Speaker 1: The following resource is brought to you by Real Life Community Church in Richmond, Kentucky.
Speaker 1: We hope you're both challenged and encouraged by this message from Pastor Chris May.
Speaker 2: Luke, chapter 10, beginning in verse 38,.
Speaker 2: Now, as they went on their way, jesus entered a village and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house and she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching.
Speaker 2: But Martha was distracted with much serving and she went up to him and said Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?
Speaker 2: Tell her, then, to help me.
Speaker 2: But the Lord answered her Martha, martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary Mary has chosen the good portion which will not be taken from her.
Speaker 2: It's the word of the Lord and you may be seated.
Speaker 2: So in our text, very familiar text, we have two sisters, namely Mary and Martha, and they have the great privilege of hosting Jesus in Martha's home.
Speaker 2: Now, when we think about this text, we could say that work is not really that important and worship is.
Speaker 2: But I think that's a dangerous approach, because how many know that the Bible speaks very highly of diligent work?
Speaker 2: In our culture we've got two problems kind of on opposite ends of the spectrum when we think about work.
Speaker 2: We've got some who don't want to work at all.
Speaker 2: Can I get an amen.
Speaker 2: You don't want to amen because that might be the person sitting next to you.
Speaker 2: Hey, listen, I love the story of the mother who goes to her son.
Speaker 2: He's real young and she says, honey, what do you want to be when you grow up?
Speaker 2: He said I'd like to be a pastor.
Speaker 2: She thought, well, that's great, but why in the world, at this age, does he want to be a pastor?
Speaker 2: So she says, son, why is it that you want to be a pastor?
Speaker 2: She's expecting some spiritual answer.
Speaker 2: And he says to her mom they only work on Wednesdays and Sundays.
Speaker 2: Well, you laugh, because some of you think that's true as well.
Speaker 2: You know, some people don't want to work.
Speaker 2: But on the other end of the spectrum we have people.
Speaker 2: All they want to do is work, work, work, work.
Speaker 2: They don't work to live, they live to work.
Speaker 2: And so I think the point of this text that I want to pull out today is that diligent work is good, but work should never come at the expense of personal intimacy and communion with God.
Speaker 2: Say it again, the main point of my sermon today work is a good thing, but it should never come at the expense of communion with Jesus, intimacy with God.
Speaker 2: So we have in the story this sister called Mary, and verse 39 tells us that while Jesus is in the home, that she is sitting at his feet listening to his teaching.
Speaker 2: Now, this is a profound statement in the context of ancient culture, first century Judaism, because this position that Mary is in sitting at the feet of Jesus, who is at this point considered a rabbi, more than a rabbi, but at least a rabbi this was unheard of.
Speaker 2: This was the position of a disciple who would sit at the feet of a rabbi.
Speaker 2: Now, in this culture, women were not highly valued.
Speaker 2: Their place, so to speak, was in the kitchen.
Speaker 2: But Mary assumes the position of a disciple, a learner, which is quite unbelievable in that culture.
Speaker 2: It's amazing.
Speaker 2: Do you know the great value that Jesus places on women?
Speaker 2: Jesus welcomes her, he doesn't chastise her.
Speaker 2: You know, often in this situation a woman might, while the men are kind of sitting at the feet of the teacher, the women would be like along the back wall or in another room trying to hear the teaching, but Jesus welcomes her.
Speaker 2: It's an amazing thing.
Speaker 2: So this is the posture of a disciple that Mary has taken, but not only that.
Speaker 2: You know what else it is.
Speaker 2: She has the posture of a worshiper.
Speaker 2: There's much to do in the house.
Speaker 2: There's much to do in the house, but you know what Mary does.
Speaker 2: She sits at the feet of Jesus and listens to him.
Speaker 2: She capitalizes on this unique moment and you know what she is saying by her actions.
Speaker 2: Jesus, your word is the most important thing in my life.
Speaker 2: There is nothing more important than sitting at your feet.
Speaker 2: Mary takes the position of a disciple and she takes the position of a Worship.
Speaker 2: Her and how many know that we are called to be Disciples and we are called to be worshipers.
Speaker 2: Are you with me?
Speaker 2: Talk to me this morning.
Speaker 2: So that's Mary.
Speaker 2: Now I want to say there's no doubt in my mind, mary has helped get the house ready, but she's put all that aside once Jesus begins teaching and she's just engrossed in what he has to say.
Speaker 2: But then there's Martha, in verse 40 says this it doesn't just say that Martha was serving, but it says that Martha is distracted with much serving.
Speaker 2: Let me just ask you this how many of you, especially you ladies, when company comes over, like it's best just to stay away from you for a while, because you go a little crazy, because you want everything to be perfect.
Speaker 2: So when company shows up, it looks like nobody's ever stepped into your home.
Speaker 2: I Mean, it doesn't matter if it's a family member that you see all the time, or if you perhaps it's a, it's a friend who you're very comfortable with, but you're like Barking out commands to everybody hey, do this, do this, clean this, clean this.
Speaker 2: They're gonna be here in five minutes.
Speaker 2: And God forbid, when it comes to the holidays, like these big events I've learned in my home, it's best for me just to take the kids out and do something with them and pray.
Speaker 2: And you know, you know how it is.
Speaker 2: You're like going crazy and you're frustrated because you know you're trying to cook, you're trying to clean, you're trying to do all these things to get ready and you're you can't even enjoy the holiday.
Speaker 2: But then you know, when company arrives, like you don't want them to see, you're crazy.
Speaker 2: So what do you do?
Speaker 2: You're like frantic and you're mad and you're angry and your tense and the doorbell rings and you're like, oh hey, how are you?
Speaker 2: And you're smiling, right, but in your heart like you just want to leave.
Speaker 2: So so this is what's going on with with Martha.
Speaker 2: She's wanting everything to be perfect for Jesus, and just think about this if Jesus in the flesh was coming to your home, what would you do?
Speaker 2: You clean house.
Speaker 2: You might delete some things off, dbr, come on.
Speaker 2: You'd want everything sparkling clean.
Speaker 2: You'd want to cook the best meal, even though he would be satisfied with mama.
Speaker 2: You know bread and water, but you would you want to cook your best meal.
Speaker 2: That's what's going on with Martha.
Speaker 2: She's showing hospitality, which is very, very significant.
Speaker 2: In first century Judaism, they they placed a great deal of value upon hospitality.
Speaker 2: As a matter of fact, a woman's honor and reputation in that culture Depended greatly on her ability to manage her household well and to show hospitality.
Speaker 2: And so what I want you to see is that what, what Martha is doing right here, is absolutely legitimate.
Speaker 2: It would have been seen as a virtue, her great hospitality.
Speaker 2: So the Bible here is not condemning hospitality.
Speaker 2: It is Jesus is not condemning hard work.
Speaker 2: And so, in light of Labor Day, let me just give you a few verses here about hard work.
Speaker 2: Colossians 323 whatever you do, do it heartily.
Speaker 2: As for the Lord, and not for me, it's your job, I don't care what it is.
Speaker 2: You want to do it in excellence, you want to do it Well, you want to do it passionately.
Speaker 2: Why?
Speaker 2: Because, ultimately, you're not working for your boss, you're working for the Lord.
Speaker 2: Do it is unto the Lord, serve is unto the Lord, not for me.
Speaker 2: Second Thessalonians 310 if anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat Proverbs 13, for the soul of a slugger Craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.
Speaker 2: So the Bible says listen, don't be lazy, work, work well, work in excellence.
Speaker 2: And that seems to be what Martha is doing.
Speaker 2: So what's the issue?
Speaker 2: Well, let's look.
Speaker 2: First of all, verse 40 says Martha is distracted with her work.
Speaker 2: But verse 41, here's what Jesus says.
Speaker 2: He says Martha, martha.
Speaker 2: I was thinking of the Brady Bunch when I was.
Speaker 2: What is it?
Speaker 2: Marcia, marcia, right, and this is Martha, martha.
Speaker 2: You are Martha, you are so anxious and you're troubled about many things.
Speaker 2: But here's what Jesus says.
Speaker 2: One thing is necessary Mary has chosen the good portion which will not be taken from her.
Speaker 2: This is profound.
Speaker 2: You know what the issue is with Martha's work?
Speaker 2: It's the fact that Martha has allowed the good thing work, hospitality.
Speaker 2: Martha has allowed the good thing to keep her from the best thing, and, oh beloved.
Speaker 2: How often do we do this?
Speaker 2: There are many good things in life.
Speaker 2: You know I love sports.
Speaker 2: I love Kentucky sports particularly.
Speaker 2: I love college basketball.
Speaker 2: I love to watch NBA.
Speaker 2: I love going to football games in UK and I look forward to going to EKU games this year.
Speaker 2: Sports are good but you know what?
Speaker 2: They become idols in people's lives.
Speaker 2: We talked about this a few weeks ago and we allow the good things to keep us from the best things.
Speaker 2: If this can go with hunting, fishing, hiking, you name it, the good things can keep us from the best things.
Speaker 2: And so Martha is distracted with her work.
Speaker 2: Jesus is teaching, she's worked, she's prepared, but when Jesus teaches, I think it would have been commendable if she would have just stopped and said wait, I'm not going to let dinner or cleaning or preparation rob me from sitting at the feet of Jesus.
Speaker 2: How often do we do this?
Speaker 2: Particularly with work?
Speaker 2: We allow it to rob us of communion with Jesus.
Speaker 2: Now, our culture has a propensity towards being workaholics workaholism as a matter of fact.
Speaker 2: I looked up some statistics and the New York Post had an article pretty recently about a study that was conducted and it showed that over 50% of American adults admit to being workaholics.
Speaker 2: Now, if you're wondering, here's what they go on to say.
Speaker 2: If you're wondering if you might be a workaholic yourself, here's what they say.
Speaker 2: Here's some signs.
Speaker 2: Number one you worry about work on your day off Anybody, all right, so we're not going to do the.
Speaker 2: Might be a redneck thing, but we're going to do.
Speaker 2: You might be a workaholic.
Speaker 2: Number two you feel that you're too busy to take a vacation All right.
Speaker 2: Number three you check emails in bed after waking up or right before going to sleep.
Speaker 2: If you do any of those things, or a list of many more, you might be a workaholic.
Speaker 2: And the question is why are so many of us prone to workaholism?
Speaker 2: Why are we prone to being workaholics?
Speaker 2: And I think there's a couple of good reasons that are have good intentions behind them, but I think there's some negative reasons as well.
Speaker 2: So let me start with the good.
Speaker 2: Number one.
Speaker 2: I know some of you are workaholics because you're very service oriented.
Speaker 2: You care about other people, so you'll leave your job and then you'll come home and you'll serve others relentlessly.
Speaker 2: Work, work, work.
Speaker 2: My wife is like this.
Speaker 2: My wife works from the time she gets up in the morning to the time she lays her head down at night.
Speaker 2: And there's one reason for it she wants to serve everybody else, and some of you are like that.
Speaker 2: Then there's simply the cost of living.
Speaker 2: Have you noticed?
Speaker 2: Foods have gotten a little more expensive, homes have gotten a little more expensive, fuel has gotten a little more expensive.
Speaker 2: So there's this cost of living.
Speaker 2: So sometimes you feel it's out of necessity that you work more.
Speaker 2: But then there's another reason, and it's pride.
Speaker 2: It's pride, what do I mean by that?
Speaker 2: Do you know that sometimes we talk about how much we work because we want to impress people, because workaholism has become somewhat of a badge of honor in our culture, hasn't it?
Speaker 2: Let me give you another aspect of pride here.
Speaker 2: You know what?
Speaker 2: Sometimes we feel that if we take a day off, that God couldn't run things without us.
Speaker 2: I remember when I was first at the church and I really didn't have any staff other staff members, particularly pastors who were experienced and I was petrified to take one Sunday off because we had worked to build the church, by God's grace and I thought, man, if I miss, I'm going to come back.
Speaker 2: The church is going to be burnt down Like I'm.
Speaker 2: Next Sunday, if the building is still standing, I'm going to have like four people.
Speaker 2: How arrogant.
Speaker 2: How arrogant is it, chris?
Speaker 2: Is it Pastor Chris who builds his church?
Speaker 2: No, it's Jesus who builds the church, amen.
Speaker 2: And so I think that many of us really think that, man, if I miss a day, if I take a day off work, that then God can't handle this without me.
Speaker 2: Can I tell you, god did pretty well before you and I were born, right?
Speaker 2: So there you go.
Speaker 2: Pride is a reason.
Speaker 2: And then there's another reason that we're we're workaholics sometimes because our identity is wrapped up in our work.
Speaker 2: What we do for a living becomes, in a sense, who we are.
Speaker 2: This is why so many men and women, when they retire, they're lost, because their identity has been almost solely wrapped up in what they do for a living.
Speaker 2: And so they, they, they're no longer working and they just feel like nothing.
Speaker 2: They feel like they have no purpose, beloved.
Speaker 2: Our identity is not in our job.
Speaker 2: Where is it at?
Speaker 2: It's in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2: And then there's the problem of technology.
Speaker 2: This is the first Time in the world that you can literally work from everywhere.
Speaker 2: You can work at home, in any room.
Speaker 2: Some of you all even work in the bathroom I know it.
Speaker 2: Checking emails, responding to emails.
Speaker 2: You work in the bed at night until you fall asleep.
Speaker 2: You can have visual meetings in your home office.
Speaker 2: You can work while traveling, working on vacation.
Speaker 2: How many of you do that?
Speaker 2: Do you remember the days when you used to like when you left work, you left work when you went on vacation that people weren't able to contact you?
Speaker 2: But we're so connected now.
Speaker 2: And let me give you one more reason I think we're so prone to workaholism, and that is the love of money and possessions.
Speaker 2: The love of money and possessions.
Speaker 2: We work more because we want more.
Speaker 2: We're not content with what we have.
Speaker 2: You know one of the most frustrating things to me I'll have people in the church and they'll be like you know, we're really struggling financially, and then they'll get a raise, or their spouse will get a job, or they'll get a better job.
Speaker 2: You know what happens Instead of putting that money back and providing a little bit of cushion, you know what they do.
Speaker 2: Nine times out of ten, we're guilty of going out and raising that budget.
Speaker 2: Well, I'm gonna buy this down, this down, this down, and now, all of a sudden again I'm making more money, but I'm just as financially stressed.
Speaker 2: And see, workaholism is such a tragedy.
Speaker 2: And here's why number one it impacts us emotionally.
Speaker 2: Look at the text with me.
Speaker 2: Look at verse 40.
Speaker 2: It says that Martha went up to Jesus and listen to what she says Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?
Speaker 2: Tell her, then to help me.
Speaker 2: Tell her to help me.
Speaker 2: But the Lord answers Martha, you're anxious and you're troubled about many things.
Speaker 2: See, overwork, long hours.
Speaker 2: It affects us emotionally.
Speaker 2: Do you see what's going on here?
Speaker 2: Martha is throwing her sister under the bus to Jesus.
Speaker 2: Lord sicker, she's on the couch eating Cheetos and here I am doing this and this, and you know what happens when we work so much.
Speaker 2: We expect everybody else around us to do the same, and it impacts our relationship.
Speaker 2: Oh, here's what I do, here's how I serve, and you're not doing it, lord sicker.
Speaker 2: It affects us emotionally, relationally.
Speaker 2: And then what's it say here?
Speaker 2: It says that Martha Jesus says Martha, you are anxious about it.
Speaker 2: Many things.
Speaker 2: When you work, work, work, you know what happens your heart just becomes overwhelmed with anxiety.
Speaker 2: I guess part of the reason is so many of us struggle with immense levels of anxiety.
Speaker 2: So it impacts us emotionally.
Speaker 2: But also workaholism impacts us physically.
Speaker 2: I've looked on the OSHA website and there they warn about workaholism.
Speaker 2: They write this they say long work hours may increase the risk of injuries and accidents.
Speaker 2: It can contribute to poor health and work fatigue.
Speaker 2: It says studies show that long work hours can result in increased levels of stress.
Speaker 2: Poor eating habits I'm preaching right now lack of physical activity and illness.
Speaker 2: Do you know that?
Speaker 2: Overwork?
Speaker 2: We were not meant to work all day, every day, and when we do that, our body pays.
Speaker 2: We're more prone to illness, we're more likely not to eat well, we're more likely to neglect exercising.
Speaker 2: So it impacts us emotionally, physically, but then it impacts us spiritually.
Speaker 2: You know Martha, here she misses one of the greatest opportunities of her life.
Speaker 2: I mean, could you imagine Jesus being in your home and be like you know what?
Speaker 2: I've got to run off to work, you just stay with the family.
Speaker 2: We've got something more important to do, or being up, moving around and that kind of a thing.
Speaker 2: This is an opportunity to sit and take in what he's saying and you know what?
Speaker 2: Jesus may not be here physically, but he's here by his spirit and he's given us his written word, which is how we hear the voice of God now and I just want to ask how often do we miss church on Sundays?
Speaker 2: Because we find other things, not just work, but other things more important, and we miss, in a sense, sitting with Jesus by the proclamation of his word, getting together, worshiping, because we're too busy.
Speaker 2: We've got something else that is more important.
Speaker 2: You know that overworking it robs us from time with God.
Speaker 2: Now I realize I want to put in this caveat Some of you are nurses and you can't help, but you have other, maybe your first responder, and I thank God that you do what you do and sometimes you just have to work on Sunday and I know you go back and you listen to the message.
Speaker 2: But I'll say this to you that if you pray and you really ask God, lord, I want to be at church on Sundays, I think the Lord will give you a different schedule.
Speaker 2: Pray, pray and pray, all right.
Speaker 2: So there it is, bob.
Speaker 2: Wherever you're at, you guys can go ahead and come up.
Speaker 2: I'm wrapping up here.
Speaker 2: How do we combat this?
Speaker 2: Give me just five more minutes.
Speaker 2: How do we combat this?
Speaker 2: Work, all this Number one schedule time.
Speaker 2: Listen to me.
Speaker 2: Church Schedule time for God-centered rest.
Speaker 2: Let me ask you how many know without I mean just off the top of your head how many hours are there in a week.
Speaker 2: Raise your hand if you can say that right now, one, one person there are 168 hours in a week.
Speaker 2: Now, how many, right now, could tell me how much money, almost to the penny, is in your bank account?
Speaker 2: Okay, a few more hands.
Speaker 2: Wow, some of you don't even know that.
Speaker 2: Well, this analogy is not going to work.
Speaker 2: So, dave Ramsey, people should they know how much money is in their account.
Speaker 2: Okay, all right, probably.
Speaker 2: So we know from month to month.
Speaker 2: Hopefully you do a budget.
Speaker 2: We know how much money we have to work with and we budget accordingly.
Speaker 2: Right, you should do that.
Speaker 2: We should budget our time as well.
Speaker 2: I'll make a calendar out on my computer and I schedule.
Speaker 2: I schedule.
Speaker 2: You see my calendar.
Speaker 2: Don't you see this on there?
Speaker 2: Bible study and prayer every day, every day.
Speaker 2: Take time for God-centered rest.
Speaker 2: Schedule it and protect that hour, whatever it is, 30 minutes.
Speaker 2: Take time every day, because if you just have the intention, you know you might have really good intentions, but if you don't actually schedule it and make it a priority, it'll never happen.
Speaker 2: Schedule time and then let me give you.
Speaker 2: So that's daily.
Speaker 2: But let me challenge you with something, and while I'm preaching to myself, because if you know me, you know I'm not doing this right now Schedule one day, a Sabbath-like day of God-centered rest.
Speaker 2: If you work five days, work another day in the yard around the house if you need to, but take Sundays a great day for this, for God-centered rest.
Speaker 2: You go to church and then maybe after that you go with some family or some Christian friends and you go to the, you know, on a hike and you just take in the beauty of God's creation and you just maybe pray together.
Speaker 2: Maybe that evening you spent some time in the good Christian book and reading the Bible and you're just focused on God-centered rest.
Speaker 2: So I'm not talking about just and I'm not against watching television, but I'm not saying spend eight hours chilling and watching Netflix.
Speaker 2: It's not what I'm talking about.
Speaker 2: I'm talking about God-centered rest and it will renew you.
Speaker 2: You know what I found.
Speaker 2: If you will take time and do this, your six other days will be much more productive.
Speaker 2: You'll actually accomplish more.
Speaker 2: I mean, look at Chick-fil-A.
Speaker 2: I think they put other fast food restaurants to shame with how much.
Speaker 2: I mean.
Speaker 2: Man, you never go to Chick-fil-A from morning to night, when it's not just crazy, I mean just full, and they're closed on Sundays.
Speaker 2: God's blessed them for it.
Speaker 2: Schedule time for God-centered rest.
Speaker 2: Number two how do you combat workaholism?
Speaker 2: Learn to say no.
Speaker 2: Come on somebody, don't say yes and back out on somebody.
Speaker 2: Think about it before you commit and say, listen, I cannot do this, I cannot do this, I don't have the time.
Speaker 2: You can only do so much.
Speaker 2: But some of you are so service-oriented that you feel bad for saying no.
Speaker 2: I'm like that.
Speaker 2: We've got to protect our schedules so that good things don't keep us from the best.
Speaker 2: I love this one.
Speaker 2: Number three take time.
Speaker 2: We've got to take time to enjoy our accomplishments.
Speaker 2: If you go to the beginning of the Bible, you know God created the heavens and the earth.
Speaker 2: This is so cool.
Speaker 2: And it says then that's chapter one.
Speaker 2: And then you get to chapter two, in the beginning of chapter two, and it says that God rested on the seventh day.
Speaker 2: Now, have you ever pondered that?
Speaker 2: Does God get tired?
Speaker 2: You look unsure, shake your head, yes or no.
Speaker 2: Does God get tired?
Speaker 2: No, so it's like why in the world, god, why did you rest?
Speaker 2: Well, I think this is the reason when we look at context.
Speaker 2: So he says the author says that in chapter one he says these words.
Speaker 2: This is right before saying that God rested on the seventh day.
Speaker 2: It says that God looked at his creation and he saw it was very good.
Speaker 2: It's like he just looked back and said wow, look at the majesty of the heavens and the earth, look at the glory of what I created.
Speaker 2: Then Psalms say that the heavens declare the glory of God, the earth proclaims his handiwork.
Speaker 2: And you know what I think.
Speaker 2: In our lives, if we just take a day, I think this would do wonders for us, if we would just take a day of God's inner dress.
Speaker 2: But then look back at the last six days of work and go God, look at what I, by your grace, accomplished.
Speaker 2: Isn't it so often that we just go from project to project and we don't even take time to enjoy the marvel about what we've accomplished?
Speaker 2: In one final point of advice, you want to combat workaholism.
Speaker 2: Live within your means.
Speaker 2: I talked about one of the reasons that we're so prone to working so much because we have to, and it's not because we don't necessarily make enough money.
Speaker 2: What it is is we live outside our means and we don't make enough money to support our luxurious lifestyles.
Speaker 2: It's been said that so many of us buy things we don't need and costs we can't afford to impress people we don't even like man.
Speaker 2: I'm praying right now God, help me be more content, help me lower my standard of living so I can just enjoy life more and worship more and sit at the feet of Jesus more.
Speaker 2: So I would just say to you today that this was one of the hardest messages for me to preach in a long time, because I am.
Speaker 2: This is our therapy group.
Speaker 2: It's WA Workaholic's Anonymous.
Speaker 2: My name is Chris and I am a workaholic.
Speaker 2: I have three jobs right now and before I take other jobs, I haven't prayed about saying God, is this what I need to do?
Speaker 2: Opportunity came and I am so stressed out, my chest hurts, my emotional state is off the charts.
Speaker 2: I ask my wife and it's affected me spiritually, and so I'm committed to some things and I'm going to fulfill those commitments.
Speaker 2: But then my goal this hasn't happened since I've worked here.
Speaker 2: My goal is to just work at church, just work at church.
Speaker 2: I told Nikki the other day.
Speaker 2: I said I can't even imagine having one job.
Speaker 2: I can't imagine it.
Speaker 2: It's been so long and I just have to realize the world will function without me working two, three, four jobs.
Speaker 2: God can do this without me doing all that.
Speaker 2: So I just challenge you keep working in excellence, but don't let the good things keep you from the best things.
Speaker 2: Who's with me?
Speaker 1: God is with me.