A Recipe For Resentment

0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:05.840 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:08.320 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:10.680 this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. 0:00:10.760 --> 0:00:12.840 Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving 0:00:12.880 --> 0:00:13.560 in your life. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:17.680 Enjoy the message. I haven't been with you for the 0:00:17.760 --> 0:00:23.240 last few weeks, and it is good to be back home. 0:00:27.400 --> 0:00:33.440 When I last saw you, I was teaching and preaching 0:00:33.479 --> 0:00:37.280 from kind of a stream of stories in the scripture 0:00:38.000 --> 0:00:41.200 where God calls somebody in the scripture by their name, 0:00:43.000 --> 0:00:45.440 and I chose for us some scriptures where He calls 0:00:45.479 --> 0:00:50.199 them by their name twice. And I was doing that 0:00:50.320 --> 0:00:53.000 because there are significant seasons that you and I will 0:00:53.000 --> 0:00:55.760 walk through where God will want to get our attention 0:00:56.720 --> 0:01:00.200 for something that He's bringing us into. And so today, 0:01:00.360 --> 0:01:03.120 I think is going to be the funnest one of all. Now, 0:01:03.760 --> 0:01:05.760 I know that we've disrupted the flow of the series 0:01:05.800 --> 0:01:08.800 because I had to go and minister in all kinds 0:01:08.840 --> 0:01:11.240 of wonderful places, and we did minister to over one 0:01:11.280 --> 0:01:15.360 hundred thousand people in Jesus' name over the two weeks 0:01:15.360 --> 0:01:21.280 of our tour. But you know, what there's nowhere that 0:01:21.360 --> 0:01:23.959 I can preach that feels just as good to me 0:01:24.319 --> 0:01:27.679 and as free to me as this pulpit right here 0:01:28.880 --> 0:01:34.959 at Elevation Church. And although you may not remember the 0:01:35.000 --> 0:01:36.920 flow that I was in, I have been preparing this 0:01:36.959 --> 0:01:39.560 sermon the whole time I've been gone, So I'm just 0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:42.000 excited to preach it today. Please stand at all of 0:01:42.040 --> 0:01:46.120 our locations if you're seated, and we'll stand for the 0:01:46.160 --> 0:01:50.160 reading of the Word of God, and we'll pick up 0:01:50.160 --> 0:01:52.800 in Luke chapter ten. Thank you so much, team, I 0:01:52.880 --> 0:01:57.240 appreciate it. Luke chapter ten, verse thirty eight through forty two. 0:01:58.920 --> 0:02:04.040 Luke chapter ten, verse thirty eight through forty two. The 0:02:04.080 --> 0:02:07.840 Bible says as Jesus and his disciples were on their way, 0:02:08.680 --> 0:02:11.560 he came to a village where a woman named Martha 0:02:12.320 --> 0:02:15.880 opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, 0:02:15.919 --> 0:02:19.120 who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said, 0:02:19.960 --> 0:02:24.799 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had 0:02:24.840 --> 0:02:27.600 to be made. She came to him and asked, Lord, 0:02:28.680 --> 0:02:31.080 don't you care that my sister has left me to 0:02:31.120 --> 0:02:37.800 do the work by myself. Tell her to help me. Martha. Martha, 0:02:37.919 --> 0:02:43.640 there you go. Martha, Martha, not just Martha, but Martha Martha. 0:02:43.919 --> 0:02:48.680 The Lord answered, you are worried and upset about many things. 0:02:49.440 --> 0:02:51.080 Now some of you, that's your whole life in one 0:02:51.120 --> 0:02:54.360 Bible verse right there, you are worried and upset about 0:02:54.440 --> 0:02:57.519 many things. If you're not obeying any scripture, some of 0:02:57.560 --> 0:02:59.840 you are living that one out right there. You are 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:05.239 worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed, 0:03:05.880 --> 0:03:11.440 or indeed, only one. Mary has chosen what is better, 0:03:12.080 --> 0:03:15.720 and it will not be taken away from her. Okay, 0:03:15.720 --> 0:03:17.239 I'm gonna give this a title. It's gonna sound like 0:03:17.280 --> 0:03:18.880 a negative title, but we're gonna work it to a 0:03:18.880 --> 0:03:23.080 positive conclusion today. And the title for this message is 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:32.280 a recipe for resentment. I didn't think you'd like that title. 0:03:33.360 --> 0:03:36.120 So a recipe for resentment is the title, and the 0:03:36.160 --> 0:03:38.240 subtitle is this. And you can ask it as a 0:03:38.320 --> 0:03:40.960 question to your neighbor before you take your seat, ask them, 0:03:41.640 --> 0:03:46.040 whose list is this? Whose list is this? Ask your 0:03:46.080 --> 0:03:51.160 other neighbor, whose list is this? And Father, in the 0:03:51.240 --> 0:03:54.080 name of Jesus, I know your word is powerful, but 0:03:54.160 --> 0:03:57.000 I pray now that it would penetrate our hearts. In 0:03:57.080 --> 0:03:59.880 your name, I pray Jesus and expect and believe the 0:04:00.120 --> 0:04:07.120 man you may be seated. Just for an opening illustration, 0:04:08.200 --> 0:04:09.640 I want to tell you a story I've never told 0:04:09.680 --> 0:04:11.480 in church, but I've told it to my family so 0:04:11.520 --> 0:04:15.600 many times. I just remembered it because Austin asked me 0:04:15.640 --> 0:04:18.400 to tell this story on tour. It happened when me 0:04:18.480 --> 0:04:21.960 and his dad are executive pastor of Elevation Church, the 0:04:22.000 --> 0:04:27.719 Great Chunks Corbett. We were traveling in Nashville, Tennessee with 0:04:27.839 --> 0:04:33.440 another pastor. The other pastor is a very forceful personality, 0:04:34.080 --> 0:04:42.720 very tall, bald, big goatee, and very passionate, and that 0:04:42.760 --> 0:04:45.520 can be a good thing, but this was one of 0:04:45.560 --> 0:04:48.000 the occasions where his passion was kind of bad. Soa 0:04:48.000 --> 0:04:50.240 tell you a story. We walk in a restaurant. We 0:04:50.279 --> 0:04:52.760 don't have the reservation, and there's no hostess at the 0:04:52.800 --> 0:04:56.160 hostess stand. It's not terribly busy in the restaurant either, 0:04:56.880 --> 0:05:01.200 so we expect. Everybody say expect. Now, I want you 0:05:01.279 --> 0:05:03.320 to hold onto that word because I'm gonna work with 0:05:02.920 --> 0:05:07.680 that word. Expect. We expect that someone will come seat us. 0:05:08.200 --> 0:05:11.480 There are plenty of seats that are empty that can 0:05:11.520 --> 0:05:15.960 accommodate a party of our size. Two minutes pass, nobody 0:05:15.960 --> 0:05:20.880 says hello. Three minutes, four minutes, and I forgot to 0:05:20.880 --> 0:05:23.640 tell you this, But my friend is also white, so 0:05:23.680 --> 0:05:27.400 I could see his face turning red. With every minute. 0:05:27.760 --> 0:05:32.840 His face got redder and redder. Five minutes in, I'm 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:36.520 watching his bald head and there are veins popping through 0:05:36.520 --> 0:05:39.359 his goatee, on his chin, all the way from his forehead. 0:05:40.360 --> 0:05:42.400 And I started backing a way because I didn't know 0:05:42.440 --> 0:05:44.400 what was going to happen next. But I didn't expect. 0:05:44.440 --> 0:05:46.880 Now I'm about to yell what he yelled. So you 0:05:46.880 --> 0:05:48.640 don't like yelling, just cover your ears and I'll be 0:05:48.680 --> 0:05:50.600 done with this in five seconds. But I'll never forget it. 0:05:51.000 --> 0:05:54.400 He stands in the middle of the restaurant, in front 0:05:54.400 --> 0:05:56.400 of the hostess stand where nobody had helped us. Five 0:05:56.440 --> 0:05:59.360 minutes had passed and it feels like five hours, and 0:05:59.400 --> 0:06:03.719 he yells at the top of his lungs, does anybody 0:06:03.880 --> 0:06:13.800 care that we're here, which, of course helped nothing except 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:17.760 that probably in his mashed potatoes there was some extra 0:06:17.839 --> 0:06:20.840 spit that he didn't know about by the time we 0:06:20.839 --> 0:06:25.719 were seated and eating. But I never forgot him yelling 0:06:25.760 --> 0:06:29.960 that and I was telling Austin that story because it's legendary. Now, 0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:32.599 when we're waiting at a restaurant, we'll just joke to 0:06:32.640 --> 0:06:35.160 each other in our family. Does anybody but I don't 0:06:35.320 --> 0:06:38.240 yell at out loud. I wouldn't do that. But I 0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:44.159 remember him after expecting to be seated, and apparently this 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:48.400 was even before COVID and the shortage of staffing that 0:06:48.480 --> 0:06:50.640 swept all of the restaurants in the nation. I mean, 0:06:51.200 --> 0:06:55.039 this was prime time. He expected a seat, but he 0:06:55.120 --> 0:06:59.000 was met with the disappointment, and so he yells at 0:06:59.000 --> 0:07:00.719 the top of his lungs. I won't again. I'm gonna 0:07:00.720 --> 0:07:03.000 save my voice for something more meaningful in about ten minutes. 0:07:03.720 --> 0:07:06.000 But he yells at the top of his lungs. Does 0:07:06.080 --> 0:07:11.360 anybody care that we're here? Of course, we're all embarrassed, 0:07:12.240 --> 0:07:13.840 you know. For the rest of the meal, I'm pulling 0:07:13.880 --> 0:07:15.800 the hostess to the side. When she comes, I'm like, 0:07:15.880 --> 0:07:18.360 I'm so sorry, hand her a twenty dollars bill, just 0:07:18.400 --> 0:07:21.160 trying to pay down the damage to my reputation because 0:07:21.160 --> 0:07:23.120 I don't want to be seen with this guy. And 0:07:23.120 --> 0:07:28.320 it wasn't even my city. Does anybody care? And I 0:07:28.320 --> 0:07:31.720 could watch it building in him. It's like there's a seat. 0:07:32.000 --> 0:07:37.320 I'm hungry. I'm hungry, there's a seat, and it's just building. 0:07:37.400 --> 0:07:42.040 And finally he blew up. Does anybody care that we're here? 0:07:42.800 --> 0:07:44.800 So here's the formula, and you might want to write 0:07:44.800 --> 0:07:51.679 this down. I shared that to share a recipe with you. 0:07:51.680 --> 0:08:01.360 Your expectations plus others limitations minus grace is a recipe 0:08:01.600 --> 0:08:05.560 for resentment. You're only talking to me today, but I 0:08:05.600 --> 0:08:08.600 am preaching like I had a whole world tour under 0:08:08.640 --> 0:08:13.040 my belt. Let me say it again. Your expectations like 0:08:13.080 --> 0:08:15.800 I expected you to say amen when I said that 0:08:15.920 --> 0:08:19.920 last thing, plus others limitations, which is you are not 0:08:20.000 --> 0:08:23.240 awake yet, you only had half a cup of coffee. 0:08:23.320 --> 0:08:30.840 Your expectations plus others limitations minus that part is important. 0:08:31.280 --> 0:08:38.800 Grace is a recipe for resentment. Your expectations. What they 0:08:38.840 --> 0:08:41.520 need to give you, how they need to appreciate you, 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:45.760 how they should assist you, what they should have taught you. 0:08:45.760 --> 0:08:51.040 Your expectations minus others limitations. Maybe they didn't teach you 0:08:51.080 --> 0:08:54.920 because nobody taught them. Maybe they didn't call and check 0:08:54.960 --> 0:08:57.040 on you because they were battling with the flu too. 0:08:58.200 --> 0:09:05.080 Your expectations limitations or plus other's limitations. Your expectations minus 0:09:05.120 --> 0:09:07.880 others limitations equals Jesus because he's not limited and he 0:09:07.920 --> 0:09:10.960 could do anything. In fact, let me point this out 0:09:10.960 --> 0:09:15.160 to you. When Jesus and his disciples were going to Bethany, 0:09:15.200 --> 0:09:17.760 that's the village they were traveling to. In Luke chapter ten, 0:09:18.920 --> 0:09:21.400 nobody had to stand in the middle of the streets 0:09:21.440 --> 0:09:26.200 of Bethany and scream does anybody care that we're here? 0:09:27.160 --> 0:09:30.240 Peter didn't have to go out and yell. The Bible 0:09:30.280 --> 0:09:33.959 says in Luke chapter ten, verse thirty eight that when 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:36.280 they went through a village, it doesn't mention the village, 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:39.760 but it names the woman. Her name was Martha, and 0:09:40.000 --> 0:09:43.240 she opened her home to him. Now bring out my screen, 0:09:43.240 --> 0:09:44.920 would you, because I want to do a little teaching 0:09:44.960 --> 0:09:48.840 today as I preach. Oh you like when I bring 0:09:48.840 --> 0:09:58.480 out the screen. What's up with that? It's exciting? Okay, Well, 0:09:58.520 --> 0:10:01.480 since you like the screen, let me show you something 0:10:01.520 --> 0:10:06.800 on the screen today. Imagine this, Jesus and his disciples 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:10.040 are going out with the message of the Gospel, and 0:10:10.679 --> 0:10:14.400 all of Luke chapter ten is Jesus setting expectations for 0:10:14.480 --> 0:10:17.560 his disciples before they go out. To these villages, to 0:10:17.600 --> 0:10:22.360 these towns. Right. He is preparing them for rejection that 0:10:22.400 --> 0:10:25.360 he knows they will encounter, because he doesn't want them 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:28.760 to be unprepared for the fact that not everybody will 0:10:28.760 --> 0:10:31.440 accept the message. And one of the ways that he 0:10:31.520 --> 0:10:35.280 prepares them is he gives them each a partner. He 0:10:35.360 --> 0:10:38.760 pairs them. He sends out seventy two people to go 0:10:38.800 --> 0:10:41.280 ahead of him, and everywhere that Jesus went, there would 0:10:41.280 --> 0:10:43.240 be a little advanced team that would go ahead of 0:10:43.280 --> 0:10:47.560 him to let them know Jesus is coming. In fact, 0:10:47.640 --> 0:10:49.840 touch your neighbor real quick and say Jesus is coming. 0:10:51.360 --> 0:10:55.880 You didn't sound excited about that, Abby, get more excited. 0:10:55.920 --> 0:10:57.960 If I told you Taylor Swift is coming, you would 0:10:58.000 --> 0:11:01.920 jump up and stand on your chair. But tell somebody 0:11:02.000 --> 0:11:06.200 Jesus is coming. And he sent them out, Yeah, like 0:11:06.240 --> 0:11:10.960 that Jesus is coming. Does anybody care that Jesus is coming? 0:11:11.160 --> 0:11:13.800 I know sometimes the worship leaders stand up here and 0:11:13.840 --> 0:11:16.360 they're leading worship and they're like, come on, let's sing 0:11:16.400 --> 0:11:20.440 it out. Come on, please sing it out. Anybody sing 0:11:20.480 --> 0:11:24.680 it out? Does anybody care that the King is here? 0:11:24.720 --> 0:11:26.880 It's like we care, we just don't know the song 0:11:26.920 --> 0:11:29.520 gets new. Okay, we care. I'm promise we care. It's 0:11:29.600 --> 0:11:34.040 just too high. You can't sing that high. And there's 0:11:34.080 --> 0:11:38.760 a feeling that you can get that. Nobody cares. My 0:11:38.920 --> 0:11:43.200 expectations minus others limitations, or plus I keep screwing it 0:11:43.280 --> 0:11:49.280 up plus other's limitations minus grace is a recipe for resentment. 0:11:49.360 --> 0:11:51.800 So Jesus, being all knowing and all wise and sovereign 0:11:51.800 --> 0:11:53.800 and so good at his job of running the universe, 0:11:54.520 --> 0:11:56.679 knows that as he sends his disciples out, he has 0:11:56.720 --> 0:11:59.360 to send them in pairs two by two. And he says, 0:11:59.520 --> 0:12:02.640 when you go into the village, don't be surprised that 0:12:02.760 --> 0:12:05.880 some people welcome you and some people don't. If they 0:12:05.920 --> 0:12:08.800 welcome you, stay there. Whatever they put before you, eat it. 0:12:08.840 --> 0:12:11.640 This is all in Luke chapter ten. Whatever they give 0:12:11.679 --> 0:12:14.280 you to eat, eat it. But if they don't welcome you, 0:12:17.000 --> 0:12:20.680 wipe your feet and walk. I don't know who this 0:12:20.760 --> 0:12:22.560 word is for, but I just felt God on that 0:12:22.600 --> 0:12:26.120 one thing right there. Tell your neighbor wipe it off 0:12:27.080 --> 0:12:30.160 and walk. So if they didn't want to date you, 0:12:30.240 --> 0:12:33.560 that's all right. If they thought you weren't the one 0:12:33.559 --> 0:12:35.200 for them, you weren't the one for them. Because if 0:12:35.200 --> 0:12:37.199 you were the one for them, God would have illuminated 0:12:37.240 --> 0:12:41.240 that fact. Then you would be with them right now, hellolujah, 0:12:42.240 --> 0:12:45.920 tell your neighbor, wipe it off and walk. Got somewhere 0:12:45.920 --> 0:12:48.439 to go. I've got something to carry. I'm called by 0:12:48.480 --> 0:12:51.880 someone greater than you. I can't stay stuck just because 0:12:51.920 --> 0:12:56.120 you decided to say no. I can't spend the rest 0:12:56.160 --> 0:12:58.320 of my life trying to prove something to somebody who 0:12:58.360 --> 0:13:01.960 can't promote me anyway. So if they didn't open the 0:13:01.960 --> 0:13:06.680 door to you, walk on, walk on. That's the whole 0:13:06.679 --> 0:13:11.080 word for somebody, gome be blessed, walk on, wipe your 0:13:11.080 --> 0:13:15.240 feet and walk. So he's preparing them. Don't always expect 0:13:15.640 --> 0:13:20.760 that everyone is going to accept you. In fact, if 0:13:20.760 --> 0:13:28.600 everybody accepts you, that's probably the most dangerous thing of all. Okay, 0:13:28.640 --> 0:13:31.599 So in preparing them for rejection, the Bible says in 0:13:31.679 --> 0:13:33.640 Luke chapter ten, verse thirty eight, and now I'm at 0:13:33.679 --> 0:13:36.720 my main passage. If I remember how to use this 0:13:38.640 --> 0:13:43.400 in Luke chapter ten, and if you'll think I'm gonna 0:13:43.400 --> 0:13:46.520 come up here and preach a message about Martha and 0:13:46.559 --> 0:13:51.640 make her the villain of the story, you are sadly mistaken. 0:13:52.400 --> 0:13:55.839 About me, because well, first of all, I read here 0:13:56.240 --> 0:13:59.840 it says in the heading at the home of Martha 0:13:59.840 --> 0:14:04.120 and Mary. Okay, and that's how it's heading, because Mary 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:06.640 lived there. But the Bible says as Jesus and his 0:14:06.679 --> 0:14:10.160 disciples were on their way, he came to a village 0:14:10.720 --> 0:14:17.760 where a woman singular named Martha opened her home to him. 0:14:18.960 --> 0:14:21.960 All to talk about all that, I want to talk about, 0:14:21.960 --> 0:14:24.960 how she was busy because somebody has to pay the bills. 0:14:25.680 --> 0:14:28.200 I want to talk about all that. I want to 0:14:28.200 --> 0:14:30.920 contradict every criticism that I've ever heard preached about this 0:14:31.040 --> 0:14:33.880 wonderful woman, Martha, who gave a hospitable welcome to the 0:14:33.880 --> 0:14:36.360 Savior of the world and said you can stay with me. 0:14:37.800 --> 0:14:39.920 I want to take a moment before we praised Mary 0:14:39.960 --> 0:14:45.000 for her untethered devotion and her unmitigated reverence for the Lord, 0:14:45.040 --> 0:14:49.760 to just respect Martha because she opened her home to 0:14:49.840 --> 0:14:54.240 him to him. So, if you looked at a list 0:14:54.280 --> 0:14:56.240 of the bills that were paid in that home, they 0:14:56.280 --> 0:15:01.520 all had Martha on them. If you looked at all 0:15:01.560 --> 0:15:03.760 the mortgage statements that were paid on time, you would 0:15:03.800 --> 0:15:13.320 see Martha paid the mortgage. Who say it again, Martha Martha. 0:15:13.560 --> 0:15:17.840 Martha might not always have the best ability to prioritize 0:15:17.880 --> 0:15:22.560 the focus of presents, but she paid the bills. Okay, 0:15:22.560 --> 0:15:25.560 we're going to make a list real quick. This kind 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:27.640 of teaching and preaching is important so we don't make 0:15:27.680 --> 0:15:29.920 presumptions about who are the heroes and the villains and 0:15:29.960 --> 0:15:33.840 the examples and the cautionary tales in scripture. I'm going 0:15:33.880 --> 0:15:37.960 to make a list real quick of everything, not everything, 0:15:38.000 --> 0:15:42.560 but just a few things that make Martha amazing number one. 0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:44.840 And I believe this applies to some of you in 0:15:44.880 --> 0:15:46.640 the room too, And in just a moment, I'm going 0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:48.280 to bring this so close to home that you will 0:15:48.280 --> 0:15:50.360 feel it for your own situation. But for a moment, 0:15:50.440 --> 0:15:54.720 let's talk about Martha. Martha should be praised because she 0:15:55.000 --> 0:16:03.920 was number one resourceful when they came through saying Jesus 0:16:04.040 --> 0:16:06.600 is coming to Bethany. Now, Bethany is not Jerusalem. It's 0:16:06.600 --> 0:16:11.120 two miles from Jerusalem. Bethany was not special in the 0:16:11.160 --> 0:16:14.640 context of the scripture until Jesus did one of his 0:16:14.680 --> 0:16:18.280 greatest miracles there and blessed the disciples before his ascension there. 0:16:18.880 --> 0:16:21.000 So he's stopping through a place that would seem to 0:16:21.000 --> 0:16:25.040 be insignificant. Martha, hearing of it, says, if he wants 0:16:25.120 --> 0:16:27.920 to hold a Bible study, he can meet at my house. 0:16:29.000 --> 0:16:32.240 Let's golf clap for Martha because she was resourceful. Just 0:16:32.280 --> 0:16:37.960 go ahead, and let's thank God for her resourcefulness. That 0:16:38.040 --> 0:16:40.800 she realized that her resource comes from the source, and 0:16:40.840 --> 0:16:44.480 she offered that to God. She was the original e 0:16:44.600 --> 0:16:49.680 group leader. I bet she had good snacks too. You know, 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:52.560 she had good snacks and she had to because put 0:16:52.560 --> 0:16:55.400 the verse back up there. In Luke chapter ten, verse 0:16:55.440 --> 0:16:58.480 thirty eight, please, it says, as Jesus and his disciples 0:16:58.520 --> 0:17:00.120 are on their way, he came to a village, a 0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:04.240 woman named Martha opened her home to him. But check 0:17:04.280 --> 0:17:08.760 this out. When you bring Jesus in your house, the 0:17:08.760 --> 0:17:12.160 Bible says, as Jesus and his note back to the verse, 0:17:12.280 --> 0:17:18.560 as Jesus and his disciples were on their way, so 0:17:18.600 --> 0:17:21.160 the announcement comes through Jesus is coming. Jesus is coming. 0:17:21.200 --> 0:17:23.240 Anybody got a room for Jesus? An IFO I got 0:17:23.280 --> 0:17:26.760 Airbnb for Jesus, Martha's like, I'll help sure. I've heard 0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:29.120 great things about this miracle worker. He could come stay 0:17:29.160 --> 0:17:33.120 with me. And by the way, he's bringing a few 0:17:33.119 --> 0:17:36.280 people with him. And then you read over in Luke 0:17:36.320 --> 0:17:38.560 chapter six, verse twelve through seventeen. Put that on the 0:17:38.560 --> 0:17:41.160 screen for me, please. On one of these days, Jesus 0:17:41.200 --> 0:17:43.400 went to mountainside to pray, spent the night praying to God. 0:17:44.080 --> 0:17:45.920 When morning came, he called his disciples to him and 0:17:46.000 --> 0:17:48.520 chose twelve of them, who we also designated apostles. Here's 0:17:48.560 --> 0:17:54.359 the list. Simon whom he named Peter, his brother, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, 0:17:54.520 --> 0:17:57.440 James son of Alpheus, Simon who was called the zealot, 0:17:58.040 --> 0:18:00.640 Judas son of James, and Judas is scaredriot who became 0:18:00.680 --> 0:18:02.960 a traitor. Why did you read us all that? Because 0:18:03.000 --> 0:18:06.840 I wanted you to see the full guest list that 0:18:06.920 --> 0:18:10.920 Martha was responsible for when she said yes to Jesus. 0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:15.879 Saying yes to Jesus is one thing. Saying yes to 0:18:15.960 --> 0:18:21.879 everything that comes with Jesus is another. Because when Martha 0:18:21.880 --> 0:18:24.800 said yes to host Jesus, she also had to host Judas. 0:18:28.720 --> 0:18:35.920 One prophet said, every rose has its thorn, And I 0:18:36.440 --> 0:18:39.320 want to praise Martha for a moment because she was 0:18:39.359 --> 0:18:44.959 so resourceful that she heard the list of disciples and realized, Okay, 0:18:45.280 --> 0:18:47.520 if I want to do this for Jesus, I'm going 0:18:47.600 --> 0:18:49.640 to have to do it for all of them, which 0:18:49.640 --> 0:18:53.840 is a big commitment. I mean talking about a recipe. 0:18:54.400 --> 0:18:56.280 The bigger the group gets, the harder it is to 0:18:56.280 --> 0:18:58.800 make a recipe that will stretch to feed the entire group. 0:18:59.560 --> 0:19:02.240 The only I have to offer you as for ramen noodles. 0:19:03.320 --> 0:19:05.360 But when I watch Holly Cook, I realized that as 0:19:05.400 --> 0:19:08.600 the size of the guest listic spans, so does the 0:19:08.680 --> 0:19:11.359 need for preparation. So when the Bible says all the 0:19:11.400 --> 0:19:14.080 preparations that had to be made, you have to understand 0:19:14.359 --> 0:19:18.199 Martha wasn't just feeding Jesus. She was feeding every hooligan 0:19:18.560 --> 0:19:22.679 that he brought with him, every redneck fisherman that he 0:19:22.720 --> 0:19:26.360 brought with them, every tax collector that he brought with him. 0:19:26.440 --> 0:19:28.600 And I'm pointing this out to you for a reason. 0:19:28.720 --> 0:19:33.000 She was resourceful. Another thing that we could say about 0:19:33.000 --> 0:19:39.400 her is that she was responsible. All the responsible people 0:19:39.760 --> 0:19:43.880 make some responsible noise, not too much, just a responsible 0:19:43.920 --> 0:19:47.040 amount of noise, not too loud that you might scare 0:19:47.040 --> 0:19:49.560 your neighbor or lose your voice, just a responsible amount 0:19:49.600 --> 0:19:53.439 of noise. She was so responsible in the context of 0:19:53.480 --> 0:19:56.720 this that she knew everything that had to be done 0:19:56.840 --> 0:19:59.760 to host the one who came from heaven in her home. 0:20:00.920 --> 0:20:05.919 So she's resourceful. Everybody say resourceful, Talk to me today. 0:20:06.000 --> 0:20:17.960 She was resourceful. She was, and she was even respectful 0:20:19.480 --> 0:20:23.160 because he got to give it to her. Right, She's 0:20:23.160 --> 0:20:25.760 putting in all this work to feed all these people. 0:20:26.400 --> 0:20:28.560 And remember when I read you at the beginning, her 0:20:28.600 --> 0:20:34.159 sister is doing nothing to pitch in. So instead of 0:20:35.960 --> 0:20:40.040 doing what she probably felt like doing, she walks up 0:20:40.080 --> 0:20:43.240 to Jesus, and Jesus is teaching, okay with The Bible 0:20:43.280 --> 0:20:46.680 says that Mary was sitting at Jesus's feet. They were 0:20:46.720 --> 0:20:49.760 not having a casual chat that is a posture of discipleship. 0:20:50.480 --> 0:20:53.359 She wasn't sitting at his feet so they could talk 0:20:53.400 --> 0:20:56.879 about you know, so are you watching any shows lately? 0:20:57.480 --> 0:21:02.240 He was teaching and she was listening. Give me verse 0:21:02.240 --> 0:21:04.919 thirty nine, real quick. The Bible says she had a 0:21:04.920 --> 0:21:08.000 sister called Mary who sat at the Lord's feet listening 0:21:08.800 --> 0:21:14.800 to what he said. What was Mary doing listening? Verse 0:21:14.840 --> 0:21:19.840 forty But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that 0:21:19.920 --> 0:21:28.920 had to be made. She came to him and asked, Lord, See, 0:21:28.920 --> 0:21:33.719 she's not disrespectful about it. She's calling him by his title, 0:21:34.440 --> 0:21:38.119 not even by his name. She didn't even call him Jesus. 0:21:38.160 --> 0:21:42.560 She said, Lord, not dude, not bro, not any of 0:21:42.600 --> 0:21:51.200 this stuff that I hear y'all calling each other these days. Lord, Lord, Lord, 0:21:51.520 --> 0:21:55.440 she's respectful. Don't you care that my sister has left 0:21:55.440 --> 0:21:58.159 me to do the work by myself. Tell her to 0:21:58.160 --> 0:22:00.480 help me. Now, let's make the list for Mary. Okay, 0:22:01.280 --> 0:22:03.800 let's make a list for Mary. What can we say 0:22:04.359 --> 0:22:08.280 about Mary? Okay? This is what I can say about Mary. 0:22:08.680 --> 0:22:09.280 She was. 0:22:16.760 --> 0:22:21.960 Present, and that's about all she was. She wasn't cooking, 0:22:22.000 --> 0:22:24.320 she wasn't cleaning, she wasn't lifting, she wasn't scrubbing, she 0:22:24.359 --> 0:22:29.879 wasn't organizing. Come on, she wasn't enlisting others. She was there, 0:22:31.160 --> 0:22:33.520 and that's all we can say about her. That's what 0:22:33.640 --> 0:22:38.119 a scripture makes me mad, because she was just there, 0:22:38.760 --> 0:22:43.919 and Jesus like, be like her. She's here, and Martha. 0:22:44.160 --> 0:22:49.119 I imagine that Martha is thinking, Okay, she's here, But 0:22:49.240 --> 0:22:53.720 so is Peter, so is James, so is John, so 0:22:53.960 --> 0:22:57.720 is Bartholomew, so is Judas, and he looks kind of sketchy. 0:22:57.760 --> 0:22:59.960 By the way, you might want to interview your diciple 0:23:00.240 --> 0:23:02.639 candidates a little bit more next time before you come 0:23:02.680 --> 0:23:04.440 to Bethany. I'm not even sure I'm putting up my 0:23:04.480 --> 0:23:06.880 valuables in the house. That guy looks kind of kind 0:23:06.880 --> 0:23:12.800 of That guy looks kind of Oh, I'm saying, and Jesus, 0:23:12.880 --> 0:23:19.760 now watch this, Jesus says, she's here, she's present, she's present, 0:23:20.720 --> 0:23:27.480 she's present, she's here. Yeah, but Jesus, are you hungry. Yeah, 0:23:27.480 --> 0:23:33.000 we're hungry. We need to eat. But she's here. Yeah. 0:23:33.000 --> 0:23:35.840 But Jesus, I don't need her here at your feet. 0:23:37.040 --> 0:23:39.960 I need her in here helping me in this kitchen. 0:23:40.800 --> 0:23:42.639 Unless you want to do one of those tricks like 0:23:42.680 --> 0:23:44.439 you did that time with the fish in the loaves 0:23:44.480 --> 0:23:49.119 and start multiplying some of these ritz crackers. Jesus. Now, 0:23:49.119 --> 0:23:50.680 if you want to do that, go ahead and do it. 0:23:51.000 --> 0:23:52.480 But if we are going to do this meal the 0:23:52.520 --> 0:23:55.320 normal way, now, I don't feel like I'm getting this 0:23:55.400 --> 0:23:57.199 across yet, So I want to get a little bit 0:23:57.200 --> 0:24:00.440 deeper into this with you. There are ways in which 0:24:00.520 --> 0:24:04.119 we can feel that the advice that we're given to 0:24:04.160 --> 0:24:08.320 get closer to God is unrealistic. For real life, we 0:24:08.359 --> 0:24:11.760 don't say that. We shout about things that people say 0:24:11.800 --> 0:24:15.600 in church, where we say, you know, don't worry about tomorrow. 0:24:15.960 --> 0:24:19.720 How far do you want me to take that? Because 0:24:19.760 --> 0:24:22.159 if if you're, if you're, if you're gonna be depending 0:24:22.200 --> 0:24:24.280 on me to pay for your retirement, then I need 0:24:24.359 --> 0:24:27.200 you to worry about tomorrow a little bit, a little bit. 0:24:28.160 --> 0:24:30.159 If you're gonna, if you're gonna put the burden on 0:24:30.240 --> 0:24:32.240 me when there is no plan, I need you to 0:24:32.320 --> 0:24:35.600 plan a little bit. And I see Martha in a 0:24:35.640 --> 0:24:39.479 different light. I see her as resourceful, I see her 0:24:39.520 --> 0:24:43.840 as responsible, I see her as respectful. And all I 0:24:43.840 --> 0:24:46.000 can say for Mary is she may be some of 0:24:46.040 --> 0:24:48.560 these things too, But all we really know about her 0:24:48.640 --> 0:24:52.280 is she's here. And Jesus is like, that's good. That's 0:24:52.320 --> 0:24:56.080 what I want. Now, let's play it out. Mary's sitting 0:24:56.119 --> 0:24:59.199 at the feet of Jesus, singing, here I am to 0:24:59.400 --> 0:25:05.399 her shit. Martha keeps walking through, and Mary keeps singing, 0:25:05.440 --> 0:25:09.920 here I am too bad. Here I am to say 0:25:09.960 --> 0:25:14.320 that you're my God. Here I am to worship. And 0:25:14.359 --> 0:25:17.000 then Martha starts singing a song goes like this help 0:25:17.119 --> 0:25:23.440 me with these dishous I worked hard on that line. 0:25:23.480 --> 0:25:30.280 Y'all clap for that. My expectation, yeah, my expectation was 0:25:30.320 --> 0:25:35.760 that you would laugh at that. And the Bible says something. 0:25:35.760 --> 0:25:37.399 I don't know if you caught this scram It said 0:25:37.720 --> 0:25:43.680 that Martha, while she was all of these things, resourceful, responsible, respectful, 0:25:43.880 --> 0:25:47.240 she wasn't evil. The Bible says, but Martha was Verse ten, 0:25:47.320 --> 0:25:57.879 what distracted. That's it? Not bad, distracted, not evil, distracted, 0:25:58.680 --> 0:26:06.119 not demon possessed, distracted, not not what would you call 0:26:06.160 --> 0:26:11.080 somebody who's scatterbrained all the time. Just distracted. She doesn't 0:26:11.119 --> 0:26:14.399 have a lack of capacity, She's just distracted. And I 0:26:14.440 --> 0:26:18.560 want to say that not all distraction is bad. Not 0:26:18.680 --> 0:26:21.960 all distraction is bad. A few years ago we were 0:26:21.960 --> 0:26:25.560 having inclement weather at the church, and this morning it 0:26:25.680 --> 0:26:28.840 was raining hard coming to church, and for a moment 0:26:28.960 --> 0:26:32.320 I got worried, Oh no, what if people don't come? 0:26:33.160 --> 0:26:35.560 But I decided a few years ago never to worry 0:26:35.560 --> 0:26:40.600 about the weather because it's above my pay grade. All 0:26:40.640 --> 0:26:42.359 I can do is ask them, well, do you have 0:26:42.400 --> 0:26:45.600 the umbrellas ready? And as I worried about the weather 0:26:45.640 --> 0:26:47.560 for a moment, thinking would it limit people from coming, 0:26:47.640 --> 0:26:49.359 I realized that the only thing I can focus on 0:26:49.400 --> 0:26:51.760 in control today is this word that I'm preaching to you. 0:26:53.440 --> 0:26:55.119 So if the enemy can get me worried about the 0:26:55.160 --> 0:26:57.960 weather and take my eyes off the word, it will 0:26:58.040 --> 0:27:01.280 weaken what I was sent here to do because of 0:27:01.320 --> 0:27:04.560 my focus on something I can't control it. Now we're 0:27:04.600 --> 0:27:07.800 getting there. The enemy is trying to weaken what you 0:27:07.880 --> 0:27:10.800 were sent to do by getting you to focus on 0:27:10.840 --> 0:27:14.399 something you can't control. Of all the things that Martha 0:27:14.440 --> 0:27:17.119 could manage, the mortgage, of all the things that Martha 0:27:17.160 --> 0:27:19.879 could manage, the menu. Of all the things that Martha 0:27:19.920 --> 0:27:23.000 could manage, one of them was not Mary. There are 0:27:23.040 --> 0:27:26.040 a few things you can't control in this world. One 0:27:26.119 --> 0:27:35.399 is whether and the other is others. Martha was distracted. 0:27:36.359 --> 0:27:40.000 She wasn't even distracted playing that game that my family 0:27:40.040 --> 0:27:43.360 is all addicted to with the blocks on their phone. 0:27:43.440 --> 0:27:50.760 She was distracted, baking, cleaning, preparing. She was distracted, but 0:27:50.880 --> 0:27:54.919 she was multitasking, right. And this is the illustration I 0:27:54.920 --> 0:27:57.720 want to give. Okay, I really think you're going to 0:27:57.800 --> 0:28:00.440 remember this. This is the part of this I rememberhere. 0:28:00.440 --> 0:28:02.880 I think when they say did you go to church Sunday? Yeah, 0:28:02.880 --> 0:28:04.960 it's it good as all right what he preached you about. 0:28:05.119 --> 0:28:07.520 Oh he did this one thing where this is what 0:28:07.560 --> 0:28:10.200 you're gonna show him. And I pictured you preaching this 0:28:10.320 --> 0:28:13.440 back to your spouse this week. Okay, So I'm gonna 0:28:13.440 --> 0:28:16.320 give you something. I'm give something to use as ammunition 0:28:16.480 --> 0:28:19.480 this week when the people in your life start acting 0:28:19.560 --> 0:28:24.280 kind of Martha, all right, or or when you start 0:28:24.280 --> 0:28:27.240 feeling it inside of yourself. Now, I asked Holly, I said, 0:28:27.440 --> 0:28:29.800 where's something to church that you wouldn't mind being seen 0:28:30.040 --> 0:28:32.439 on camera? Where in it? So here we go. Holly's 0:28:32.440 --> 0:28:36.640 gonna be in my illustration. Come on, Holly, and Holly, 0:28:37.800 --> 0:28:41.400 I know y'all love her, but she's got to play 0:28:41.400 --> 0:28:45.120 the part of Martha for a moment, just for illustration purposes. 0:28:46.200 --> 0:28:48.760 I don't have her play this part because I think 0:28:48.800 --> 0:28:51.720 she resembles this character. In fact, I marvel at her 0:28:51.760 --> 0:28:54.440 ability to balance things. But I was thinking about something 0:28:54.480 --> 0:29:01.480 last night. You know, Abby had her birthday on Monday fourteen. Yeah, 0:29:01.520 --> 0:29:05.680 happy birthday baby. But of course the party went on 0:29:05.760 --> 0:29:09.960 all week, and we were planning a party on Saturday. 0:29:10.040 --> 0:29:14.520 So stand up, okay, party on Saturday. Lots of guests, 0:29:15.280 --> 0:29:18.760 very very cool, occasion. And then I watched Holly as 0:29:18.800 --> 0:29:20.320 she was checking her calendar by a week or two, 0:29:20.400 --> 0:29:25.880 and she remembered that Graham's wrestling banquet, state champion, two 0:29:25.880 --> 0:29:31.840 times state champion, right here. His banquet is also on Saturday. 0:29:32.880 --> 0:29:36.960 Party is at six, banquet is at six. Okay, stand 0:29:37.040 --> 0:29:41.800 up Graham. So now I watched her just become completely 0:29:41.840 --> 0:29:46.160 disappointed in herself because she realized, now I got a party, 0:29:46.960 --> 0:29:53.040 a birthday, a banquet, and a highly emotionally needy husband 0:29:53.920 --> 0:29:57.560 who needs extra emotional support before he preaches on Saturday. 0:29:57.560 --> 0:30:00.600 And I'm telling you, I am such a baby before 0:30:00.640 --> 0:30:03.160 I preach. I need her to do everything for me. 0:30:03.200 --> 0:30:04.880 For the twelve hours before I preach, I can't think 0:30:04.920 --> 0:30:07.880 about anything but the sermon. So I've got a birthday, 0:30:07.920 --> 0:30:13.520 a banquet, and a baby. Now I want to illustrate this, 0:30:13.560 --> 0:30:14.719 and I'm going to take my time with it. It's 0:30:14.760 --> 0:30:16.400 alright if I take my time with it today, Okay, 0:30:16.400 --> 0:30:18.960 I can't get that thing because I see some of you. 0:30:18.960 --> 0:30:24.280 You're not bad, You're distracted, You're not wicked. You're distracted. 0:30:24.880 --> 0:30:28.600 You keep going off on people. Does anybody care that way? Here? 0:30:30.400 --> 0:30:35.200 Because you're distracted, You're mad because you're distracted. Your hunger 0:30:35.320 --> 0:30:41.000 is distracting you from your true heart. The demands are 0:30:41.040 --> 0:30:44.160 distracting you from the destiny. But here is the thing 0:30:44.160 --> 0:30:46.440 about this distraction. We're doing this as a family today. 0:30:46.440 --> 0:30:50.600 Apparently in the Greek the word for distraction is not 0:30:50.640 --> 0:30:53.160 like the English word for distraction. In English, we say 0:30:53.200 --> 0:30:55.320 distraction to mean something that comes up that we didn't 0:30:55.320 --> 0:30:57.680 plan for. Right, Well, in the Greek it doesn't mean 0:30:57.680 --> 0:31:00.720 something that you didn't plan for. Often in scripture, something 0:31:00.760 --> 0:31:05.240 you didn't plan for is called a miracle. So a 0:31:05.240 --> 0:31:08.080 lot of times you will see that someone who the 0:31:08.120 --> 0:31:10.480 disciples saw as a distraction, like a blind man by 0:31:10.480 --> 0:31:12.720 the roadside, was the reason that Jesus was on the journey, 0:31:12.760 --> 0:31:14.040 because he said, bring him to me and let me 0:31:14.080 --> 0:31:16.360 heal him. But Jesus, he's a distraction, No he's not. 0:31:16.560 --> 0:31:22.360 He is the destination. Great. The word for distraction, and 0:31:22.360 --> 0:31:24.680 the problem with distraction is not when you're doing more 0:31:24.720 --> 0:31:27.000 than one thing at the same time. That is called adulthood. 0:31:29.440 --> 0:31:32.880 That is called maturity. When you're juggling this and juggling that. 0:31:32.960 --> 0:31:34.760 And I keep hearing people talk about you need to 0:31:34.760 --> 0:31:37.520 be more present, you need to be present with your 0:31:37.520 --> 0:31:39.200 family at the dinner table. Okay, let me tell what 0:31:39.240 --> 0:31:41.160 that means to me. I eat with them. I do 0:31:41.240 --> 0:31:45.160 not kill them. That's my definition of present. Yeah, but 0:31:45.200 --> 0:31:48.320 do you put the phones up? Sometimes sometimes the phone 0:31:48.400 --> 0:31:50.760 is the only thing that numbs the pain of their 0:31:50.920 --> 0:31:54.160 arguing to get me through the dinner without indigestion. Y'all 0:31:54.160 --> 0:31:57.320 are so fake in this church today, acting like y'all 0:31:57.320 --> 0:32:00.719 all pray around the table and share strip her versus 0:32:00.720 --> 0:32:06.360 over tacos, and then we have worship Wednesday for our family. 0:32:06.440 --> 0:32:13.600 And here I am to all. So the process is this, 0:32:13.760 --> 0:32:15.800 and I'm just gonna lead Holly around for a moment. Okay. 0:32:16.520 --> 0:32:19.560 There are times in your life where, like Martha, you 0:32:19.600 --> 0:32:21.200 will feel so busy and I don't know who is 0:32:21.200 --> 0:32:23.680 in this season right now, where you will feel like, okay, 0:32:23.680 --> 0:32:25.000 I'm doing good, I'm doing good, and then all of 0:32:25.040 --> 0:32:27.920 a sudden, a different priority will come and you have 0:32:27.960 --> 0:32:34.640 to change direction. Changing directions is not distraction. That's called pivoting. 0:32:36.680 --> 0:32:39.080 Pivoting is an essential skill, so you don't get so 0:32:39.200 --> 0:32:41.400 locked into what you thought was important that you miss 0:32:41.440 --> 0:32:44.440 what was really important. So in order for her to 0:32:44.480 --> 0:32:46.920 be the Holly that she needs to be the mom 0:32:46.960 --> 0:32:49.520 that she needs to be, the pastor that she needs 0:32:49.560 --> 0:32:51.720 to be, the leader that she needs to be, the 0:32:51.840 --> 0:32:54.040 daughter that she needs to be, the friend that she 0:32:54.160 --> 0:32:56.720 needs to be. That means that there are sometimes where 0:32:56.760 --> 0:32:59.520 she is going to feel like she has multiple personalities 0:32:59.560 --> 0:33:02.480 while she is trying to walk in multiple roles. That 0:33:02.640 --> 0:33:05.560 is normal. That is not sinful. It is the skill 0:33:05.600 --> 0:33:08.840 of pivoting. It is realizing that one moment you may 0:33:08.840 --> 0:33:11.160 have to be yelling down the stairs did you brush 0:33:11.160 --> 0:33:13.360 your teeth? The next moment you might have to pick 0:33:13.440 --> 0:33:14.880 up the phone and use a little bit more of 0:33:14.880 --> 0:33:17.600 that bedside manner with somebody who is struggling in the 0:33:17.600 --> 0:33:20.440 hospital with cancer that goes to the church. This is 0:33:20.480 --> 0:33:25.000 not sinful, This is skillful. It's her ability to discern 0:33:25.040 --> 0:33:27.240 in this moment, Okay, I plan to do this today, 0:33:27.640 --> 0:33:30.320 but that completely interrupted my day. I'm gonna have to 0:33:30.320 --> 0:33:32.880 go a different direction this day. I'm gonna have to 0:33:32.880 --> 0:33:35.400 get it done a different way today. I'm not gonna 0:33:35.400 --> 0:33:36.800 be able to do it how I thought I was 0:33:36.840 --> 0:33:39.160 gonna do it today. I'm gonna have to cook for 0:33:39.240 --> 0:33:42.800 all of these disciples by myself today. And Peter won't 0:33:42.840 --> 0:33:46.320 shut up. He keeps yelling. Martha wears the peanuts, Martha 0:33:46.320 --> 0:33:49.360 wears the gummy worms. This guy is loud mouth. Does 0:33:49.400 --> 0:33:52.840 anybody care that we're here? And so while she is 0:33:52.920 --> 0:33:56.840 being led through her day, that is completely normal. The 0:33:56.840 --> 0:33:59.600 Lord will lead you, and it'll lead you sometimes to 0:33:59.600 --> 0:34:02.280 do something that you didn't plan to do. He'll lead 0:34:02.360 --> 0:34:04.920 you to do something that wasn't on your list, and 0:34:04.960 --> 0:34:08.040 you have to be a tentive in those moments. We 0:34:08.080 --> 0:34:10.560 sang a song earlier, You gave Me one more Day. 0:34:11.400 --> 0:34:14.480 That song was written while we were finishing writing another 0:34:14.560 --> 0:34:17.240 song and one of the songwriters in the room started 0:34:17.280 --> 0:34:19.879 to play something that I had not heard, and I said, 0:34:19.960 --> 0:34:22.480 what is that? He said something that just came to me. 0:34:22.719 --> 0:34:24.520 I said, no, we're going to write that right now. 0:34:25.239 --> 0:34:27.520 We wrote the song off of something that he was 0:34:27.560 --> 0:34:30.320 doing as a distraction while we were waiting to record. 0:34:30.880 --> 0:34:33.120 If we did not pay attention to the moment that 0:34:33.160 --> 0:34:35.480 we were in just to fulfill the agenda that we 0:34:35.520 --> 0:34:37.799 had set, we would have missed the song that we 0:34:37.920 --> 0:34:41.279 sang that is now blessing people and life is like that. 0:34:41.880 --> 0:34:43.960 You got to be a tentive to God. See how 0:34:44.040 --> 0:34:46.479 she's doing this she's fine. I am taking she doesn't 0:34:46.520 --> 0:34:49.080 know where I'm taking her. And that's what it means 0:34:49.120 --> 0:34:51.680 to walk in faith. It's like, I don't know what 0:34:51.719 --> 0:34:54.319 I'm going to face today. I don't know who's gonna 0:34:54.400 --> 0:34:58.200 need me today, Especially if you're responsible for others. Some 0:34:58.280 --> 0:35:00.480 of you got your own company because you didn't want 0:35:00.480 --> 0:35:05.200 anybody to tell you what to do. Now you got 0:35:05.719 --> 0:35:14.200 Now you've got hundreds of terrorists employees, and their needs 0:35:14.920 --> 0:35:18.040 become your agenda, and you have to move like this. 0:35:18.680 --> 0:35:21.399 So before we just chopped Martha down, oh, she should 0:35:21.440 --> 0:35:23.920 have sat at the feet of Jesus realized that there 0:35:23.920 --> 0:35:26.120 were things that needed to happen, and everybody was calling 0:35:26.120 --> 0:35:28.799 for her attention. Martha, Martha, Where do we keep the 0:35:28.960 --> 0:35:31.920 Where do you keep the water for the washing of feet? Martha, Martha, 0:35:31.960 --> 0:35:33.880 there's twelve of these guys. They've already used up all 0:35:33.880 --> 0:35:36.279 of the water. Martha, Martha. What are we gonna do 0:35:36.280 --> 0:35:39.920 with the bread? Is burned? The bread? I'm sorry, Martha, Martha, Martha, 0:35:39.920 --> 0:35:41.799 this God Judas is looking at your jewelry. You want 0:35:41.800 --> 0:35:44.280 me to put it in a different drawer, Martha, Martha. 0:35:44.520 --> 0:35:47.319 So that's what's happening, right and it's just demand after 0:35:47.400 --> 0:35:51.319 demand after demand. Because she is a good mom, and 0:35:51.440 --> 0:35:54.439 she can be a good mom as long as she's 0:35:54.560 --> 0:35:58.360 just mom. I have a birthday, she can plan that. 0:35:59.680 --> 0:36:11.319 But what about when it's mom, Mom, Martha Martha, Because 0:36:11.320 --> 0:36:14.800 now I got a birthday, and I got a banquet, 0:36:15.840 --> 0:36:21.879 and I got a baby, and she can do this. 0:36:22.000 --> 0:36:24.120 Let her go if Graham needs her. I've seen it 0:36:24.160 --> 0:36:26.399 a million times. She's so good. Just gently, boy, don't 0:36:26.440 --> 0:36:31.120 talk her too hard, just gently, just gently. She can 0:36:31.160 --> 0:36:33.080 do that. Oh Mom, I need this. And I'm using 0:36:33.120 --> 0:36:35.200 the illustration of mom, but you could feel this as 0:36:35.200 --> 0:36:37.879 a young person. I'm using the illustration of a mom, 0:36:37.880 --> 0:36:39.879 but you can definitely feel it as a dad. I'm 0:36:39.960 --> 0:36:42.160 using the illustration as a mom, but you can definitely 0:36:42.160 --> 0:36:44.040 feel it as you navigate all of the roles and 0:36:44.080 --> 0:36:46.360 the frequencies that your life has to occupy in the 0:36:46.360 --> 0:36:49.719 places you have to show up. I'm a student, I'm 0:36:49.760 --> 0:36:54.680 an employee, I'm a boss, I'm an employee, I'm a pastor, 0:36:55.080 --> 0:36:58.200 and I'm a dad. I get it. So she's mom. 0:36:58.560 --> 0:37:04.439 This is fine, she's a mom. This is fine, Leo. 0:37:07.280 --> 0:37:11.799 But the Greek word where it says martha was distracted 0:37:14.040 --> 0:37:18.359 the Greek word for distracted, and I'm stolen because I'm 0:37:18.360 --> 0:37:28.520 trying to remember how to say it. Ah, pariaspotos, pariaspotos. 0:37:29.680 --> 0:37:32.560 Now that's the word. Here's what it means. It means 0:37:33.640 --> 0:37:43.279 pulled apart. So watch this. Lego she can pivot or 0:37:43.360 --> 0:37:47.960 lego abby she can pivot. Neither of those are bad. 0:37:48.000 --> 0:37:50.800 That's life. You gotta dance with things. You know. You 0:37:50.880 --> 0:37:54.080 gotta dance with life. You gotta make it look easy too. 0:37:54.080 --> 0:37:58.120 You got a multitask and up and down nobody. That's 0:37:58.120 --> 0:38:03.759 called dancing. This is reality. Stop praying that your life 0:38:03.760 --> 0:38:06.520 would get simpler. You want your life to get simpler. 0:38:06.600 --> 0:38:14.400 Die either die or dance is dance or die is 0:38:14.480 --> 0:38:17.200 Pay this down, pay this off, hold this back is 0:38:17.400 --> 0:38:18.920 dance or die. 0:38:19.920 --> 0:38:25.759 Smile here, cry there, win here, lose there, take the 0:38:25.800 --> 0:38:27.200 award there, take the hit. 0:38:27.280 --> 0:38:30.840 There's dance or die. 0:38:32.760 --> 0:38:37.040 You should have called the message dance or die. That 0:38:37.200 --> 0:38:44.200 is reality. But when I have Martha Martha and a 0:38:44.280 --> 0:38:48.520 birthday at six and a banquet at six, and both 0:38:48.520 --> 0:38:52.200 are pulling me and I cannot give myself the grace 0:38:53.239 --> 0:38:59.360 my expectations and other limitations minus grace, what is that 0:39:00.520 --> 0:39:04.279 go that way. This go that way is a recipe 0:39:05.160 --> 0:39:15.560 for resentment. This is for you. Have you been feeling 0:39:16.280 --> 0:39:21.080 Have you been feeling like this? This is why Martha 0:39:21.120 --> 0:39:25.399 feels like a martyr. It's like she's up on the cross. Man. 0:39:26.840 --> 0:39:28.839 I guess I'll just be the only one to cook 0:39:28.880 --> 0:39:32.640 around here. Jesus, since you came to die on the cross, 0:39:32.680 --> 0:39:34.720 I guess I'll just die for you in this kitchen. 0:39:36.440 --> 0:39:45.520 But Jesus didn't call Martha to be a martyr. He said, Martha, Martha, Martha, Martha. 0:39:46.880 --> 0:39:51.960 You can't be mom, mom, mom, Mom. You can't be 0:39:52.520 --> 0:39:55.720 holly mom, Holly mom. You can't be all that at once. 0:39:56.440 --> 0:40:00.520 Now comes the solution, he says, he it's not that 0:40:00.640 --> 0:40:03.799 what you're doing is wrong. It's not that I don't 0:40:03.840 --> 0:40:07.799 want to eat. It's not just be less busy. How 0:40:07.840 --> 0:40:12.840 many dumb sermons have we heard about be less busy? Okay, 0:40:12.880 --> 0:40:17.279 well tell that, Tell that to my professor, tell that 0:40:17.320 --> 0:40:20.319 to my boss, and I realize that it is not 0:40:20.600 --> 0:40:29.279 busyness that is the problem. The problem is division. So 0:40:30.400 --> 0:40:33.879 you did the birthday, I did the banquet, and none 0:40:33.920 --> 0:40:36.839 of them are going to end up in therapy over it. Oh, 0:40:36.880 --> 0:40:38.239 I need to say that you'll sit down for a minute. 0:40:38.280 --> 0:40:39.719 You'll sit down for a minute. I need to talk 0:40:39.760 --> 0:40:46.320 about this. Who made this list of all the things 0:40:46.320 --> 0:40:47.719 we think we have to do to be a good 0:40:47.719 --> 0:40:50.840 parent today, I'm gonna come back here behind the safety 0:40:50.840 --> 0:40:53.960 of my pulpit when I say this. Okay, this is 0:40:53.960 --> 0:40:57.200 going to be controversial. I could literally say that the 0:40:57.200 --> 0:40:59.040 Bible is not the word of God and get less 0:40:59.040 --> 0:41:00.359 hate than what I'm about to get for what I'm 0:41:00.360 --> 0:41:01.680 about to say right now. By the way, the Bible 0:41:01.719 --> 0:41:02.920 is the word of God. Just in case I get 0:41:02.920 --> 0:41:06.560 a clipped. Okay, now that being said, your kid does 0:41:06.600 --> 0:41:13.200 not have to play on every team. I'm helping. Come 0:41:13.280 --> 0:41:16.560 down off that cross, baby, I'm gonna help you from 0:41:16.560 --> 0:41:18.520 feeling like this. Your kid does not have to be 0:41:18.640 --> 0:41:24.080 in at chemistry in kindergarten. Yeah, but they need to 0:41:24.080 --> 0:41:25.759 get it on their resume. What if they apply for 0:41:25.800 --> 0:41:27.920 a college that doesn't accept that kind of class. 0:41:28.080 --> 0:41:29.960 They put them in a community. 0:41:29.520 --> 0:41:32.360 College, or make them an entrepreneur and tell them you 0:41:32.360 --> 0:41:36.920 did it to teach them character, teach them to sell 0:41:37.000 --> 0:41:41.360 jolly ranchers out their backpack. I don't care, but stop 0:41:41.360 --> 0:41:46.680 putting all this pressure on stuff that robs your peace. Ah, 0:41:47.120 --> 0:41:50.839 I'm gonna help you. Martha, Martha, Martha, Martha. There's only 0:41:50.880 --> 0:41:54.719 one Martha, Martha, Martha, Martha. That's what it sounds like. 0:41:54.800 --> 0:41:57.799 That's why Jesus called her Martha Martha, because that's how 0:41:57.840 --> 0:42:00.880 she felt in that moment. There's only one of me, 0:42:02.239 --> 0:42:06.719 and I'm being old and Martha, you can work in 0:42:06.719 --> 0:42:11.680 the kitchen or you can sit at my feet. But 0:42:11.800 --> 0:42:14.239 being mad because Mary's at my feet while you're working 0:42:14.239 --> 0:42:18.120 in the kitchen, that is going to kill your joy. 0:42:20.080 --> 0:42:22.160 Feeling like you're a bad dad because you're not the 0:42:22.239 --> 0:42:25.440 dad like the other kids had, that is going to 0:42:25.520 --> 0:42:28.600 kill your potential as a parent. How many times have 0:42:28.680 --> 0:42:31.120 I felt bad about myself as a dad because I 0:42:31.160 --> 0:42:34.520 never taught my kids how to fish. They don't need 0:42:34.560 --> 0:42:37.480 to learn how to fish. They got fish sticks at 0:42:37.480 --> 0:42:41.480 the grocery store. Cut out the whole middle man of 0:42:41.520 --> 0:42:46.920 the ocean or the lake, straight to the freezer. I'm serious, 0:42:47.120 --> 0:42:52.840 whose list is this? Martha is not really stressed about 0:42:52.880 --> 0:42:56.160 the situation. I'm gonna show you this. She comes to 0:42:56.239 --> 0:42:58.960 Jesus right and I want to walk you back slowly 0:42:59.000 --> 0:43:01.719 through this passage. Oh, I love teaching you the word 0:43:01.760 --> 0:43:03.439 of God. This is what I live for right here. 0:43:05.640 --> 0:43:10.200 In verse thirty nine, it says that Mary sat at 0:43:10.200 --> 0:43:14.200 the Lord's feet. Can I get my scripture back? Yeah? Yeah, 0:43:14.280 --> 0:43:17.719 she sat at the Lord's feet, and my style wars said. Yeah, 0:43:17.800 --> 0:43:23.360 she got at the Lord's feet listening to what he said, 0:43:24.960 --> 0:43:30.319 to what he said, But Martha was distracted by all 0:43:30.400 --> 0:43:35.520 the preparations that had to be made according to who. 0:43:39.320 --> 0:43:41.560 I don't think Jesus sent a writer in events with 0:43:41.600 --> 0:43:44.080 the two that went. You know, Jesus only eats brown 0:43:44.080 --> 0:43:46.320 eminem to make sure when he comes in his green room. 0:43:46.800 --> 0:43:48.279 You know, Jesus not a rock star. He's the rock 0:43:48.320 --> 0:43:52.480 of ages. He just told him eat whatever is sept 0:43:52.520 --> 0:43:54.480 before you when I send you out. So Jesus is cool, 0:43:54.560 --> 0:43:57.319 Jesus is just. You know, I was gonna say Jesus 0:43:57.320 --> 0:43:59.799 is just, and I'm not gonna say I'll tell you later, 0:44:00.080 --> 0:44:01.960 but Jesus just show up and eat whatever you put perform. 0:44:02.239 --> 0:44:06.279 So so let me ask you a question. When she says, Lord, 0:44:06.680 --> 0:44:08.480 don't you care that my sister has left me to 0:44:08.480 --> 0:44:12.319 do the work by myself. Tell her to help me 0:44:13.320 --> 0:44:19.560 with my work that I decided to do. Jesus Lord, 0:44:20.120 --> 0:44:24.400 respectfully tell her to do what I decided needed to 0:44:24.440 --> 0:44:26.200 be done to host you. 0:44:26.920 --> 0:44:38.120 Let me try that again, Lord, here's my list. Here's 0:44:38.160 --> 0:44:38.600 my list. 0:44:38.920 --> 0:44:42.080 I hear your teaching my sister Mary, and I know 0:44:42.120 --> 0:44:44.480 you think she's attentive. She's really just kind of lazy 0:44:44.800 --> 0:44:50.760 spacey Jesus, you know you get an attitude, right, Jesus, Lord, Lord, 0:44:50.800 --> 0:44:54.959 Lord Lord, let me say right, tell her to help 0:44:55.040 --> 0:45:01.480 me do this work on my list. I have a contrast, Nick, 0:45:02.640 --> 0:45:13.080 She Mary is listening, ye, Martha is listing. One is 0:45:13.200 --> 0:45:18.640 listening to what he says. One is listing what they 0:45:18.680 --> 0:45:22.439 have to do what they think ought to be done. So, Lord, 0:45:22.760 --> 0:45:24.960 I know you're teaching these amazing teachings about the Good 0:45:25.000 --> 0:45:27.480 Samaritan and all this, but let me put one on 0:45:27.520 --> 0:45:29.800 the list, because I know you're teaching my sister right now, 0:45:29.880 --> 0:45:31.840 and she's listening to you, and that is wonderful. And 0:45:31.880 --> 0:45:33.160 we're so glad to have you in our home, and 0:45:33.160 --> 0:45:35.400 it's so amazing to have you in Bethany. We really 0:45:35.440 --> 0:45:38.840 do care that you're here. We care that you're here. 0:45:40.719 --> 0:45:46.080 But does anybody care that I'm stressed? I imagine as minutes 0:45:46.120 --> 0:45:50.040 turned to hours, and Jesus kept teaching you know, the 0:45:50.120 --> 0:45:54.360 parable of the prodigal son. Maybe Martha comes and says, 0:45:54.520 --> 0:45:57.920 I appreciate your teaching, but would you mind teaching the 0:45:57.960 --> 0:46:01.360 parable of the lazy sister who needs to get in 0:46:01.400 --> 0:46:06.280 this kitchen and help me fulfill my agenda for you, Jesus. 0:46:08.560 --> 0:46:13.040 One is listening to Jesus' agenda for her. The other 0:46:13.200 --> 0:46:20.520 is giving Jesus her agenda for him. Which is your 0:46:20.640 --> 0:46:27.040 prayer life? Is your prayer life giving Jesus an agenda? 0:46:28.480 --> 0:46:36.040 Or is your prayer life listening to his? Which is 0:46:36.040 --> 0:46:42.319 your discipleship journey? At this stage? Whose list is this? Well, 0:46:42.360 --> 0:46:44.040 we got to fluff the pillows, Jesus is like, I 0:46:44.080 --> 0:46:46.320 don't need fluffy pillows. Son, a man has nowhere to 0:46:46.400 --> 0:46:48.040 lay us head. I'll sit right here on the floor. 0:46:48.600 --> 0:46:50.759 I don't need the fluffy pillows. Jesus, we know you 0:46:50.840 --> 0:46:52.719 got a special diet. I don't have a special diet. 0:46:52.840 --> 0:46:54.719 Just make sure it follows the Jewish customary law. So 0:46:54.760 --> 0:46:56.920 the Pharisees don't get mad and shut down the meeting. Oh, 0:46:57.120 --> 0:46:59.360 whatever you put in front of me. So whose list 0:46:59.440 --> 0:47:03.799 is this? For those of you that struggle with perfectionism? 0:47:04.000 --> 0:47:07.680 Whose list is that? That makes you feel like you 0:47:07.719 --> 0:47:11.319 could never measure up. Of course you could never measure up. 0:47:11.680 --> 0:47:18.200 That's why he came down. He fulfilled the righteous requirements 0:47:18.200 --> 0:47:22.680 of the law. He did the list. He was sinless, 0:47:23.000 --> 0:47:27.920 he was spotless, He did not retaliate. He fulfilled all righteousness. 0:47:28.160 --> 0:47:31.719 He was the spotless lamb of God. He was blameless. 0:47:32.120 --> 0:47:34.960 He was the perfect one. So you don't have to 0:47:35.000 --> 0:47:39.480 be so when condemnation starts in your brain telling you, well, 0:47:39.600 --> 0:47:42.000 you're this, you're that, and you're not, and you can't 0:47:42.080 --> 0:47:45.080 and you won't. Who's ask the question all week long? 0:47:45.520 --> 0:47:50.480 Whose list is this? Ask your neighbor? Whose list is this? 0:47:51.920 --> 0:47:54.279 Got me feeling all stressed out? Like I gotta do 0:47:54.320 --> 0:47:56.719 a thousand things to be right with God? I only 0:47:56.719 --> 0:47:58.520 got to do one thing to be right with God. 0:47:58.760 --> 0:48:01.720 If I call on the name of Jesus, I will 0:48:01.719 --> 0:48:04.759 be saved. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord 0:48:04.840 --> 0:48:07.799 will be saved. If I confess my sins, He is 0:48:07.840 --> 0:48:10.680 faithful and just and will forgive me of my sins 0:48:10.719 --> 0:48:13.839 and cleanse me of all unrighteousness. So for all the 0:48:13.840 --> 0:48:16.759 Pharisees and Sadducees who are sad, you see because you 0:48:16.840 --> 0:48:20.160 keep expecting others to follow your list, and you have 0:48:20.280 --> 0:48:23.920 no grace for your expectations, and others' limitations make you 0:48:24.000 --> 0:48:26.439 angry because they are not living up to your list. 0:48:26.480 --> 0:48:29.360 To be a good Christian. Christian isn't named after you. 0:48:29.760 --> 0:48:33.160 There is one name, we follow, one standard, we raise, 0:48:33.680 --> 0:48:38.520 one banner that we bought on whose list is this? 0:48:43.320 --> 0:48:44.960 I want you to look at your to do list 0:48:45.080 --> 0:48:49.200 for this week before you start it and ask the question, 0:48:49.600 --> 0:48:53.160 is this your list? Lord? Is there stuff on this 0:48:53.280 --> 0:48:56.600 list that I'm doing just to look good and impress 0:48:56.600 --> 0:48:59.480 others that you never called me to do? 0:49:00.280 --> 0:49:00.440 Oh? 0:49:00.480 --> 0:49:05.920 I'm preaching now, because sometimes we label it responsible, But 0:49:06.000 --> 0:49:08.799 sometimes what we do in an effort to appear responsible 0:49:08.840 --> 0:49:10.799 is really out of the comparisons that we've made with 0:49:10.840 --> 0:49:15.040 people that we don't really know whose list is this. 0:49:15.760 --> 0:49:17.400 I sat time to eat with somebody the other day 0:49:17.440 --> 0:49:19.680 and they said you ought not eat that. I said, 0:49:19.680 --> 0:49:22.280 what's wrong with it? And they told me some story 0:49:22.320 --> 0:49:25.120 about what chemicals were on the food and the chemicals now, 0:49:26.200 --> 0:49:34.640 and I'm like, well, hold on, I'm confused. You went 0:49:34.680 --> 0:49:40.640 to the grocery store and bought it? No, you cooked it? No? Hmm, 0:49:41.920 --> 0:49:45.760 sounds like if you didn't purchase it and you didn't 0:49:45.760 --> 0:49:50.720 prepare it, then you don't get to make the list. 0:49:52.760 --> 0:49:57.720 And I like chemicals. I think, let me go on record, 0:49:57.760 --> 0:50:00.480 go ahead, just throw something at me, throw it, Throw 0:50:00.560 --> 0:50:04.920 an organic avocado at me. As I say this, I 0:50:05.080 --> 0:50:13.279 like the chemicals. I dig down the less us used 0:50:13.280 --> 0:50:17.480 to just be don't snort cocaine. Now I can't snort cocaine. 0:50:17.600 --> 0:50:21.480 I can't eat chemicals. And it was a vegetable I 0:50:21.600 --> 0:50:26.680 was eating. It's a vegetable. Where did vegetables become villains? 0:50:27.560 --> 0:50:38.279 Who's list is this? Well, you know you're really on 0:50:38.360 --> 0:50:41.840 a homeschool in your kids, because if you homeschool your kids, 0:50:42.000 --> 0:50:44.040 then they're gonna get you know, they're gonna get a 0:50:44.120 --> 0:50:47.520 more better relationship. So homeschool your kids, Well, you have 0:50:47.600 --> 0:50:50.400 to socialize your kids in a great environment as well. 0:50:50.480 --> 0:50:52.960 And if you homeschool they are kids, you'll be socially 0:50:53.000 --> 0:50:55.160 awkward and so no, no, but if you put them 0:50:55.200 --> 0:50:57.480 in a social environment, they'll be tempted. But if you 0:50:57.480 --> 0:50:59.839 don't put them in a social environment, they'll face great, 0:51:00.000 --> 0:51:02.600 greater temptations in later days and they'll end up paying 0:51:02.640 --> 0:51:04.960 on the back end. For the decisions you shielded them from. 0:51:05.080 --> 0:51:11.000 Look at you, Martha, Martha, Martha, Martha, making your list 0:51:11.040 --> 0:51:13.759 of what makes a good mom off of other people's opinions. 0:51:15.360 --> 0:51:21.360 It's their opinion. You might need to homeschool one and 0:51:21.440 --> 0:51:25.839 boarding school the other. Keep one close, ship one off. 0:51:25.840 --> 0:51:33.840 Who knows. But you said only one thing you gotta do, 0:51:35.880 --> 0:51:41.600 stay close to me. Only one thing is necessary because 0:51:41.600 --> 0:51:46.080 I will never pull you apart. If you are being 0:51:46.120 --> 0:51:48.680 pulled apart by the demands of your life, let me 0:51:48.680 --> 0:51:50.399 tell you something about the list that you're living by. 0:51:50.840 --> 0:52:01.880 It's not his. It's not his list. That might have 0:52:01.920 --> 0:52:04.120 been your mom's list. She might have demanded more from 0:52:04.120 --> 0:52:06.960 you than you were able to give, but that's not 0:52:07.040 --> 0:52:10.799 his list. Others might have expected things out of you 0:52:10.840 --> 0:52:12.960 that you weren't able to fulfill. God never will if 0:52:13.040 --> 0:52:19.640 he if he wills you to do it, he will 0:52:19.680 --> 0:52:26.520 walk with you through it. Whose list is this, Jesus, 0:52:26.520 --> 0:52:29.279 I need help with this list. Now. I'm going to 0:52:29.320 --> 0:52:31.880 show you how far Martha comes in the scripture, and 0:52:31.960 --> 0:52:34.440 y'all can sit down, and I want you to come up, 0:52:34.480 --> 0:52:40.480 because Martha in this passage, she's in a tough spot. 0:52:42.320 --> 0:52:46.319 She's in a really tough spot, and in a way 0:52:46.320 --> 0:52:48.920 we don't get much closure in the passage itself because 0:52:49.520 --> 0:52:51.480 it kind of just ends with Jesus saying, Hey, I 0:52:51.520 --> 0:52:54.400 know you're resourceful, I know you're responsible, I know you're respectful. 0:52:54.400 --> 0:53:04.840 But Mary is present and isn't present. She's pulled. So 0:53:04.920 --> 0:53:16.400 since she's pulled, she begins to resent. It's a recipe 0:53:16.400 --> 0:53:19.040 for resentment. Trying to please everybody, trying to be everything, 0:53:19.120 --> 0:53:24.080 trying to achieve everything, trying to achieve eight pack abs 0:53:24.080 --> 0:53:28.439 while also going back to school. All of that amalgamation 0:53:29.120 --> 0:53:31.000 of what you think it needs means to achieve that 0:53:31.040 --> 0:53:33.680 comes from culture, that comes from comparison, that comes from condemnation. 0:53:33.960 --> 0:53:37.920 It does not come from Christ. It is a recipe 0:53:37.920 --> 0:53:40.360 for resentment and for you to just keep adding to 0:53:40.440 --> 0:53:42.319 your life what you think you need to be for 0:53:42.400 --> 0:53:44.359 God to love you more, what you think you need 0:53:44.400 --> 0:53:46.440 to do for somebody else to love you more, what 0:53:46.560 --> 0:53:48.360 you think you need to achieve in order to be 0:53:48.480 --> 0:53:50.920 worthy of the life that God gave you by his grace. 0:53:51.320 --> 0:53:57.080 Remember your expectation, even of yourself plus other's limitations, even 0:53:57.120 --> 0:54:03.560 if it's your own minus grace is a four recentment 0:54:04.880 --> 0:54:07.600 and now Martha's screaming in the kitchen. Does anybody care 0:54:08.640 --> 0:54:14.319 that I'm tired? Does anybody care? Then I'm doing this 0:54:14.360 --> 0:54:17.160 for them? Does anybody care? Jesus? Is what she said? 0:54:17.520 --> 0:54:21.600 Don't you care? Don't you care that I'm doing all 0:54:21.600 --> 0:54:24.719 the work by myself? And she said, I care, but 0:54:24.840 --> 0:54:30.200 not about your work. I care about your worry. And 0:54:30.239 --> 0:54:32.680 you want me to help you with your work. But 0:54:32.719 --> 0:54:35.640 I want to help you with your worry. So I 0:54:35.680 --> 0:54:37.080 want to take your list and I want to walk 0:54:37.120 --> 0:54:38.520 with you through it, and I want to show you 0:54:38.560 --> 0:54:40.759 in this season of your life. I'm not talking to 0:54:40.760 --> 0:54:44.080 Martha Marth anymore. I'm talking to you you God wants 0:54:44.120 --> 0:54:47.000 to show you in this season of your life where 0:54:47.040 --> 0:54:51.279 you are being paralyzed because you are being pulled. That's 0:54:51.320 --> 0:54:54.160 a picture of worry, isn't it? Being pulled on both 0:54:54.200 --> 0:54:59.280 sides and going nowhere? Being pulled and spent and tired 0:54:59.400 --> 0:55:04.239 by making no progress. Don't you care? Lord? He says, 0:55:04.280 --> 0:55:07.600 I care. I care so much that I want you 0:55:07.680 --> 0:55:10.960 to be present with me so that you do not 0:55:11.120 --> 0:55:13.960 resent the demands of your life that you are trying 0:55:14.000 --> 0:55:19.799 to fulfill without me. This is the same thing that 0:55:19.840 --> 0:55:24.920 Martha asked Jesus when her brother Lazarus got sick. Does 0:55:24.920 --> 0:55:27.920 anybody know this story? Wave at me? If you know 0:55:27.960 --> 0:55:31.120 the story of a man called Lazarus, Did you know 0:55:31.160 --> 0:55:35.680 that his big sister was Martha? Did you know that 0:55:35.719 --> 0:55:39.560 his village was called Bethany? How must it have felt 0:55:39.560 --> 0:55:42.160 for Martha not only to cook for Jesus and his disciples, 0:55:42.320 --> 0:55:45.520 but to care for a sick brother. Usually men would 0:55:45.520 --> 0:55:49.080 pay for the bills, but Lazarus couldn't. There's no mention 0:55:49.160 --> 0:55:53.759 of a husband. Martha is doing it by herself. And 0:55:53.880 --> 0:55:56.360 that's why it hit a nerve when she said, don't 0:55:56.400 --> 0:55:59.800 you care that she's left me to do it by myself? 0:55:59.840 --> 0:56:03.120 And it can feel like that, and it has felt 0:56:03.160 --> 0:56:05.520 like that for some of us. Do you really expect 0:56:05.560 --> 0:56:07.239 me to be here and there? I can only be 0:56:07.400 --> 0:56:11.840 one place at one time. That's right, that's right. And 0:56:11.840 --> 0:56:16.200 when Lazarus got sick, Martha sent word to Jesus saying, 0:56:16.280 --> 0:56:17.800 the one that you love is sick. This is in 0:56:17.880 --> 0:56:20.200 John chapter eleven. You can read it when you get home. 0:56:20.360 --> 0:56:22.080 She said, the one that you love is sick. But 0:56:22.120 --> 0:56:25.640 when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where 0:56:25.680 --> 0:56:30.680 he was and Lazarus died, and on the fourth day 0:56:30.719 --> 0:56:35.000 after the body was thought to have been void of 0:56:35.040 --> 0:56:37.640 the spirit, which evacuated according to their custom. On the 0:56:37.680 --> 0:56:42.239 third day, Jesus shows up. He shows up late, and 0:56:42.280 --> 0:56:45.080 Martha meets him at the gate. And I want to 0:56:45.120 --> 0:56:47.520 show you how far he's come, because I asked the Lord, 0:56:47.920 --> 0:56:51.239 where do I land this message to help those who 0:56:51.320 --> 0:56:54.960 feel like this today, who feel like this, no place 0:56:55.000 --> 0:56:57.799 to sit, no one to help, nothing to think. And 0:56:57.840 --> 0:57:01.200 I realized that although in the passage it only ends 0:57:01.239 --> 0:57:05.400 with Martha being corrected in John chapter eleven, give me 0:57:05.400 --> 0:57:09.640 the scripture on the screen, please, She calls him Lord. 0:57:09.840 --> 0:57:14.640 Remember her brother has died, but he's still Lord. Remember 0:57:14.880 --> 0:57:20.480 he disappointed her expectation, but he's still Lord. Remember he 0:57:20.520 --> 0:57:23.720 didn't do what she asked him to do, but he's 0:57:23.760 --> 0:57:26.520 still Lord. And I'm about to show you one of 0:57:26.520 --> 0:57:30.640 the most major transformations in scripture. Here is this woman, Martha, Martha, 0:57:30.640 --> 0:57:33.600 who was so distracted and divided that she was coming 0:57:33.640 --> 0:57:38.040 apart at the scenes. Does anybody care that I'm slaving? 0:57:38.080 --> 0:57:41.080 Does anybody care that I'm working? Does anybody care that 0:57:41.160 --> 0:57:44.280 I'm serving? Lord? Martha said to Jesus, if you had 0:57:44.400 --> 0:57:49.280 been here, my brother would not have died. But I 0:57:49.480 --> 0:57:59.080 know that even now God will give you whatever you ask. 0:58:00.600 --> 0:58:05.080 You missed it. There's been a switch. Tell somebody, there's 0:58:05.120 --> 0:58:09.800 been a switch. When we saw Martha in Luke chapter ten, 0:58:10.280 --> 0:58:14.040 she was working off her list. But look what she 0:58:14.120 --> 0:58:16.800 says in John chapter eleven, verse twenty two. But I 0:58:16.880 --> 0:58:22.200 know that even now God will give you whatever you ask. 0:58:23.200 --> 0:58:27.320 So she has learned the life lesson. It is his list, 0:58:28.080 --> 0:58:34.400 not my list, that matters in this season of my life. 0:58:34.520 --> 0:58:36.800 And I want to speak to everybody who has been 0:58:36.840 --> 0:58:38.440 living off of your list. 0:58:38.960 --> 0:58:43.360 You have been listing your liabilities, listing your limitations, listing 0:58:43.400 --> 0:58:46.840 your reasons to feel bad, listing your reasons to feel shameful, 0:58:47.160 --> 0:58:50.919 listing the adversaries that are against you, listing the disadvantage 0:58:51.160 --> 0:58:51.920 of your season. 0:58:52.720 --> 0:58:57.440 Shift your attention to his list. And when she did that, 0:58:57.520 --> 0:59:00.600 I'm ready to preach. When she did that, when she 0:59:00.760 --> 0:59:04.160 said God will give you whatever you ask, get ready 0:59:04.160 --> 0:59:07.360 to shout over verse twenty three, Jesus said to her, 0:59:07.760 --> 0:59:12.360 your brother will rise again. So let me preach the 0:59:12.360 --> 0:59:19.800 whole sermon my expectation plus others. Limitation is a recipe 0:59:20.200 --> 0:59:26.640 for resentment. But watch this. My faith plus God's presence 0:59:27.720 --> 0:59:36.760 is a recipe for resurrection. The moment you get focused, 0:59:37.000 --> 0:59:42.360 whoop on his list? Catch what I'm saying. The moment 0:59:42.680 --> 0:59:45.640 you begin to believe that he is who he says 0:59:45.680 --> 0:59:48.200 he is. He can do what he says he can do. 0:59:48.560 --> 0:59:51.960 He is God all by himself, doesn't need any help, 0:59:52.240 --> 0:59:55.880 doesn't need an assistant, doesn't need an agenda, doesn't need 0:59:55.920 --> 0:59:59.600 a calendar, doesn't need a schedule, doesn't need a committee 0:59:59.640 --> 1:00:00.200 to bless. 1:00:00.000 --> 1:00:10.240 This is his list and a letter to the tomb. 1:00:11.120 --> 1:00:17.240 Step by step, and Lazarus came forth, and everything that 1:00:17.280 --> 1:00:20.280 would try to pull Martha away, No, no, no, you 1:00:20.320 --> 1:00:23.680 can't get distracted. Now you've got to stay close to him. 1:00:23.760 --> 1:00:29.000 One thing is necessary. One thing is necessary. Jesus said, 1:00:29.000 --> 1:00:32.560 I'm gonna put your list down to one item. Do 1:00:32.640 --> 1:00:35.720 what I say. If I don't tell you to do it, 1:00:35.760 --> 1:00:37.640 I don't care what pressure culture puts on you to 1:00:37.680 --> 1:00:40.760 do it. Do what I say. Be who I called 1:00:40.760 --> 1:00:44.040 you to be. Let me do my job in your life, 1:00:44.320 --> 1:00:46.920 and you will see when you get to the tomb, 1:00:47.800 --> 1:00:53.760 and the word says, Lazarus come forth, if you will 1:00:53.800 --> 1:00:57.840 stay close to me, I will show you something that 1:00:57.880 --> 1:01:01.640 you did not even know to play inform. Yeah, you 1:01:01.720 --> 1:01:05.360 stay right there because God brought you to this moment. 1:01:07.000 --> 1:01:13.800 It's a Martha Martha moment. It's decided. But instead of 1:01:13.840 --> 1:01:16.960 feeling bad about what you didn't get or being distracted 1:01:16.960 --> 1:01:18.800 by a phone that rings in the middle of your clothes, 1:01:21.480 --> 1:01:25.000 you are going to stay focused on what God has 1:01:25.040 --> 1:01:29.960 put in front of you for this season. He did 1:01:30.040 --> 1:01:32.520 this so you don't have to. 1:01:33.960 --> 1:01:36.480 Thank you for joining us special thanks to those of 1:01:36.520 --> 1:01:39.520 you who give generously to this ministry. Is because of 1:01:39.560 --> 1:01:42.480 you that this ministry is possible. You can click the 1:01:42.520 --> 1:01:45.760 link in the description to give now, or visit Elevation 1:01:45.960 --> 1:01:49.560 Church dot org slash podcast for more information and if 1:01:49.600 --> 1:01:52.040 you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 1:01:52.360 --> 1:01:53.680 You can share it with your friends. 1:01:53.960 --> 1:01:56.240 You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 1:01:56.320 --> 1:01:58.400 share it on your social stories and tag us at 1:01:58.440 --> 1:01:59.280 Elevation Church. 1:01:59.360 --> 1:02:05.760 Thanks again for listening. God bless you. H