06
I think this is something important to consider. Mary chose to sit at Jesus' feet. The word chosen, it means to pick something out, to choose it, but specifically talking about choosing something from a selection of many. It's the idea of giving preference from amongst many things. It's the same word that's used to describe when Jesus chose His disciples in Luke 6, verse 13.

22:36
Remember, Jesus had a bunch of people around him, but he selected 12 from the crowd. He said, you, you, you, you, and you. You're my disciples. You walk with me. You stay close. Choosing or preferring certain things out of many things. Mary chose the good things.

23:05
She preferred. There was many options, many things that she could have been involved in. But of those many options, of those many things that needed to be done, she said, I'm going to choose to sit at the feet of Jesus. Pick your priorities is the point. You got to choose. You get to pick and you have to pick. You know, a lot of times I think that Christians are bullied away from time with Jesus. Now here comes the enemy and he says, look, you don't have time. You can't.

23:40
You have these things to do. There's much pressure all around. Pressure from your spouse. Pressure from society. Pressure from your own self and your desires and lusts. I want to do this and I want to do that. And I have to do that. And she says I have to do that. And they say I got to do these things. I don't have time. And we let those pressures bully us and convince us. Well, I guess I got to just scrimp on my reading and prayer and worship.

24:11
Sitting at Jesus' feet. Listen, don't be bullied. You have to make the choice. You have to give the right priority. Put first things first. All three times that we see Mary here in the New Testament...

24:32
It's interesting to see that she's at the feet of Jesus. Here in Luke chapter 10, in John chapter 11, her brother Lazarus has died. And Jesus comes. Of course, he's going to raise him from the dead. But when Jesus comes, Mary comes and she falls at his feet. And then in John chapter 12, there's another dinner party. Martha is serving once again, this time with a joyful heart. But Mary is at Jesus' feet and anointing him with oil. We see it's really a choice that she made.

25:03
She chose to be at Jesus' feet. And so every time we see her, that's where she is. One thing is needed. Choose. You have to choose to do the one thing. To make time with Jesus a priority in your life. Well, from Martha now, we see the other examples.

25:34
And from Martha we learn that many things distract. From Mary we learn that one thing is needed. From Martha we learn that many things distract. Look at verse 40. It says, But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she approached him and said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore, tell her to help me.

25:56
So here's Jesus in this room. He's talking. He's teaching. Mary's at his feet. Who knows who else is there? Probably the twelve. Maybe, you know, more of the crowd that's there with him. And Martha kind of storms in, I picture it. You know, she's a little bit upset. It says that she's distracted with much serving. It's interesting to note, when it comes to time with Jesus...

26:22
There's lots of distractions, but you know you can even be distracted with much serving. This was a great thing. The opportunity to serve Jesus, to prepare a meal for Him and show Him hospitality. Wow, what a great opportunity. You can be distracted and kept from the main thing by good things. This word distracted, it means basically to be pulled in different directions. You ever felt that? It's like tug-of-war and you're the rope.

26:56
And on all sides, there's this tugging. Hey, pay attention over here. Hey, give me time over here. Hey, you need to focus on this. This pressure's all around. We get distracted, bullied. From Martha, we learn three signs of distraction. Here's how you can tell if you've been distracted. First of all, you begin to question Jesus. Look at what Martha says. She says, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?

27:36
Jesus, don't you care? Don't you care about me? Don't you care about all that I'm doing? Don't you care? Really what she's doing, she's rebuking Jesus. Wow, distraction can get you in trouble pretty quick. Questioning the Lord. Lord, don't you see what's going on? Why aren't you doing anything? It causes us to question. And when you begin to question the Lord, you can be assured. You can know you've been distracted.

28:14
you've been separated from that one thing that is needed. Well, the second sign we see is she goes on to be as bold as to command Jesus. She says, therefore, tell her to help me. Jesus, here's what you've got to do. When you start telling God what to do, it's a sure sign that you've been distracted. You know, it's amazing how we think that we are experts in what other people should be doing.

28:46
Here's Martha saying, Jesus, you don't know what you should be doing, but I know what you should be doing, so let me tell you what you should be doing. You should be telling Mary to get in here and help me. And Mary, you don't know what you should be doing. Why are you wasting your time there? You're supposed to be in here helping me. Jesus, I know what you should be doing. Mary, I know what you should be doing. All the while, what's Martha doing? Not what she should be doing. She's distracted. When you start commanding the Lord...

29:22
Thinking that you know what God should be doing and maybe even what everybody else around you should be doing. You're distracted. You've gone away from the one thing that is necessary. Well, the third sign of distraction is that you're worried and troubled. You see that in verse 41 where Jesus says you're worried and troubled about many things. Worried and troubled. These words mean anxiety. A mind that is disquieted or frantic.

29:58
If you're anxious, if you're worried, if you're stressed out, it's a sure sign. You've disconnected. You've been distracted. Remember what Paul says in Philippians 4, 6? Be anxious for nothing. Here's Martha. Worried and troubled, anxious. Paul says, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. What does Paul say? Paul says, don't be anxious. Sit at the feet of Jesus. Give Him your requests. Spend time with Him.

30:34
It's the one thing that is needed. As we look at Martha and see how the many things distract, I love how Jesus responds to her. In verse 41, He says, Martha, Martha. How do you hear Him saying that? Martha! I think it's interesting. He didn't use her full name. Right? You know when people use your full name, what that means, right? Right?

31:06
Gerald Bradley Simmons. I'm like, oh no. I'm running for the door. I'm in trouble. He says, Martha, Martha. I hear tenderness and compassion. Again, God isn't saying, hey, you're a failure because you've lost the right priority. You've been distracted. I don't want you near me. That's not the way God is. God is saying, look, the whole reason why this is here and we're spending time here this morning is so that you can come back to realign your priorities.

31:42
Because He wants to be near you. He wants you to be near to Him. Martha was distracted. Mary chose the one thing that was needed. And so this morning, I want to ask you to choose. Choose the one thing. Choose the necessity. Give Him that priority. The worship team is going to come up and lead us in some worship. And as they do, I want to ask you.

32:18
To spend time at Jesus' feet. When you don't choose the one thing, it's a guarantee you will be distracted by many things. And so this is an opportunity for you and I to choose the one thing, to just sit at His feet. And as they lead us, you guys can come on up. As they lead us in worship, I want to ask you, encourage you, ask Him questions.

32:44
Cast your cares upon him. Let your requests be made known to God. Sit at his feet. Make him your first priority as we worship him together. As we're worshiping, I would encourage you to respond as God speaks to your heart. Maybe he'll call you to his word. So just while we're worshiping, just open up and read and allow God to speak to you.

33:09
If you need a place to start, I suggest 1 Peter. Just read and allow God to speak to you as we worship. Or maybe as we worship that God calls you to kneel before Him. Then kneel before Him. Or maybe to stand and lift your arms. However God ministers to you, but just make sure that you sit at the feet of Jesus. It's the one thing. It's the most important thing. And start now. Give Him that full priority, that full reign in your life. And so let's choose.

33:39
One thing, to sit at His feet as we worship Him together. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.