Word of Salvation – Vol. 27 No. 28 – April 1982
Meditation Or Action
Sermon by Rev. Keith Moerman on Luke 10:38-42
Scripture Readings: John 11:1-6; 17-33; Luke 10:30-37
Psalter Hymnal: 323; 48:1,3,4 and 5; 379:1.3 and 4; 451:1,2 and 4
Boys and girls, young people…
CONGREGATION of a LIVING LORD…
IT’S HOLIDAY TIME AGAIN (or perhaps, soon)
SIGHTSEEING ???
Going places? Queensland? New South Wales?
Or may be not that far away: to Inverloch, or Cape Patterson, or perhaps Bright?
Or even closer by: Healesville…. for fishing; or a bushwalk?
Or just DOING NOTHING…. relaxing on the beach?
And NATURE is so beautiful …..
See the MOUNTAINS, which God decked with MANY BEAUTIFUL COLOURS,
and the valleys with a countless number of flowers…!
HOLIDAYS…. and NOW you have time to look at all these things….
TO STOP, and PONDER and WONDER…..
WHO HAS MADE IT ALL SO BEAUTIFUL…..?
BUT…. holidays is really a strange idea, isn’t it?
HOLIDAYS FROM WHAT???
And many people even have TO LEARN and TO ENJOY how to spend and use their holidays….!
For if you do not look at flowers for 50 weeks of the year, then you cannot do this either for your 2 or 3 weeks of holidays.
And if you have NO TIME for a whole year to listen to the whistling of a canary, or the singing of a bird, THEN YOU CANNOT DO THIS EITHER IN YOUR HOLIDAYS.
BUT… This is my Father’s world,
The birds their carols raise,
The morning light, the lily white
Declare their Maker’s praise …..
But do we have ears tuned to this…. and TIME to look at it????
And many people WHO ARE FLYING over the highways and freeways from East to West for the whole year, they may do the same in their holidays: DOING QUEENSLAND in 7 days… or: going back and forwards to Ayers Rock in a fortnight.
And so we have become SLAVES of OUR WATCHES…. Hurried, chased by that little time device….!
What time is it?
O, I am late, I have NO time anymore… No time… No time… No time!
And whether working days or holidays, too many of us ARE DRIVEN by the short and the long hands of our clocks…. And TIME ALWAYS GOES ON…. And it seems that we are always running short of time…..!
No TIME for reading the Bible….. (please Dad, hurry up, we have to go away) sport, soccer, catechism, choir. No time for prayer.
Please make it quick and snappy, my girlfriend is waiting.
No time for MEDITATION… for the whistle of the factory will go in 20 minutes, and all that traffic on the road….!
JESUS MEETS BUSY PEOPLE TOO, you know ???
Let us look at our text under the theme:
MEDITATION (quiet time) or ACTION ???
Jesus meets the people: TWO SISTERS…. And what a difference in character.
MARTHA… active, impulsive, feeling strongly, and speaking out all she felt, with her heart on her tongue, accurate, a busybody, practical and down to earth….!
And MARY…. the very opposite…. quiet, still, reserved, a serious thinker, guided strongly by her feelings, and one who did not really understand the value of money, for it was she, who in one go, poured 300 denarii worth (and that’s a year’s wages mind you) of perfume over the Lord Jesus’ feet…..!
Jesus meets the people MARTHA and MARY.
A contrast ??? SURE…..!
But yet grace reigned in both hearts. Both loved the Lord Jesus; for both it was a Feast-day when He entered their front door.
But ALL the sheep in the Lord’s flock have their own peculiarities.
the trees in the Lord’s Garden are NOT all alike…..
and yet both were committed to the Lord….!
Can we please remember this when we deal with others
or speak about them
or condemn them so rashly and quickly and harshly
either for what they HAVE done or even FAIL to do…..!
It is a remarkable story here in Luke 10.
And, we almost get the impression that Jesus is telling Martha off.
For she is presented as the active type,
as the one who has ‘no time to listen’.
And Mary is praised ‘for sitting down’…..
She has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
And if we follow that thought through then we are almost compelled to think that the good thing would even be taken away from Martha. And there she stands with EMPTY hands, empty hands which had busied themselves with all sorts of practical and necessary things…. And Mary’s hands are filled… And she hasn’t done anything but sitting and listening…. That’s all.
Is that the impression Jesus wants to give?
Doesn’t Martha, the active one, then come to stand in the shadow of Mary, the passive one? Is that what Jesus wants to say?
MARTHA active ….. (wrong) and
MARY listening – passive….. (right) ???
We read John 11…. after their brother Lazarus died (remember?) And there we also met Martha and Mary. And there again it was Martha who did run out (busy) to meet Jesus, but also who confessed her faith: YES, LORD, I HAVE BELIEVED THAT YOU ARE THE CHRIST: and it is Mary who stays at home: mourning, crying, wiping her tears. The same difference ACTIVE and PASS- VE. But here the ‘staying at home’, being passive, is MORE something for which she is to blame, than being something good
Is it the contrast which Jesus wants to bring out?
Or do they, perhaps, have to learn from one another….
to accept one another, or even complement one another….!
Very often when we hear this story the impression lingers on
that Mary had not done anything at all in the usual household duties
which are normally required when an important guest comes to stay.
But that is NOT really what the text says.
And there is ONE word which is NOT TRANSLATED in the N.I.V.,
but in the N.A.S.V. it is.
It is a Greek word which can be translated by: MOREOVER.
And this one word seems to indicate that Mary had done MORE than just listening,
in vs.39 we read:
‘And Martha had a sister called Mary,
who MOREOVER was listening…!’
In the ‘original language’ this means
(as we find in the King James) “ALSO” MARY, who ALSO was listening.
It may be that we should understand this as –
she had first gone to the well and been drawing water;
and cutting the wood, she had peeled the potatoes,
cut the sandwiches, been busy all the time
and then Jesus knocked on the door,
she took off her apron and now she sat down – ALSO listening….!
Household duties were not below her dignity or so,
but when Jesus came in SHE DROPPED ALL HER TOOLS.
Serving was necessary, but LISTENING even more….!
And now it becomes important to remember that this story of Martha and Mary follows IMMEDIATELY after the parable to the Good Samaritan.
WORKING, and DEEDS and ACTIONS are very, very important indeed…!
There is NO Christianity without action
NO FAITH WITHOUT WORKS
(that’s dead – isn’t that what James said?)
And if you as a Christian are not willing to show this in your deeds,
there is something VERY WRONG with you.
“WHO IS YOUR NEIGHBOUR”, Jesus had asked.
Get your hands out of your sleeves….!
‘Right’, Jesus says… BUT, listening to Me,
taking your time to be holy is VERY IMPORTANT also…!
After all, we can only be motivated to DO SOMETHING,
to CHRISTIAN ACTIVITY
if we FIRST have taken time to listen to Jesus.
So, when Jesus walked into the front door of that home in Bethany
and Mary stopped her cooking and what else,
and sat down at Jesus’ feet, then Martha became very upset.
Why….? She’s leaving it all to me now
and there is still so much to do, before we can sit down….!
Maybe she kept her mouth shut for a little while,
only rattling with the cutlery and the pots and pans a bit louder
(you know how people can draw attention to what they are doing).
But Mary does NOT respond, she is so absorbed by what Jesus says.
And Martha gets more and more worked up and hot under the collar.
And then all of a sudden SHE SPITS IT OUT.
And she is not saying it directly to Mary,
so in the sense of, ‘Hey, come on, give me a hand first!’
No…. she directs her complaint to Jesus….!
Now, of course, NOT that Jesus was not important to her, on the contrary,
BECAUSE she loved Him,
she wanted everything to be spick and span,
and the meal to be TOPCLASS.
For if you have guests, you have to care for them, don’t you?
Isn’t that the way YOU SHOW THEM, YOU LOVE THEM?
And surely Jesus will think the same as I do.
Martha thought: “LORD, DO YOU NOT CARE
THAT MY SISTER HAS LEFT ME
TO DO ALL THE WORK BY MYSELF?”
Don’t let us FORGET that for Martha too Jesus was THE V.I.P.
the One whom she adored,
in the centre of her life,
and as such she does not differ at all from Mary
How is she different then?
MARY IS THE LISTENING ONE,
and with Martha it is the other way round:
The MAIN POINT FOR HER IS ‘WHAT SHE CAN DO HERSELF.
And then Jesus speaks,
and in a way He sticks up for Mary
and NOT because he prefers the MARYS to the MARTHAS;
not because SERVING IS UNIMPORTANT;
not because the one character is more to his liking than the other.
. A Peter in his own circle of friends is as precious to him as an Andrew
BUT JESUS WANTS TO MAKE IT VERY CLEAR
THAT ONE DOES NOT OBTAIN THE GOOD PART
BY HIS OWN ACTIVITIES….
(however important all these things may be),
but that we must be able to find time
TO SIT AT JESUS’ FEET AND LISTEN…
JUST LISTEN TO HIM….!
MARTHA HAD TO LEARN THAT….
even an active sort of a person MUST FIND TIME
and BE WILLING TO SIT DOWN AND LISTEN…
PRAYER and MEDITATION… QUIET TIME…!
When we DO NOT HAVE TIME TO SIT AT JESUS’ FEET,
MANY OF HIS MOST PRECIOUS WORDS GET LOST,
or we do not EVEN come TO KNOW THE VALUE OF IT.
. We are just busybodies running on….!
There’s an old story of a French country doctor,
a very knowledgeable man,
who stepped into a very poor woman’s house one day
and there he saw to his surprise,
framed and hanging on the wall,
a FRENCH MONEYNOTE of a thousand francs….!
A fortune at the time of the story.
He said to the woman, ‘HOW DID YOU GET THIS?’
And she said that during the war they had taken in
and nursed a sick or wounded French soldier, until he died,
and just before he died, he had given her that little picture,
that banknote, and she did not know what it was all about.
She thought it was a nice memorial to him and had it framed.
She never knew that it could have changed HER WHOLE LIFE;
it would have made the difference between poverty and riches.
She had the riches hanging on the wall,
BUT DID NOT KNOW ITS TRUE VALUE.
That’s actually what happens when we do not take time to listen to Jesus’ words,
and find out what it is all about.
IT CAN MAKE THE DIFFERENCE between riches and poverty….
or, rather, BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH.
How much are we doing ourselves short
when we just KEEP RUNNING ON AND ON…!
No time to come to church; and don’t talk about twice, please;
the Sunday is so short already as it is.
No time IN THE MORNING TO SIT AT JESUS’ FEET
and listen to His Word for the day.
NO TIME FOR A QUIET TIME AND MEDITATION
talking over the day’s business with the Lord.
NO TIME TO STUDY THE BIBLE….!
NO TIME….and all the precious and valuable things we are missing out on…
CAUGHT UP IN THE RATRACE OF LIFE
ACTION…. ACTION…. ACTION…. is our keyword
sometimes even in our CHURCH- WORK.
It’s like a beehive…. and time to listen? Forget about it.
Remember the Good Samaritan?
It comes just before This Gospel story in the Bible….
The Good Samaritan: ACTION – DO GOOD.
That’s the THEOLOGY of HORIZONTALISM – and very, very important:
think about your fellowman,
the one you are living with.
ACTION, MARTHA was a Good Samaritan,
but Luke in one breath goes on to tell about MARY,
who apart from serving was ALSO ABLE TO SIT DOWN…
AND LISTEN AND MEDITATE.
Of course, she believed with HER HANDS,
but it all started with her ears….!
And in this meeting Jesus tells His people
ABOUT THE ESSENTIAL COMBINATION of BOTH….!
To believe is ‘GET YOUR HANDS OUT OF YOUR POCKETS’….
but ALSO the FOLDED HANDS quietly resting in your lap.
We are not allowed to put so much emphasis on…
THE LISTENING, THE HEARING of the WORD,
that we never come round to DOING THINGS
(and that’s the danger for those who come to church FOR YEARS,
but who only listen;
they never GET THEIR HANDS OUT to DO SOMETHING for GOD
and for their FELLOWMAN)…. WOE to them.
But let’s add: ALSO WOE to those who are running around,
with just ANYTHING, (and not always bad),
but say, for sport, fund raising, Bible study groups,
or even Evangelism, or World Diaconate, Relief,
World Vision, or helping others….
BUT FIND NO TIME ‘to sit at Jesus’ feet’.
They are missing out on THE MOST PRECIOUS VALUES OF LIFE….!
The Church is a CHURCH
through LISTENING, HEARING which creates faith
and NEVER A CHURCH through its activities….!
A Church can even die, suffocated by its activities
if these are activities for activities’ sake…!
Sometimes JUST LISTENING IS NEEDED,
listening, SITTING AT JESUS’ FEET…
and out of this listening NEW ACTIVITIES then can be born.
Characters and interest can be different,
and Jesus does not have preference,
or more liking for the one than for the other….
BUT JESUS only points out ‘a good balance, the correct relation’.
Quiet meditation, listening to Jesus,
and action, serving, being busy…!
BOTH are IMPORTANT,
only make sure that you NEVER forget the right order….,
for really… if the chips are down
“THERE IS ONLY ONE THING NECESSARY, ONE THING NEEDFUL’
and that’s to listen to the wonderful words of Jesus,
spoken to those who loved Him and served Him,
‘COME IN YOU FAITHFUL and BLESSED SERVANT….
You have taken time to listen to My words,
you have obeyed them,
and NOW COME IN INTO what was prepared for you,
from the beginning.’
In the words of Wm. G. Fisher who wrote:
“Lord, Jesus I long to be perfectly whole”
let us each one in his/her heart say,
“Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole;
I want Thee forever to live in my soul,
Break down every idol, cast out every foe;
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Lord Jesus, for this, I most humbly entreat,
I wait, blessed Lord, at Thy crucified feet;
By faith, for my cleansing, I see Thy blood flow,
Now wash, me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow;
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”
Amen.