Join us in a thoughtful discussion on the human side of Jesus and His need for fellowship in the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Through this narrative, learn how Mary’s decision to sit at the feet of Jesus exemplifies the ideal choice of loving God, and understand the emotional and spiritual support we bring to Jesus when we choose Him first. This episode challenges listeners to reevaluate their daily priorities, placing their relationship with Jesus at the forefront.
Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Tuesday, February 25th. You might know Jesus as your Savior, but is He your friend? Join us today and learn how to make fellowship with Jesus your priority.
SPEAKER 02 :
Luke chapter 10 and beginning in verse 38, we’ll read through the 42nd verse. Luke chapter 10, verse 38 through 42. This is one of those incidences in the life of Jesus that is so full of rich truth that is helpful to us. The scripture says, now, as they were traveling along, that is Jesus and his apostles, 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. But Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her. Now, for a little background, Jesus and his disciples are on their way probably to Jerusalem because oftentimes he would go through Bethany to Jerusalem. So he decided to stop in at the house of Mary and Martha and Lazarus, who were friends of his. And the Bible says that not only were they friends of his, but the Bible says very clearly that he loved them. And more than likely, this was a place that he could find rest and relaxation and fellowship and intimacy with these people whom he loved very dearly. And so on this particular occasion, when he stops in, they’re going to serve him a meal. and he has come more than likely for fellowship as well as for the mail now we think about fellowship we think about oftentimes how we relate to each other, or maybe particular people that you and I can fellowship with. And all of us have those people that we can fellowship with. And so when we think about that, we think about Jesus, though he was divine, he also was human enough to desire and to need fellowship with other people. So in the light of this passage of Scripture and what’s happening here, I want us to see what God would have to say to us about the most important thing thing in the believer’s life. Because the most important activity in the life of the believer is our fellowship with Jesus Christ. Nothing is as important as that. Nothing even compares with that. And here’s a good example of an incident in which I believe Jesus makes that very clear. So everyone should have a strong desire, every believer should have a strong desire to fellowship with him. But if that’s the case, here’s what you’ll discover, something in this passage that is so clear, and that’s this. If you and I choose to fellowship with Him, we may have to leave some things in life undone. You know as well as I do that it doesn’t make a difference how early you get up or how late you go to bed. There’s still something to be done, right? There’s always something that you could do. There’s always plenty to be done. Likewise, in business, it makes no difference what your task may be. There’s always something left to be done. There’s more of this and more of that and something here and something there. And the person really wants to get ahead in life and do their best and does not just want to do what is expected of them only. There’s always more to be done. What we have to ask is this. Of all the things we hear calling for our attention, all the things that are crying out for us, listen, Jesus isn’t going to scream. He’s not going to holler. He’s not going to shout for your time. He’s just going to be there waiting for you to love him enough to want him to spend time with him. If you and I spend the time we need to spend with him, we will have to leave some things undone. Mary was a very wise woman. And so she decided she’s going to have to leave something undone. But she was going to spend precious, wonderful time at the feet of the one person before whom she could learn the most. Before whom she could, in her own heart, express genuine love and know that it was coming back unconditionally. So we said, first of all, that it should be the strongest desire in the life of every believer. And secondly, that if you and I spend the time we should fellowshipping with Him, we have to leave some things undone. So I ask you a question. Where does that activity, where is its priority in your life? You see, none of us can say, I’m too busy. We all have to say, I’ve made choices that cut him out. I’ve made choices that left him out. I’ve made choices that minuscule the time I spend with him. I’ll tell you again, our success in whatever we do will be related to the time we spend alone, listening, anchored to, focused upon, talking with him. But there’s a third thing in this passage that’s so clear to me. I want us to see, and that’s this. That if you and I spend the time we should with him, sometimes we’ll be misunderstood. And this is exactly what happens in this passage. Look at this. I want you to read with me now, if you will, beginning in verse 40. Now, Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus, and they’re all there. Food’s prepared, but they haven’t served it yet. So, verse 40 says, Now, look at this. What’s happening here? Well, as we said before… it wasn’t really the proper role for a woman in that kind of situation to be seated at the feet of Jesus. She should have been in the kitchen. But you know what? Mary wasn’t concerned about what the proper role was. She was concerned about this was Jesus, the Son of God in whom she believed, and she was going to spend time with Him because that was the most precious thing that she could possibly do. She’d already done her work in the kitchen. But I want you to notice what happens to Martha. Martha comes in and instead, now watch this. She had a lot of gold, to be honest. She comes in and instead of saying, Mary, would you please get up and come help Jesus? Excuse me. Mary, would you please come up and let’s go back in the kitchen and help me serve. Here’s Jesus, the son of God, our Lord, our master, whom we love. He’s come to eat with us. Everything’s prepared. We don’t want it to get cold. And Mary, listen, what about coming and helping me? Well, she didn’t say that. Look what she did. She walked in. She said, Lord, don’t you see what she’s doing? Would you please tell her to get in the kitchen with me and help me get this food out on the table? Would you tell her to do it? That’s pretty bold. And what I want you to see is this. Instead of getting on Mary’s case, she got on Jesus’ case. Listen to what this says. She said, watch this. Lord, do you not care that my sisters left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me. I don’t think I’d have had the courage to do that. Lord, don’t you see what she’s doing? Then you tell her to help me. And what was she doing? She was trying to get Jesus to use his authority to get her sister to do something. Somehow she thought she couldn’t get him to do. Now think about what happened. Here’s Jesus and all the apostles sitting around. They’re having this wonderful time. And now we’ve got a little rift going on between the two women of the household. In fact, they’re just having a problem. Martha’s having her pity party, and Mary’s ignoring her. And you just imagine two sisters in that kind of a situation. I mean, we’ve got some real carnality going on. Now, you say, well, if you’re one of those kind of women, you say, well, frankly, Mary should have been in there helping her. You know, people with that temperament, well, let’s get up and make it happen. What are you even sitting around talking to Jesus? Well, I understand that. And Jesus understood that. He didn’t say it was the right thing to do. Now, he’s not rebuking Martha as such when he says, Martha, Martha. But… What he says, he says, now, Martha, she made a choice and she’s made the best choice. All these other things are important. There’s some needful things in life. And you see, Jesus was not in any way discrediting the hard work that Martha had done in preparing this meal. I’m sure he was very, very grateful. And certainly he, in his prayer and in his thanksgiving to the father of the meal, he certainly would always, I’m sure, call their name and express his gratitude. But here’s the difference between these two women. Mary understood Jesus better than Martha did. I believe that somehow Mary understood that Jesus not only came to eat, but he came to fellowship. And she, I believe somehow she had a sense of perception here that not only did she desire to listen and learn and love him. but that he must have had also some needs. Now, you think about this. Jesus was continually giving out. Jesus was continually speaking and sharing and healing. He was continually… Now, watch this. While he is God, he is still man. That is, there’s some humanity in Jesus. And what’s happening is this, that Jesus felt the same kind of emotional and physical drain than anyone else would, who… was continually giving out, continually expending themselves, continually speaking, continually healing, continually teaching. And so oftentimes he became very tired and very weary. So what does he do? He comes to Mary and Martha’s house and I’m sure when he sat down, he must have said, am I glad to be here because they had a long walk. And this was a place of tranquility and calmness and a place where he could just relax. And I believe as Mary said at his feet, not only did Mary learn and listen and love him, but I believe that Jesus also was experiencing and feeling her love that she had for him. Listen now, it is godly love. It is the kind of love that the Spirit of God was exercising through her, but she was loving him. She was meeting a need of Jesus. Now, with Martha, the big need was feed this man. With Mary, it was love this man. The difference between the two women, they had a different temperament. You see, here’s the difference. It isn’t that work is worse than worship. It is that you’ve got to have both. And when Jesus arrived on the scene, Mary knew. Somehow, the most important thing in her life at that moment was sitting at His feet and listening to Him, learning from Him, and loving Him in return. I believe that Mary… met a tremendous emotional need in the life of Jesus in the human part of the Son of God. Because you cannot give out and give out and give out all the time. And if there’s no refreshing of the Spirit, something happens. If there’s no love coming back, You feel that when there is love coming back in return. It is refreshing. It is renewing. It is rewarding. And I believe that one of the primary reasons he stopped at their house is not only to eat and to fellowship with them, he felt their love. And the Bible says he loved them. And you look a long time in the scripture and the Bible, of course, says about John, the beloved. In fact, only these two occasions can I find John himself. The beloved disciple says he identifies himself three times as that disciple whom Jesus loved. He loved them all. But somehow John, the youngest one, probably had a little bit more intimate relationship with him. He outlast all the rest of them in life. He wrote the gospel. And then, of course, there’s first, second, third John, those epistles in the book of Revelation. The last final revelation of God comes through that apostle. The only other time is right here in John chapter 11. It says that Jesus loved Martha, her sister Mary, and Lazarus. There was this awesome intimate relationship. You see, if you and I spend time with him as we ought, We’re going to have to leave some things undone. And sometime we’re going to be misunderstood by other people who say, well, I don’t understand this just sitting around reading the Bible. Well, your friend will call you and say, well, let’s go do so and so. And you may say, well, tonight I think I’m just going to stay in and just have some time with the Lord. Well, you’d have time with the Lord tomorrow. No, I just want to be quiet and just spend some time. Well, what do you mean spending time with him? Why can’t you just go out and then come back? No, I just, you see, some people don’t understand that. A mother who wants to spend time with the Lord may be misunderstood by children or a husband or a husband the same thing or children or somebody else. And somebody says, well, you know, I try to have a Bible study in my business. They won’t let me. Well, if they hired you to work eight hours a day, you better work eight hours a day. You have your Bible study somewhere else some other time. It doesn’t mean that you substitute what is a responsibility in order to do that. But there are businesses where people are able to pray and read the Bible and have fellowship with each other and fellowship with the Lord, and that’s a wonderful thing. In fact, if businessmen were smart, if they were really smart, they’d let the Christians do that because the only thing it’s going to do is bless their business. No business ever failed because a group of Christians in the business prayed for the boss and prayed for the prosperity of the business. No business ever failed doing that. But something else I want you to notice in this passage, and that’s this. That fellowship with our Lord Jesus when neglected is going to result in consequences we don’t like. Look what happens here. Verse 40. 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. Can’t you hear him saying that now? Now, Martha, Martha. You’re worried and bothered about so many things, but only a few are necessary, really only one. Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” He said, Martha, I’m not going to ask Mary to leave her fellowship with me and go serve the table. Because Martha, wonderful as you are, the food we appreciate greatly, more important than that, is I just want to sit here In this quiet, calm, peaceful home. And just fellowship. And I want to express my love to you all. And let you express your love toward me. But look what happens. The scripture says in verse 40. Martha was distracted. That means she was overburdened. She was pulled in lots of different directions. And now notice what happens. So she came up to him and said, well. So the Lord said to her, Martha, Martha. You’re worried. You’re worried. You’re bothered about so many things. You see, here’s what happens. When you and I get our eyes off our Lord, that’s what happens. That’s when we get worried and we get bothered. Now, here’s what I want you to see. Here’s the reason it happens. You see, when you and I are fellowshipping with Him, what’s our focus? It’s on Him. Now, watch this carefully. The time you and I spend fellowshipping with Him, that’s the time God anchors us. fixes us and fixes our focus because he knows that you and I are going out into a world that’s difficult to live in, hard to live in, lots of temptations and trials and hardships. So what happens? In our time of fellowship with him, that’s where we get anchored, fixed in our focus on him. So that when we’re out there doing whatever we have to do, what happens? Our focus is still upon him. It is when I get my focus off of him that And begin to look at circumstances that I can get worried and bothered and upset and impatient. And you see, what happens is, when you and I are spending the proper time with Him, the things that would normally bother us don’t bother us. The things that would normally upset us don’t upset us. Why? Because we’re anchored. Because we are focused. We know that he’s in our life. He’s working in us. He’s going to see us through this. He’s going to enable us. He’s going to empower us. He’s going to show us the way. He’s going to fix whatever needs to be fixed in our life. And so what happens? We can face difficult and trial and hardship and times of loneliness and need and so forth. We can face those how? With confidence and assurance and boldness. Is it always the same? No, it’s not always the same. Because you see, nobody stays fixed all the time on him. Nobody stays anchored all the time. But what I discovered in my own life is when I begin to get worried and bothered and anxious, more than likely most of the time, it is because I have allowed myself to get too busy, to spend time getting my focus where it ought to be, getting anchored back where I should be, and spending time with him. He says, Martha, Martha, you’re so worried and bothered about so many things. All these things aren’t all that important. You see what happens. We get so concerned about what’s going on, things that we have to do, things we’re interested in, things we want to do. And so instead of sitting at his feet, let me ask you a question. Where do most Americans, what do they sit at the feet of each evening? Television. Now think about this. Most Americans sit at the feet of their television set every evening, pouring in all of these things that they’re interested in, and maybe some things they’re not interested in. Some things it’s okay to see, and some things they shouldn’t see. Things it’s okay to hear, and some things not okay to hear. Where’s Jesus? And I can imagine, if you and I could picture this, that he’s sitting over here in this chair, maybe up in the corner somewhere, and he’s just waiting for us. And there he is. He said, Martha, Martha, you’re distracted, you’re worried, you’re bothered about all these things. The most important thing, Mary’s chosen that. You see, the most important thing in your life and mine, fellowshipping with the person of Jesus Christ. And my friend, I want to challenge you. I don’t care how busy you are. I want to challenge you to reevaluate how you spend your time and ask yourself the question, Who is there in all the world more important to you personally than Jesus? Who can do more for you than Jesus? No one. And so I want to challenge you to reevaluate your life and the time you spend. Ask yourself this question. Do you love him enough to give him the best time? Do you love him enough to give him time when you’re the most alert? And do you love him enough to make him the priority of your life? Father, how grateful we are. You love us so much. Your love is beyond our understanding, our comprehension, but not beyond our experiencing. And I pray today that you’ll just etch this message in the heart of every single person who hears it. Let it sink deep and take root. Let it bring forth fruit that brings you honor and brings you love. For we ask it in the Savior’s name. Amen.
SPEAKER 01 :
Thank you for listening to part two of Fellowship with Jesus. If you’d like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.
