Good morning. I'm so glad that you are listening this morning. If you would please take your Bibles and turn to Luke chapter 10. Luke 10 I'll be reading verses 38 through 42. We are continuing in our series in the gospel of Luke. A series we've called Jesus Savior of the World. Jesus Savior of the World. Let me read for us Luke chapter 10 verses 38 through 42. 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. 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? Tell her then to help me. 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 away from her. Let's pray together. Father God, you are great. And all the earth will shout your praise. And Father God, it's our desire that this morning, we would shout your praise. So Lord God, I pray that your spirit would grant us ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts to feel your precious word. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. Last weekend, Jill and I, along with our children, had the privilege of attending our niece's wedding. The entire weekend was very, very special. But one particular highlight for me took place at the reception when all the married couples were asked to come on to the dance floor. And to the relief of all the men, it was not some type of dance-off or dance competition. This was another kind of competition. This was a way to recognize the married couple who had been married the longest. And so the DJ put the music on and each couple did their best rendition of the middle school two-step shuffle. When the DJ first said, if you've been married three hours or less, please leave the dance floor. And of course, the newlywed couple left the dance floor. Then with the music playing, he proceeded to say, if you've been married one year or less, please leave the dance floor. Then four years, five years, five years went to 10 years, 10 to 15, 20, until there was one couple left on the dance floor. And that couple was my wife's parents, Mike and Sally Combs. who had been married for 56 years. And so with all eyes on my in-laws, the DJ made his way over to Mr. and Mrs. Combs and asked them this simple question, given that you've been married for so long, what advice do you have for this newlywed couple? To which my father-in-law, who is so funny and so quick-witted, leaned over and said, you need to learn how to say yes dear, which got quite the laugh of everybody in attendance. But when the mic shifted to my mother-in-law in her calm and quiet and sweet way, she said these words, my advice is this, to keep Christ at the center of your marriage. Meaning what? To make Christ your priority. It sounds so simple, doesn't it? Keep Christ at the center of your marriage. But simplicity does not mean easy. It's not easy to keep Christ at the center of one's marriage. Why? Because life gets busy and things happen. Work happens. In some cases, raising a family happens. Home upkeeps happen. PTA happens. Coaching soccer happens. Church activities happens. Hobbies happens. Climbing the corporate ladder happens. Striving for tenure happens. Caring for aging parents happens. Sending kids to college happens. Launching your children into adulthood happens. Retirement happens. In short, life happens. And notice, there's nothing immoral about any of those things that I mentioned. Yet before you know it, the good things in life take precedence. over the best things in life. That's why my mother-in-law's advice to keep Christ at the center of one's marriage, it sounds so simple, yet at the same time is so challenging. And this morning I share that story with you because in a very similar way, when it comes to our faith, When it comes to our Christian faith, it's very easy for us to get so wrapped up and caught up into life's activities that we lose sight of our number one priority. And that is our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, I would venture to say that if I were able to sit down with each of you over a cup of coffee, and ask you this question, has life, has the job, the kids, has ministry, the finances, have those things taken precedence over your relationship with Jesus Christ? Many of you, not all of you, but many of you, if you're honest, would say it has. And it's been so gradual. It's been so subtle. It didn't happen overnight. And if that describes you, I want you to know that struggling to maintain proper priorities, it's not something new to our culture. I know now things have slowed down a bit. But prior to the pandemic, we were all living at a very busy, hectic pace. And we think that getting our priorities out of line is something new to our culture, but it's not. The proper ordering of one's life was a challenge even 2,000 years ago. Hence the story involving two sisters. Mary and Martha and a house guest who is none other than Jesus Christ himself. And this encounter has all the makings of a great story. We have two sisters with a shared history that comes from growing up in the same home. A history that involved playing together, laughing together, and even fighting with one another. Two sisters with two different personalities. Two sisters with two different sets of values. And if you think that your family is the only dysfunctional family that gets into an argument in the presence of company, guess again. These two sisters with all their history and each with their own uniqueness have a tense moment in the presence of Jesus. And at the crux of this disagreement were conflicting views related to priorities. So how does all this get going? According to verse 38, things get rolling when Jesus and presumably the other disciples enter into a village. Now we know that this village is Bethany. the village named Bethany from John 11, which tells us that Martha lived in this village named Bethany, which is about two miles away from Jerusalem. So here we have Jesus and his disciples entering into this village when according to the second half of verse 38, Jesus is greeted by Martha. And our text tells us that she welcomes him into her house. Now, for most of us, when we read that Jesus was welcomed into Martha's home, we don't think much about that. But I would be remissed if I failed to bring to your attention the value Middle Eastern and Mediterranean households place on hospitality. It's a big deal for me growing up in a Greek home. It was quite normal for someone to drop by our house unexpectedly, unannounced. And five minutes later, they were sitting at our kitchen table. maybe eating baklava if it was around lunch or dinner, eating with us. A wonderful spread that my mother had put together. And she was amazing. I would open up the fridge and I would see nothing but barrenness and a whole lot of nothing. She would open up that same refrigerator and she would see a banquet waiting to happen. And so, We need to understand that hospitality and generosity and expressing love to visitors was a very, very big deal for the Middle Eastern culture. So please understand Martha's desire to show hospitality to Jesus. This was a cultural norm. But even more importantly, it was an opportunity to express love. And those of you who have the gift of hospitality, who are able to share Christ's love with others by feeding them and by opening up your home, for people to find rest, this is a wonderful thing. It's a marvelous thing. And as we go through this passage, I want to let you know, if you've got that gift, in no way do I want you to walk away thinking that the gift of hospitality or the gift of serving is somehow secondary to the contemplative life. That's not the purpose of this. First Peter 4, 9 and 10 tells us, show hospitality to one another without grumbling as each has received a gift. Use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace. What Martha was intending to do for Jesus, it was a precious thing. It was a loving thing. It was a good thing. But you know what? just because something is good doesn't make it best. And that's the lesson that Mary teaches us in verse 39. Mary understood the culture. Mary understood the expectations for hospitality. This wasn't foreign to her. But in Mary, we see a woman who chose the best over the good. We see someone who had her priorities in order. We see someone who put first things first. And how do we know that? Because in the midst of all the busyness, of all the preparing, our text tells us that she, Mary, sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. She sat, meaning she humbled herself. And she listened. meaning she came under the teaching of Jesus Christ. What a wonderful picture of 1 Timothy 2.11. Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. There is something beautiful and calming about a person, man or woman, who humbles him or herself at the feet of Jesus Christ. And in a world that is filled with noise, most of which is loud and thoughtless, what a beautiful picture to see Mary sitting quietly at Jesus' feet, listening to his teaching. Why does she do that? Why? Why did Mary choose to sit and listen to Jesus' teaching? Reason? Because at that moment, she regarded the opportunity to sit at the master's feet more important than anything else in the world. Anything. You could have placed anything in front of her and she would have chose quiet submission at the master's feet. And for Mary, it was not as if serving was unimportant. It was that Jesus was most important. In the same way for us, it's not as if our work or our marriages or our children or our ministry, ministry is unimportant. It's that Jesus is most important. And when you put first things first, It makes all the other parts of your life fall into their proper place. And we're going to get more into that in a second because so many of us have an anxiety in our hearts because our lives are fragmented in so many different pieces because our priorities are out of line. Mary chose the best over the good. She put first things first by choosing to sit and listen to Jesus's teaching, which raises the question, how does this apply to us today? Jesus was in her physical presence. Today, Jesus has ascended to heaven. He's at the right hand of the Father. How do we apply this to our lives today? when we are not in the same physical room as Jesus Christ? Answer, by spending time in God's word and by spending time in prayer. In the same way that Mary chose the best over the good, you and I have the opportunity to make that same choice. Every day, you and I wake up, we're confronted with lots of good things we can and should do. We should tackle projects and make phone calls. We should respond to texts and check on the kids' schoolwork. We should pick up groceries for a friend. All of these are necessary and good things, and I don't want to diminish any of those things. But of utmost importance is for you and me to spend time with the Lord. by humbly going before Him and allowing Him to teach us through His Word. I'm more convinced now more than ever that none of us at the end of our life will ever say we spent too much time reading or meditating or studying or memorizing the Word of God. We're not gonna say it. None of us will say, I think I spent too much time in prayer. If anything, we will say, I wish I had rearranged my priorities so that sitting at the feet of Jesus through the word of God and letting him teach me held a higher priority in my life. Yet let's face it, putting things first, it's easier said than done, isn't it? In contrast to Mary, we see in Martha a woman who unfortunately confused the good with the best. And it came at a great price. Look again with me at verse 40. 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? Tell her then to help me. Again, please don't misunderstand Martha's hospitality as the problem. Obviously, as the hostess of Jesus, she would be expected to serve him in some fashion. It was not her choice to serve Jesus or to welcome him into her home that was the prevailing issue. It was the attitude. It was the attitude behind the serving that was the problem. Verse 40 tells us that she was distracted with much serving. Not that she was distracted with serving. She was distracted with much serving. Martha went overboard in her serving. In other words, the act of serving, perhaps driven by perfectionism, took precedence over spending time with Jesus himself. And the preparations and the details and the this and the that ultimately became a distraction. Isn't that something? Isn't that something that our service to the Lord can distract us from the Lord himself? Isn't that something that a particular ministry, whether it's hospitality, or teaching, or visitation, or administration, or missions, or youth ministry, or a cause that we are passionate about, like the fight against sex trafficking, or the pro-life movement, Isn't it amazing that if we're not careful, a ministry or a cause can take precedence over the Lord himself? And how do you know when this is happening? How do you know in your own life when this is happening? when the good things are taking precedence over the best? How do you know when serving the Lord has become more important than the Lord himself? How do you know when a ministry has become a distraction? Well, one indication is that instead of serving with joy and with peace and love, you serve out of a heart of frustration and bitterness and irritability and even anger. For Martha, we see these emotions when she turns to Jesus and says, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me. Never a good idea to rebuke Jesus and tell him what he should be doing. What a contrast between the two sisters. The one is sitting quietly and listening. The other is standing up, lecturing the Savior of the world. And don't you hear the annoyance in her voice? And let's be candid, this can happen to any of us. Any one of us can become annoyed and bitter as we seek to serve the Lord. Whether it's in the workplace, the home, and even here at BCF. Anytime our priorities get flipped and Christ becomes secondary or an afterthought, we are prone to serve with an ungodly attitude. And so please let me just ask you, when it comes to your job outside of the home, do you find yourself angry with the people you work with? Are you irritated that your colleagues or your superiors don't have a greater appreciation for your contribution? Do you see yourself as such an asset to the company that you cannot envision them succeeding without you? How about in the home? Do you find yourself serving your spouse or your children out of frustration and irritation? Agitation? Do you sometimes intentionally let things unravel just to prove how important you are? How about your service here at BCF? Do you harbor bitterness because others show little appreciation or interest in a ministry that is near and dear to your heart? If so, I think if we're honest, we might have to admit that we've gotten our priorities out of order. And we're at a place where we're not putting first things first. And that's a really hard thing to admit. Who wants to admit that you're living life with misplaced priorities? Who wants to admit that you're missing the mark? Who wants to admit that your life is fragmented, that things aren't properly placed? Yet look how Jesus responds to Martha and us, and us as we come to grips with these things. Look again at verses 41 and 42, 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 away from her. Jesus is so forgiving. He's so compassionate. He's so kind. It's obvious that things are not working out the way Martha intended. The get together is a total bust. She embarrassed herself by revealing the anger that was inside of her heart. Yet instead of being critical, Jesus responds with the words, Martha, Martha. That's very intentional. It indicates his care for her. It indicates a voice of tenderness towards her. It was a way of letting her know that he cared deeply for her. Martha, Martha. And look what Jesus says next. You are anxious and troubled about many things. That's that fragmentation. You are anxious and troubled about many things. That's what misguided priorities does to us. It makes us anxious. That's the definition of anxiety, distracting cares. Why? Because we were created to have one major priority and that's Jesus Christ. That's why Jesus tells us in Matthew 6.25, don't be anxious about your life. what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is life more than food in the body, more than clothing? What's Jesus appealing to? Priorities. Because later on he tells us, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things, food and clothing and everything else that you need, it's gonna be added to you. In many places in scripture, priorities and anxiety show up right next to each other. And perhaps some of you are suffering from anxiety this morning because you're distracted with too many things. You've got too many things going on. And Jesus has become mixed in. He's become part of the mix with everything else. He's been mixed in with your work, mixed in with raising your children. And when I say mixed in, I'm saying at the same level, not saying that Jesus should not affect all those things. I'm saying he's at the same plane. Mixed in with your exercise class, mixed in with working on the house. And as a result, you're anxious and you're troubled about many things. But there's a solution for those of us who have failed to order our lives correctly. It's to reorient our life to Christ. And in a world of distracting cares, Christ, he's the one necessary thing. He's the priority above all other priorities. Christ is the good portion. And most of us, when we think of a good portion, our minds go to a healthy serving of food. And I think this is what Jesus had in mind. As Martha was trying to put together a portion that would satisfy Jesus's physical appetite, Mary was feasting on generous portions of Jesus's words that would feed her soul. And at the end, she made the better choice. Your life doesn't have to be fragmented. All those things that are weighing heavy on your heart, those distracting cares, they can find their proper place if you and I just put first things first. So I want to just end our time together by asking you this. What's your single most important priority? Is it your family, your husband, your wife, your children, your education, your career? Is it your ministry? All of these are good things. They're wonderful things, but they're not the best thing. They're not the best thing. The best thing is Christ, knowing him and loving him and, and fellowshipping with him and worshipping him and, and learning from him. And when we fail to keep proper priorities, it comes out in our attitude. Serving becomes drudgery and our hearts become angry, yet there's hope. This passage shows us that there's hope in the midst of it all. Jesus is calling your name. He's calling your name, just like he called Martha's name. He's calling your name and he's calling my name. And by his grace, he can take all those fragmented pieces of our anxious hearts And he'll replace it with peace as we make him our priority by making first things first. And so before Paul comes and leads us in our closing hymn, I just want us to sit quietly. I think this is a special moment and probably within 15 minutes you're going to go on to the next activity. But if the Holy Spirit is talking to your heart, let's just sit quiet. for 30 seconds, quietly before the Lord, just asking ourselves, are my priorities in the right place? If not, ask the Lord to forgive you and to restore you and to give your anxious heart peace. So let's just sit quietly and then Paul will come up and lead us into closing hymn.