Luke 10:38-42

Psalm 31:

2 Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily! Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me! 

3 For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me; 

4 you take me out of the net they have hidden for me, for you are my refuge. 

5 Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God. 

6 I hate those who pay regard to worthless idols, but I trust in the Lord. 

8 and you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy; you have set my feet in a broad place. 

9 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eye is wasted from grief; my soul and my body also.

16 Make your face shine on your servant; save me in your steadfast love! 

17 O Lord, let me not be put to shame, for I call upon you; let the wicked be put to shame; let them go silently to Sheol. 

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all!

This sermon was originally preached by Hans-Martin Heins and was released as a reading sermon.

There can be many important things, but only one of them can be the most important! What is this one thing for you, for me, for us?

People are sitting in a rubber duck with their luggage, trying to get from a sinking ship to shore. But the load in the boat is too heavy. Everyone is only allowed to keep only one thing, the rest has to be thrown overboard. What would you keep: your passport, your mobile phone, your Bible?

And now imagine this question for your life: Of all that you have, choose: What is most important to you? 

What would you definitely want to keep and not give away? Family, job, recognition, friends, money, church, faith, your own creative power, health or ...? You can also think about this question when it comes to a church congregation or the whole church: money, buildings, Bible, Jesus, activities, relationships in the groups...

But we want to stay in our lives, with ourselves. Thank goodness we don't usually have to ask ourselves this question. Most of the time, we can have everything or a lot of things side by side.  Nevertheless, this question is much more crucial for us than we generally realise. Because even if we have not consciously made a decision about it, everyone acts in their daily life according to a list of priorities that they have in the back of their mind, which decides what is more and less important and what is at the top.

The story of Mary and Martha raises this question for us: 

Luke 10:

38 As Jesus travelled on with his disciples, he came to a village. There a woman named Martha gave him hospitality.

39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat down at the Lord's feet and listened to him.

40 Martha, on the other hand, was busy preparing the meal. Finally, Martha came before Jesus and said, "Lord, don't you care that my sister is making me do all the work alone? Why don't you tell her to help me?"

41 The Lord answered her: "Martha, Martha, you are worried and lost in many things,

42 but only one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice. She has chosen a good that no one can take away from her."

How easily we get angry about this: Isn't Jesus supporting laziness here?

Don't we need many more active people in the church and in society? What does Jesus have against Martha's behaviour?  She is doing something, even for Jesus. She is hospitable and does what needs to be done. Her behaviour is actually exemplary and very Christian. If I were to ask you, what is God's will for us? What does a Christian life consist of? What would you answer? Most people would answer: living according to the 10 commandments, observing the double commandment of love, caring for the sick, spreading the gospel, ...

So what is wrong with Martha's behaviour and what makes Mary better?

We have to look closely! Jesus does not say: Martha did a bad thing, but Mary chose the better thing. In comparison with many other people, Martha would probably have done well. Let's assume that what Martha does is the second best and second most important thing, what then is the better, i.e. the most important thing that Mary does?

The answer is: We should let God do something in our lives, let him work.

There is a book by Reinhard Deichgräber entitled "Recognising and doing God's will", which I have not yet read but would like to. It begins with the list "Receive". What God wants to say and give us, we should simply receive. For example, when it comes to the word of God, it is not just an opinion that we can deal with and possibly put into practice, but God's word works. What God says happens... Whenever we allow God's word to have an effect on us, something happens in our lives.  It is the same with prayer. When we place ourselves in God's presence in prayer and open ourselves to him, then God works on us and through us, without us having to do anything.

But we often have a problem with that:

When it comes to solving a problem, building something in our lives, shaping our own lives, relationships or the future, we think that what we do is the most important thing. God may be able to help, but what is really important is what we do. In counselling, we often experience that when people feel like they are drowning in their problems and chaos, they trust in what they can do themselves or in what others can do rather than in what God can do. We can't believe that studying the Word of God or prayer is really capable of giving our lives a new direction. Most of the time, the biggest problem for us is that we have lost the source from which we draw strength; that we lack the centre from which we get peace and orientation; that we lack a support that we know cannot break. Jesus says: You can get that from me!

Once again: Jesus does not say that our actions are unimportant, but he makes it clear:

If our actions do not receive strength from the source of God, without inner peace and good orientation and without a firm foundation, then our actions are pure activism, then we are like drowning people who sink even faster by flapping their hands in panic; then in the end nothing will remain of our actions and we ourselves will also perish. That is why Jesus says: "Only one thing is necessary. Mary made the right choice. She has chosen a good that no one can take away from her."  She lets God do something, gives Jesus space in her life to work.

In the coming week and beyond, let's consider: what role does it play in our lives, in our time planning, that God wants to work on us and through us, and how important do we think this is?

Amen